Werribee Football Club is delighted to welcome Brooke Lochland in the role of Community Manager. 

Lochland, an AFLW player with the Western Bulldogs, will oversee the club’s football development programs and work closely with organisations such as Wyndham City Council, Western Region Football League, AFL Victoria, The Salvation Army, Reclink Victoria and local schools.

She arrives in the role having most recently worked as a coach with the Simon Black Football Academy and has previous experience in the fitness industry alongside a lengthy career as a professional athlete, first as a long track speed skater before joining the ranks of AFLW in 2016.  

Brooke said she was thrilled to accept the position and looks forward to helping grow football participation across Wyndham.  

“This is always something I wanted to do, and Werribee is a great club with great people involved and I can’t wait to really get stuck into the role,” she said. 

“From what I’ve seen the club values the community and what they do in the community and I’m excited to continue the great work that Hamish and Mar have done over the last few years.”  

Outgoing manager Hamish MacInnes will remain with the club and fulfil a part-time position in the community space while Mar Gattek continues in his role as Multicultural Development Officer.  

Werribee remains the only VFL club with a full-time Community Manager which it’s had since 2006.  

Werribee Football Club CEO Mark Penaluna said he anticipates Lochland having a significant impact in her new role.   

“We’re very excited to have Brooke join us and I’m sure she will do an outstanding job,” he said. 

“She comes here with a significant sporting background but also has a strong community feel and a lot of great ideas and really wants to assist the club grow in all areas.” 

The Werribee Football Club is delighted to announce co-captains for 2022 with Tom Gribble and Dom Brew set to lead the club this season.  

Gribble, 27, a 102-game veteran of the VFL and the 2019 J.J Liston Trophy winner is about to embark on his ninth season as a Werribee player.  

Brew, 25, has been at Werribee since and 2017 and over a 52-game career to date has built a reputation as one of the competition’s toughest players. 

The pair take over from Michael Sodomaco who stepped down after seven years of captaincy as the 30-year-old nears the end of his VFL career. 

Brew and Gribble’s appointment was announced at training on Monday night following a player and coach vote the previous week.  

Gribble said it was an honour to be one of the club’s the next captains and take over from close mate Sodomaco.  

“It’s extremely humbling and I’m really looking forward to the journey ahead,” he said. 

“I’d like to think Brewy and I are the product of Sods, in a way he has done a lot of the heavy lifting over the last seven years and has set a really good foundation. 

“Hopefully we can win a few games now and enjoy a lot of success over the next few years.”  

Brew said he would never have imagined himself being a VFL captain. 

“It’s a huge honour for me, I’ve come a long way since I first stepped inside the club,” he said.  

“I absolutely love this place to death and just want success for the joint.

"It's an absolute honour to do it with Tommy and I can’t wait to get after it this year and build something special.” 

It is the first time Werribee has appointed co-captains ahead of a season however, Michael Redenbach and Ian Dunstan, who signed as coach several rounds into the 1985 campaign following the resignation of John Murphy, were both listed as captains that year.  

Werribee coach Michael Barlow said Brew and Gribble each bought something different to the role and would complement one another well.  

“In all my time in football clubs I’ve never seen someone invest in others as much as Dom Brew does,” he said.  

“The stories in terms of the empathy and passion he shows towards his teammates is unlike anything I’ve seen from an individual.  

“Tom Gribble is the absolute team driver on-field but off-field has an ability to connect and understand the situations of individuals. 

“From my point of view it’s a great pairing, they understand each other incredibly well and will wax off one another.” 

In addition to the captaincy announcement the club also revealed its four other leadership group members including Nick Coughlan who will be vice-captain this season.  

Also, returning to the team’s leadership group is four-time best and fairest winner Matt Hanson and standout youngster Jack Henderson, while Shaun Mannagh was voted in for the first time. 

Werribee made it two practice match wins from as many outings with an 84-43 result against Footscray at Whitten Oval on Friday night.

The match saw most of Werribee’s more experienced players line up for the first time in the preseason after a young side took to the field against Carlton a week earlier.

Taking on a Footscray side with 11 Western Bulldogs listed players there were a lot of positives for Werribee including the team’s defensive pressure across the whole ground.

Werribee started slowly, conceding the first goal inside the opening two minutes and also struggled to finish off their own early scoring opportunities but would later dominate for long periods.

The Big W's first goal finally came after 15 minutes, and they would kick five unanswered to jump out to a 35-9 lead 10 minutes into the second quarter before the hosts hit back with two goals to end the half.

The third term was Werribee’s most dominant, with five majors kicked from five different goal scorers while conceding just two behinds to lead 69-23 at the last change.

Footscray doubled their goal tally in the final stanza adding three majors to Werribee’s two, but the Big W left with plenty of confidence from their showing ahead of two final practice matches.

Werribee: 3.3 5.6 10.9 12.12 (84)
Footscray: 1.2 3.3 3.5 6.7 (43)

Werribee Goals: Hayes 4, Porter 2, Deng, Lual, Maishman, Mannagh, Wagener.

Top Performers

Nick Hayes – Kicked four goals straight in the intraclub match on our preseason camp and nailed another 4.0 against Footscray. Marked the ball well inside 50 and further up the ground.

Tom McCaffrey – The former Casey Demon played in the midfield, on the wing and half-forward but looked most damaging as an inside midfielder where he showcased his burst of speed and the ability to use the ball once out of congestion.

Tom Gribble – A typical showing from one of the VFL’s best midfielders. Got his hands on the ball often and displayed his ability to win 50-50 balls. Also provided great leadership and direction for the midfield.

Nathan Cooper – Played on Jamarra Ugle-Hagan and keep the former number 1 draft pick's impact to a minimum for much of the night. Continues to improve his rebound and ability to create out of the back half.

Jay Dahlhaus – The small forward only played the first half but had a significant impact through the first two quarters with his attack and pressure on the ball being elite. Didn’t register a goal but was involved in several goal scoring plays.

Akol Deng – Playing just his second season of football the former basketballer continues to take big strides. His repeats efforts in both marking and ruck contests is outstanding and was swamped by teammates when he marked and goaled in the third term.

Sam Conway – Spent most of the night in the ruck and fared well against quality AFL opposition in the form of Jordan Sweet. Showed a good temperament and his ability to mark the ball overhead was also a feature.

Ariek Lual – Come on in the second half and played forward, back and pinch-hit it the ruck. Showed more great signs up forward following on from a strong performance there in the intraclub match.

The Werribee Football Club is thrilled to see the return of Godings as a key sponsor for 2022. 

The Kubota tractor and excavator dealer enters it’s fourth year as a Principal Sponsor of the club and Werribee CEO Mark Penaulna said it was fantastic to have the business recommit for another year.  

“It’s been great to have the support of Godings over recent years,” he said. 

“They’re a company that works closely with many other businesses, not only across Wyndham but other areas of Melbourne and Geelong and we really appreciate their involvement with our club.” 

Godings owner Adrian Williams said he and his wife Amanda have a strong philosophy of giving back to the community. 

“I approached Mark a few years ago and asked how I could get involved and things went from there,” he said. 

“I am a footy tragic and have a lot of friends involved with the WFC, so it was natural progression to become involved. 

“I also enjoy the social interaction with the community and feel that WFC unites the local football community, not to mention my kids Ella and Thomas love going to Avalon Airport Oval to watch the footy and have a kick on the ground at half-time.”