Werribee is yet to find its place this season in Hockey Victoria men’s Vic League 2.
The Tigers believe they are much better than a fifth-placed team, but the results show otherwise.
“By the ladder position, we’re mid-table, but we feel like we should be sitting a little higher,” Tigers’ captain Jayden Street told Star Weekly.
“We’ve dropped a couple of games that, on paper, we should’ve won and that’s the frustrating part about it.
“We know we can match it with the sides higher on the ladder; it’s just getting the consistency week in week out.”
It has been a mixed bag for Werribee so far.
Three wins, four losses and a draw shows the Tigers bogged in the middle of the ladder.
They need to focus on Saturday’s fourth- versus-fifth showdown with Knox.
“This one we definitely can’t afford to lose,” Street said. “We don’t want to be going into the halfway point of the season six points out of the four. That would be a massive catch-up.”
Holding Werribee back is a lack of venom in the front third. Coach Andrew Purcell has tried many combinations for the same result – a lack of goals.
Sam Huxtable is a clear-cut leading goalscorer for the Tigers, with nine, but he’s far too talented as a midfielder to play up front.
“He’s vice-captain and is one of the best players in the league, but we can’t rely on him week in week out to be scoring all our goals,” Street said.
“It’s the strikers’ job and the harsh truth is that, at the moment, we haven’t been scoring.
“Those boys have got to stand up for us in the second half of the year, put a few more goals in and take the pressure off Sam.”
The Tigers have the fewest goals scored among the top five teams, with just 17.
Their finals’ chances could hinge on it.
“At training last night, we worked a lot on our goalscoring,” Street said. “Hopefully, in the next few weeks, we work more and more on it to ensure that when we do get those opportunities, we’re capitalising on them.
“A lot of the games we’re not conceding that many goals, but we’re not scoring enough either.”
With the competition in recess for the Queen’s Birthday weekend, Werribee brought all of its sections together to train on Thursday.
“It’s making sure the seniors are getting around the juniors, the men and women are interacting and the juniors can see what a positive place it is to be,” Street said.
“It helps break down that barrier of senior and junior and makes them feel like we’re approachable.”
