Werribee makes a second straight appearance at Avalon Airport Oval this weekend with an Anzac round clash against western suburbs rivals Williamstown on Sunday.

After a disappointing first home outing of the season with the Big W going down to Geelong by 13 points in Round 4, the home team will look to bounce back with a second consecutive win over the Seagulls.

After losing to Gold Coast in Round 1, Williamstown have rattled off three straight wins over VFL standalone opponents Frankston (away), Port Melbourne (home) and Coburg (home), to currently sit fifth on the ladder.

TEAM NEWS

Round 5 sees a big inclusion with skipper Nick Coughlan making his season and captaincy debut after overcoming a preseason injury. Coughlan’s inclusion is one of four changes for the Big W with small utility Lucas Rocci also included to make his first appearance of 2023.

Midfielder Noah Lever and young tall Sam Paea also come into the side with Jay Dahlhus, Emmanuel Ajang (both injured), Jack Boyd and Matt Keast making way.

GAME DAY DETAILS

Gates open from 12pm with entry costing $10 for adults and concession $5. Kids under 16 are free. Werribee members receive free entry and opposition members half price entry. If you are a Werribee member and haven't yet received your membership card please inform the gate attendant.

Round 5
Werribee vs Williamstown
Saturday 23th April, 2:05pm
Avalon Airport Oval

Round 5 Match Centre

Watch live at afl.com.au

Werribee’s first home outing of the season ended in a 13-point loss to Geelong with a horror day in front of goal costing the hosts in Round 4.

After defeating 2022 runner-up Southport a week prior, the Big W fell to a 5.17 (47) to 9.6 (60) loss against the Cats after kicking just two goals from 15 scoring shots in the second half.

Werribee held a three-point advantage at quarter-time after recovering from a slow start with Nick Hayes’ second goal putting the hosts ahead with nine minutes still to play in the opening stanza.

Josh Porter nailed the first goal of the second term but that would be the team’s last major for more than 50 minutes as two second-quarter Geelong goals was enough to have the visitors leading by one-point at the main break.

At halftime the Big W had double the number of inside 50s compared to their opponents (35-17) as well as topping the contested possession and clearance counts.

Werribee had the chance to retake the lead early in the third quarter but after three straight misses back-to-back Cats goals would again see the visitors ahead on the scoreboard.

A classy dribble finish from Harry Grintell on the brink of three-quarter time gave Werribee its first major since the six-minute mark of the second term while cutting the deficit to four points going into the last.

The early stages of the final quarter would end up being similar to the third, with the Big W again missing a number of gettable chances before Geelong made the most of theirs down the other end.

The Cats’ second major with six minutes remaining would push the difference out to 14 points, the biggest margin of the day, and ultimately confine Werribee to its second loss of the campaign.

FINAL SCORE
Werribee: 3.4 4.7 5.12 5.17 (47)
Geelong: 3.1 5.2 7.4 9.6 (60)

GOALS
Werribee: N. Hayes 2, H. Grintell, M. Keast, J. Porter.
Geelong: W. Christie 2, H. Lucas, L. Antonac, H. Benson, O. Dempsey, T Feely, M. Knevitt, O. Riccardi.

BEST
Werribee: D. Brew, N. Cooper, L. Pinnuck, M. Sodomaco, J. Henderson, J. Clark.
Geelong: J. Chalcraft, M. Knevitt, D. Capiron, M. Herbert, J. Ceglar, B. Lloyd

ROUND 4 IMAGE GALLERY - VIEW HERE

PLAYER STATS
Tom Gribble: 27 disposals (13 K, 14 HB), 14 contested possessions, 7 clearances, 7 inside 50s, 6 score involvements, 5 tackles.
Shaun Mannagh: 23 disposals (17 K, 6 HB), 10 handball receives, 5 marks, 8 inside 50s, 9 score involvements, 10 tackles.
Jack Henderson: 21 disposals (7 K 14 HB), 12 contested possessions, 5 marks, 6 clearances, 8 tackles, 5 score involvements.
Michael Sodomaco: 20 disposals (13 K, 7 HB) at 80% efficiency, 7 tackles, 2 clearances, 2 inside 50s, 2 rebound 50s.
Dom Brew: 20 disposals (14 K 6 HB), 12 contested possessions, 6 clearances, 8 inside 50s, 2 rebound 50s, 14 tackles.
Louis Pinnuck: 19 disposals (19 K) at 79% efficiency, 11 marks (2 contested, 5 intercept), 5 rebound 50s, 4 inside 50s, 3 tackles.
Wardell Lual: 15 disposals (10 K, 5 HB), 8 marks (1 contested, 4 intercept), 8 tackles, 3 rebound 50s, 2 inside 50s.   
J. Clark: 15 disposals (12 K, 3 HB), 5 marks (1 contested 2 intercept), 3 tackles, 3 3 inside 50s, 2 rebound 50s, 2 score assists.

NEXT MATCH 
Round 5
Werribee vs Williamstown
Saturday 23th April, 2:05pm
Avalon Airport Oval

Werribee will play its first home game of the year on Saturday with the Big W hosting Geelong at Avalon Airport Oval in Round 4 of the Smithy's VFL season.

Having collected a first win of 2023 with victory over Southport last weekend Werribee will be keen for a repeat of last season's result against the Cats when they comfortably triumphed in Round 13.

After beating Carlton in the opening match of this year's campaign Geelong have lost their last two, suffering heavy defeats away to Gold Coast and at home to Box Hill. 

TEAM NEWS

A couple of additions to the side to take on the Cats with former captain Michael Sodomaco to play his first game of 2023. The club’s longest serving player will make his 118^th VFL appearance, adding experience to a relatively young backline.

Joining Sodomaco is exciting small forward Jay Dahlhaus who enjoyed a break-out year in 2022 with 18 goals in 14 matches while also providing frantic forward pressure.

The pair come into the side for Sam Azzi (injured) and Michael Selsby who both appeared in the opening two games of the season.   

GAME DAY DETAILS

Gates open from 11am with members receiving free entry. If you are a member and haven't yet received your membership card please inform the gate attendant. Entry for non-members is $10 for adults and concession $5. Kids under 16 are free.

MATCH DETAILS - ROUND 4
Werribee vs Geelong
Saturday April 15, 1:05pm
Avalon Airport Oval, Werribee

Round 4 Match Centre

Watch live at afl.com.au

Werribee in on the winners list in 2023 after a stirring 23-point victory away to last year’s runner up Southport on Saturday.

The visitors had winners all over the ground with Shaun Mannagh (40 disposals and four goals), Bior Malual (28 disposals and 11 marks) and Kye Declase (27 disposals and two goals) simply outstanding across four quarters at Fankhauser Reserve.

In Queensland for the second time in three weeks after an opening round loss to Brisbane, the Big W started positively kicking three of the first four goals of the match to lead by 14 points 21 minutes into the opening quarter.

Hudson Garoni and Josh Porter - in his first game of the season, stretched Werribee’s lead to 22 points at the nine-minute mark of the second term but the hosts would hit back cutting the visitors’ advantage to seven points at halftime.

Along with Declase (16 disposals) and Tom Gribble (15 disposals), debutant Bailey Henderson (12 disposals) was amongst Werribee’s top ball winners at the main break.

In the third quarter the Big W’s tall timber continued to dominate at times with Garoni, Porter and Jack Boyd marking strongly or brining the ball to the ground for Werribee’s smaller players. However, Mannagh‘s solitary goal, a long range effort from the top of the 50 metre arc, was the only major of the term for the visitors who took a nine-point lead into the last.

Reward on the scoreboard came thick and fast in the final quarter with Connor Thar goaling after just two minutes before three majors followed in the space of as many minutes. Thar’s third of the afternoon, a brilliant finish from deep in the pocket, marked a fantastic return to VFL football for the crafty small after an injury riddled 2022.

It wouldn’t be all smooth sailing to the finish line for Werribee with Southport not conceding defeat. With the visitors up by 34 points after 10 and a half minutes the Sharks then had seven consecutive scoring shots, but their inaccuracy would prove their downfall. Mannagh would eventually ice the game booting his fourth goal of the day as the final siren sounded.  

FINAL SCORE
Werribee: 3.5 6.7 7.13 12.14 (86)
Southport: 2.2 5.5 6.10 8.15 (63)

GOALS
Werribee: S. Mannagh 4, C. Thar 3, K. Declase 2, H. Garoni, H. Grintell, J. Porter.
Southport: F. Thurlow 4, J. Lockhart, Z. Foot, C. Offermans, T. Fields

BEST
Werribee: S. Mannagh, K. Declase, B. Malual, C. Thar, K. Annand, J. Henderson.
Southport:

ROUND 3 IMAGE GALLERY - VIEW HERE

PLAYER STATS
Shaun Mannagh: 40 disposals (22K, 18 HB), 18 handball receives, 13 contested possessions, 6 inside 50s, 5 clearances, 3 rebound 50s, 3 tackles, 4 goals.
Bior Malual: 28 disposals (23 K, 5 HB), 11 marks, 5 rebound 50s, 2 inside 50s.
Kye Declase: 27 disposals (19K, 8 HB), 10 handball receives, 9 marks (2 contested), 7 inside 50s, 3 tackles, 2 goals.
Louis Pinnuck: 23 disposals (22 K, 1 HB), 8 marks, 13 rebound 50s, 2 inside 50s.
Jack Henderson: 22 disposals (10 K, 12 HB), 12 contested possessions, 4 marks, 6 clearances, 4 inside 50s, 7 tackles
Dom Brew: 20 disposals (10 K, 10 HB), 14 contested possessions, 4 clearances, 5 tackles.
Connor Thar: 19 disposals (13 K, 6 HB), 10 contested possessions, 5 marks, 4 clearances, 4 inside 50s, 3 goals.
Kobe Annand: 14 disposals (3 K, 11 HB), 10 contested possessions, 28 hit-outs, 3 clearances, 5 tackles.
Jack Boyd: 14 disposals (7 K, & HB), 7 marks (1 contested), 4 tackles, 3 inside 50s, 4 score assists.  

NEXT MATCH 
Round 4
Werribee vs Geelong
Saturday 15th April, 1:05pm
Avalon Airport Oval