By Lance Jenkinson
Werribee’s first real test of the new Victorian Football League season came at quarter-time in its 39-point opening round win over North Melbourne at Avalon Airport Oval on Saturday night.
Staring an alarming 25-point deficit in the face, Werribee called on its leaders to point the way back into the match.
If there was ever an endorsement of a player-voted leadership group model, it came to the fore at this moment.
Dom Brew and Matt Munro took the Werribee players aside and called for calm and their teammates were all ears.
First-game coach Mark Williams then echoed their sentiments in his quarter-time speech.
What could have been a stressful time for Werribee was smoothed out by its leaders.
Order was restored and Werribee went on to record a runaway win.
Timm House, a first year member of Werribee’s leadership group, could see that his side was in capable hands in that moment.
“It does feel like we do have a good number of level-headed blokes who have played a bit of footy and have a high level of care for their teammates,” House said.
“A couple of the boys [Brew and Munro] brought us in before we went into the huddle and said similar things to what Mark later said, and they both backed it up on the field.
“He [Williams] just told us to calm down at quarter-time because we had eight debutants for Werribee and everyone was over-excited a bit.
“We were butchering the ball a bit in the first quarter and he just told us to go back to what we know and back ourselves.”
Werribee played exactly the style of football that Williams would have envisaged in the final three quarters.
They were dangerous in an attacking sense, piling on 12 goals after quarter-time, and their team defence was spot on, restricting North Melbourne to just two goals after its six-goal opening term burst.
“After that first quarter we were a lot different side,” House said. “I thought we were really good as a team defensively.
“We knew they wanted to kick, mark and possess the ball a lot, but we were able to get on top of them in terms of uncontested marks and really shut them down in that area.”
Jack Henderson has made the move to the forward line for Werribee.
The youngster had some teething problems familiarising himself with the role during the summer, but all the hard work paid off as he kicked four goals in a scintillating performance.
“It was great for Hendo’s confidence to get a few goals,” House said. “Throughout the pre-season, he’s looked very dangerous, but it hadn’t quite clicked for him.
“It doesn’t happen straight away, but he’s put a lot of work into it, stuck at the forward craft and it worked for him.
“He did everything right, got to the right spots and finished off his work too.”
House marvelled at what Werribee’s midfield could be this season.
Michael Barlow’s addition to Matt Hanson and Tom Gribble is as good as it gets for a VFL side. Couple that trio with dual ruckmen Angus Clarke and Jack Berry and it should ring alarm bells for opposition midfields.
“That was just the start of what we’re going to see from our midfield,” House said. “I’m very excited about the cattle we’ve got going through there and the real upside they’ve got individually and as a group. Combine them with the two ruckmen who are going to give us a great contest and I’m pretty happy to be a forward in this team.”
House had a superb debut for Werribee, finishing with 15 disposals, nine marks and kicking 2.3. The former Geelong draftee is excited to give his football career a new lease of life at Watton Street.
“The opportunity to play for a standalone club was a big attraction,” House said. “Being able to continue my VFL career and develop as a player was a big reason why I wanted to keep playing VFL.”
