By Tara Murray
It’s been an interesting start to life in Victorian Premier League 2 for Werribee City.
Have dropped down a division this season, the Bees are facing a number of new challenges.
With 12 new players in the squad as well, it’s going to take some time for the side to click.
Coach Craig Moore said it was never going to be an easy start.
“I said to them we’re not going to come in and win the first six games,” he said. “Every week we are going to get better at something.
“We’re playing a lot of sides that we’ve never played against and some we haven’t played for a long time.
“We have 12 new players and three new coaches. We’re trying to get everyone really understanding how we want to play and getting them to understand how each other plays.”
The Bees started with a loss to Whittlesea United in round one after having a player sent from the field in the first seven minutes.
On Friday night, it had a 0-0 draw with Springvale White Eagles.
“We got a penalty against us after three minutes,” Moore said. “We’re lucky that our keeper saved it.
“Then there was the weather. There was a monsoon coming through. The boys showed signs of understanding how we play.”
Moore said they’d added a mixture of different players to their squad, with a bit of youth and experience.
He said there was one element that they had really looked at as well.
“We’ve bought in a couple that have played in NPL1 [National Premier League] the last few seasons,” he said.
“We identified some from state league clubs that ticked the boxes and the type of players we were looking for.
“We tried to identify players from the west and that has been a bit of a slow burn. We have about 80 per cent from Melbourne’s west.
“It’s something we want to continue and build on and be a destination club.”
Moore said they were continuing to work on how they want to play and the identity the club wants to have on the field.
The Eagles this week face the Boroondara-Carey Eagles on Friday night.
Moore said he doesn’t think the two teams have ever played each other.
“They have quite big bodies and are physical,” he said. “A lot of teams will play like that and we have to not be intimidated.”
Meanwhile in the opening round of the Australia Cup, Point Cook beat West Point 3-0, Hoppers Crossing beat Diamond Valley United 4-1, Truganina Hornets lost to Old Ivanhoe, and Monash University beat Tarneit United 7-0.
