Tara Murray
Werribee Centrals made an early statement in the Geelong and District Football League season pushing reigning premiers Bannockburn all the way on Saturday.
Centrals had the toughest test to start the season, but showed they will be a different side this season,
Leading throughout most of the day, Bannockburn only sealed the win in the last minute of the game, winning 11.15 (81)-12.7 (79).
Centrals president Chris Kopelke said they would take a lot of positives out of the result.
“Two points, two lousy points,” he said.
“We had 13 new players playing their first game for the club. They tried hard and were competitive and had their chances.
“They’ll learn from that. You could tell in their eyes that their stomachs were churning [and it hurt].
“It was great to play the reigning premiers and put in a great effort. It would have been great to take it off them.”
Rhyce Prismall and Ryan Young kicked two goals each for the Centrals.
Kopelke said recruit Michael Culliver was their best player on the day.
“He has been fantastic for the group,” he said. “He has come from Bacchus Marsh, but lives locally.
“He was BOG for us and he is teaching the young kids so much. The attitude and professionalism brought by Mick and football director Heath Buck has seen us go up another level.”
Kopelke said despite having a brand new group, they were already pretty tight knit.
On top of the 13 players playing their first senior games for the club, another six key recruits didn’t play.
Kopelke said while they had targeted a group of players to strengthen the squad, several others had wanted to come across and join the club.
“There’s so many new faces, a lot of them young kids,” he said.
“We had three or four 18, 17 year-olds play. Many of them are juniors from last year that wanted to come to the senior club.”
Centrals have a bye this weekend due to the Easter weekend. They are then on road in round two and three.
Kopelke said they were hoping to be in contention this season after using last season as a rebuilding year.
“Hopefully we can play finals,” he said. “The opposition will notice that we only lost by two points and we are a bit different than last year.
“We want a bit of stability after last year, which was challenging with injuries.
“There will be growth and let’s see where that leads for us. The feeling around the club is fantastic. Those who have been around the club for 5-6 years say it’s the best mood around the club they have experienced.”
