VFL: Werribee outclass Geelong as Shaun Mannagh stars

A developing tall took it up to his AFL listed brother and a former AFL midfielder stunned as Werribee broke an almost decade long drought on Saturday.

Werribee is on a roll.

Four straight wins has the Tigers on the brink of the VFL top eight and looming as a dangerous side for any opposition club in the back half of the season.

Along the way they’re ticking off some important boxes and overturning recent history.

Saturday’s 16.16 (112) to 7.7 (49) win over Geelong was Werribee’s first against the Cats since 2014.

The Big W sits in a six-team squeeze in the middle of the ladder from eighth to 13th as the race for the top eight heats up.

Werribee coach Michael Barlow. Picture: Andy Brownbill

But they’re also just a game outside the top four setting the scene for an exciting end to the season.

“We’ve broken our season up into three blocks and after the first six rounds we were sitting 2-4 and behind where we wanted to be,” he said.

“The response has been largely player driven and we’ve improved dramatically since then. The growth in our playing group has been fantastic to see from a coaching perspective.

“In fairness to Geelong, they had a few out on Saturday and it’s something we acknowledge. But that’s one of the circumstances which comes from playing against AFL-aligned sides. They change from week to week.

“After not being able to convert our chances early in the game, we managed to take a few opportunities before halftime and it really helped to break it open for us.”

Werribee’s Bior Malual looks for an option down the ground. Picture: Andy Brownbill

Shaun Mannagh starred for Werribee with three goals to go along with 23 disposals to take home the Damian Drum medal, which was presented to him by the former Geelong and Big W skipper.

He also had a resounding 15 score involvements.

“It was a well rounded game from Shaun,” Barlow said.

“He was really aggressive with what he did with the ball and it came off. We asked him to bring that into his game and it’s certainly paid off in recent weeks.”

Werribee ruckman Sam Conway. Picture: Andy Brownbill

Developing ruckman Sam Conway was again impressive facing off against his brother, Toby, who is on Geelong’s AFL list.

He finished with 21 hit-outs and 15 disposals.

“He started the year out of the side and has come in and developed really well,” Barlow said.

“You want it all to happen very quickly for these guys but sometimes you just need to take a bit of patience. I think there was a bit of a chip on his shoulder playing against his brother.

“At a minimum I would say he broke even and grew into the game the longer it went on. Sam has faced some quality ruckman this year including Cal Sinclair, Tom Downie and Tom Hickey and he’s learning a lot from facing off against those guys.”

Werribee’s Michael Sodomaco. Picture: Andy Brownbill

Tom Gribble (35 disposals) and Ollie Hanrahan (28 disposals and three goals) again found plenty of the footy to be named among Werribee’s best.

Meanwhile, Matt Hanson had 23 disposals and kicked three majors.

The Tigers will next face Port Melbourne who are coming off a close loss to Box Hill.

“There’s a fair bit of buzz heading into the game on Friday night,” Barlow said.

“Port were very unlucky not to win their last game and they had a good win the week before so their form is very good.

“We’re expecting another tough contest.”