In a high-scoring contest that saw Werribee pile on 23 goals and win the disposal count 381 to 321, several players produced standout performances.

Medium forward Anthony Depasquale led the way with a career-best seven goals from 17 disposals in an outstanding display.

Jack Riding was just as influential, finishing with a career-high five goals to go with 27 disposals and 158 ranking points in a dominant all-round performance.

Jaelen Pavlidis continued his terrific season in defence, collecting 26 disposals, 12 marks and 10 intercept possessions.

Xavier Ivisic had his best game in the black and gold on the wing, booting two goals to go with 24 disposals at 80% efficiency and 12 marks, while in the midfield, Sam Donegan (27 disposals and 11 contested possessions) and Jordan Busuttil (27 disposals, 18 contested possessions and ten clearances) were prolific.

The opening term belonged to Depasquale, who got Werribee off to the perfect start inside the opening five minutes. He crumbed his own ball inside 50, brushed aside an opponent with a don’t argue and snapped through the first goal of the afternoon.

Sandringham responded with three consecutive goals before the returning Harry Grintell converted a set shot to halt the Zebras’ momentum. Grintell’s return would unfortunately be short-lived, with a hamstring injury ending his afternoon in the second quarter.

The goals continued to flow in an electric opening term, with the two sides combining for 12 majors.

Werribee kicked seven of those, with Depasquale adding another two to take his tally to three by quarter time.

Harry Maguire, Micah Robb and Cooper Whyte also hit the scoreboard. Robb made it goals in consecutive quarters after kicking the first of his VFL career in the final term against Tasmania the previous week, while Whyte produced an outstanding left-foot snap.

The seven-goal opening term gave Werribee an 11-point advantage at the first break.

Sandringham struck inside the opening minute of the second quarter to reduce the margin to less than a goal, but Werribee’s response was immediate.

Busuttil kicked his first goal since Round 14 before Depasquale added his fourth of the afternoon, with the two goals coming in less than a minute.

Jack Riding then took over in front of goal, booting the next three majors of the match in a six-minute and 34-second burst to stretch Werribee’s advantage to 34 points.

Sandringham’s Andreas Stefanakis broke the run before Depasquale answered with his fifth goal of the half. Stefanakis then kicked the final goal of the second term as Werribee took a 28-point lead into the main break.

The Zebras opened the scoring in the second half through Noah Yze, before neither side could find another major for the next 15 minutes.

Harry Maguire eventually broke the drought, flying for a strong mark in the goal square and converting the set shot for his second of the afternoon. Just 90 seconds later, Charlie Lazzaro dribbled home a classy goal, with the ball finding its way to the goal line just centimetres before a Sandringham defender could get a hand to it.

Stefanakis kicked his fourth of the afternoon for the visitors before Werribee added two more in red time. Xavier Ivisic kicked his first before Anthony Depasquale made it six for the afternoon, extending Werribee’s lead to 42 points at the final break.

The scoring continued in the final term, with Ivisic kicking the opening goal to make it two majors in just five minutes of playing time.

Depasquale then became the second Werribee player in three weeks to kick seven goals in a match. The forward intercepted the handball inside 50 before finishing with a classy snap to cap off a career-best afternoon.

Ajang Kuol mun, who spent more time forward throughout the afternoon, took a mark inside 50 and converted the set shot, before Jack Riding added another two goals in less than a minute later in the quarter to take his tally to a career-high five.

The perfect icing on the cake came in the closing stages through key defender Ryan Eyers.

Finding himself forward at the 30-minute mark of the final term, Eyers got on the end of a Jaelen Pavlidis run and kick inside 50 before going back for the set shot.

From all of 55 metres, the full-back made no mistake, kicking the first goal of his VFL career in game number 38 with one of the final kicks of the afternoon to cap off Werribee’s 59-point win.

With the home-and-away season now complete, Werribee turns its attention to the finals and a Qualifying Final meeting with Box Hill.

Senior coach Daniel Lowther reflected on the significance of the moment when addressing the players, staff, volunteers, families and supporters in the rooms after the game.

“To everyone in the room here who’s come every week, supporters, staff, volunteers, the club runs on all that help. To get to this point is a special moment for us, to finish the year strong, but we’ve got a load more now to cover off.”

Werribee will now use the Wildcard Round weekend to prepare for its Qualifying Final clash with Box Hill and the next chapter of its 2026 campaign.

ROUND 21 PHOTO GALLERY: View here

FINAL SCORE:
Werribee: 7.2 13.3 17.7 23.10 (148)
Sandringham: 5.3 8.4 10.7 13.11 (89)

GOALS:
Werribee: A. Depasquale (7), J. Riding (5), X. Ivisic (2), H. Maguire (2), J. Busuttil, R. Eyers, H. Grintell, A. Kuol mun, C. Lazzaro, M. Robb
Sandringham: A. Stefanakis (4), N. Yze (3), D. Chirgwin, J. Hutchings, J. Peckett, N. Philactides, L. RIley, R. Theodoropoulos