Tara Murray
Werribee Centrals bounced back from one of its more disappointing performances to finally win through to a Western Football League women’s grand final.
It’s a case of third time lucky for the Centurions, who lost in the preliminary final the past two seasons.
On Saturday against Parkside Spurs, it was an empathic display by the Centurions which won, 15.6 (96)-3.7 (25).
Coach Jade De La Rue it was pretty special to finally get that opportunity in the grand final.
“There’s not even any words,” she said. “If we had to grind it out, we had to grind it out and that is what we are doing.
“It was a huge margin, but everyone played a full four quarters and didn’t leave anything out there.
“We really committed to every play, every kick and every mark… It really showed when we’re playing our best footy we are on fire.”
The Centurions kicked five goals to none in the first quarter to set the tone of the match.
It was game over at half time, with the margin 53 points.
The Spurs were finally able to get on the scoreboard in the third quarter, kicking two goals and winning the term.
The Centurions found another level in the last quarter to put the icing on the cake.
De La Rue said the focus during the week had been on playing their football and they managed to start that way and it flowed on.
“Last three to four weeks we’ve lost our structure a little bit,” she said. “Before the game we were like, let’s do what we do best.
“Stick to what we know and go out there straight away and the second and first quarters, it made a massive difference and you could see everyone was switched on and ready to go.”
With the margin having blown out, the Centurions were able to enjoy the moment and the fact they were in a grand final.
De La Rue said it was good to knock it out of the park and be on the ground in the final quarter and embrace it.
Larissa Renaut kicked seven goals for the Centurions. Taylah Bloss, Meghann Basto and Georgia Paul were named their best.
De La Rue said the whole group was on such a high to finally win through to the final game of the year.
“We have worked so hard to get to where we are and to see the commitment of everybody and the group is so close and we’ve tried to maintain that,” she said.
“We know we’re capable of it. We all have to show our strengths and every single person did that and we got the win.”
The Centurions face Caroline Springs in the grand final. The Lakers won the semi final clash between the two sides.
De La Rue said they need to do the right study and shut down the dangerous players and just push themselves as hard as they can.
“The last three weeks the biggest thing has been play the hardest footy we can, the best footy we can.
“Last week we fell short of that, the prior two weeks to that and today, we were back on track.”
