Jarred Moore and the Werribee Football Club was initially a marriage of convenience.
Moore was dipping his toes into coaching and development with AFL club North Melbourne, and its VFL alignment with the Tigers offered an avenue for the hard-at-it onballer to continue plying his trade as a footballer.
Neither party could have expected the honeymoon period to last so long.
Moore has become only the eighth player in the club’s 50-year history to claim multiple Bruce Montgomery trophies for best-and-fairest in the seniors.
The 28-year-old is only the third player to achieve the feat in consecutive seasons, a mark of his consistency in the two years he has been with the club.
“There’s definitely some good players there and it’s an honour to be recognised with some of those names,” he said.
“I really wanted to get going with coaching and to play some good footy in that time is a bonus.”
Moore has enjoyed a decorated career. Starting out with the Dandenong Stingrays in the TAC Cup, he was selected by Sydney with pick 31 in the 2004 national draft. He managed 68 games for the Swans between 2005-11 and kicked 52 goals.
Moore arrived at Werribee in 2013 to launch a coaching career as a playing midfield coach. He’s offered a veteran presence to a young line-up and led by example on the field.
He pipped midfielders Jye Bolton and Michael Sodamaco for the Tigers’ top honour and said they were “stiff” after missing games through injury.
“That’s where I’m at in my career, just trying to help these young blokes come through,” Moore said. “It’s great to see some improvement out of them.”
Moore’s playing future is up in the air.
The veteran will hold discussions with head coach John Lamont to discuss whether he fits into his 2015 plans.
“I’ll have to sit down with JL and figure out what’s best for me and what’s best for the club,” Moore said. “I still love the game, that hasn’t changed, but there’s still some conversations to be had before we get across there.”
