The vibes are high at Chirnside Park ahead of Werribee’s first Victorian Football League grand final since 2005.
Werribee will take on the Gold Coast Suns at Carton’s Ikon Park on Sunday afternoon, where Werribee will seek to lift the VFL premiership cup for the first time in 30 years.
“We’re excited, we’re ready to go, we’ve recovered, it’ll be a normal week and then get ready for Sunday, all systems go,” Werribee forward Nick Hayes said.
“It’s pretty exciting, it’s been a long season, we’ve had a good year so it would be nice to cap it off with a grand final win, but there’s a long way to go before we get there.”
“I think you always hope that you’re going to have this season, we probably didn’t expect to go as well as we have, but we’ve had some young guys really come on strong, and the leaders have been able to perform as well so we’ve probably exceeded our expectations which is great.
“I’ve only been here for the last three years but Sods (Michael Sodomaco), Tommy Gribble, Matt Hanson, Nick Coughlan, they’ve been here a long time, they’ve put in the hard yards over the last five, 10 years and it’s great to see them play some finals footy and play in a grand final this weekend.”
The last time Werribee played the Suns was back in round nine, where Werribee found itself significantly down at half time before coming home with a wet sail to give them just a two point win.
“We definitely don’t want to be seven goals down at half time,” Hayes said.
“We’ve started pretty well in our last two finals, hopefully we do the same again, just contest early and be the first team to settle, that will be our goal on the weekend.
“But they’re a good side so it’s not going to be an easy thing to do, hopefully start a bit better and then finish the same way we did.”
Being the 30 year anniversary of Werribee’s most recent and only premiership, and the current side within striking distance of a second flag, the energy and vibe around the town is palpable.
“In the change rooms on the weekend there were past players everywhere, supporters everywhere,” Hayes said.
“It’s great, the whole town of Werribee is getting behind us, it’s an exciting time.”
