Tara Murray
Werribee’s core group is back for another tilt at glory in the Victorian Football League.
As training officially kicked off last week with the whole group back on the track, the pieces of the puzzle are starting to fall into place for 2023.
Werribee coach Michael Barlow said everyone was excited to be back into another pre-season.
“The last couple of weeks have been more trial players and the returning first to fourth year players as well,” he said.
“This [last] week we have ramped it up and doing some testing. We’ve got 22 of the 23 that played in the last game that have come back.
“Our retention has been really strong.”
Barlow said overall they were looking at about 75 per cent of last season’s list returning for next year.
He said they had to have some tough discussions at the end of the season with other players as they looked to strengthen their list.
The only key player not returning is Ollie Hanrahan.
“It speaks of the group that 22 of the 23 have come back,” Barlow said. “Ollie is leaving for a great opportunity to play cricket overseas.
“He was looking to return but he had an opportunity that was too good to refuse.”
Barlow said with the core group returning it made things easier and allowed them to get straight into training.
He said it was the leaders who were leading the front with their commitment to each other and wanting to have another crack.
“Michael Sodomaco is in his 12th season and has only ever played senior footy at Werribee,” he said. “It’s a huge achievement for him.
“Tom Gribble is similar coming into the VFL since coming out of the TAC Cup. Our other co-captain Dom Brew, Nick Coughlan… They’ve all been a part of it for a long time.”
Barlow said they had been specific in their recruiting, targeting key position players and some smaller forward half players.
Harry Grintell, who played with the Greater Western Sydney Giants’ VFL side this year has joined the club, as has Cam McLeod, who was on Essendon’s VFL list.
The club is set to announce some other new signings in the coming weeks with Barlow saying they would have more depth in the squad.
Barlow said for the group heading into this pre-season, it’s about building on what they did this year when they missed finals.
“We’re not reinventing the wheel or turning things on its head,” he said.
“For us 60 to 70 per cent of things are really good. It’s about starting to tidy up around the edges,” he said.
“We had a lot of close losses. For me it’s a holistic approach and looking for everyone to improve.
“We’ll look to have a pretty decent block before Christmas. With 70 per cent of the players and staff having been involved long enough to know what’s what, it’ll be a pretty intensive block.
“And then we’re back in January.”
