Round 13 will see a momentous battle between two inform teams challenging one another on Saturday at Windy Hill. The Bendigo Gold go head to head with the third placed Werribee Tigers in an attempt to push their way into the top four of the competition.
The Gold are looking for their fifth win in a row after knocking off the Box Hill Hawks last week by 32 points on the Hawks home turf. Bendigo have certainly countered their April and May rough patch where they lost three consecutive matches, and dropped to eighth. Coach Hayden Skipworth attributes this lacklustre period to the experience and physical condition of his players.
“The injuries played a small part and our younger players took a little bit of time to find their feet at VFL level at the start of the season. We now have a reasonably health list and our younger players have all improved significantly.”
Several players have taken it upon themselves to guide the team back to form through their game day performances.
“Ricki Ladson has been enormous for us this year, his leadership both on and off the field has been excellent. Little, Shinners, Duscher and Slattery (when he plays) have also been great for our younger players.”
Bendigo are now knocking on the door of the top four. However, they have a challenging few weeks ahead of them, meeting three of the top four teams in the next four rounds.
“Our run home is very tough. It would be great to keep ahead of the pack but it is a very tight competition this season. All of our focus is on trying to beat Werribee this week,” Skipworth said.
The Werribee Tigers are also in season high form, having tallied five wins on the trot. The Tigers enter Round 13 after a mammoth 79 point win over fourth placed Sandringham Zebras.
Werribee coach, Scott West believes his team’s success is a result of the side becoming a more cohesive unit.
“The form of our group has been really pleasing over the five or six weeks. I think after what was a pretty inconsistent start to the season, not only from game to game but within games, the main change has been just the ability of our guys to have played more games together and start to really gel as a team. The other part of it I believe is that a lot of guys in our development team are in great form which always puts pressure on spots which can elevate performances.”
North Melbourne listed player, Ben Warren has acted as an influential component in Werribee’s success, providing them with a strong target in their forward line.
“Ben’s been terrific for us all year. There is no doubt that his work rate is a massive part to why he is such good form. His ability to get up the ground, go on long searching leads and also work back to keep the ball inside our forward 50 with tackle pressure is very important to our game.”
Werribee have developed a remarkable record against Bendigo throughout their history, having won 17 of their 22 matches. This one sided tally should provide the Club with that extra bit confidence leading into what is a very significant match for both sides.
“There is no doubt this weekend’s game is really important to both teams, it gives Bendigo the chance to move up the ladder and it gives us a chance to start cementing a spot. When you look at both teams there are a lot of quality players and I believe it will be really tough game,” Scott West said.
Bendigo Gold vs Werribee Tigers
2pm Saturday 23rd June
Windy Hill - Essendon
Last Modified on 22/06/2012 14:28