By Tara Murray
Werribee’s consistency problems again reared its head as the Tigers slipped to another loss in the Victorian Football League.
It was one of the more disappointing performances by the Tigers this season, as they were out of the game with a quarter to go against the Box Hill Hawks on Sunday.
The Hawks set the match up in the middle two quarters.
After leading by three points at quarter time, the Hawks kicked four goals to one in the second quarter.
They again kicked four goals in the third quarter compared to the Tigers to extend the lead out to 38 points at the last break.
The Tigers trailed by as much as 40 points early in the last quarter before they kicked seven goals to get back into the game.
They ran out of time, with the Hawks winning 14.9 (93)-11.11 (77).
Tigers coach Jimmy Allan said it was just a frustrating day out.
“It was a very ordinary day for us, we were just not good enough for long enough again,” he said.
“We had our chances in the first quarter and didn’t capitalise at times. In the second quarter we went completely away from the way we wanted to play.
“Our effort defensively at times was nonexistent which hurts me to say.
“We kicked some goals late in the game when we took the game on a little bit hard to know if it was a result of us playing better or the opposition putting the cue in the rack.
“The game was well and truly done by the time we got a bit of a run on.”
Allan said the one positive outcome of the game was that the group never gave up and they again fought the game out this week.
He said that made the end result even more frustrating with how we played throughout the whole game.
“Defensively we were really poor, just our ball movement and decision making and just care and working for each other wasn’t at a level which will compete.”
Allan said the playing group couldn’t take whole responsibility for the loss and the coaches would have a look at what they were doing as well.
He said in saying that the players did things that were totally against what they had done in the last couple of years.
Anthony Depasquale kicked three goals for the Tigers.
Dom Brew had 35 disposals for the Tigers while Jack Riding, Jaelen Pavlidis and Angus Hicks had 23 each.
Allan said they didn’t have many winners on the day. He said Flynn Young was good in the second half when he won a number of one-on-one battles, while Bior Malual tried hard on the wing to get them going.
The Tigers sit 10th on the ladder with a 3-4 record.
Allan said for them the focus is on the process more than the results.
“The ladder is normally a good indication of how we are going, we haven’t been able to play good enough for long enough,” he said.
“Even the week before we were good for two and half quarters and that’s not enough either.
“I don’t know whether the group was satisfied. I felt that a little bit this week … they were maybe a bit comfortable.
“We maybe need to have them more on edge a bit more.”
The Tigers play Sandringham Zebras on Sunday. The Zebras have just one win for the season.
It will be the first time Allan has coached against them, with the two sides not facing each other last week.
In the VFLW, North Melbourne Werribee returned to the winners list with a big win against the Box Hill Hawks.
Scores were level at quarter time before the Kangaroos kicked into gear and ran away with it, 9.7 (61)-4.3 (27).
Madeleine Di Cosmo had 27 possessions for the Kangaroos, while Charlotte Ryan had 25.
Meanwhile, Kangaroos Tessa Boyd will get another chance at AFLW level after being added to North Melbourne’s list
The 27-year-old is a rebounding defender and has been named in the VFLW Team of the Year for the past two seasons.
