But despite the tough conditions, Cam Pedersen managed to excel.
“He battled hard all day,” North Melbourne development coach John Lamont said.
“He was involved in a lot of contests. It’s a hard gig in the ruck for him; you’re jumping all the time into bigger bodies but some of his ruck work was good and his follow-up work outstanding.”
Pedersen collected 18 possessions and had 25-odd hitouts.
“I can’t question his effort,” Lamont added.
The Tigers went down to Bendigo by 45-points and were completely outplayed at Windy Hill.
While North Melbourne had several representatives in the Werribee line-up, only a few had good outings according to Lamont.
Ayden Kennedy was one of them after collecting 17 disposals and 4 marks in defence.
“They were up against a more aggressive, keener, better organized, more alert midfield. Their group just reacted a lot quicker,” Lamont said.
“Ben McKinley (10 disposals, 1 goal) probably stuck to his guns on a day where the ball didn’t really come to him that often.”
After a recent purple-patch in front of the goals, Ben Warren (12 disposals) had a quieter week with just the single major to his name.
“As a forward, he just wasn’t able to exert the sort of influence we would have liked. But he’s got an AFL level work-rate, we know that.”
Back in the VFL after a few weeks with the Kangaroos, Lamont said Levi Greenwood (13 disposals) ‘probably lacked the impact he would have been hoping to have’.
Majak Daw (9 disposals, 26 hit-outs) was up against it all day against Tom Bellchambers in the ruck, while Malcolm Lynch (12 disposals, 1 goal) faded after a lively start.
Brad Mangan was solid with 18 disposals in defence, 11 of which came in the final term, but was under immense pressure most of the match, while Ben Speight (10 disposals) struggled to get into the game.
Bendigo 4.1 11.2 13.5 17.6 (108)
Werribee Tigers 3.3 4.6 6.11 8.15 (63)
GOALS:
Bendigo: Maddern 4 Little 4 Stroobants 2 Lonergan 2 Lee Thompson Kavanagh Bellchambers Baguley
Werribee Tigers: Castello 3 Ablett Mather Lynch McKinley Warren
BEST:
Bendigo: Baguley Little Bellchambers Maddern Lonergan Williams
Werribee Tigers: McKinley Pedersen Sherlock Castello Lynch Kennedy
