By Lance Jenkinson
Wyndhamvale has been playing with great confidence in the Western Region Football League division 2.
Demoted from the top flight last season, the high-flying Falcons have not only marched to a 6-0 record, but they have been pecking at the carcasses of their opponents.
Falcons player-coach Chris Moreland is in his first year in charge of the Black Forest Road club, but is well aware of the dancing on the Falcons’ grave that happened last season.
Moreland has implored his players to serve up a similar dose to the clubs in the second tier.
“Where Wyndhamvale has been, they’ve been up [in the first division] for a long time,” he said.
“They’ve been smashed, they’ve been on the receiving end of a lot of hidings overs the years.
“It’s good to start giving some hidings back.”
Wyndhamvale served up a three-quarter hiding to Newport at Wyndham Vale South Oval on Saturday before putting the cue in the rack.
The Falcons had opened up a 78-point lead while keeping the Porters to two goals in the first three quarters.
They eventually settled on a 55-point win because of Newport’s willingness to fight it out till the end.
Moreland was delighted with the brand of football played by Wyndhamvale for the most part.
“We want to be really good at the contested footy and we smashed them at that,” he said.
“Every chance we’d get, we’d tackle them.
“We had scoreboard pressure.
“We also did the basic things that makes the football club great again.”
Instead of putting Bol Kolong on a pedestal for his stellar game in the ruck or highlighting the six-goal performance of Nathan Bisset, Moreland preferred to focus on the collective.
Moreland is a team-first coach and individuals will have big games as a result of that, not the team winning as a result of a big game from an individual.
“I’ll tell you something, at Wyndhamvale we don’t rely on one person,” Moreland said.
“We’re a club that likes the 18 people on the ground chipping in.
“It might be Joel Russell one week, it might be Jack Tessari, it might be Nathan Bisset, it might be Daniel Smith – it could be anyone.
“Footy is an easy game, if everyone beats their man, you’ll win.”
PHOTO GALLERY: Wyndhamvale vs Newport
With some persistent prodding, Moreland eventually relented and rated Kolang’s impact as second to none on the field.
“When he’s winning the ruck taps and our midfield is getting a chance with the footy, it makes a huge difference,” Moreland said.
The Falcons will face a tricky trip to bottom-of-the-ladder West Footscray.
Moreland insists his side’s mentality will not change whether it is the top or bottom team the Falcons are facing.
“Every game you play is different,” he said.
“We’ll show up, do our thing, play our brand.”
Elsewhere in division 2, Point Cook Centrals defended their home turf to record a 20-point win over Parkside. Heath Grundy’s three goals and Josh Grech’s impact were crucial.
Manor Lakes had a tough day at the office, managing just three goals in a 48-point defeat to Yarraville Seddon.
MORE WRFL NEWS
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