After more than two decades as a volunteer of the club, Lorraine Joiner was last week awarded Werribee Life Membership.

Starting out in 2000, Lorraine first gave her time to wash, repair and alter playing jumpers and still provides her skills as seamstress.

She has since fulfilled numerous other roles, most notably as the club’s merchandise manager at Werribee home games.

Werribee CEO Mark Penaluna recalls his first encounter with the long-time volunteer.

“My first meeting with Lorraine was back in March 2004,” he said.

“I turned up to work and here’s Teddy Goodall our property steward in the car park with this lady. I soon found out Lorraine catches up with Ted every Monday after a match to collect the jumpers.

“She would take the jumpers home - the ones that were bloody, the ones that were torn, the ones that needed numbers stitched back on. Lorraine would do what she needed to and then have the jumpers back on Wednesday ready for the weekend.

“In addition to that Lorraine volunteered behind the bar and has now spent many years as our merchandise manager on match days.

“As you can appreciate it’s hard to find people that want to work while the game is going on, but she’s now done that for 12 years without seeing much footy and with no heating too.”

In recent years Lorraine has been joined in the club’s merchandise hut by daughters Sarah and Jess and said it was an extremely proud moment to be awarded life membership.

“The Werribee Football Club is a very family orientated club and one I was welcomed into from day one,” she said.

“I’ve loved coming back every year to see old and new faces and I am very honoured to receive life membership with this fantastic club.”

As home and away seasons draw to a close and finals get underway in competitions across the state, see who all the top performers were and who enjoyed wins with their community clubs last weekend. 

WESTERN REGION FOOTBALL LEAGUE

Saad El-Hawli – Altona
Played in the midfield for most of the day and used his speed and spread well. Had 25 disposals (6 clearances) at 84% efficiency to be one of Vikings’ best in a big win over Yarraville Seddon.

Spencer Johnson – Altona
Was back to some of his best football in the final round victory against the Eagles. Used the ball well tallying 28 disposals at 82% efficiency to go with eight marks and three tackles.

Akol Deng – Yarraville Seddon
Had another strong day in the ruck and did some good things around the ground with 13 disposals and four tackles in the Round 18 contest at Altona.

Lochie Smart – Deer Park (Local Player of the Week)
Kicked a season-high six goals to help lead the Lions to a 43-point win over Spotswood. Finished the match with 18 disposals and three tackles with Deer Park holding on to third spot on the ladder.

Harrison White – Werribee Districts
Played all around the centre square and provided good run while delivering the ball inside 50 on 11 occasions in a 59-point win over St Albans. Had 20 disposals and four tackles on the day.

Sam Clifford – Hoppers Crossing
Looked lively when rebound opportunities presented early against Caroline Springs but was unable to see out the game due to hamstring tightness as the Warriors lost by 40 points.

GEELONG FOOTBALL LEAGUE

Sam Clohesy – St Joseph’s
Best on ground in a come from behind win over minor premiers St Mary’s. Was outstanding aerially but also working tirelessly and held his width offensively to provide an outlet. Collected 20 disposals alongside eight marks and two goals.

Joe Maishman – St Mary’s
Played his best football early to help the Saints jump out of the blocks against St Joesph’s. Ended the game with 23 disposals as the minor premiers were overrun late in a two-point loss.

ESSENDON DISTRICT FOOTBALL LEAGUE

Reuben William - Airport West
Helped his side through to this year’s Division 1 grand final contributing a goal in a comfortable win over Tullamarine. Will play the winner of Tullamarine and West Coburg in the decider next week.

VICTORIAN AMATEUR FOOTBALL LEAGUE

Harry Stubbings – Old Scotch
Among the best as the Cardinals secured an 11-point win over Old Trinity in their penultimate home and away match. Influential with his 16 disposals while also adding three tackles and a goal.

EASTERN FOOTBALL LEAGUE

Tom McCaffrey - Balwyn
Part of a final round loss to minor premiers Rowville. Had 14 disposals in a low scoring affair which saw the Tigers downed by four goals.

OVENS AND MURRAY FOOTBALL LEAGUE

Daniel Sharrock – Wangaratta Magpies
Really good below his knees while his skills stood out along with some good defensive efforts in a 41-point triumph over Lavington. One of the best for the Magpies with 19 disposals and seven tackles.

Jack Driscoll – Lavington
Struggled in the ruck against the Magpies but found some football at ground level gathering 15 disposals with seven marks and a goal.

BENDIGO FOOTBALL LEAGUE

Brady Rowles – Eaglehawk
Ended the season with a strong game against Gisborne. Tallied 29 disposals including 24 kicks, as well as nine marks in an 80-point loss to the minor premiers.

Four Werribee players are in contention for VFL Team of the Year honours, the joint most of any club.

Nick Coughlan, Kye Declase, Tom Gribble and Shaun Mannagh have all been selected in the initial squad of 40 players. 

The final team will be named on Monday September 12, as part of the 2022 VFL and VFLW Awards. Unlike in previous seasons, AFL-listed players are eligible for selection in the Team of the Year in 2022.

Gribble and Coughlan were both Team of the Year members in 2019 and the pair were again outstanding for Werribee this season.

Werribee co-captain Gribble averaged a career high 33.2 disposals per game in 2022, while key defender Coughlan enjoyed arguably his best year despite missing the first six games of the season.

Declase and Mannagh are both hoping to earn selection in the VFL Team of the Year, for the first time.

Declase was again one of the competition's best wingmen while the exciting Mannagh had another brilliant campaign playing a key role as both a forward and onballer for the Big W.

The full list of club representation is – Box Hill Hawks (four), Brisbane Lions (two), Carlton (three), Casey Demons (four), Coburg (one), Collingwood (two), Essendon (nil), Footscray (one), Frankston (two), Geelong Cats (nil), Gold Coast Suns (two), GWS Giants (nil), North Melbourne (one), Northern Bullants (one), Port Melbourne (three), Richmond (one), Sandringham (one), Southport Sharks (three), Sydney Swans (three), Werribee (four) and Williamstown (two).

Nick Coughlan
12 matches
Averages per game: 19.0 disposals, 6.7 marks, 1.3 contested marks, 6.7 rebound 50s, 1.3 tackles.

Kye Declase
18 matches
Averages per game: 22.3 disposals, 7.6 marks, 4.1 insides 50s, 2.3 rebound 50s and 1.2 goals.

Tom Gribble
18 matches
Averages per game: 33.2 disposals, 13.8 contested possessions, 7.3 clearances, 4.3 tackles and 5.6 inside 50s.

Shaun Mannagh
18 matches
Averages per game: 19.6 disposals, 4.3 marks, 5.7 tackles and 5.1 inside 50s and 1.5 goals.

See the full 40-man squad HERE

Werribee wrapped up its 2022 campaign with a record win over the Northern Bullants at Avalon Airport Oval in Round 22. 

The hosts booted 29 majors while the Bullants went goalless as Werribee completed victory by 181 points. It was the club's biggest win in the VFL and the fourth biggest winning margin in league history. 

FINAL SCORE
Werribee: 5.7 9.9 18.14 29.17 (191)
Northern Bullants: 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.10 (10)

GOALS
Werribee: S. Mannagh 6, K. Declase 5, H. Garoni 5, S. Paea 3, N. Hayes 2, T. Gribble 2, F. Young 2, J. Henderson, C. Ham, J. Porter, M. Sodomaco.
Northern Bullants:

BEST
Werribee: K. Declase, S. Mannagh, H. Garoni, J. Henderson, E. Ajang, S. Paea.
Northern Bullants:

HOW IT HAPPENED
Three goals in the opening six minutes set the tone for Werribee’s big finish to the 2022 season. Nick Hayes, Sam Paea and Shaun Mannagh were all on target early as Werribee jumped out to an 18-point lead in little time. Hudson Garoni joined the party in the 17th minute making no mistake with his second shot of the day before Sam Paea became the first multiple goal kicker with a simple set shot conversion with four minutes left in the term.

A goalless eight minutes to start the second term was ended by debutant Flynn Young who couldn’t have imagined an easier first goal with the exciting forward lining up in the square after being awarded a 50-metre penalty following a mark at the top of the arc. A burst of three goals in eight minutes courtesy of Mannagh, co-captain Tom Gribble and Garoni stretched Werribee’s advantage to 59 points at the 20-minute mark of quarter and the difference remained that at the main break.

The goals came quick to start the second half with Michael Sodomaco on target from long range two minutes in before Paea added his third just a couple of moments later. Josh Porter and Charlie Ham joined the growing list of goal scorers during the term, with Ham’s effort his first of the season. A Kye Declase snap 20 minutes in raised triple figures for Werribee with three further majors seeing the hosts take a 116-point lead into the last.

Werribee booted 11 goals in the final quarter, four of those from the boot of Declase while Garoni and Mannagh each bagged three to finish with hauls of five and six respectively. The home team ended the match +153 in disposals, +15 in clearances and led the inside 50 count 70-27.

KEY PLAYERS
Ollie Hanrahan: 32 disposal (14 K), 7 marks, 7 clearances, 6 inside 50s, 14 score involvements, 2 tackles.
Tom Gribble: 29 disposals (19 K), 14 contested possessions, 8 clearances, 8 inside 50s, 12 score involvements, 2 goals.
Kye Declase: 26 disposals (17 K) at 81% efficiency, 14 marks (4 CM), 11 score involvements, 5 goals.
Jack Henderson: 27 disposals (16 K), 14 handball receives, 6 inside 50s, 17 score involvements, 5 tackles.
Shaun Mannagh: 25 disposals (18 K), 14 contested possessions, 7 marks (2 CM), 5 tackles, 5 clearances, 8 inside 50s, 15 score involvements, 6 goals.
Emmanuel Ajang: 25 disposals (13 K), 16 contested possessions, 7 clearances, 5 inside 50s, 10 score involvements, 4 tackles.
Hudson Garoni: 13 disposals (9 K), 6 marks (4 CM), 10 score involvements, 5 goals.
Flynn Young: 9 disposals (8 K), 4 marks, 3 tackles, 5 score involvements, 2 goals.

ROUND 22 IMAGE GALLERY