The challengers keep stepping up, but the Werribee Bears remain immovable at the top of the NRL Victoria men’s first grade.
The Bears have been taken down to the wire in the past two weeks, but emerged with gutsy wins to all but secure the minor premiership.
Bears co-coach Josh Makiri is adamant the hard-fought wins only strengthen his team’s already steely resolve.
“Getting ourselves out of tough situations builds good character and builds good bonding,” he said.
Werribee has lost only once this season – to Sunbury United Tigers five weeks ago.
In back-to-back premierships in the past two seasons, the Bears have seen only Casey Warriors as genuine threats
But now the Tigers are in the mix.
“Definitely, they’re a threat to us,” Makiri said. “We knew that going into the game.”
Werribee earned payback over Sunbury United in a 30-26 win at Haines Drive Reserve on Saturday. It was a crucial win for the Bears as it just about wraps up top spot and restored their mental edge over the competition.
“I’ll take my hat off to Sunbury – they never switched off for the full 80 minutes,” Makiri said. “That was the best part about that game – they played 80, we played 80 and we still got up.”
The difference in a close-fought game was the play of Werribee’s halves combination of captain Dylan Vea Te Whare and Marcus Kaponga.
“We were getting opportunities and executing through Marcus and Dylan,” Makiri said.
“They were pretty much controlling the game.”
Kaponga’s return has added a bit of unpredictability to the line-up and lightens the load for Vea Te Whare. Kaponga has missed all but three games due to a broken hand.
Werribee will face Casey Warriors in a mouth-watering grand final re-match at Casey Fields on Saturday.
In women’s first grade, Werribee Bears enjoyed a 16-6 win over Altona Roosters on Friday night.
The Bears are on track for the finals.
