Next match v Werribee 22.6.03 (UPDATED)

[Dale61]

Williamstown's named line-up for this weeks game against Werribee, to be played at Point Gellibrand Oval at 2pm.

B: Hollow ~ West ~ Cole
HB: Freeborn ~ Dukes ~ Nixon
C: Cranage ~ Fletcher ~ Runnalls
HF: McGough ~ Richardson ~ Mahoney
F: Cloke ~ Baldwin ~ Smoker
R: Richards ~ Lloyd ~ Anderson
Int from: Eichner ~ Hill ~ Jarrad ~ King
McArdle ~ Mullins ~ Sheehan ~ Theodore.

This could be a smoke screen as Swan, Kinnear, Betheras and Shackleton have not been named. It's possible that they are injured, but all seemed to pull up well after last weeks game.

I just hope that they're not going in too confident. Werribee have some pride to restore after their early season 121-point drubbing the last time these teams met, and last weeks win will give them a much needed boost in confidence. Williamstown need to return to their winning ways so as to keep top spot in sight.

[Dale61]

What a game in front of a huge crowd.

The conditions were a total turnaround compared to last week as Williamstown prevailed against a dogged Werribee team boosted by 12 Western Bulldogs listed players. Trailing at every change, Williamstown staged a wonderful comeback to overpower the Tigers by 13 points.

The early loss of Mark McGough to a back injury was a huge loss, robbing the midfield a lot of it's drive.

Marcus Baldwin returned to his best with a 7 goal haul, and was ably supported by Josh Mahoney (2 goals), Adrian Fletcher, Sam Cranage and Dane Swan.

Cam Cloke was also back to his best, and his mark in the third quarter will go close to being THE mark of the year.

Richard Cole showed that a week in the NT can do wonders for one's confidence and he oozed confidence in everything he did. Even his disposal was a vast improvement on previous weeks.

Fletch, again, racked up a truck load of possessions, but struggled against the faster midfield of Werribee in the first half. It was Werribee's pace all over the park that was giving them their spark and Williamstown were looking at a huge loss as the Western Bulldogs mosquito fleet were allowed to run rampant.

The main change gave the Williamstown coaching staff a chance to regroup and re-assess, and the blue-and-golds came out firing on all cylinders whilst facing a 21-point deficit.

As the Werribee players tired, the superior fitness of Williamstown began to show as players like Craig Smoker, Brad Lloyd, Bo Nixon and Jeremy Dukes started to get the upper hand on their opponents. As the Werribee players slowed to a walk, this allowed the Williamstown players to find the space they were denied in the first half and began to peg back the lead.

The eight point lead Werribee held at the last change was never going to be enough, and When Williamstown hit the lead for the first mid way through the last, Werribee were gone. Smoker and Mahoney were getting lonely as they found space time and again, whilst the backline continuously thwarting Werribee's vain attempts to score.

This win will go a long way in determining how far the Seagulls will go this season, and after last weeks disappointment, many were expecting Werribee to pulloff an upset.

Scores:
Will: 3.2.20 ~ 5.3.33 ~ 10.6.66 ~ 16.10.106
Werr: 4.3.27 ~ 8.6.54 ~ 11.8.74 ~ 14.9.93

Goals: Baldwin 7, Mahoney 2, Fletcher, Anderson, West, Hollow, Hill, Cloke, Swan.

Reserves:
Will: 5.6.36 ~ 9.11.65 ~ 16.16.112 ~ 21.20.146
Werr: 2.3.15 ~ 7.4.46 ~ 9.4.58 ~ 11.8.74

Pics to follow.

[Dale61]

Pics from the game.

[Dale61]

More pics from the game.

[Dale61]

Third quarter revival pics.

[fan4collingwood]

Great report.......just how big was the crowd....and is Marcus Baldwin on Collingwood's list?

[zoia]

omg i should have went i was so close to going with will, july 19 is next home match against frankston we will go to that dude

[Culprit]

Great stuff Dale. Where do you normally sit, view home games?

[foxy]

hey Dale, i may have spotted you at willi yesterday. were you wearing a really big hat? saw a dude with a big kinda cowboy hat walkin around with heaps of cameras.

anyway here's my match report, as posted on EBW:

a great, come from behind win in perfect conditions. willi were missing a few stars - kinnear and rupe, while MCG only played one quarter before putting on casual clothes & seemingly having a rest. werribee on the other hand had a near full-strength side, full of young talent (mcmahon, who starred, harris, bandy, gilbee, and others). great crowd & atmosphere as well.

our boys:

richo - ineffective in the first half. ended up going back in the second half & took some strong marks, but was quiet overall.

freeza - an average game. showed a wise head in defence on a few occasions, and cleared the ball well, but also quiet.

cole - seriously looked the goods. like a lot of the willi team, he mucked around with it in the first half, but still managed to look classy. laid some great tackles. his second half was fantastic. took a couple of great contested marks & one individual passage of play in the last quarter was SUBLIME. he ran the ball outta defence, dished it off, got it back, sprinted through the guts and kicked it inside 50 - the end result was a crucial goal to willi. bewwwwdiful. quickly becoming a favourite of the willi fans.

bo - fairly quiet. played up forward for much of the game, and looked very aware and classy at times, but his kicking needs work. average.

richards - OH YES. THE KID CAN PLAY. easily the best game i've seen him play. some of his tapwork had to be seen to believed. the way he anticipated where his rovers were running was bewwidful, freakish. not only that, he arguably beat bandy around the ground, linking up well and pinpointing a number of passes. GREAT. will probably see some senior action soon if he keeps this up.

MCG - only played the first quarter. got a few touches but also stuffed up a few kicks.

mullins - not as good as last week; wasn't quite as involved in the play and some of his possies were poor. will hold his spot.

king - first game for the willi seniors (i think); played in defence in the second quarter and i thought he was pretty good. kicked the ball nicely a few times. will probably hold his spot.

cloke - started out in defence & really relished the added responsibility. one of willi's best. his work around the ground was very good; kicked a VITAL goal in the third quarter as willi gained momentum. also took a genuine screamer right in front of the grandstand. sent the crowd wild!

shaks didn't play.

swan - started out in defence & was probably willi's best in the first half. crisp disposal out of the backline & constant run. was moved into the forward line in the second half & the benefits of a spell in defence were very apparent. applied a heap of forward line pressure and was very active. decent game.

did i miss anyone?

any questions, fire away.

[Molly]

based on your observations of the willi games foxy, what do you think are the long term prospects of richards, given he played so well yesterday?

[Dale61]

To those who have asked, I usually sit on the bench, just inside the main gate, near where the 50 metre arc meets the boundary.

If you can't spot me (frankly, I'm hard to miss - LOL) ask the lady in the canteen who will most likely point me out.

[Molly]

Dale we were looking out for you, and when we saw this guy with the cameras walk past we were a little excited - lucky we didn't talk to him b/c it doesn't sound like it was you. Will be sure to look out for you next time and say hi!

[Dale61]

I saw him too, after the game, taking a pic of a Dad with his two girls dressed up in Western Bulldogs gear. I looked at all his camera gear and thought to myself 'Shit, I used to carry that much stuff with my old camera', but now, my new camera has everything I ever had, maybe even more (I still haven't learnt how to use all of it's capabilities.)

I bet I used less film than he did as well!