Tara Murray
There was nothing on the line for Werribee on Sunday in the final round of Victorian Football League but it did enough to come away with a 15th straight win.
With other results in the final round having come through, Werribee was guaranteed to finish in second spot no matter the outcome of its match against Sydney.
Werribee started well on the road and led by 23 points at the first break. From there it was a more even game, with Werribee kicking nine goals to seven, to come away with a 13.11 (89)-8.8 (56) win.
Werribee coach Michael Barlow was pleased that the group were able to stick to what they do best, despite having nothing on the line.
“It was a pretty tough challenge for us on the weekend,” he said. “It tested our mantra of staying in the moment and what we did in that game.
“Everything was set and forget from the standpoint of knowing we will finish second and having a week off.
“The most pleasing thing was we put out a pretty good performance when there wasn’t much on the line and we continued to build confidence in the way we play.”
Barlow said they faced a pretty strong Sydney side, which had 14 or 15 AFL-listed players and knew they needed to get off to a good start as the away side.
He said after the first part of the game it was a pretty even contest.
“We knew they were going to be a strong side so we needed to start well and put them on the backfoot,” he said.
“They rallied late in the first quarter and the start of the second and they started to give us good pressure.
“We knew exactly what it was going to be like and it was quite similar to the Collingwood game.
“We did bring them back into the game with some of the things we did, we allowed them to lift the intensity around the ball.”
With a big finals series coming up, Barlow said it wasn’t the worst thing to be tested at this time of the year.
He said the fact that they were on the road added to the different things they had to take into account.
“Going on the road we expended a fair bit of extra energy with the plane trip and sleeping in an unfamiliar environment,” he said.
“The accessibly of the change rooms that weren’t close by as well. We adjusted to all the elements from what we are used to playing at home.
“We got it done and didn’t have any excuses, we found a way.”
Hudson Garoni kicked three goals for Werribee, while Shaun Mannagh, Matthew Hanson and Kye Declase.
Hanson led the way in disposals with 34, while Dom Brew and Tom Gribble had 33 and 31 respectively.
Barlow said it was some of the usual suspects that really stood up for them.
“It was the more experienced players, the leaders in Dom Brew, Matt Hanson, Michael Sodomaco and Tom Gribble that led from the front,” he said.
“The backline was good for the majority of the game and the mids when the game was to be won really set the game up.
“The more experienced players sensed the moment and the occasion to get to work and lead the way.”
Werribee has a bye this week, with the wildcard round for the teams that finished seventh through to seventh.
The following week it will host Box Hill in a qualifying final.
Barlow said having known they were going to have the week off a number of weeks ago they had done some forward planning.
“We’ll freshen them up during the week and then move into some match type simulation,” he said.
“The group will train on the weekend. We’ll be fairly methodical with what we do this week looking ahead to next Saturday.”
Barlow said they are looking to go into the first final at nearly full strength. Jack Henderson is the one query with a knee injury, with Barlow backing him in to make himself available.
The qualifying final will be the first time that Werribee faces Box Hill this season, which adds intrigue to the final.
It is also set to be the 100th VFL game for Matt Hanson.
“He has come back in and played well,” Barlow said of Hanson. “He had 34 disposals and kicked two goals on the weekend and was one of our best players and there’s big upside with him only playing two or three games.
“It’s pretty cool to reach 100 games at this level, unprecedented commitment, especially during COVID.
“Like all the experienced players he will want nothing to be about them individually, want to be a team thing.”
