By LIAM TWOMEY
WERRIBEE Districts made the perfect Western Region Football League debut last week.
The Tigers easily accounted for Hoppers Crossing to the tune of 31 points at Soldiers Reserve.
The loss could have been even worse for the Warriors who were saved by some inaccurate kicking in front of the big sticks from Werribee.
Despite having an extra 14 scoring shots throughout the first three quarters, the Tigers’ lead going into the final term was just 19 points.
But a five-goal-to-three last quarter ensured there would be no miraculous comeback from the Warriors as Werribee stormed to its first win in the WRFL, 14.23 (107) to 11.10 (76).
“It was a good performance from the boys for the first round,” Werribee coach Wade Chapman said.
“To come away with a 31-point victory, we will certainly take that.
“I said to the boys at quarter time we just needed to get a little bit more reward for effort. We kicked 3.9 to 0.3 is the first quarter. I see Hoppers Crossing as being around the mark of the top five and against those better sides you need to reward the effort on the scoreboard or they will keep hanging in there.
“To Hoppers’ credit, they did stick in there and we were just able to break free in the last quarter.”
Christopher Molivas worked hard up forward for Werribee to be the Tigers’ leading goal scorer. He was well supported by Matthew Turner and Tate McCutcheon who kicked two goals each.
Around the ground, Brent Morrow was impressive and was named Werribee’s best player for the day.
After taking over the top job at Werribee in the off-season, Chapman said he was rapt with how his players had been working.
“We started pre-season on November the 18th and trained three times a week throughout the pre-season,” he said.
“I think the boys are fairly fit and we had three competitive practice games leading into round one.
“The reserves just got beat too and they probably should have won if they had of kicked straight. We will probably be doing some goal kicking at training this week.”
When round two of the Division One season gets underway this weekend, the Tigers will take on the defending champions Deer Park, while Hoppers Crossing will look to secure its first win of the year with a home game against Sunshine.
“We will need to be at our best to take them (Deer Park) on,” Chapman said.
“They’re a fantastic team and club so we are looking forward to the challenge.”
