Werribee collected its second win of the 2023 Smithy’s VFL season with a dominant display against traditional rivals Williamstown in Round 5 to reclaim the John Pyne Cup.

The Anzac round victory over the Seagulls was the Big W’s first home win of the season with the 93-point result coming on past players and officials day with a large contingent watching on.

After being plagued by inaccuracy against Geelong just a week earlier, Werribee was clinical in front of goal with Hudson Garoni leading the way.

The key forward’s six majors was a career-high while Connor Thar finished with four to tally his best return at VFL level. Tom Gribble, Dom Brew and Jack Henderson dominated in midfield with 80 disposals and 28 clearances between them.

Shaun Manngah kicked the first of Werribee’s 24 goals five minutes into the contest and then Garoni opened his account two minutes later. Further majors to Dom Brew and Garoni and a goalless term by Williamstown had the hosts leading by 25 points at the first change.

It didn’t take long for Werribee to increase its advantage in the second quarter with Bailey Henderson booting his first Werribee goal after just two minutes before Sam Paea nailed the Big W’s sixth.

Thar was next to hit the scoreboard putting Werribee up by 43 points at the 12-minute mark of the term. After back-to-back Williamstown goals Thar would add his second with four minutes remaining before another Seagulls major reduced the margin to 31 points at halftime.

The second half started with Mannagh again goaling early but from there the the two sides traded majors with Garoni responding on three consecutive occasions following Williamstown goals. His fifth came 24 minutes into the quarter before Paea and Nick Hayes had the hosts up by 48 points.

The third finished with Corey Ellison kicked a late goal for Williamstown which would be the last score for the visitors for nearly half an hour as Werribee ran riot adding 9.3 in the first 23 minutes of the final stanza.

Williamstown’s two fourth quarter majors came a minute apart, but the final highlight would come from the boot of former Seagull Noah Lever who ensured Werribee made it 10 majors in the term when he botted his first goal for his new club.

Werribee’s dominance was evident in the final statistics as the home team ended the match +69 in disposals, +31 in contested possessions and +28 in clearances. The Big W also went inside 50 20 more times and out tackled the Seagulls 74 to 47.

FINAL SCORE
Werribee: 4.3 8.5 14.5 24.10 (154)
Williamstown: 0.2 3.4 7.5 9.7 (61)

GOALS
Werribee: H. Garoni 6, C. Thar 4, S. Mannagh 3, N. Hayes 3, K. Declase 2,, S. Paea 2, D. Brew, J. Henderson, N. Lever, J. Porter.
Williamstown: J. Ottavi 2, C. Ellison 2, M. Walker, D. Andrews, M. Philpot, J. Pongracic, C. Preston.

BEST
Werribee: H. Garoni, T. Gribble, D. Brew, C. Thar, B. Malual, J. Henderson.
Williamstown: 

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