By Lance Jenkinson
Werribee will shake off the effects of its silly Sunday post-season celebrations and head into the Victorian Football League off season brimming with confidence about its future.
The boys from Watton Street rounded out the season on a three-game winning streak after a 50-point thrashing over new rivals North Melbourne in the final round at Avalon Airport Oval on Saturday and were able to fully enjoy their end-of-season get-together on Sunday.
Werribee onballer Dom Brew said the new-look side took a while to click early in the season, but showed what it was capable of over the past six weeks.
“We had pretty much a brand new side in at the start of the year,” Brew said.
“Obviously going standalone is never going to be easy, so to win seven games in our first year was pretty impressive.
“To go three straight at the end and win four of our last six, to finish off strong like that, it’s promising signs for the future.”
When the VFL fixture was released, there was no doubt Werribee and North Melbourne players underlined their final round match as one they could not wait to rip into.
Last season’s split of the once-aligned clubs – Werribee turning standalone and North Melbourne putting their own team into the VFL – created an instant rivalry.
While the Werribee and North Melbourne alignment had plenty going for it, some players struggled to buy in as it was essentially two sets of players and cultures coming together to play on the weekend.
It unsettled players on the Werribee list because their spots in the team were dictated to by North Melbourne selection, while North Melbourne’s players struggled with the idea of playing with 10 players they did not train with on a full-time basis.
Once teammates, now adversaries, it has certainly added a bit of spice to the contest.
Brew admitted it was more than just a win for the Werribee players.
“Bloody oath it was extra special,” he said. “All the boys playing for the one team, whereas last year we’d have 10 Werribee boys and 12 North Melbourne boys, and it was sort of two different cultures.
“For us to play our brand of footy and our culture go up against theirs and come out on top by 50 points, that shows what we’re about as a club.
“There’s 23 blokes out there all playing for the same thing.
“Those last three games, we displayed what Werribee Football Club is all about.”
It was a significant day for Werribee because of a number of departees being involved for one last time.
Coach John Lamont was in charge of his last game, while Nathan Laracy, Jake Sharp and Ben Moloney announced to the team they were moving on.
Werribee lifted in a big way to send them out on a high note and extended their lead at every change to record their second-biggest win of the season.
Dane McFarlane finished off a strong season with a best-on-ground performance across half-back, while captain Michael Sodomaco led from the front once again.
It was a scoring feast for the forwards with Andrew Hooper jagging four goals and Sharp kicking three in a perfect send off.
Tom Gribble, Scott Carlin and Joel Bennett kicked two goals apiece.
It was Carlin’s debut game for Werribee.
A product of Terang Mortlake, Carlin played as Werribee’s 23rd man.
He is currently part of the Greater Western Victoria Rebels in the TAC Cup and played for Vic Country at the under-18 national championships.
Werribee football operations manager Stuart Balloch said the club could target more Rebels players due to North Ballarat Roosters leaving the VFL.
Werribee finished two games out of the finals in 11th place with a 7-11 record.
As for those silly Sunday celebrations, AFL draft hopeful Sam Collins was “one of the best on ground” for Brew, while Hooper breaking out ‘the worm’ was a popular move among his teammates.
