It has been a bumpy ride for 18 weeks, but Werribee will be part of this season’s Hockey Victoria men’s Vic League 2 finals after all.
The Tigers have not made things easy for themselves this season, losing games that were pencilled in as wins, but also causing a shock or two to reach the 30 points needed for finals.
Goal difference was the Tigers saviour after Saturday’s dull 1-0 loss to Knox in the last round at President’s Park. It was a deflating performance after the Tigers had thrilled supporters in the second half of the season.
Tigers’ co-captain Jayden Street told Star Weekly it was better to get the off-day out of the way before cut-throat finals begin.
“It was not one of our best days,” he said.
“We dropped down to fourth, but it doesn’t really affect us that much – third or fourth is the same anyway. After dropping the game this week, we’ve got work to do on the track to make sure we get it right because now it’s cut-throat, we can’t afford to drop anymore games.”
Werribee looked back on their round 11 encounter with lowly Greater Dandenong Warriors as the turning point of their season.
From a neutral perspective, it was a game that will be remembered for some time, as both sides attacked en route to the 4-4 result.
For the Tigers, it was a dreadful result against a Warriors’ side that finished the year with the wooden spoon.
“It wasn’t convincing whatsoever,” Street said. “Everyone had a good hard look at themselves after that game.
“From there, we seemed to build our season, and started to realise we were good enough to beat the top teams, so we shouldn’t be dropping points to the lower teams.”
An honesty session, organised by the players, was also crucial in getting the season back on track.
Each and every Tigers’ player was told a few home truths, and it had the desired affect.
“We were honest with each other about what we needed from each other’s games, moving forward,” Street said.
“Sometimes you hear a few things that you know, and sometimes you hear a few things that you’re not aware of, and you don’t realise the team wants that from you.
“That seemed to spark us a bit.”
Werribee will face CV Blazers in a do-or-die game in the first week of the finals. The Tigers go in as hot favourites having beaten the Blazers convincingly in their two meetings this season.
“So we’re going into the game confident that we can get a result,” Street said.
