Some fine-tuning on the fly has seen Werribee Tigers return from three tricky road games with a winning record of 100 per cent.
The Tigers started a little scratchy in a round one win over Essendon but addressed the areas they needed to improve and executed better in victories over Frankston and Footscray either side of a round-three bye.
A clear improvement in the Tigers’ 42-point fourth round win over Footscray at the Whitten Oval on Saturday was their defensive work.
There were fewer holes and more pressure applied, which disrupted the home side’s usually silky transition from defence to attack.
Tigers coach John Lamont said defence was a point of emphasis after it broke down somewhat in the opening game.
“In our first game, against Essendon, we defended in the first half like 18 individuals,” he said.
“Blokes were behind an opponent and thinking, my job is done, I’ve got my man covered. But in the modern game, you’ve got to work in a team defence.
“Credit to the players – we addressed that and it’s been really good since.
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“Our positioning on the ground slowed Footscray’s ball use out of the back half, which gave us opportunities because we applied good pressure.”
Werribee knew a fast start was imperative, particularly with first use of a strong breeze. After a 15-minute arm wrestle, the Tigers rattled off the last five goals of the opening term to lead by 33 at quarter-time.
Kicking into the wind in the second quarter, the Tigers gained the upper hand. “One of the coaches said after the game, we actually played better into the breeze than we did with it,” Lamont said. “We were intelligent with our ball use to maximise our scoring opportunities.”
With its quarter-time lead largely intact when it returned to the rooms for half-time, Werribee came out in the third term and ran rampant, kicking six goals to three to forge an unassailable 58-point lead heading into the last.
There would be no coming back for the Bulldogs, not with Tiger midfielders Matt Hanson, Trent Dumont, Aaron Mullet and Farren Ray in such good form.
The Tigers’ forward set-up of Mason Wood, Dane McFarlane, Robin Nahas and, on occasions, Majak Daw was a constant threat, too, so the Bulldogs found it hard to stem the bleeding.
Daw was outstanding both in the ruck and on the forward line.
Youngster Braydon Preuss picked up the minutes in the ruck when Daw pushed forward and had an enthralling tussle with Bulldog veteran Will Minson.
Wood kicked four goals for the Tigers to be the most dangerous forward on the ground, while McFarlane and Will Fordham snared three each.
Werribee is one of two undefeated sides in the VFL, a record to be put to the ultimate test when defending premier Williamstown visits Avalon Airport Oval on Saturday night.
“We’ve got our local TAC Cup clubs, the Geelong Falcons and Western Jets, on at 1pm, then the development league at 4pm, followed by us at 7pm,” Lamont said.“It’s a real footy feast.”
