The frustrations continue for Werribee in the Victorian Football League.
Fresh off a week off, the Tigers returned to action on Saturday against the GWS Giants at Melbourne Avalon Airport Oval.
It was a similar story to many of their games this season, they found themselves in the mix but weren’t able to get the job done.
There wasn’t much between the two sides in the first three quarters as they traded the lead.
After taking back the lead early in the third quarter the Giants were able to stay there for the rest of the game, winning 11.12 (78)-8.11 (59).
Tigers coach Jimmy Allan said while there were some positives they were still making the same mistakes which had cost them several games this season.
“It was a familiar story,” he said. “We had a real crack and that was really good, we just the decision making and structure stuff didn’t get right.
“We’ve worked hard on it and it cost us again. It’s really frustrating.
“Going through the review it’s the same stuff and it makes it hard to get over the line.”
Allan said the Giants took them away from the game style that they wanted to play and forced them to handball more than they would like.
“They play chaos style football and at the stoppages they got a hold of us.
“They have some good players and their class showed through.”
Allan said the message had been the same every week and they hadn’t seen a lot of change.
He said they would look at how they delivered their messages to see whether they could get through what they wanted to.
Dom Brew had 32 possessions for the Tigers, while Louis Pinnuck had 31 in his return from injury.
Harry Grintell was the only multiple goalkicker for the Tigers, finishing with two goals.
Allan said Grintell was one of two standouts for the side.
“He played as a wing-forward this week,” he said. “He had been playing back and he provided us with a real spark and kicked a couple of goals and set up some others.”
The other stand out was Bior Malual.
Allan said he had been one of their biggest improvers this season.
“He was excellent,” he said. “We threw him back last week and put him back on the wing during the game.
“His decision making was outstanding.
“He’s been better than last year and credit to him he’s taken on a real leadership role in the group.
“He leads the way with the way he takes things on board as well as anyone else. There’s been some real growth.”
Werribee sits in 14th spot, two games outside the play off spots.
Allan said they hadn’t given up hope of playing finals and defending their premiership.
He said players are also playing to make a case to stay on the list for next season.
“Some results on the weekend helped us,” he said. “It’s still a challenge and we have been competitive every week.
“We get that right more than wrong, we will be hard to beat. All five games in the run home are winnable.”
Werribee will play underlights on Saturday night against the Casey Demons at Whitten Oval.
Allan said there were six points between the sides so it was an important one in the finals race.
“We feel like if we play well, we can win,” he said. “It’s a matter of getting it done now.”
