Werribee's fate was decided in Round 21 with a five-point loss to Essendon on Sunday rulling the Big W out of finals contention in 2022.

Needing to beat the Bombers at Windy Hill, Werribee's finals hopes looked to still be alive at the 29-minute mark of the final quarter as Marty Brennan put the visitors two-points up, but the hosts stole victory late scoring the final goal of the game.

The result leaves Werribee (8-9) two games outside the top eight with one round to play, with Carlton or Richmond the only sides capable of claiming the last finals spot.

FINAL SCORE
Werribee: 4.1 4.2 8.7 10.9 (69)
Essendon: 0.3 4.9 6.10 10.14 (74)

GOALS
Werribee: O. Hanrahan 2, J. Dahlhaus 2, H. Garoni, J. Porter, M. Brennan, K. Declase, T. Gribble, M. Keast.
Essendon: J. Menzie 2, P. Voss, A. Waterman, T. Cutler, A. Davey, A. Lord, Z. Reid, H. Jones.

BEST
Werribee: N. Coughlan, O. Hanrahan, S. Mannagh, T. Gribble, J. Dahlhaus, D. Brew.
Essendon:

HOW IT HAPPENED
Despite a late change with star on-baller Matt Hanson ruled out of the match, and the remainder of the season with a broken hand, Werribee jumped from the blocks opening up a 19-point buffer early as Ollie Hanrahan, Josh Porter and Hudson Garoni all goaled inside the opening eight minutes. Kye Declase gave Werribee a fourth goal at the 16-minute mark, but that was all the scoring the Big W would muster with the aid of the breeze as the Bombers controlled the footy for much of the second half of the term.

The second quarter saw Werribee record the highest possession count of the match but most of that was in the back half of the ground as the visitors battled to contain the Bombers who would go inside 50 a total of 22 times. The hosts took the lead at the 27-minute mark with their fourth goal and Werribee went to the main break seven points down.

Essendon stretched their advantage to 13 points with the first goal of the second half, but Werrribe replied quickly through Matt Keast and Hanrahan, with two majors in the space of two minutes cutting the deficit to a point. The Bombers added a second goal 12 minutes in, but back-to-back Jay Dahlhaus goals would see Werribee regain the initiative at the 22-minute mark. The visitors had to settle for a nine-point lead at three quarter time lead after missing three late shots on goal.

With three Essendon goals coming inside the first 10 minutes of the final term Werribee needed a response, and it came from the boot of co-captain Tom Gribble at the 11-minute mark. The next 16 minutes would fail to produce a major with five behinds added to the scoreboard, before Marty Brennan’s 29th minute goal put the visitors two-points ahead. With Werribee's 2022 campaign looking like being decided on the last weekend of the home and away season, Big W hearts were broken with two minutes to go when Essendon intercepted the ball on Werribee’s half-forward line and quickly transitioned forward to score the match winner.