Gulls shocked by Power surge
Warragul would be feeling pretty hard done by this season.
With a bevy of new recruits and a new game style, there was plenty of reason for optimism before round one.
But the injury gods have not looked kindly on the Gulls this season, taking out many of their senior players. Ruckman Mitch Smart, returning hard nut Tom Hobbs and senior coach Jed Lamb are just some of the names sitting on the sidelines for extended periods of time.
And the effect of that missing talent was on display over the weekend as Warragul were completely powerless to stop a rampaging Wonthaggi, going down by 138 points.
The Gulls were no match for their premiership-aspirant opponents, the 4.3 (27) to 25.15 (165) defeat their heaviest of the year and their third in excess of 90 points.
Wonthaggi showed every bit of why they're one of the teams in it to win it, dominating just about every facet of the match. The Power's strength at the contest, as well as their drive through the middle, had the Gulls on the back foot from the first bounce.
Moreover, the Power have the genuine goalkickers that the Gulls currently lack.
Tom Davey was their main contributor up forward with six goals, as Noah Anderson and Cooper McInnes kicked four each.
Wonthaggi booted the first seven goals of the match to put Warragul to the sword early, their run only being broken in the second quarter after Bayley Paul snapped the Gulls' first in traffic.
Warragul's second goal wasn't long after and was no doubt a highlight for the visiting fans as young Riley Senini found himself on the end of a pass in the goal square, kicking his first senior goal on debut.
Senini's debut was a shining light for the Gulls, as was the first game of fellow junior Lucas Carter, the two of them showing plenty of poise that belied their age and lack of experience.
Corbin Sutherland snapped the Gulls' third goal before half time, but with two of their goals coming directly from Wonthaggi turnovers Warragul were unable to generate much momentum going forward, similarly to their loss to Maffra two weeks ago.
But where Maffra, as a rebuilding young team, weren't quite up to completely putting Warragul away, an experienced unit like Wonthaggi was more than capable.
The third term had the home side piling on the pain, kicking eight goals to zero to get the margin just below triple figures.
Sam Whibley was giving a strong impression of himself in the middle to be the Gulls' best performer, but his strong tap work couldn't stop the Power surging.
Wonthaggi clearly weren't in the mood for mercy, seven more goals in the last blowing the margin out even further, a nice checkside shot from Nick Stevenson the Gulls' lone major for the quarter.
Warragul now sit in ninth position with the league's worst percentage by some margin. It's been a tough few weeks for the Gulls, who have been left to count the full toll of their ballooning injury list. Just three rounds ago after their win against Morwell there was some hope they may challenge for fifth position should things go right.
Things haven't, and now Warragul will likely look to their talented pool of youth for the rest of the year.
They'll face a resurgent Sale at home next week and the rest of their year with hope, but as it stands it looks like it may be a bumpy ride.