Tara Murray
Werribee produced its best performance of the Victorian Football League to demolish North Melbourne on Sunday.
After showing patches against Collingwood the week before, the Tigers found another level on Sunday afternoon.
They jumped out to an early lead and they were able to build on it throughout, winning 13.21 (99)-4.6 (30).
Werribee coach Jimmy Allan walked away pretty happy after that result.
“The boys played really well,” he said. “That was as complete a performance we’ve had this year.
“Inaccuracy in front of goal was the only thing that let us down. The match was pretty pleasing.”
Allan said the group had been keen to build on their good pieces from the week before.
He said everything clicked this week.
“We were able to do it for longer,” he said. “We started well and the midfield was right on top.
“The defenders were excellent and the forwards got opportunities in front of goals.
“There were plenty of options and we looked like scoring when we went inside 50.”
Allan said they were hoping their poor kicking in front of goal was just a one off. He said for the most part they had been pretty good with their accuracy.
“North Melbourne looked to take us further out than we would have liked,” he said. “We missed some of those and we need to try and get close in the coming weeks.
“Going into the week we were sitting fourth or fifth in accuracy in front of goal.
“We finished about 13th after the weekend. We still scored 99 points which is good, but we left a few out there.”
Hudson Garoni kicked 3.4 in the win, while Jay Dahlhaus kicked three goals as well.
Allan said there were plenty of contributors across the day.
“Nathan Cooper did the job on one of their key forwards [Tyler Sellers] and kept him to zero touches until the last minute of the game when he went into the ruck.
“Dom Brew was excellent in the middle and Jack Henderson was also really good. Jake Smith did his job and Matt Keast played well before getting injured.
“Cooper Whyte was good on a wing and Jack Riding and Riley Bice were good. There were plenty of contributors.”
Allan said it was disappointing for Keast, who was a late inclusion on the day for Angus Hicks, who was ill.
The other injury concern out of the match was Riding.
“He popped his shoulder out in the warm up when he slipped over,” he said. “We had a discussion if he was going to play and he was under no illusions that he was playing.
“We backed him in and he played well.”
It was a good day all round for Werribee with the club hosting its past players day.
Allan said it was really good to have the former players in the rooms after the game along with the players’ friends and family.
He said they couldn’t have asked for a better day.
Werribee sits in fourth spot after nine rounds, with six wins from its eight matches.
This week Werribee heads up to Gold Coast to play the Gold Coast Suns on Sunday afternoon in the grand final rematch.
“They had 19 listed players on the weekend,” Allan said. “They had a comprehensive win against Carlton.
“It will be like a mini final, it’ll be an exciting week and hopefully we can step up. The sides are quite different from the grand final.
“We still have a core group that played last year. I’m not sure if it will mean extra, to get one back.
“They’ll want to make a good account of themselves.”
