Match: VFL Round 1
Result: Box Hill 12.11(83) def Werribee 7.16 (58)
Venue: Box Hill City Oval
Conditions: Overcast 22c, mild swirly breeze strengthening toward end of the match, noticeable smell of dead rat due to presence of a dead rat on the lawn.

In action
- Mason Wood (18 disposals, 6 marks, 1 goal)
- Tim McGenniss (16 disposals, 5 marks)
- Scott McMahon (20 disposals, 7 marks)
- Kayne Turner (12 disposals, 5 tackles)
- Michael Firrito (31 disposals, 8 marks)
- Taylor Hine (19 disposals)
- Sam Wright (13 disposals)
- Majak Daw (17 disposals, 7 marks, 20 hit-outs)
- Jarred ‘Bulldog’ Moore (31 disposals, 13 clearances, 9 inside 50s)
- Kieran Harper (reserves: 1 goal)

NMFC.com.au’s best: McGenniss, Moore, Firrito, Daw, McMahon
Goals: Wood (1), Daw (1)

Key match-ups
1. Tim McGenniss vs Ben Ross
2. Majak Daw vs Ryan Schoenmakers/Ben Stratton
3. Michael Firrito vs Ayden Kennedy

Story of the game
It was a case of wasted opportunities for Werribee summed up by the fact it had the same amount of scoring shots (23) as Box Hill, yet still went down by 25 points.

A total of 16 behinds said it all.

Head coach John Lamont lamented his side’s ‘silly mistakes’ throughout the afternoon in a game the Tigers took control of following the first quarter.

What the coach said
“You don’t need me to tell you that we’re all over em. We’ve just made, let’s face it, a couple of dumb-ass blues…

“Let’s have our work-rate up and keep the ball in our forward line and forwards; work together make sure you’re not jumping for the same ball, that there’s a sequence of leads…

“It’s our attack on the ball; in the air, on the ground, keeping our feet, staying in there and first options…

“Let’s minute by minute, grind this game out!” – John Lamont at three quarter time.

Points of Interest
1. Playing on his old teammate, Tim McGenniss was sensational in stopping former Liston Medal winner Ben Ross. The North rookie held the midfielder to just 3 possessions at half-time and under 10 for the match, while collecting 16 for himself.

“He’s been steadily improving as the weeks have gone on…this week he was able to go to a real damaging player and really restrict his influence at stoppages and also on the spread.” - Development Manager Ben Dyer

2. Michael Firrito made his presence known throughout the match with some big hits and by gathering plenty of the footy. He was unlucky not to have finished with 2 goals to go with his 31 possessions.

“Really good, solid game down there from Spud. Firstly from the perspective of controlling the back six; he found himself being the deepest player with the game unfolding in front of him a lot of the time, so his decisions to come up and impact the contest or hang back for those longer entries was exceptional.

“It was down to him on several occasions and he just halted a number of Box Hill surges and really stood tall when he needed to.” – Ben Dyer

3. Majak Daw’s second and third quarters were outstanding as the forward/ruck imposed himself on the game. He took some big contested marks around the ground and battled well in the ruck for 20 hit-outs. However fading in and out of games is still something he needs to work on.

“He was poor early and didn’t come up at the ball enough but to his credit, after it was discussed at quarter time, he just really presented. They really needed someone to come up at the ball and I thought when he did that, he made things happen for the team.

“For Maj now, it’s a case of consistency and doing those things from the first bounce and I’m sure when he gets that right, this year’s breakout game will happen for him.” – Ben Dyer.

4. Scott McMahon didn’t put a foot wrong playing alongside Firrito in the backline with good decision making and reading of the play.

“He really mopped out of defence and really used the ball well. I thought he was more dangerous with his disposal this week. He’s a great user of the ball so when he has got time and he picks the right option, he can really turn defence into attack. I thought he did that really well.

“He was very tight and hard-up on his opponent. He did everything he could to get back in the North side and I thought it was a real step in the right direction.” – Ben Dyer

5. A savage hit to the nether regions had Jarred ‘Bulldog’ Moore crawling to the interchange gate on all fours. He stayed on his haunches for several minutes before bravely returning to the field.

“Bulldog wore one but probably just as funny, was his attempt to get off the ground. I probably shouldn’t say that but it was pretty humorous.” - anon

Most likely call-up
Michael Firrito and Scott McMahon could easily slip back into the North side based on what they produced today against some good opposition.

Next week: Bendigo Gold