The rise of the Werribee Bears is not as meteoric as it seems on face value.
The Bears have burst to the top of the NRL Victoria first-grade standings after six rounds, but the blitz was going on long before the season kicked off.
Bears coach Phil Pese told Star Weekly the foundation of the strong early-season form could be found in the gruelling summer months on the training track and in the gym.
“Our hard work in pre-season is paying off,” he said. “We prepared ourselves physically the best we can.”
Werribee is yet to taste defeat this season, five wins and a draw causing the rest of the clubs to take notice of the boys from the west.
But nobody at the Bears is getting carried away with their position on the ladder, largely because of Pese’s constant reminders.
He’s a methodical coach with a one-week-at- a-time focus.
Pese has warned his players of the dangers of taking your eyes off the ball.
“We prepare ourselves weekly and don’t look too far ahead,” he said.
“If we focus on the now and don’t worry too much about the future, at the end of each week we’ll achieve our goal and make baby steps towards the ultimate goal.”
The one key ingredient the Bears have this season that was not evident in the past is belief.
The players believe they can beat any team in the competition and the club believes in the players it’s assembled.
This squad is ready to make a deep push into the finals.
The competition statistics back that up, with the Bears ranked No.1 in both attack and defence.
They have so many weapons to breach an opposition defence and Pese likes his side’s unpredictability.
“The guys definitely believe now,” he said. “My job as a coach is when players start believing a little too much … you need to bring them back down.
“It’s all well and good that we’re number one, the stats say this and we’re the form team, but our season can change in three weeks.
“We’re more focused, more driven and hungrier than the last couple of years.”
The Bears will be fresh as a daisy for their away game against South Eastern Titans on Saturday.
Surprisingly, they had no players representing the Victorian state team in Adelaide at the weekend.
Chase Hoare, the competition’s leading point scorer with 52, was selected but unavailable.
The rest of the Bears were overlooked, including first-grade top try-scorer Liam Reid (nine tries).
Pese was bemused by the lack of Bears in the representative squad.
“It was a shock to me that we don’t have more players in the team,” he said. “I’ve voiced my opinion to the VRL.”
The Bear facts
• Ranked No.1 for points with 268.
• Ranked No.1 for defence, conceding just 126 points.
• Top try-scorer (Liam Reid, nine).
• Top points scorer (Chase Hoare, 52).
