Gritty Gulls shut down Power
by
New season. New Gulls.
Warragul has pulled off the upset of the round in their season opener, playing an outstanding wet weather game to shock last year's runners-up Wonthaggi by nine points.
The Gulls were simply ruthless at the contest and relentless with their pressure throughout the day in the 8.9 (57) to 7.6 (48) win to stamp their authority on season 2024 straight off the bat.
Dealing with some dour conditions, the game was hardly the most appealing to the eye as both sides made mistakes. But in wet weather territory is king, and that's exactly where the Gulls won decisively.
The return of ruckman Mitch Smart, who spent all of last year injured, paid dividends immediately, the big man putting it to his players on a silver platter while also marking strongly around the ground.
New recruits Jack Lewsey and Isaac Wallace were ferocious around the ball, teaming up with human wrecking ball Tom Hobbs to form a combination to leave Wonthaggi searching for answers.
Young Tom Stern (two goals) stood up in the forward line, crashing packs and providing an important target. Stern could have finished with a few more goals if not for some errant set shots and a couple of questionable dribble kicks late in the game.
Warragul's backline also was immense, clamping down effectively to leave the Power's forwards with little to no space. Sean Masterson was especially prolific, teaming up with Patrick Mulqueen to keep the dynamic Cooper McInnes to little influence when the game was on the line.
While the Gulls were clearly up for the fight in the first half, their finishing going inside 50 and around the goals left a lot to be desired, forcing them to settle for just two goals – both from free kicks.
And when Wonthaggi kicked the first goal of the second half following a silly 50m penalty given away by Hobbs, the Power looked as if they were going to break the game open by taking their chances.
But the Gulls' dominance around the stoppages held them in good stead and began to pay off.
Warragul dominated forward half territory for most of the third term, as consecutive goals to Bayley Paul (who finished with three for the day), Stern, Hobbs and Paul again had them heading into three quarter time 14 points up and had the red and black crowd roaring.
Coach Jed Lamb revved his side up one final time at three quarter time, telling them that their mission to create a winning culture began now.
Things got off to a shaky start in the last when McInnes ran in the first goal minutes in.
Despite that, the home side steadied after a shanked set shot from recruit Thomas Crole was marked strongly by Stern, who kicked truly to restore the buffer.
Stern could have had another, or even two more, when twice he found space out the back running inside 50.
However, in what was a rather bizarre choice, both times he chose to dribble kick the ball in the wet, missing out on a chance at goal in a way that would have had Jason Dunstall fuming.
Luckily for Stern his first attempt was soccered through by Wallace near the goal line, pushing the Gulls' lead to beyond three goals and saving him a few blushes.
The Power pushed late, finally finding some space to work with, but two late goals had no effect on the result, the final siren sending the Warragul players into jubilant celebrations.
Speaking post-game Lamb said the overwhelming emotion was pride in his players.
"I couldn't be prouder. Everyone played out of their skins and it just builds massive belief," he said.
"I thought our boys were huge for four quarters. You can see the Warragul footy club as a whole and the players are really hungry for success.
"I think the old Warragul we'd go into our shells and not know how to win so to dig deep and find a way to win just builds belief."
Lamb was full of praise for his side's defence, saying that they held up extremely well.
"Defensively we were unreal. We spoke about getting our structures and communication right and if we get those little things right we're a massive chance against anyone."
For their part Wonthaggi will be left smarting after a loss like this.
Last year's grand finalists were missing nine players from the team that fell to Leongatha in last year's decider. Regardless, there wouldn't have been many tipsters around the league who would have picked them to lose this one.
With names like Ryan Sparkes, Cooper McInnes and Toma Huther still in the side they boasted plenty of talent, but just looked off around the contest and struggled to break through the Gulls' pressure all day.
Their better players included Jack Blair, Jakeb Thomas, Sparkes and Huther.
It's been a long road for Warragul, whose 2023 season was utterly destroyed by injuries to just about every key player on their list.
Nothing cures an ailment in footy quite like a win, however. And with plenty of players – including Lamb – still yet to return from injury, suddenly things are looking a lot brighter for the Gulls.
The standard has been set. Now it's up to them to maintain it.