A huge triple milestone day was not inspiration enough for a lacklustre Werribee in the Victorian Football League on Sunday.
Werribee copped a heavy 58-point defeat at the hands of Collingwood at Victoria Park, spoiling the 100th game of Ben Moloney and 50th games of Joe Maishman and Sam Collins.
Maishman was disappointed the side could not get it done for Moloney, who was playing against his former club.
Moloney, a former Collingwood VFL best-and-fairest winner, received a guard of honour after the game.
“I think he was loving the fact he was playing his old mob,” Maishman said.
“He would’ve loved to have got the win, but at the end of the game, even though we lost, they showed him great support for his 100th, so it was still a good moment for him.
“They all lined up at the end of the game and clapped him off, so it was pretty special for him.”
Werribee did not have the cohesion it desired, too often turning the ball over at key moments.
When the game margin was out of reach, some of Werribee’s players put the cue in the rack, not showing the fighting spirit
that has been displayed for most of the season.
“They were able to run away with it, especially in the last quarter, which was pretty disappointing,” Maishman said.
“Most of the year we have been coming with a late charge home in the fourth quarter … we’ll go through it all during the week and try and fix it against Essendon at home this week.”
The desire of Dom Brew and Kurt Aylett could not be faulted. The onballers combined for a ridiculous 38 tackles – 20 to Brew and 18 to Aylett.
“They’re absolute tackling machines those two,” Maishman said. “They love hunting the footy and they love hunting the opposition.”
Aylett was named best for Werribee for his two-way game – not only did he perform well in a stopping role, he was also able to hurt Collingwood the other way.
“Kurt had an unreal game,” Maishman said. “He did a good job on one of their players and ended up winning a lot of the footy himself, getting on the scoreboard and laying those tackles.”
The Werribee defence was under fire for much of the game.
Matthew Brett and Nick Coughlan stood their ground.
Brett is putting together a nice patch of form since returning from local football.
Jack Berry had the most hit-outs on the ground with 39, but he got some good assistance from Josh Porter, who played a ruck-forward role.
Werribee, 12th on the ladder, will go back to the drawing board ahead of a Saturday afternoon clash with premiership contender Essendon at Avalon Airport Oval on Saturday.
“We’ll stick to our strengths and try to get them with the way we move the footy,” Maishman said.
“If we can bring the hardcore footy we know we can play, we should be right to get them.
“It’s a matter of bringing that for four quarters.”
