Match Report by Daniel Paproth
A STUNNING last quarter fight back was the catalyst for the Werribee Tigers third win of the season, downing Collingwood by 17 points at Chirnside Park.
After a poor showing against Casey the week before the Tigers came out firing, booting the first couple of goals before the Pies eventually worked their way into the match.
The Tigers were 13 points down at the final break, but booted six goals to two in the final term to run out impressive winners.
Coach Simon Atkins said it was a determined effort from his troops.
"I thought our spirit was right across the board for the four quarters, it was a real key point to the way we were going to play, and just staying involved in the game.
"We just had to remain confident and I thought it was a really good effort," he said.
"We have been getting things right over the five losses but it is a long, long time to go into the break if we had have lost six on trot," he said.
They came up against a Collingwood side which had no VFL-listed players in the team, but against the odds were able to match Collingwood.
"Right across the three areas we physically matched it, I thought our direction, our use of the football and our style of play really won us the game today.
"I thought Collingwood tried to congest us a bit in areas they thought we were damaging, and we were able to adjust.
"To kick so many goals in the last quarter and to come from behind was just a really pleasing effort," Atkins said.
Power forwards Anthony Rocca and Paul Medhurst took to the field, but had next to no influence on the game thanks to strong efforts from Werribee’s back six.
Levi Greenwood had another good game playing on Medhurst, restricting him to just nine touches, while Rocca could only manage a solitary goal.
Atkins praised Greenwood’s efforts, and others who played versatile roles.
"‘Sakes’ [James Saker] is learning all the time and to be able to play on key forwards is really good.
"The versatility of ‘Dicko’ [Brant Dickson] to be able to play ruck or go back because of their talls was really good, and ‘Obsty’ [Alan Obst] played forward, played back for four quarters and just played a really resilient game," he said.
The midfield trio of Rob Castello, Michael Rockefeller and Michael Barlow played a vital role in the win, sharing 17 clearances and 89 touches between them. All three have been in good form, and benefited from a fantastic showing in the ruck by Todd Goldstein, who had 38 hitouts.
Atkins said one of the most pleasing aspects of the win was the way his young charges were able to hold it together over the game, contrasting with the loss at Casey last week.
"It was a real big test for us as group that we were in the same predicament as last week, we weren’t good last week.
"Just the persistency and the intensity of that last quarter far outweighed what happened last week," he said.
The Tigers will now enjoy a week off and be in a positive frame of mind before heading to Box Hill in two weeks, something that was not lost on Atkins.
"Two weeks is long time to grind over things and go over our processes.