Hear what the stars of Werribee’s drought-breaking premiership had to say in the aftermath of Sunday’s Grand Final triumph over the Southport Sharks.
As the celebrations kicked off at IKON Park, VFL expert commentators Mick O’Neil and Dan Winkel were on hand to find out all the stories behind the premiership story.
And there were plenty!
JIMMY ALLAN (Coach)
“It’s an unbelievable group. I gave them a bit of a whack at half-time. I just thought (Southport) bullied us. They were harder than us, they won the one-on-one contests and we were only 13 points down. That was the message. We’re 13 points down, we haven’t fired a shot.
“They kicked the first goal of the third quarter against the breeze and I thought it wasn’t going to be our day, but to our boys’ credit, they are an unbelievable bunch and I’m just so proud.
“It doesn’t matter if you haven’t had a great half, when it’s your turn next time just win your one-on-one battles and we started to do that and just got the ball forward.
“We are not a high scoring team. Our game is based around defence, and we know we don’t have to kick a huge score, but when we want to score, we can score and we showed that, which was so pleasing.”
DOM BREW (acting captain)
“It has been a big week and to cap it off with this is just unbelievable.
“I came here as a 19-year-old kid, very unpolished. I’ve spent my whole adult life here and (CEO Mark Penaluna) has been a big part of it. He’s helped me out when I’ve needed help, he’s always been there for me and to get him the flag that he deserves is unreal.”
JACK HENDERSON (Norm Goss medallist)
“It’s so much bigger than the 23 on the field today. It’s the community, it’s past players who stuck fat for years and years to build the culture of this football club and I’m just so happy and relieved for blokes like Dom Brew and Mark Penaluna, blokes who have been stalwarts of the club for years.
“A few departures of some very good players through the midfield opened up some opportunities for blokes like me to play more midfield minutes and probably not as much forward, which I’ve absolutely loved and I’ve grabbed it with both hands.
“I just go out and put my best foot forward every week and if the opportunity arises (at an AFL club) I will grab it with both hands. There’s no expectations, I’m a realist with where I am at with my age, but I reckon I would be able to have an impact.”
NICK COUGHLAN (injured captain)
“The amount of time and effort people have put in that goes unrewarded, now all of a sudden they’ve got a flag all that time and effort is so worth it.
“It’s incredible when you think about it. 21 teams in the comp all over the eastern side of the country, and Werribee has been able to beat all of them and then to come back with 13 new guys who didn’t play in last year’s ‘granny’ and put on a show like that is bloody incredible.
“We lost those players, but people just fill those shoes. You feel like you are important at the time, and you are, but what we’ve created is when someone comes in they just do their bloody job and you win. Winning does amazing things for football clubs and hopefully we can just keep on rolling with that.
“All I tried to do was just keep everyone calm. Obviously Jimmy is a first-year coach, I just wanted to be a sounding board for them because they're bloody good at what they do and I sort of bring the calm head in that situation.”
SAM AZZI
“I’ve played on (Hugh Dixon and Wylie Buzza) a couple of times now and they’re probably the best duo in the VFL. They’ve got AFL experience so I love the opportunity to play on those two. It’s a big learning curve and I just loved every minute. We’re a good defensive team and it has held us in good stead all year. We were pretty confident but it was still very stressful. A lot of balls were coming in,and with Buzza’s jump I think there were about 12 of us up there and one of us got a little fist and it saved an extra 20 minutes of footy, so it was a relief.”
ZAC BANCH
”Kicking the second goal was pretty sweet.
“It was a tough day, we knew they were going to come hard late in that last quarter with a breeze but we just had to try and control the ball and we did. We applied the way we wanted to apply and we were able to hold on in the end.”
RILEY BICE
“There’s a massive connection with the (Victorian/NSW) border. There’s half a dozen of us from there and it’s just a big country club (at Werribee).
“I just tried to stick at it (while being tagged) and impact any way I could and I’m just so happy we got the win.”
JESSE CLARK
“I absolutely love the club. I just feel we’re so deserving of this and so many people have put in so much work for this, so for it all to pay off is just surreal.
“It was hectic, it just seemed like a quarter that went forever. I kept looking at the clock and seeing 32 minutes gone. I remember the last kick came in and I thought I’d try to be Leo Barry but Buzza tried to mark on me. It was just unbelievable.
NATHAN COOPER
“It’s awesome to come back from missing out in the ‘granny’ last year. All the way through pre-season with a big turnover of players. But we were committed for the whole season. It was great character by the boys and to come home with the win in the end against a quality side is just amazing.”
JAY DAHLHAUS
“The mosquito fleet was very good today. We weren’t great in the first half, but we rallied together at half time and we really put the pressure on in that third quarter and used our speed and got out the back and we ended up getting on the end of a few goals.”
HUDSON GARONI
“We knew we weren’t playing our best footy at half time so to run over them like that, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Team success is why we play, so it is unbelievable. We were doing a lot of things right but we were just fumbling a bit in the first half, so in the second half when it started to come together, a few more cleaner entries, getting on the outside, so I think workrate came down to what happened in the second half.”
HARRY GRINTELL
“I didn't think we’d be going for two flags in two years (when I came down from GWS), but it was a really good effort and a massive shout out to all the Werribee fans and Werribee staff, they are unreal. I could not hear my teammates out there they were that loud.”
NICK HAYES
“I’m absolutely ecstatic. Obviously 12 months ago it was the opposite result, so it’s just an unbelievable feeling.”
ANGUS HICKS
“Really hard-fought effort by the boys. Hats off to Southport, they’ve been our main competition all year. It just came down that last five minutes, I think we maybe got lucky, but in the end hard work paid off and I’m so stoked for the boys.”
AIDAN JOHNSON
“Big Sammy Conway and I were talking about it with (former AFL ruckman) Peter Street. He (Brayden Crossley) is a dominant ruckman, he is probably the best ruckman in the league, and we knew if we could nullify him to less than 70 hitouts with crash and bash and wear him down we could be able to get them.
“I moved down from Albury and I’ve had a pretty serious knee injury for the past two and half years. This year I got my body right. I dropped about 13kg. I felt on top of the world and it has all come together. It was hard work and Dom Brew has just been massive with that. We work together as well so we do a lot together. I was in a pretty dark place with all of these injuries, not thinking I was going to get back, but he helped me work through that.”
BIOR MALUAL
“Credit to the Southport boys. They’re just such a great standalone team, we respect them so much and for us to get away with that type of win, we wouldn’t have it any other way.
(On his tryout in 2018 with Mark ‘Choco’ Williams) “He gave me an opportunity to be a part of this great club and I’m really grateful to everyone on the board, to the staff, to the community.
(On the Sudanese community support) “It’s a testament to Shaggy (community development manager Majok Ngong), who is a real community leader. He got 100 tickets for our community and they showed up and shouted out. I loved it. Look at the vibes, that’s all I can speak of, the whole community helps out where they can and look at us now.”
SAM PAEA
“As a forward you just have to keep working into it and I got challenged at half time to step up and I was able to get a good couple of marks that brought me into the game. We know we’re one of the best teams in the VFL and we’re a pressure team, so we just had to keep going at that and it showed in the end.”
JAELEN PAVLIDIS
“I’m over the moon. It means a lot to me and the family, coming back this year (from GWS). It’s a massive club feel (at Werribee). We’re like a family down here but nothing changes, my craft, my footy, we still get as much work in but it’s just more of a family feel so I love it.”
LOUIS PINNUCK
“I feel like we were the best team all year and this is a really well deserved win. We are resolute. I’m so proud of the boys in the backline, we pride ourselves on being tough and stingy and we were good enough today.”
STEFAN RADOVANOVIC
“It’s beyond my dreams. I didn’t expect anything after my (hand) injury. I had surgery six weeks ago, so it was a bit touch and go, but I’m very thankful for the coaches. They had full faith in me to come in and play my role. I’m going to bury the glove now, it can stay with this.”
JACK RIDING
Had a huge fan club around him for the entire post-match and we weren’t able to get near him to obtain a comment!
JAKE SMITH
“I was on the bench (in the last five minutes) but I was just trying to stay calm, and when the siren went it was the best feeling ever. Werribee is in my family, so it’s really special. We play for guys like Mark Penaluna. He does everything for us, so I’m just rapt to get the win for him.”
COOPER WHYTE
“I was sort of thrown around a bit this year with injuries. I started the year forward and then back and wing and on-ball as well, so it was good to experience all those lines in the game. I think it was really good for my development as well.”
FLYNN YOUNG
“Everyone wrote us off, we had some good players leave, we showed a lot of character to stay in it today and to win is just unreal. I think the main thing is we trained so hard. Training is always harder than a game and when we get out on game day, we know what we’re doing.”
SAM CONWAY
“I broke my leg last year and missed out on that Grand Final so to work my way back and play in this one is amazing. I’m just so happy for all the boys, especially Hendo and Dom Brew, who have been here for a long time and it is just good to get that flag for them.
“He’s (Crossley) probably the best ruckman in the league so I wasn’t going to win as many hitouts as usual, but Jimmy said I just had to quell his impact and I think I did that OK. He still got a fair few out, but I just had to compete and try my best.”
