WRFL 2021: Altona makes light work of flag rival Hoppers Crossing

The Vikings are firing under new coach Corey McCall, booting 13 goals to two after quarter-time to move to 2-0 in WRFL Division 1.

Kelly Pickard was one of Altona’s best on Saturday. Picture: Local Legends Photography

The season is only two rounds old but Altona is the leading premiership contender on available evidence.

It is not unexpected given the Vikings claimed the Western Region Football League Division 1 minor premiership in 2018 and 2019 before falling short of the ultimate prize.

But after a season off and with a first-year coach calling the shots, Altona has made an impressive start to 2021.

On Saturday, it retrieved a quarter-time deficit to hammer flag rival Hoppers Crossing by 47 points away from home, 15.5 (95) to 7.6 (48).

The Vikings trailed by 18 points at quarter-time before kicking 13 of the next 15 goals to complete an emphatic victory.

The Warriors, who had reason to be confident after a convincing win over Spotswood in Round 1, were kept goalless in the second and fourth terms.

Altona is 2-0 with a percentage of 303.12 and is one of three undefeated teams, alongside ladder-leader Werribee Districts and third-ranked Caroline Springs.

“The start wasn’t the greatest, but obviously we got our game going and played a really good three quarters after that. It was very pleasing,” Vikings coach Corey McCall said.

“At quarter-time, I felt Hoppers had all the momentum. It could have gone one way or the other, but the pleasing thing is we’ve been working on a lot of things during the pre-season. After the first quarter we looked at our numbers … and said, ‘Look guys, we’re right there, we’re just not playing the way we want to play.’

“The great thing for us coaches was the players knew that before they even got to the huddle.

“We just had to correct a few things … the way we wanted to defend, and the guys got some belief when we started to get the scoreboard ticking over in our favour.”

Sean Tighe was best afield for the winners after a super display in the ruck, while Mitch Norton kicked three of Altona’s seven second-quarter goals.

Will Taylor, Kelly Pickard, Jayden Post and Josh Hindle also impressed.

“He (Tighe) controlled it for us in the ruck and gave our midfielders really good first use,” McCall said.

“But he also won some clearances himself through chain handballing out and kicking the ball out of stoppages.

“His presence was really large for us. When we were up and running, he had a big impact in that.”

In another positive for the club, five junior products have made their senior debuts through the first two rounds – Tom Rowland, Jack Callaway, Saad El-Hawli, Spencer Johnson and Hindle.

But McCall is also mindful his team has a big three weeks ahead with clashes against Spotswood, Deer Park and Werribee Districts.

The Vikings will host the Woodsmen in a Saturday night fixture in Round 3, with Anthony Eames’ team yet to taste victory in 2021.

“You don’t want to start 0-2 and they’ll be striving for a victory,” McCall said.

“We’ve got to be very respectful of our opposition all year and I’ve spoken to the boys about that.

“We’re expecting a really fired up Spotswood on Saturday.”

Werribee Districts silence doubters in Round 1 hammering

Werribee Districts coach Chris Gilham warned his side remained a formidable opposition despite a long list of departures.

Two weeks before the Round 1 clash against St Albans, Gilham declared his faith the Tigers’ youngsters would stand up in the absence of several experienced players.

He said they had simply been starved of opportunity.

Werribee Districts’ next generation restricted the Saints to just one goal in the opening 90 minutes of Saturday’s Western Region Football League Division 1 season opener as it claimed an emphatic 67-point victory on home turf, 13.14 (92) to 3.7 (25).

It was a stunning display from a club which had waved goodbye to the likes of Will Sullivan, Caleb Sullivan, Cameron Lee, Oscar Junker, Nayef Hamad, Judah Dundon, Nick Buykx, Rhyce Prismall and Josh Harris.

“We’ve had a bit of a turnover of players, but we think we’ve got really good depth in our club and really good kids coming through,” Gilham said.

“We had seven debutants … so it’s a new-look team and they all showed they’re going to be handy additions and more-than capable of playing Division 1 seniors.

“We had some really good kids miss out on games too. They played in the reserves and will be pushing up in the next couple of weeks for sure.

“I think we only fielded five blokes over the age of 24 (in the senior side), so a young team as a whole.”

Ben McMahon, who has taken over the mantle as the club’s No.1 ruckman, typified the seamless changing of the guard with a best-on-ground performance.

Gilham said it was McMahon’s “best game for the footy club”.

“He had a huge pre-season and got the rewards. He was a clear standout,” he said.

Chris Molivas was a constant danger for St Albans in the forward half and contributed three goals and Andrew Panayi, now full-time with the Tigers after calling time on his VFL career, finished with four majors.

Recruit Sean Gregory, Daniel Schibeci and Josh Mould impressed in defence.

As did Lachlan Rainbow, who was forced to move to the other end of the ground when Lachlan Rzanovski suffered an quad injury moments before the first bounce, forcing Werribee Districts to play one short.

“It was like a minute before the game, so we couldn’t replace him, so we played one short.

Gilham said.

“Our full forward (Rainbow) had to go to full back and then he played superbly.”