Werribee Centurions coach David Leatch admits he is a bit surprised by the progress his side has made this season, after they made light work of early season bolters North Geelong at Osborne Park on Saturday.
The Centurions controlled the match from the outset, eventually running out 56 point winners, with the final score 18.18.126 to 10.12.72.
In his first season at the helm, Leatch said he didn’t expect his side to have advanced so far going into the mid-season break, as they sit third on the ladder with six wins and only two losses.
“I honestly wasn’t too sure what to expect coming into the start of the season,” he said. “I thought it might take eight or nine weeks to get our game plan going but to the credit of the guys they probably learnt it a lot quicker than I thought they would.”
It was an exhibition of attacking football with clean disposal and even contribution that won the Centurions the game, as they seemed to be a side that has played together for years.
Craig Hardingham was back to his dominant best in the ruck, Justin Johns and Alistair Burke ran rampant in the midfield and Simon Calbert, Dean Cachia and Brendan Chugg provided great targets down forward.
The pressure applied by Werribee was exemplary and the young North side often seemed rushed and were riddled by turnovers.
Leatch was delighted by the even contribution of his side, highlighting the depth and consistency as match winning aspects that will hold them in good stead for the season.
“We feel we have a lot of depth in our club and the guys know everything they do is for the side. Whether they start on the bench or play reserves, they know it’s in the interest of the club and there is just so much respect for each other.”
After defeating two consecutive top five sides in Bannockburn and now North Geelong, it seems the winning culture is again embedded in the Centurions psyche, having won five games on the trot.
“I think at the start of the season we needed to develop a winning culture and I saw four or five guys nearly in tears after the Corio game when we lost by two points,” said Leatch. “I could just see how much we wanted to win and it really hurt a lot of the guys.”
“We really have to enjoy playing competitive football and we know the desire is there.”
After some lean years at the club of late, Leatch said the club still has to prove to the rest of the competition that they are the real deal and not just there to make up the numbers.
“I feel we do need to prove ourselves after winning only five games last year and we should have to do that.”
“Honestly we might have got a bit lucky with the draw and have some tough matches coming up so we’re not getting ahead of ourselves at all.”
Leatch said that only after the last two weeks has his side begun to receive much attention, after flying under the radar at the start of the season.
“The amount of attention we are starting to receive from the media and the like shows we are going in the right direction and we probably gained more respect last week (after defeating second placed Bannockburn),” he said.
Leatch said his side didn’t have any particular message to send out to the GDFL and that results would speak for themselves. He said enjoying footy was a key focus, which can be hard at times when having to travel so far every second week but his boys were really relishing the opportunity.
With the league bye next week, Werribee has a chance to bring some big names such as Anthony Kitchen and Trent Cole back into the side after the break as they prepare for testing games against Thomson, Bell Post Hill and Belmont.
Last Modified on 31/05/2009 10:13