Tara Murray
Werribee blew out the cobwebs with a solid win against Frankston in the opening round of the Victorian Football League.
Werribee headed down the freeway on Saturday night to take on the Dolphins, with both teams keen to get off to a good start.
In a match that won’t be remembered for being the best football, Werribee kicked away in the second half to win, 12.11 (83)-7.15 (57).
Werribee coach Michael Barlow was just happy to come away with the win.
“It’s been a long build up,” he said.
“I think both teams played like a product of a big buildup. It was pretty physical, a lot of mistakes and it was more of a bit of a war between two sides scraping and clawing for a good start to the year.”
Barlow said both teams had momentums of dominance in the first half, but neither team could take control of the game.
He said the second quarter, when the Dolphins peppered the goals, left the coaching panel far from impressed.
“We probably started the better and didn’t take opportunities, then they had a really good second quarter especially around clearances.
“They peppered the goals in the second quarter, our backline stood up really strongly. I think they stood up in terms of how we played that quarter. We weren’t at all impressed to be fair.”
Werribee was slow out of the blocks in the third quarter, with Barlow saying they would look to address that after starting slow in three of four quarters.
He said Frankston could have quite easily taken the game away from them.
“We’re trying to figure it out … is it a player shift in mentality or a player personal and who we start on the bench each quarter? I don’t think there is an answer.
“We have to have a good look at how we start quarters, as Frankston could have taken the game away from us.
“Some of their top end talents can very quickly take the game away from us. Trent Mynott was close to, if not the best on ground.
“He threw some things at us which we didn’t handle too well.”
Shaun Mannagh and Tom McCaffrey kicked three goals each in the win for Werribee.
Co-Captain Tom Gribble had 35 disposals, while Ollie Hanrahan had 26 disposals.
Barlow said there was a bit of experience and youth that stood up. There were eight players who made their club debuts in the win. The club also fielded seven players under the age of 23.
“I loved the game of Jack Henderson in and around the bal l… He was the one clean with the ball,” Barlow said.
“Nathan Cooper was phoenmal, In the absence of some maturity in our back line, he was terrific.
“Some debutants and players in the early parts of their career were also pretty admirable.”
Werribee escaped the match without any injuries.
Werribee has the bye this week.
Barlow said while it wasn’t ideal they had planned around it.
“We’ve known for a while we would have a bye,” he said.
“We’ve scheduled a fairly stacked pre-season program. Most of the guys have played, including an intra club, five games.
“Off the back of practice matches we were a little bit more battered and bruised heading into the round one.
“Took a risk and it paid off.”
