Werribee Tigers are now only one win away from a Grand Final appearance as Ben Carbonaro reports.
They will now face Williamstown in Sunday’s Second Preliminary Final, with the added spice of it being not just a final but also a traditional Western Derby clash.
“We’ve had some great battles with them (Williamstown) and we were pretty ordinary when we played them last time, we only lost by 13 points,” Tigers coach Paul Satterley said.
“I can see this group has enormous belief, we’ve got many experienced players within our side who are chomping at the bit (to play Williamstown). They set a great example to their teammates, the likes of Gleeson, Sharp, Tuck, Castello and co.”
Talk heading into the game last week against Casey centred around power forward Brendan Fevola, who had made easy pickings of VFL defenders as he kicked 62 goals during the home and away rounds for Casey.
Former Murray Bushranger Brad Mangan further enhanced his AFL draft chances with an outstanding performance as he held Fevola goalless. Ironically this week Mangan was invited to the AFL Draft Combine as a medium forward.
Satterley paid credit to his team’s relentless pressure through the game, especially it’s tackling and work rate.
“To lay 89 (tackles) in a final, I think this was significant in us winning the game,” he said.
“Today we needed to be at our best and I thought we were pretty close.”
Ben Ross overcame the disappointment of his delisting from North Melbourne to boot four goals, get a good amount of the football and show some real dash for the Tigers.
This came on the back of an inspiring two late goals against Box Hill in the Elimination Final after being knocked out early.
His impressive performance sent internet message boards into meltdown, with supporters calling for him to either be rookie listed by North Melbourne or drafted by Greater Western Sydney.
“I thought he was outstanding, he was a little bit of an x factor today,” Satterley said.
“We reiterated how much we believe in him, but hopefully it showcased also, how a good a player he is.”
Last Modified on 15/09/2011 13:11