Tigers brave, but beaten
Werribee's quest for premiership glory has come to an end, with Scott West's team falling at the second last hurdle.
Against a Box Hill lineup with a large contingent of Hawthorn-listed players, the task was never going to be an easy one, and despite a brave fight the Tigers went down by 52 points.
Despite being under pressure down back, Ayden Kennedy (25 disposals) and Will Sierakowski (21 possessions) stood tall.
“Ayden’s been really good through the last bit of this year in the finals. We were undersized going into this game which made it a difficult day for the defenders. He gave us some run and his use of the footy was important," West told NMFC.com.au.
“Obviously we lost Scotty (McMahon) and Siera came back in for us (during finals) which was a great effort.
“Having surer heads back there with Will and Ayden is a really good thing especially on this ground where you’re always one kick away from the action. The way they were able to organise us and take control in defence was good.”
For North rookie Tim McGenniss, it was another valuable learning experience. Matched up against Shane Savage and Mitch Hallahan at different times, he battled valiantly.
“With the Hawks' ability to switch and change their midfielders it made it difficult to keep the match-ups for the whole game. We didn’t really want to push Tim back when Savage went forward so they broke the tag there a bit.
“He’s a kid who I think is going to make it through pure will. He wants to push himself, no task is too much and he’s a real coachable kid.
“We got Tim to run with players in the last part of the year, full credit to him for taking on the roles we gave him."
The Werribee coach described McGenniss' development this year as 'amazing'.
Meanwhile, Daniel Currie (38 hit outs, 9 disposals) was unable to have his usual influence in the ruck against multiple opponents.
“Box Hill had three or four big blokes and they really challenged him to spread," West added.
"Obviously Luke Lowden’s a big fella; I think the Hawks knew in the back of their mind that if Lowden wasn’t rucking, John Ceglar would and if he didn’t Sam Grimley would.
“They really challenged him on the spread and he got caught out a little but the majority of the time he was really good under trying circumstances.”
Through the centre, Jordan Gysberts finished with 21 disposals and 7 tackles.
“Jordan probably didn’t impact the game as much as I would have liked for a midfielder, but it’s been a long year for him. He was solid but I guess the masses got him through the middle of the ground.”
Recently delisted Roo Ben Speight (17 disposals, 1 goal) was a solid performer, commended for his dedication during a challenging time, while North development coach Jarred Moore finished with another great performance, racking up 32 possessions.
Box Hill Hawks 6.5 12.7 16.9 22.12 (144)
Werribee Tigers 6.1 9.6 12.6 14.8 (92)
GOALS:
Box Hill Hawks: Savage 5 O'Brien 2 Tobin 2 Lowden 2 Ceglar 2 Grimley 2 Langford 2 Osborne 2 Murphy Simpkin Retzlaff
Werribee Tigers: Bolton 5 Brown 3 Speight McDonald Maric Sodomaco Ross Warren
BEST:
Box Hill Hawks: Savage Langford Osborne Lowden Hallahan Cheney
Werribee Tigers: Kennedy Meredith Bolton Currie Clouston McDonald