By Tara Murray
It hasn’t been about the scoreboard as much as the way it has been playing for Werribee Districts in the Western Football League division 1.
The undefeated Tigers have played several of the sides at the bottom of the ladder in the last month and came away with big wins on each occasion.
Since round six, the Tigers have won every game by at least 50 points with three 100-plus wins including in the past two weeks.
Tigers coach Chris Gilham said it has been a bit of a different challenge for the group.
“The message has been to the boys that we were playing a few of the teams towards the bottom end and we don’t want to drop ground,” he said.
“We don’t want to drop a loss in a game that we should be winning. We don’t get more points for beating second or anything other team.
“We’ve been good enough to grind out the results in winter and the margins have been irrelevant.”
Gilham said they had been happy with how they were playing.
He felt they were playing in a positive manner and had some good results in the toughest part of the season.
“We’re still playing at a good level every week,” he said. “While we’ve had some big wins, our biggest challenges are still to come.”
On Saturday, the Tigers faced Newport, which is struggling a bit with injuries in its first season in the top flight.
The Tigers dominated from the start and were able to come away with a 23.16 (154)-2.5 (17) win.
Joshua Mould kicked five goals for the Tigers, while Garrett Spinks kicked four goals.
Spinks, Jack Fletcher and Daniel Schibeci were named the Tigers best.
Gilham said one of their main focuses in these matches was to make sure they were healthy and in good knick when the challenges come.
The Tigers remain a game clear on top of the ladder.
The Tigers face the other sides in the top five in the next five weeks, which will give them the bigger tests they are after.
Gilham said there wasn’t much between the top four sides with all of those matches having been close.
Hoppers Crossing also had a big win as it accounted for Point Cook Centrals on Saturday, 26.24 (180)-5.5 (35).
Ryan Kitchen kicked nine goals in a best on ground performance for the Warriors.
Josh Pickess was also busy up forward as he kicked seven goals.
Josh Gerolemou and Daniel Strnak were named the Sharks best.
Elsewhere, Point Cook fell just short against Spotswood, losing 10.12 (72)-7.11 (53).
Billy and Tyler Kolyniuk were named the Bulldogs best.
In division 2, Wyndhamvale suffered its first loss of the season as it lost to North Footscray, the Suns beat Laverton, while Tarneit had its best performance of the season in its loss to Albanvale.
