WOORINEN have continued their unbeaten start to 2025, defeating reigning premiers Nyah-Nyah West United by 21 points in torrential rain on Friday night.
The 7.10 (52) to 4.7 (31) result was the Tigers third straight win under new coach Tim Free, while simultaneously seeing last year’s premiers fall to sixth position on the Central Murray ladder.
A match that should have been one of the most highly anticipated of the season was turned into a hard, contested slog courtesy of the appalling conditions, with rain tumbling down from mid-way through the opening quarter and continuing until well after the final siren.
But it was Woorinen who would prevail having set up an early platform in those opening minutes before the weather hit, with three early goals giving them a 13-point lead when the rain hit.
From there, the Tigers were able to maintain their advantage over the Demons, with Free full of praise for his team’s performance.
“The conditions were atrocious, but we made a big point before the game about being unconditional in our approach and being ready for anything,” Free said.
“We knew there’d be some distractions with changes to start times and a little bit of lightning around, but our boys response was really impressive.
“I thought our physicality around the contest lived up to our expectations, we pride ourselves on on being hard at the contest and hard at the footy and I thought we really set the standard early and as a result, we were able to get some some scoreboard ascendancy before conditions became too difficult to move the footy.
“To start well is important, particularly after the last couple of weeks where we’ve probably struggled to capitalise.”
It wasn’t just their start where Woorinen won the contest however, with the Tigers simply stronger around the contest with bigger bodies through the midfield.
The ball lived in Woorinen’s front half for large periods of time in the first half, with a well structured zone put to good use as the Demons struggled to hit targets in the wet conditions.
When the Demons did get the ball forward, their lack of a key marking target hurt, with Woorinen intercepting many of the Demons forward entries across half back.
NNW United’s inability to at least bring the ball to ground inside their forward 50 saw them kick just one goal for the second quarter, with it coming after a long bomb was allowed to get over the back but the well organised Woorinen defence, which was then pounced on by youngsters Max Thompson and Murndarr Mcinnes.
But it was Woorinen’s control around the stoppages and in contested ball that proved the difference, with Free signalling out ruckman Lachlan Gardner for special praise.
“Lachie Gardner was phenomenal in the ruck, especially since we were very keen to keep the footy in the contest.
We understand their (NNW United) strengths with their outside run and we were quite comfortable trying to keep it in tight and use our bigger bodies to keep the footy in the contest, but also then surge forward when the opportunity presented itself.
“Lachie (Gardner) led by example in that space and really gave our midfielders an opportunity to keep the footy in our front half.
Gardner was instrumental in both giving his team first use around the stoppages and getting the ball going forward, with veteran Demon Alex Erlandson proving no match in the ruck.
Henry Thompson was another who relished the conditions, with the tough onballer also among the Tigers better players, along with Jye Barry, Tom Langford, Jose Miliado and Taylor Cameron.
Brady Davidson was the best for the Demons and kept his side in the contest with several important forward 50 entries, while Joel Walsh was also strong in defence, especially in the first half, taking several telling intercept marks.
Cooper Andrews was another who impressed in the wet, joining fellow defenders Jaydyn Stirling and Joel Campbell in being named among the home side’s better players, while Jordan Iudica, like Davidson, was important through the midfield.
VOTES
3 – Lachlan Gardner (Woorinen)
2 – Henry Thompson (Woorinen)
1 – Brady Davidson (NNW United)
SCORES
| Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Final Score |
| NNW United | 1.2 | 2.4 | 3.6 | 4.7 | 31 |
| Woorinen | 3.1 | 5.3 | 6.7 | 7.10 | 52 |
