Poor conditions couldn’t stop Cameron Zurhaar from continuing his impressive form in Saturday’s VFL practice match.  

Playing forward, the rookie was a standout for Werribee, booting two goals and having a hand in several others.

“He [Zurhaar] was really lively, creating opportunities that otherwise wouldn’t have been there,” North Development Manager Ben Dyer told NMFC.com.au.

“He found the ball in different ways; a couple fall of the balls, a couple of leading marks and his pressure was good.

“His main attribute at the moment is his pressure, making sure the ball stays in with his tackling in the forward half.

“There were a lot of things in his game that were impressive.”

Although the game started under bright skies at Casey Fields, the weather soon closed in.

By the start of the final term, lightning strikes forced the players off the field early, with the game then called off.

Werribee only had use of the heavy wind for one of the three quarters played, which made it trickier for the forwards to be involved – making Zurhaar’s game even more impressive.

Elsewhere Corey Wagner continued his good form, stringing together a third consecutive quality game.

“He worked really hard up and down the ground – forward and then back into defence to help us defend,” Development Coach David Loader explained.

“He plays the wing role really well and was able to tackle well on a number of occasions. His running numbers would have been high and it was a really good game.

“He’s put two or three good performances together in a row which will certainly help him. We’re starting to see a run of consistent performances.”

After not playing at any level last week as the AFL game day emergency, Mitch Hibberd had a strong game off half-back in the tough conditions.

“He got involved with his run and he was really proactive with his defensive positioning, which allowed him to get involved offensively,” Senior Development Coach Gavin Brown said.

“He used the ball really well in the horrific, windy conditions and also heavy rain by the end.”

Playing in a key defensive post, Dan Nielson was another one to put in a solid outing.

“Dan was really good this week,” Brown said.

“He was disappointed in his performance last week but really made amends this week.

“He was hard to play on, played on the talls and didn’t get beaten. He provided a bit of rebound which was good. He’s been working on that part of his game.”

Jed Anderson now has a solid month of football under his belt, after again excelling in the midfield.

“He played predominantly inside-mid and was good inside the stoppages,” Loader added.  

“He was clean with the ball and had six or seven midfield clearances which is a good number. He’s building on his endurance to get himself back to AFL level.”

Werribee opens its season on Easter Sunday against Geelong at Spring Creek Reserve in Torquay.