Young forward Kieran Harper showed glimpses of his much hyped x-factor on Sunday in a last quarter blitz which almost got Werribee over the line against Coburg.

The 21-year old kicked two late goals, taking the Tigers to within a few points of beating the home side.

“Kieran did a lot of nice things in the last quarter and played with a lot of pace which we needed,” development coach John Lamont said.

Harper’s last gasp efforts helped the visitors spark a late charge, but Lamont has demanded more consistency from him.

“We just need to see him doing those things a bit more often…we’re searching for Kieran to do that for the whole game,” Lamont said.

At the final siren, he had 11 disposals, 4 marks and 2 goals.

“That pace and excitement is what we know him for.... imagine if he does that from the start he’ll be great.  It’s crucial he makes that last quarter effort the norm.”

While Ayden Kennedy was a good contributor in defence, he even managed to push forward and kick a long goal.  He forced his way into Werribee’s best with 16 disposals and 9 handballs.

“Ayden kicked a lovely goal, competed with a bit more consistency and kept his feet in the contest, he also had a couple of good tackles.

“Because he can kick the ball really well in those poor conditions he was an important contributor. He did a reasonable job all day.”

Majak Daw (11 disposals, 29 hit-outs) and Daniel Currie (10 disposals, 25 hit-outs, 4 marks) combined again as the ruck/forward duo with the latter returning from injury.  

“Majak did some good ruck work, had a heap of hit outs but was inconsistent.  He did have some good follow ups and tackled really well at times. Majak’s just got to react a bit quicker and get a bit more involved earlier.

“Dan rucked pretty well and was reasonably consistent. I thought he had a pretty solid game and took a couple of good marks.”

Levi Greenwood (18 disposals, 10 tackles) made his return for Werribee tasked with a hard tag on Richmond listed midfielder Shane Tuck.  Similar to Harper, he was pivotal with some final quarter form.

“Levi had about 8 disposals in the last quarter and competed really well later in the game. He was in the middle battling away and had some good efforts throughout the day.”

Michael Firrito (15 disposals, 8 kicks, 7 handballs) impressed Lamont in his first VFL match since 2006.

“Spud’s (Firrito) attitude was good, he handled it really well. It was a tough day to be a defender, Coburg had a lot more of the ball back there.”

Sam Wright (14 disposals), Jordan Gysberts (19 disposals, 10 handballs) and Tim McGenniss (13 disposals) worked hard but didn’t have as much influence.

“Sam (Wright) played on the wing and ended in defence. He showed some good signs but just needs to up the ante a little bit and play with more vigour.

“Jordan (Gysberts) played an inside mid role. He had an unobtrusive game; he got a bit of the ball but didn’t have a lot of impact or penetration in his game.

“I thought Tim struggled to maintain his influence. He battled a bit to get himself into the play.”

Will Sierakowski (11 disposals, 9 kicks) was solid for the Tigers but went off in the fourth quarter with leg soreness and didn’t take any further part.

“Siera did a lot of really good things in defence yesterday. He was a big loss when we lost him for the last.”

Coburg Tigers 3.1.19, 7.8.50, 8.10.58, 9.12 (66)
Werribee Tigers 2.1.13, 3.1.19, 5.7.37, 9.9 (63)

Goals
Coburg Tigers: McBean 2, Helbig, McGuane, Clifton, O'Hanlon, McDonough, Griffiths, Maric
Werribee Tigers: Harper 2, McKinley 2, Warren 2, Maric, Kennedy, Castello

Best
Coburg Tigers: Nahas, Helbig, Astbury, Venditti, Lonergan, Verrier
Werribee Tigers: Currie, Mather, Firrito, Kennedy, Harper, Sierakowski