The Northern Blues suffered their first loss of the season, demolished by a rampant Werribee Tigers by 102 points at Avalon Airport Oval on Saturday night.
A number of injuries to both the Carlton and Northern lists forced a raft of changes to the unbeaten side, with the Tigers taking full advantage of their depleted opponents.
Werribee made their intentions known from the outset of the contest, dominating early proceedings to lead by 29 points at the end of the first quarter.
The fast start was a sign of things to come for the Blues, who quickly found themselves facing an insurmountable lead at the midway point of the match.
The Tigers were relentless in their pressure around the ground all night, extending their margin in each quarter courtesy of goal streaks late in each term.
While the home side had stellar contributions across the board, Scott McMahon was a catalyst in repelling Northern’s forward attacks as the loose man in defence.
Ben Warren and Mason Wood were also instrumental for their side, finding space far too easily in their forward 50 to combine for eight goals on the night.
The continual space allowed in the opposition 50 was alarming for Northern, as the Tigers (92 uncontested marks to 57) converted 71 per cent of their inside 50 entries into scores.
There were few positives to take away from the game for the Blues.
Jaryd Cachia – who became a new father during the week - finished the game with a team-high 27 disposals including 10 hard ball gets to be Northern’s best player in the game.
Jack Anthony offered his midfield a leading option late in the game with three third quarter set shots, but could only convert on one of his chances to cap off a forgettable game in front of goal for his side.
Debutants Kyle Emley and Steve Murray battled hard all night, but struggled to work their way into the game in a baptism of fire in their first VFL game.
Cameron Wood also fought admirably against North Melbourne’s Daniel Currie who shared the spoils on 38 hit-outs apiece.
Speaking post-game, Wood said that it was a night his side would rather forget.
"It's one of those days in footy where you just want to put away and never touch again,” he said.
"You don't want to make excuses, but to have nearly six changes to the side of the past three weeks…it was an adjustment.
"We were well beaten in a lot of areas, but definitely the amount of ball they had with no pressure was a massive difference.”
Wood said his side would now have to quickly shift their focus onto their upcoming match in the Bell St Cup this Saturday.
"The good thing about footy is we've got a chance against Coburg at Preston City Oval next weekend to turn it around in front of a home crowd representing the Northern Blues."
The background to Saturday’s match is extra special, given the Northern Blues will be honouring the 30-year anniversary of Preston’s 1984 VFA Premiership.
NORTHERN BLUES 1.4 1.6 2.12 3. 15. (33)
WERRIBEE TIGERS 5.2 9.6 13.8 20. 15. (135)
GOALS: Anthony, Reynolds, Wilson
BEST: Cachia, Cattapan, Armfield, Wood, Wilson, Sheehan
