Werribee Districts are a step closer to enhancing their status as the Western Football League’s pre-eminent club after securing their fourth consecutive grand final appearance.
The Tigers outgunned Caroline Springs in Saturday’s major semi-final, piling on six goals to one with the aid of the breeze in the final term to turn a 17-point three-quarter-time deficit into a 17-point triumph.
Chris Gilham’s men were nigh on unstoppable in the final 30 minutes, booting 6.6 to 1.2 to seal a 16.10 (106)-12.17 (89) win and another shot at premiership glory.
“Although we were 17 points down, we definitely thought and believed we were close enough to get the job done if we could play a smart last quarter with the breeze at our back,” Gilham said.
“I thought that’s exactly what our boys did. We didn’t blaze away, we didn’t just get that rush of blood and try to dump everything long with the breeze. We really thought our way through it and got some good inside-50 looks and were good enough to take some of those set shots.
“Our midfielders did a really good job around the contest and gave us really good field position. Our mids really lifted around the ball. I think we had 17 or 18 inside 50s in that last quarter, to score 12 times.
“It was a great effort by everyone, but our mids really got to work and gave us a good look at it, and a lot of opportunities.”
Gilham said Werribee Districts delivered a consummate team performance to earn another weekend off ahead of the September 20 decider against either Caroline Springs or Yarraville-Seddon.
He heaped praise on Harrison White (four goals), Lucas Rocci (one goal) and skipper Dillon Viojo-Rainbow for their efforts through the midfield.
Big man Joshua Puli performed manfully in his battle with Lakers star Alexander Paech, while Cooper Atkinson kept Ryan Allan to three goals.
Daniel Nielson bagged four majors for the winners, while Michael Luxford kicked three.
“You don’t win big games if you don’t get something from everyone,” Gilham said.
He also credited Caroline Springs for a “terrific” performance and said the game “could have gone either way”.
Gilham said it was a “huge effort” to qualify for another grand final, with the Tigers claiming the 2023 flag and finishing runner-up in 2022 and last year.
He also pointed to the fact Werribee Districts fielded 22 one-point players at the weekend, underlining their dedication to junior development.
Werribee Districts will have a lighter week on the training track before ramping things up once they know their opponent for the final game of the year.
It will be their second break in three weeks after they finished the home-and-away rounds on top of the ladder.
“It is difficult to get the balance right, but I thought we did really well from the last game to this game with that, and we’ll probably copy the exact same plan this time,” Gilham said.
“We will train hard and do as much as we can to mimic a game and get ourselves there fresh with no excuses.”
