WERRIBEE Tigers are clawing at the rearview mirrors of the Victorian Football League top three after claiming a fourth win in five games with an 82-point thrashing of North Ballarat Roosters at Avalon Airport Oval on Saturday.
The Tigers produced one of their most complete performances of the season, restricting the Roosters to just two goals from 10 scoring shots, while peppering at the goals themselves with a whopping 37 scoring shots in wintry conditions.
Tigers coach Scott West was particularly enthusiastic about the defensive pressure across the board.
“I was really pleased with the defensive side of our game,” he said. “If you hadn’t told me before the game that we’d keep them to two goals, I would’ve laughed.
“Moving into the latter half of the year, that’s an area where you need to be on song.”
The Tigers had taken some hot VFL form into the game, but went in on the back of a drubbing to Claremont in the Foxtel Cup grand final.
To ensure there were no negative connotations from the Perth trip, West said the game was effectively wiped from the memory bank once it was played.
“We put it into a bit of perspective,” he said.
“We didn’t even address it. We had a long trip, a short break and that certainly weighed in our team’s favour.”
The Tigers were eager to get back into the thick of the VFL action after a refreshing nine-day break.
A good start against the Roosters was a must and they got it, with a seven-goals-to-two first-half, before completing the task with an element of ruthlessness after half-time.
The work of Levi Greenwood, Ben Ross and Jordan Keras at the stoppages was a key feature.
“Our numbers were up at the centre bounces,” West said. “That was one of the key focuses for us.”
For Greenwood, it was a continuation of his consistently good form. The North Melbourne-listed onballer will be in the discussions for a promotion to the Kangaroos in the light of an injury to midfield jet Daniel Wells.
The Tiger forwards worked hard to create turnovers. They had a bevy of shots but let themselves down with errant kicking for goal.
Ben Warren, with 43 goals in 15 games, kept to his season average with three goals.
Robbie Castello and Ben McKinley were the other multiple goalkickers with two each.
The Tigers retained fourth on the ladder and a double chance is still theirs to lose ahead of Sunday’s clash with the Northern Blues at Visy Park.
