TIGER NEWS MAY 2011 Sharp Celebrates 50 Games With Tigers
Versatile defender Ben Sharp celebrated his 50th game for the Werribee Tigers line up against the Northern Bullants last Saturday. He did it in style as the Tigers had a good win and Sharp was again named in the best players.
It’s a significant achievement for Sharp, 24, whose football career so far has taken him as far away as Perth, and to within two goals of a grand final appearance in 2008.
But his mind is fully focused on the season ahead, a season that has seen the Tigers start in a more positive fashion, with four wins.
“I’m stoked, it’s always nice to arrive at a club and get a milestone and hopefully I’ll be able to notch up 100 and more,” he said.
“I’m just loving being around the boys, we’ve got a fresh lease on things this year. “Satts” has come in and there’s a different vibe around the place this year, so the club is a great place to be around. We’ve got four wins on the board after just four last year so it’s good that the morale is turning around.”
Taken pick #9 by West Coast in the 2004 AFL Rookie Draft, Sharp had his eyes set on forging a successful career. But, he says, the enormous success the side was achieving at the time made it difficult.
“I went over there at 18 and they were a very successful club,” he said, “so it was nearly impossible to get a game. But to learn off blokes like Ben Cousins, Chris Judd, Daniel Kerr was fantastic. And I think living 4000km from home I grew up pretty quickly as a person too so I couldn’t thank West Coast enough.”
Sharp says he was hell-bent on getting back on an AFL list after he was delisted at the end of the 2007 season, but fast-forward to this year and his attitude is different.
“It’s not something I’m thinking about at the moment,” he said. “I did put a lot of pressure on myself to get back but now that I’ve matured a bit I see it from another perspective and I really just love playing for Werribee.”
And after two meagre years in which the Tigers have finished in the bottom half of the ladder, Sharp says the players, along with coach Paul Satterley, are determined to make a difference in 2011.
“We want to make the eight. Last year was a disappointing season so I really want to be part of a finals campaign and not just make up the numbers,” he said.
“That’s a driving force and a key focus for me individually and for all the boys as a team.” The Community Report
With the season now in full swing for all clubs the Werribee Football Club continues to provide community support across Wyndham and the West through a number of initiatives that include: Tigers Sports Assist
Tigers Sports Assist commenced in 2010 and is a Tigers Clubhouse member loyalty program which specifically benefits sport- ing groups in the Wyndham community. The program was open to all sporting clubs within the City of Wyndham with a total of $50,000 available for distribution amongst clubs who registered to participate. Wyndhamvale Falcons recently received For more information on how to get your $23,000 of the $50,000 available which will club involved please contact the Tigers no doubt help out the club significantly in a Clubhouse on 9974 6900. number of areas.
Interschool Sports Active Kids Program With the commencement of inter- In conjunction with the Wyndham school football amongst the majority Council and 15 schools throughout of primary schools in Wyndham, the Wyndham, WFC players will be WFC has committed to helping this be attending schools throughout Term 2 a successful event by donating to deliver football clinics that aim to equipment and volunteering to help encourage healthy eating habits and out with match day coaching and um- increase physical exercise in children piring. Best of luck to all students and aged 8 – 12 years. schools involved. The Community Report
Werribee Players Visit
The Werribee Football Club is committed to helping out grass roots football. To support local clubs 34 WFC players attended local clubs throughout the west on the 10th and 11th of May to assist with training. Thank you to Port Melbourne, Keilor Park, Wyndhamvale, Geelong Falcons, Altona, Werribee Districts, Point Cook and Caroline Spring for being involved. The feedback from all clubs was appreciated and further visits will be allocated throughout the year.
Upcoming Dates
• North Melbourne & Werribee players local club visits on Wednesday 1st June 4:30pm – 6:30pm • U18 WRFL Interleague game at Avalon Airport Oval on the 7th of June at 6:30pm against RDFL • ‘Coached by a VFL Coach’ day on Sunday 12th June at Avalon Airport Oval • North Melbourne Super Clinic at Avalon Airport Oval on Monday 11th July 1pm – 3pm
For more information on the Tigers community programs contact Chris Gallagher, Werribee Football Club Community Development Officer, on 9741 6688. Match Day President’s Lunches
President John Nicol invites you to come and enjoy a special day at the football by attending his pre-match luncheon.
You will enjoy a two course meal with beer wine and soft drink. John will give you the latest news around the club plus just minutes before the game a member of the Tigers coaching staff will give you the inside word from the rooms. You can win a great prize courtesy of Harvey Norman Hoppers Crossing in the free business card draw.
Past speakers have included Prime Minister Julia Gillard, business identities like Lindsay Fox, TV personality Catriona Rowntree, sports stars like Merv Hughes as well as
football and community leaders.
Special guest in the President’s Luncheon will be announced soon.
Upcoming Home Games all 2pm except ABC TV game.
Sunday June 12th v Geelong. This is Avalon Airport Dedication Day as the Tigers and Cats play for the K-Rock Cup. Special guests include Geelong Football Club President Colin Carter and CEO Brian Cook.
Saturday June 26th v Coburg Tigers. This is Harvey Norman Hoppers Crossing Dedication Day. This luncheon is to acknowledge our player sponsors.
Saturday July 2nd v Casey Scorpions. This is Ladies Only Day courtesy of CS Consulting Group and Fifth Element Day Spa. This special occasion will include a Decadent High Tea, pampering stations, raffles and a gorgeous gift bag on the day and the launch of the Werribee Tigers Women’s Football Circle, a new women’s coterie.
Sunday July 24th v Williamstown. This is our major sponsor Ballan Holden Dedication Day. The partnership between the Ballan family and the Tigers in now in its 12th year. This is also Past Players Day for both clubs. A special marquee will be set up to host former Tigers and Seagull players. Champions like Robertson, Frost and Comben will be rubbing shoulder and swapping stories with Rickman, Wheeler and Callahan.
Saturday August 6th v Bendigo Bombers (ABC TV Game 1.10 start) This is Western Truck Repairs Dedication Day. WERRIBEE IN THE MEDIA the inside word with PAUL SATTERLEY
We are now 6 games into the We really are a side that needs to make the most of our season leading into our first opportunities, especially as we are winning stoppages bye for the year (4 in total) (clearances) in all games (except against Williamstown) and it has come at a pretty and we are winning more contested ball in games, which good time. Our win loss ratio are two key indicators in football these days. is 3-3 and to this point we have been inconsistent in our To date, 33 players have played a game in the seniors, this efforts as a team. Our posi- includes 5 of our new recruits consisting of Matty O’Dwyer, tion on the ladder (6th) is a Will Sullivan, Leigh Harding, Michael Still and Sean Tighe positive however the next two (who made his debut in Round 5). We have also blooded games will be significant for a number of 1st year players at our club utilising the 23rd us as a club. We play the player ruling which allows players coming out of the TAC Northern Bullants (tv game) Cup to be chosen as a ‘top up’ player. Those selected so far and Sandringham in Round 9 include Michael Sodomaco (Falcons), Jarryn McCormack which are both home games. (Falcons), Jordan Treloar (Knights) and Tom Ruggles (Falcons). Our best performance so far has been our game against Box Hill, where I felt we applied pressure all day and really The form of Ben Sharp has been excellent this season, made our chances count (kicking 20.10). The wins against his consistency in all games has been very good. Sam Geelong & Collingwood were encouraging however games Wormald, Leigh Harding & Matt O’Dwyer have all been we should win as they are both very much ‘development’ good for us in defensive positions and Will Martiniello & teams in the competition. Rob Castello regularly provide great intensity around the ball whenever they are near it. Shaun Harrison (recruited We lost a game against Nth Ballarat that was very winnable, from WRFL 2nd Division club Deer Park) has snuck in for a although we were wary of going into the game against a couple of games and was really impressive in our win against triple premier who had not registered a win to that point. Box Hill. The Round 6 game against Bendigo was disappointing in all aspects as I thought we were bullied by a more physical We have benefited from our alignment with the Kangaroos side and our avenue to goal was limited without Pedersen with Cam Pedersen, Ben Speight and Jamie Macmillan the & McKinley in the side. These two boys had contributed 9 main standouts whenever they have pulled on the Tiger goals between them the week prior against Box Hill. jumper.
Our improvement needs to come in many areas, particularly Round 8 will see the return of Josh Bryce (knee reconstruc- our finish for goal, so far this year we have kicked 84.99, tion) and Travis Tuck will be available to play his first game of including 9.20 (Round 2), 8.17 (Round 4) and 7.17 in the season. New recruit Tom Allwright will also resume playing Round 6. in coming weeks after hurting his knee in Round 3.
We are intent as a club to build on what we have achieved so Proudly sponsored by Ballan Holden far, the bye will freshen everyone up and I look forward to 323 Princes Hwy, Werribee. 3030 seeing all of our players make amends for a poor game prior LMCT 4618 to the break. 9974 8888 TIGERS BEHIND THE SCENES TIGERS IN ACTION WERRIBEE IN THE MEDIA the inside word with MAJAK DAW
My father William was an endurance runner back in the day when he grew up in Sudan. He competed well in athletics with long distance running his main event.
I find it kind of funny and ironic that endurance is the one main area I need to improve to enable me to play AFL footy one day. If Dad was so good at it, surely he would have passed those genes down to me? When I was at school I also competed in athletics like Dad, but was more successful over shorter distances. I won most of my races over 200 metres and always came second or third over 800 metres.
Before being drafted by North Melbourne, I never really trained to improve my running. I trained with football and I used to play soccer and basketball, but there wasn’t as big a focus on being able to run for long distances as there is now.
At the Kangaroos, we do a lot of running. Sometimes it feels like we run more than actually train with the footballs. I understand that it’s a crucial part of the game and have quickly realised that I need to get better at it, and fast!
I know I have improved because we have plenty of data and GPS readings that show it. The best indicator is our time-trials though and I have been able to take more than a minute off my 3.2 kilo- metre run around Princes Park in Carlton after one year at North.
I know that if I was to run it again now, that I would definitely achieve a personal best but I don’t know if I will ever catch some of our best runners. Players like Ryan Bastinac, Cam Richardson, Nathan Grima, Lachlan Hansen, Brayden Norris and Levi Greenwood fl y around the track and beat the rest of us pretty easily.
But there’s one bloke that can beat them all and does so regularly; our dietician Jona Segal. He is incredibly fit and eats well too!
Proudly sponsored by Ballan Holden 323 Princes Hwy, Werribee. 3030 LMCT 4618 9974 8888 TIGER PROFILES
WadeWadeWade Sean Chapman TigheTigheTighe Assistant Coach/Midfield Jumper Number: 27 Football Achievements: Date of Birth: 9/01/1991 Geelong Falcons B&F, Height: 198 51 games with the Sydney Swans, Weight: 93 2 Premierships with Drysdale FC Recruited from: Aspley (Qld), Western Jets Debut: 2011 Round 5 v Box Hill Hawks Nickname: Chappy Occupation: Stocks Analyst Junior Club: North Shore FC Footy Hero: Gary Ablett Snr Footy Hero: Wayne Carey Best gift you have been given: My 3 kids Best advice you have been given: Go Hard What annoys you: What annoys you: Weakness People that drive slowly in the right lane Karaoke Song: Kryptonite Best piece of advice you have been given: Favourite Movie: Fight Club You only get out of it what you put in Favourite Food: Pasta Your karaoke song: Favourite Holiday Destination: New York ‘You’re the Voice’ John Farnham Hobbies outside football: Surfing Favourite movie: Brave Heart Greatest Achievement: Favourite food: My wife’s lasagne Winning Western Jets Best & Fairest Life motto: The sun comes up tomorrow 2011 FIXTURE
Rd Date Vs Venue Time 1 Saturday 2nd April Williamstown Avalon Airport Oval 7.00 pm
2 Sunday 10th April Geelong Skilled Stadium 10.40 am
3 Saturday 16th April Collingwood Victoria Park 1.10 pm
4 Saturday 23rd April North Ballarat Avalon Airport Oval 7.00 pm
5 Sunday 1st May Box Hill Hawks Avalon Airport Oval 2.00 pm
6 Saturday 7th May Bendigo Bombers Windy Hill 2.00 pm
7 BYE
8 Saturday 21st May Northern Bullants Avalon Airport Oval 1.10 pm
9 Sunday 29th May Sandringham Avalon Airport Oval 2.00 pm
10 10 Saturday 4th June Port Melbourne TEAC Oval 1.10 pm
11 Sunday 12th June Geelong Avalon Airport Oval 2.00 pm
12 BYE
13 Sunday 26th June Coburg Tigers Avalon Airport Oval 2.00 pm
14 Saturday 2nd July Casey Scorpions Avalon Airport Oval 2.00 pm
15 Sunday 10th July Frankston Frankston Oval 2.00 pm
16 BYE
17 Sunday 24th July Williamstown Avalon Airport Oval 2.00 pm
18 Sunday 31st July Sandringham Trevor Barker Beach Oval 2.00 pm
19 Saturday 6th August Bendigo Bombers Avalon Airport Oval 1.10 pm
20 BYE
21 Saturday 20th August Casey Scorpions Casey Fields 2.00 pm
22 Sunday 28th August North Ballarat Eureka Stadium 2.00pm