There were more big performances and some good wins enjoyed by Werribee players at local level on the weekend, one by a favourite who starred in his return after a lengthy injury lay-off.

GEELONG FOOTBALL LEAGUE

Emmanuel Ajang – Geelong West
Enjoyed another good day as the Giants upset Newtown & Chilwell by 30 points after trailing by 11 at quarter time. Was solid in the first half but went up a gear after the main break. Kicked two quality and important goals in the second half before ending the day with 27 disposals and five clearances.

Flynn Young – Newtown & Chilwell
Started the game well with some good aerial play and a couple of early goals, but like the rest of the team fell away in the second half. Finished with 12 disposals and two goals in defeat.

Charlie Byrne – Newtown & Chilwell
Found some ball of half-back but struggled to create a lot of drive against the Giants. Tallied 16 disposals (11 kicks) and four marks in a disappointing result for the Eagles.

Keegan Gray – Bell Park
Played mostly halfback and on a wing and impressed at stages in a 54-point win over St Albans. Moved well when the ball was in his area and totalled 18 disposals (5 inside 50s) and three tackles.   

Cam Anderson – North Shore
Played his best game this season highlighted by some good run and carry in 84-point loss to Colac. Was named the Seagulls’ best after collected 24 disposals (19 kicks) at 79% efficiency and kicking a goal.

Sam Witherden – North Shore
Found plenty of footy once more with 31 disposals (26 kicks) in the loss to the Tigers. Along with his ball wining was good defensively, adding four tackles to also feature in the best for the Seagulls.

Mitch Burgess – Leopold
Defended well one-on-one, helping to outnumber at other contests and worked hard offensively to be one of best as the Lions trumped Grovedale by 64 points. Had 20 disposals (18 kicks) with seven inside 50s and an impressive goal out of a stoppage.
 

WESTERN REGION FOOTBALL LEAGUE

Michael Selsby – Yarraville Seddon (Local Player of the Week)
Starred in the Eagles’ fourth win of the season a commanding 90-point victory over Point Cook Centrals. Collected 36 disposals (23 contested, 9 clearances) and a game-high five goals. Broke well from stoppage and showed good defensive effort around the ground with five tackles.

Aidan Johnson – Yarraville Seddon
Another strong performance this time playing in attack, kicked 3.5 mostly from grabs inside 50. Competed well in the air and on the ground to finish with 19 disposals and nine marks in the win.

Akol Deng - Yarraville Seddon
Dominated in the ruck with 62 hit-outs and was important around the ground despite only having seven disposals. Led by example with his physicality which included four tackles.

Sam Clifford – Hoppers Crossing
One of the top performers for the Warriors with 22 disposals (16 kicks) and two goals in a heavy defeat to Point Cook. Took the game on and broke the lines as well as winning some impressive clearances when thrown in the midfield after halftime.

ESSENDON DISTRICT FOOTBALL LEAGUE

Cam McLeod – Avondale Heights
Amongst the best again as Heights overcame a 21-point halftime deficit to defeat Doutta Stars by 23 points for their third win of the year. Played mainly a defensive role on the wing collecting 20 disposals at 80% efficiency and seven marks.

Lachlan Smart – Deer Park
Kicked three goals from 11 disposals and had seven tackles against fellow EDFL newcomers St Albans. However, his day ended early due to injury as the Lions ran out 55-point winners.

BALLARAT FOOTBAL LEAGUE

Jay Dahlhaus – Sebastopol
Back after three months out and didn’t miss a beat leading Sebastopol to a 46-point triumph over Lake Wendouree. Kicked two early goals (three in total) before topping all comers on the day with 32 disposals (24 contested) and seven tackles.

Jack Riding – North Ballarat
Did it all in helping the Roosters to a 39-point victory over rivals Ballarat. Got going when the game was a hard slog and finished with 38 disposals (21 contested, 10 clearances) and three goals, while also adding five tackles for good measure.

BENDIGO FOOTBALL LEAGUE

Bailey Henderson – Castlemaine 
Gathered 45 disposals for the second week in a row and led from the front as the Magpies went down to Strathfieldsaye by 70 points. His outing also featured eight clearances, seven inside 50s and a goal.

Frankston will make its way to Avalon Airport Oval on Saturday for Werribee's penultimate home game of the 2023 Smithy’s VFL season.

The Big W’s winning ways continued against the Northern Bullants last week and the home team now have their sights set on completing a perfect 6-0 record against standalone opponents with a victory over the Dolphins.

Frankston fell to GWS by a point in Round 17, shooting themselves in the foot after kicking 6.18 in the loss. Despite only having three wins on the season the Dolphins have shown plenty against AFL-aligned sides this year.

TEAM NEWS
Experienced tall Josh Porter is back in the side after missing the past two games with Michael Selsby set to make his first appearance since Round 8 after some strong form for Yarraville Seddon.

Ruckman Kobe Annand will miss his first game this season because of injury, while Darcy Cassar is the other omission for the home team.

ENTRY DETAILS
Entry for Werribee's Round 18 fixture will be free for all patrons with the gates at Avalon Airport Oval opening at 11am on Saturday. 

ROUND 18
Werribee vs Frankston
Saturday 22nd July, 1:05pm
Avalon Airport Oval, Werribee

Werribee continued its rich vein of form in Round 17, defeating the Northern Bullants by 141 points to claim its 12th win of the VFL season.

On a wet afternoon at Avalon Airport Oval the hosts dominated from the outset, extending their lead at every break to record their biggest win of the season with a 23.23 (171) to 2.5 (17) result.

With Gold Coast and Brisbane having the week off the win elevated Werribee to second on the ladder with the Big W now only trailing the top placed Suns by percentage.

Jack Henderson and Matt Keast were Werribee’s leading ball winners on the day with 31 and 30 disposals respectively, with Keast also limiting Bullants star Jean-Luc Velissaris to just 18 touches.

Meanwhile Hudson Garoni, one of 15 individual goal scorers for Werribee, completing his best return since Round 5, kicking five majors.

It was all one-way traffic in the first quarter with goals to Bior Malual, Garoni and Kye Declase giving Werribee a 21-point buffer before the visitors had even gone inside 50.

Three more majors by the home team while restricting the Bullants to just three forward entries and a scoreless opening term saw the Big W with a 43-point quarter time lead.

Things wouldn’t be as easy for Werribee to start the second stanza with the visitors limiting the Big W to just a single behind in the first 11 minutes of play.

However, the hosts would eventually break the shackles with Declase, Garoni and Tom Gribble nailing majors in the space of three minutes.

The Bullants got their first goal at the 18-minute mark, before back-to-back majors from Dom Brew and Henderson to end the half, lifted the margin to 70 points at the main break.

It took little time for Werribee to open the scoring in the second half with Garoni marking on the lead and then converting his set shot inside the first minute.

Further goals followed from Shaun Mannagh and Sam Paea before a running finish deep in the pocket from Sam Clohesy brought up triple figures for Werribee.

Louis Pinnuck and Jack Boyd soon got in on the action with Clohesy’s second and a late Nick Hayes goal giving the hosts their best quarter of the match.

Lucas Rocci was first on the board in the final term slotting home a free kick just two minutes in with Garoni adding Werribee’s next two goals, the key forward’s fifth coming via a soccer assist from Malual.

The home team’s final major came courtesy of Wardell Lual with the defender booting the Big W’s 23rd goal at the 24-minute mark of the last.

Werribee: 6.7 11.10 19.7 23.23 (161)
Northern Bullants: 0.0 1.0 1.2 2.5 (17)

GOALS
Werribee: H. Garoni 5, K. Declase 2, S. Clohesy 2, J. Henderson 2, B. Malual, S. Mannagh, S. Paea, N. Hayes, J. Boyd, T. Gribble, L. Rocci, D. Brew, N. Lever, W. Lual, L. Pinnuck.
Northern Bullants: J. Barling, S. El-Hawli. 

BEST
Werribee: J. Henderson, K. Annand, H. Garoni, D. Brew, B. Malual, M. Keast.

KEY PLAYERS
Jack Henderson: 31 disposals (20 K, 11 HB), 12 marks, 5 tackles, 2 clearances, 7 inside 50s, 15 score involvements, 2 goals.
Matt Keast: 30 disposals (16 K, 12 HB), 7 marks, 11 handball receives, 7 tackles, 6 clearances, 6 inside 50s, 8 score involvements.
Tom Gribble: 28 disposals (15 K, 14 HB), 12 contested possessions, 5 clearances, 4 inside 50s, 10 score involvements, 1 goal.
Dom Brew: 26 disposals (17 K, 9 HB), 18 contested possessions, 5 tackles, 13 clearances, 6 inside 50s, 9 score involvements, 1 goal.
Kye Declase: 24 disposals (13 K, 11 HB), 13 contested possessions, 4 tackles, 3 clearances, 5 inside 50s, 10 score involvements, 2 goals.
Nick Coughlan: 16 disposals (15 K, 1 HB), 10 intercept possessions, 9 marks (6 intercept), 3 tackles, 6 rebound 50s.
Hudson Garoni: 16 disposals (11 K, 5 HB), 5 marks (1 contested), 2 clearances, 11 score involvements, 5 goals.
Bior Malual: 16 disposals (13 K, 3 HB), 11 marks (2 intercept), 4 inside 50s, 8 score involvements, 2 goals.
Kobe Annand: 12 disposals (8 K, 4 HB), 3 marks (1 contested), 39 hit-outs, 9 tackles, 2 clearances, 7 score involvements.

ROUND 17 IMAGE GALLERY - VIEW HERE

NEXT GAME
Round 18
Werribee vs Frankston
Saturday 22th July, 1:05pm
Avalon Airport Oval, Werribee

Fifteen Werribee players took to the field in local competitions this past weekend with several players returning from injury and a number of others producing notable performances.

GEELONG FOOTBALL LEAGUE

Sam Witherden – North Shore
Played a big part in North Shore’s second win of the season, a 16-point triumph over St Albans in very windy conditions. Moved into the midfield after quarter time and was influential with some strong stoppage work and good run and carry. Had 25 disposals with five inside 50s and five tackles.

Connor Thar – Lara
Made his Lara debut his first match since suffering an ankle injury against Footscray in Round 8. In an encouraging return against reigning premiers St Mary’s, played with confidence and good energy, gathering 15 disposals (12 kicks) while adding a goal in just a half of footy.

Emmanuel Ajang – Geelong West
Was the most prominent Giant in a 31-point loss to third placed Colac. Totalled 38 disposals (8 inside 50s, 5 clearances) and nine tackles to receive best afield honours.

Noah Gribble – Geelong West
Taking to the field in his first game in almost a month it wasn’t the return anyone would have hoped for with shoulder and foot issues bringing his day to a premature end. Played predominately as a forward.

Charlie Byrne – Newtown & Chilwell
One of the best for the Eagles as they overcame Grovdeale by 50 points for their in their 11th win of the season. Collected 29 disposals off halfback and kicked two nice goals. Also had 11 marks and three tackles.

Flynn Young – Newtown & Chilwell
Had an impact in attack but some inaccurate goal kicking (three behinds) was the difference in not having a greater influence on the game. His one major was an impressive one amongst 14 disposals and two tackles in the win over the Tigers. 

Mitch Burgess – Leopold
Enjoyed a solid return to footy and played his part in helping the Lions seperate themselves from South Barwon thanks to a 36-point victory over the Swans. Showed good acceleration when in possession.

WESTERN REGION FOOTBALL LEAGUE

Akol Deng - Yarraville Seddon
Was the top performer for the Eagles in a 46-point victory over Spotswood with his best game in several weeks. Dominated in the ruck with 57 hit-outs and was good around the ground collecting 24 disposals (13 contested, 8 clearances). Showed plenty of physicality across the day.

Michael Selsby – Yarraville Seddon
Also amongst the better players against the Woodsmen with 30 disposals, eight clearances and goal. Set the tone early and won a good amount of the ball both inside and on the outside.

Aidan Johnson – Yarraville Seddon
Spent the majority of the day in defence where he played an important role in the Eagles’ fourth win. Was strong in the contest and used the ball well, tallying 17 disposals along with nine one-percenters.

Sam Clifford – Hoppers Crossing
Played well to be named in the best for the Warriors in a 23-point loss to Point Cook Centrals. Provided some good rebound and didn’t waste many of his 15 disposals.

ESSENDON DISTRICT FOOTBALL LEAGUE

Cam McLeod – Avondale Heights
One of the best for Heights in a 58-point defeat away to Greenvale. Used mainly in defence, but also swung forward in the third term to try and provide an avenue to goal. Had 16 disposals and three contested marks. 

Lachlan Smart – Deer Park
Was a strong performer in a narrow five-point loss to West Coburg. Finished with 23 disposals, nine tackles and two goals in the second matchup this year between the Lions and Burgers to be decided by less than a goal.


BENDIGO FOOTBALL LEAGUE

Bailey Henderson – Castlemaine (Local Player of the Week)
Was comfortably Castlemaine’s best player in their loss to Gisborne accumulating 45 disposals (5 clearances, 6 inside 50s, 9 rebound 50s) and 11 tackles. Showed great leadership also, offering encouragement and direction for his teammates.

OVENS & MURRAY FOOTBAL LEAGUE

Sam Azzi – North Albury
Suffered a hamstring injury early in the game, in the Hoppers’ Round 12 contest against Albury.