WERRIBEE Tigers will make a fashionably late entrance on the Victorian Football League practice match circuit.
The Tigers will face reigning champion North Ballarat in six shortened periods in Learmonth on Saturday morning.
While the rest of the teams have sweated it out in competitive pre-season matches in recent weeks, Tigers coach Simon Atkins has held his team back by design.
He wanted his charges to acquire a deep knowledge of the team structures and convey his expectations before they kicked a ball in anger.
''We've been doing match scenarios at training where we've got more control over them,'' Atkins said. ''The real focus has been footy-type work with an emphasis on carrying the ball with a lot of speed and moving it properly.''
Fans should not be too disappointed if the Tigers do not execute their run-and-carry style of football to perfection in the practice matches. It is a work in progress.
What the pre-season games will do is allow fringe players to jostle for positions on the senior team sheet for round one.
While Atkins conceded the standouts could put their names up in lights, his real focus is on his team's progression in understanding the structures and he is not about to lose too much sleep about pre-season scoreboards.
''Players do put a different onus on it than I do as a coach,'' he said. ''If you get to play in the senior game and put in a good performance, you're going to put your name up for the next week. On the other hand, with our first two practice games, I look at our structures to see if we need to do any more work on them.''
Atkins said North Melbourne Football Club's decision to renew its partnership with Werribee and having the new recruits signed, sealed and delivered early in the summer made for a more settled squad than this time last summer.
The Kangaroos used Chirnside Park to complete an AFL training session on Monday night.
Atkins is delighted the Tigers' AFL affiliate is having an active involvement in the City of Wyndham.
''I think it's fantastic the Kangaroos come down and not only have an influence around Werribee but our blokes can watch them train as well,'' he said.
The Tigers have announced they will test run the new light towers at Chirnside Park on Easter Thursday in a practice match against the Box Hill Hawks.
BEN FLETCHER STORY
THE fire of Ben Fletcher's AFL dream was never truly extinguished.
But the young half-back is the first to admit he is a long shot for the big league.
His hopes were shattered upon missing out on selection at the national draft following a brief stint with the Western Jets in the TAC Cup.
The next best thing for the Hoppers Crossing product would be to lock down a regular senior berth with the Werribee Tigers in the Victorian Football League.
He wants to achieve that sooner rather than later.
''You always think of the big picture and there's always that dream of still getting drafted one day, but the chances are very slim,'' the 20 year old admitted.
''If you become a successful senior VFL player you've done really well and I'm aiming to become a regular senior player.''
Fletcher started kicking the football on Hogans Road Reserve aged seven.
He blossomed in his late teens as a half-forward and earned an invitation to the Jets.
It was not until he turned out as a senior player with Hoppers Crossing in the Western Region Football League that an invitation was forthcoming from the Tigers.
''I was rapt when I first got the invite,'' the Hoppers Crossing resident said. ``It's good to be down there because it is the second-best level in the country. To be given the chance to play in it is great.''
Fletcher had to take on a new role at Chirnside Park.
Gone are the days where he was an athletic lead-up half-forward.
''I was originally a half-forward but 'Axe' [Tigers coach Simon Atkins] turned me into a half-back and a little bit of centre half-back and wing,'' he said. ''Axe said to me straightaway you've got a bit of pace and a bit of height about you so you can use the ball off half-back and create a lot of run. I did what the coach wanted me to do and that's create run off the half-back line.''
Fletcher can count on one hand his senior games in 2008.
He is eager to add to his three matches and nail down a regular berth after managing seven eye-catching appearances in the reserves last season.
As one of the fringe players, the local prodigy is champing at the bit to hit the practice matches at full steam and show his wares to the coaching staff.
He can also find out if the improvements he made to his game over the summer months are about to pay dividends.
The main focus was to improve his speed off the mark with the ball in hand.
''I'm really trying to improve on my first three steps and accelerate at maximum speed,'' Fletcher said. ''Sometimes I get it [the ball] and don't accelerate in the first three steps, so that's been one goal I'm aiming for. I've been doing a lot of short sprint training - hopefully that will turn me into a natural.''
Fletcher is using his time in the Tigers' cage as a learning curve.
Whether he advances to the AFL ranks or impresses with the Tigers in the VFL, it has been an eye-opening experience for a player with a long future ahead.
''The way Werribee train compared to Hoppers is a lot different,'' he said. ''It's a lot more intense and a lot more structural.'
Last Modified on 19/03/2009 00:33