HIT ’em hard, hit ’em early. That was the simple plan for Werribee Tigers on their trip to Coburg in the Victorian Football League on Saturday.
And it worked, the Tigers’ fast start proving too much of a burden for Coburg to come back from in the wet and slippery conditions as Werribee powered to a 51-point win at Coburg Oval.
“Early in the game we were able to win the stoppage and use the footy out of the stoppage and move the ball quite well in the wet,” Tigers coach Scott West said.
“That got us on the scoreboard early and it’s a lot harder to chase in those conditions than it is to lead, so we were able to maintain our lead.”
A nice trend is beginning to creep in for the Tigers. So often during the opening month bemoaning slow starts as affecting their game, the Tigers have turned it around to burn the opposition out of the blocks in the past three games.
The quarter-time huddle has been a nicer place to be as the Tigers have held leads of 33 points (against Geelong), 39 (Williamstown) and 20 on Saturday against Coburg.
The process to get to that lead is more important in the eyes of West.
He lauded his onball brigade of best-on-ground Ben Ross, Travis Tuck, Ben Sharp, Sam Gibson, Will Sierakowski, Scott Sherlock and Leigh Harding, just to name a few, for setting the tone with their physicality around the contest.
“It was going to be one of those games that if you didn’t come out and compete, you could get blown out of the water,” West said. “The ball was wet, it was slippery and on the ground. You had to play with some intent and intensity.”
The Tigers were able to produce their best football for the whole four quarters.
They learnt a big lesson six days earlier against Williamstown that if you take your foot off the pedal at any point, you are giving an open invitation to the opposition to take the points.
“It was really disappointing to lose to Williamstown,” West said. “We played some terrific footy, but we learnt you can’t be off your game for 10 minutes, five minutes or even two minutes.
“The way we want to play, the way we have to play and where games are won is the team that plays the four quarters the best, or plays the game out, and that’s what we did.
“They came at us a bit in the third quarter and we managed to steady just before three-quarter-time and go on with it.”
Ben Warren was again the stand-out forward for the Tigers with four goals.
The 23yearold has booted 18 goals in six matches and that’s largely due to an increased workrate.
Sierakowski chimed in with three and there were two apiece for Sam Wormald and Jack Purton-Smith.
The Tigers hit the road for a clash with Frankston at the Frankston Oval on Sunday with their sights set on consecutive wins for the first time this season.
They will have an extra incentive, with captain Robbie Castello set to play his 138th game and break the club’s games record held by former skipper Dom Gleeson.
“It’s an outstanding effort,” West said. “Footy is a team sport, but through consistency, work rate and work ethic, you’re able to achieve individual things in footy.”
