By Lance Jenkinson
Werribee endured a frustrating day at the office in a 27-point defeat to the Northern Blues in the Victorian Football League at Avalon Airport Oval on Sunday.
Down in nearly all facets, Werribee could not reach the heights of a week prior when it caused a boilover win against Essendon.
Disappointed Werribee captain Michael Sodomaco described it as a “letdown” after such an emotion-stirring win in the previous game.
“Overall, we were just that five per cent off with everything we were doing,” he said. “It’s frustrating because we felt we had a good chance to win that game.”
The signs were there early that Werribee was a little bit off its game.
The players were making elementary errors that had knock-on effect to all parts of their game.
“It was a bit of skill execution, a bit of defensive stuff, a bit of ball movement, a bit of contest stuff – it was just across the board,” Sodomaco said.
“It wasn’t any one huge thing that stood out … a lot of things we were trying to do, we weren’t doing well enough.”
When Werribee did manage to put some good passages of play together, it was let down by its poor kicking for goal.
Northern led by 20 points at quarter-time despite the teams having equal amounts of shots.
All Werribee had to show for its entries was five behinds, while the Blues kicked 4.1.
There was barely more joy in front of the big sticks for Werribee in the second quarter and it went to half-time on 2.11 – 34 points down despite having one extra scoring shot.
It was the same story all day, with Werribee finishing with three more scoring shots, but losing by a touch under five goals.
“That’s added to the frustration, because as much as we let ourselves down in a few areas, if we had’ve kicked straight we still could’ve pinched it,” Sodomaco said. “It was just one of those days.”
Sodomaco was best-on-ground for Werribee, the skipper capping off a strong outing with two goals – the only Werribee player to kick multiple goals.
Sam Collins, with 25 disposals and 16 marks, shone in the back half for Werribee.
Collins is getting rave reviews at every ground he turns up to and is widely tipped to be back in the AFL system next year.
Sodomaco joined the growing list of names to endorse a speedy return for Collins.
“How he’s not on an AFL list is amazing,” he said. “It’s phenomenal that we’ve had the chance to have him at the club this year.
“Someone has to draft him. He’s taken 70 more marks than any other player in the competition this year and that’s just outrageous numbers.”
Tom Gribble was tough on the inside with 38 possessions and six tackles, while Matt Munro had a strong 50th game with 18 possessions, eight marks and four tackles.
Werribee will face the toughest test in Victorian football this Saturday morning – Richmond at the Swinburne Centre.
Sodomaco is confident his team can dust itself off and give the Tigers a run for their money.
“They’re flying in both AFL and VFL levels,” he said. “It will be a great challenge and we’re looking forward to it.
“Even though we’ve only got the four wins, in the rooms before the game each week, we’re fully confident we’re going to win the game of footy.
“We’ve got nothing to lose, so that will make us a little more dangerous.
“We’ll lay it all out there and see how we go.”
