Werribee will have a connection to several involved in Saturday’s AFL Grand Final most notably with former player Ben Brown set to line up in attack for Melbourne. 

Brown was drafted into the AFL from Werribee after joining the club for the 2013 season when he relocated to Victoria from Tasmania to pursue his goal of playing in the AFL. 

He played 18 games for Werribee in 2013 and impressed with 28 goals which led to North Melbourne selecting the 200cm forward with pick 47 in that year’s national draft.  

After spending the first seven seasons of his AFL career with the Roos, Brown joined Melbourne for the 2021 campaign. 

Despite only managing three games through the first 16 rounds of the season Brown has become an integral part of the Demons’ forward line since, playing every game after earning a recall in Round 17. 

Saturday’s decider will be his first on the biggest stage.  

Unlike Brown, former Werribee coach Mark “Choco” Williams will be involved in the final match of the season for the third time, all of those as senior coach or as a member of the coaching staff.  

Williams who is now Head of Development for Melbourne, coached Werribee in 2019 and remained at Avalon Airport Oval for the cancelled 2020 VFL season before departing last December to take on his role with the Demons. 

He of course coached Port Adelaide to premiership glory and the club’s first ever AFL flag in 2004 and was also at the helm for the Power during a losing effort against Geelong in 2007.   

Although not playing in the grand final, Kye Decalse is another former Werribee player now at the Dees. 

The most recent Werribee player to graduate to the AFL, Declase joined Melbourne at the start of June when the utility was acquired with pick 15 in the Mid-Season Rookie Draft.  

He played 35 games in three seasons wearing the Big W. 

The connections to the grand final teams don’t end there with the Western Bulldogs previously aligned with Werribee from 2000-2007 following the amalgamation of the AFL reserves and the VFL. 

Werribee CEO Mark Penaluna said it was fantastic to see former Werribee people involved in the biggest game of the year.   

“It’s fantastic to see Werribee represented in the AFL Grand Final with Ben and Mark who will be heavily involved on the day, but also with Kye as a member of the Melbourne playing group,” he said. 

“All three made significant contributions to the Werribee Football Club during their time with us and we’re really proud of what they have already achieved and will potentially be a part of at Melbourne.  

“We wish everyone involved from both teams the best of luck and hope it’s a memorable grand final.” 

A couple of weeks ago we saw a video surface of raucous scenes inside the Western Bulldogs' changerooms with players belting out 90s pop hit Freed from Desire, following their preliminary final win over Port Adelaide. 

It’s certainly not the first time we’ve seen or heard about celebrations like these and former Werribee player Ian Wilson has shared in his latest blog, how a bit of post-game singing became a feature during the club’s 1993 VFA premiership winning season.  

Introduced and led by Neil “Codger” Connell who joined Werribee for the 1993 campaign, Wilson recalls how Sedaka’s Calendar Girl and the Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs version of Poison Ivy were among the songs regularly recited by the team.  

You can read Ian’s latest blog post ‘Nostalgic Songs of Success’ HERE.

Werribee has locked away three key members of its defence for 2022 with Nick Coughlan, Nathan Cooper and Jesse Clark all recommitting to the club.

Werribee limited opposition teams to just 64 points per game last season with Coughlan, Cooper and Clark all playing a pivotal role for the league’s fifth ranked defence.

Coughlan has been at the heart of Werribee’s backline since 2018 and this year was joined by Cooper who crossed from Richmond’s VFL outfit to feature as the team's other tall defender. 

While injury forced the pair to miss the team’s last game of the season, Clark, 20, played every match after waiting an extra year for his first taste of VFL footy when 2020 was cancelled.

The former Geelong Falcons standout showcased his defensive capabilities with several impressive displays negating dangerous opposition forwards.  

Werribee football manager Mark Micallef said the club was thrilled to be bringing back all three defenders.

“Nathan Cooper came to us from Richmond and cemented his spot as our last-line defender. He’s an elite preparer and someone we can rely on to do the job on the best key forward each week. He’s extremely dedicated to getting the most out of himself and we can’t wait to see even more growth from him,” Micallef said.

“Nick Coughlan as the club’s most experienced key defender and as a member of our leadership group has a real strong passion to deliver Werribee a premiership. He’s a great person to have down back but he’s also versatile and is someone we can trust to play a role up forward which he’s done at times in recent seasons.  

“Jesse played all nine games this year and did some magnificent shut down roles on a range of opposition players. He’s a player that can help take us to the places we want to be, and we’re also excited by his leadership potential, so we’re really looking forward to seeing his development with another year in our system.”

Werribee has retained the services of three of its best ball users and outside runners by re-signing Jack Henderson, Bior Malual and Keegan Gray.

All three took another step forward with their play when the VFL returned in 2021.

Henderson spent more time in the midfield after previously playing as a small defender and small forward while Malual became team’s main offensive weapon out of defence.

Gray who played seven of nine games cemented his place in the best 22 with a number of dashing performances after coming into the side in round 3.

Gray and Henderson who both turn 22 in the coming months will extend their time at Werribee into a fifth year while 2022 will be Malual’s fourth year at the club after joining from Airport West.

Werribee football manager Mark Micallef said all three signatures were a high priority for the club.

“Jack Henderson had a fantastic year, he’s someone who can play a multitude of roles, is extremely coachable and runs his backside off each week. He’s the youngest member of our leadership group and someone we can see filling an even greater leadership role in coming seasons,” Micallef said.

“Keegan can play a number of outside roles for us off halfback or through the wing and is a beautiful decision maker with ball in hand. He’s a great character and like Jack has been a long-term player for Werribee now, with the club seeing him progress and develop from an 18-year-old kid.

“We’re extremely excited to have Bior back for another year, he’s a player that has the running capability and decision making to really hurt opposition teams and we saw that in multiple games this year. His ball use and attacking ability off halfback or the wing was a highlight for our team this season and we look forward to seeing more of that again next year.”