HOPPERS Crossing rolled out its golden generation of players from the early noughties at Hogans Road Oval on Saturday to celebrate the 10-year reunion of its 2002 Western Region Football League division 1 premiership.
Past players, officials and supporters got the chance to reflect on that special September day a decade ago when the Warriors claimed their first top-flight flag under coach Larry Simmons and captain Greg Doyle.
Those turning back the clock to remember the good old days also witnessed what could be the start of another exciting era under second-year coach David Mitchell.
Click on the image below for a gallery of Saturday’s big clash.
The Warriors are playing an entertaining brand of football with a young up and coming team, and showed the greats of a bygone era in a thrilling 16-point win over Port Melbourne Colts that another wave of success could be just around the corner.
The stakes were huge for the Warriors. This was not only a chance to impress some of their club champions, but also get one up on the Colts in what was effectively an eight-point game as the two sides will most likely be jostling for an all-important top-three spot later in the season, which provides a finals double chance.
Warriors captain Brad Murphy told the Weekly that it was one of the most stirring wins he has been involved in during his time at Hogans Road. “It was, yeah, probably one of the better wins. It was an important game for the club in terms of playing in front of all the players from the 10-year reunion. To get a break on Port Colts in third spot was important, too.”
From a 14-point lead at three-quarter-time, the Warriors found themselves trailing with eight minutes to go.
“We let them get back in the game,” Murphy said. “That’s a bit of a concern.”
Then came a passage of play from two young Warriors that would have warmed the hearts of the administration that has put its trust in youth.
It started with a brave mark by 16-year-old Jackson Viola, who back-pedalled with the flight of the ball and somehow managed to take a one-handed mark in traffic.
Viola, a rookie who has averaged 19 possessions in his first three senior games, had the presence of mind to dish a handball off to the running Aaron Williams, a player Murphy rates as “the best” to have come out of the under-18s in recent years.
He blasted away with his penetrating left foot from 60 metres to goal on the run and put the home side back in front.
The Warriors never looked back from that moment.
They’re now 7-2 and are fast closing the gap on the ‘big two’, Spotswood and Altona.
