Body:
RESERVES
Werribee 8.2 10.7 17.11 23.12 (150)
Frankston 0.2 1.3 2.6 3.8 (26)
Werribee
Goals: Davis 5, Castello 5, Fitzpatrick 4, Gleeson 4, Gillings 2, Charlston, Collins, B. Wight.
Best: Collins, Castello, Gillings, Barry, Davis, Gleeson.
Frankston
Goals: Winterton, Marigliani, I. Pavis.
Best: Greenstreet, Bourke, Brewster, Beasy, Ogier, Kemperman.
You wouldn't see a more boring game of footy than this one. I didn't have a copy of the Frankston list at the game but looking at their goal/best list their side had Brewster, Beasy, Ogier, Kemperman, Winterton playing and they were all senior VFL players last year. Marigliani has played seniors this year. Then they've had the pick of the Stingrays from last year as well. Should they be 20 goals worse than Werribee?
Werribee dominated all over the ground, big Cameron Mahoney was good in the ruck and Simon Potter as back up was effective as well. Their midfielders won the ball with ease players like Luke Collins and Sam Geilings were good.
Werribee's forward line combined good talls with smalls - Lochlan Veale and Damien Fitzpatrick provided marking power and strength with aerial balls, while Roberto Castello, Josh Davis, Tim Demetriou, Dom Gleeson and Brad Wight were effective smaller goalkickers. Josh Davis is especially impressive with his strong leading.
Frankston had one bad injury (not sure who) with Werribee's injuries being Damien Charleston (knee?) and Brad Wight (ankle?).
SENIORS
Werribee 3.4 6.7 11.10 17.13 (115)
Bendigo Bombers 5.0 7.1 9.5 10.7 (67)
Werribee
Goals: Hargrave 5, Garlick 3, Condos 2, Morgan 2, Skipper, McMahon, Mitchell, Podsiadly, Walsh.
Best: Hargrave, Skipper, Rau, Garlick, McMahon, Kretiuk.
Bendigo Bombers
Goals: Bradley 2, Hawkins 2, Stanton, Alvey, McVeigh, Winderlich, Lovett, Cartledge.
Best: Wilson, Richards, McVeigh.
Werribee dominated the first 15 minutes of the game but weren't able to hurt Bendigo who got it forward and goaled quickly. Bendigo went into quarter time with an eight point lead despite going inside 50 eleven less times than Werribee. The Tigers overused the footy and were very loose with their opponents on the rebound.
The scores were level at half time thanks to Bendigo's accuracy and Werribee's inaccuracy in front of goal. Ryan Hargrave had been solid up forward for the Tigers. Will Minson was rucking well and had taken a couple of strong marks across the ground. Adrian Wilson was keeping David Mitchell reasonably quiet and Ted Richards and Jordan Doering were providing good rebound out of the back line. Andrew Lovett is exciting when he gets the footy.
Werribee got on top in the third quarter, Ryan Hargrave was moved onto a back flank but still kicked a running goal and Adam Morgan was solid overhead across half forward, although his foot skills didn't seem great. Brad Murphy went forward after a decent first half in the midfield. Jordan McMahon can have dominant patches, and did in the third quarter, but I thought is kicking was a bit poor today.
Bendigo could only kick one goal in the last quarter while Werribee kicked six. The Tigers ran out winners by 48 points. For Werribee Ryan Hargrave was very impressive finishing with 5.2, while Adrian Wilson was named Bendigo's best player for performing well in the backline on David Mitchell.
Simon Garlick had a bit of the pill and kicked three goals, one from a very soft free in the first quarter. He basically told the umpire that he deserved a free and the umpire obeyed. Garlick gave a few frees back the other way later in the game though. The umpiring was not great, but that bloke who supported Werribee that yelled out from the wing all day was getting a bit annoying by the end of the game.
Just have to say its very important that Bendigo get a reserves side. They had 18 Essendon listed (including rookies) play today. The only Bendigo players were Nick Carter, Luke Hawkins, Guy Campbell and Jordan Doering. They had Essendon blokes in that team who are clearly not ready for VFL seniors and it is pointless saying you are a Bendigo community side if none of the local talent gets a go.
