Hoppers Crossing rediscovered its defensive heat on Saturday and returned from Altona with a victory for the first time in seven years.
The Warriors relentlessly applied the blowtorch to the Vikings in the WRFL division 1 match at Grant Reserve.
And they needed to do so to avoid yet another loss at a ground that has become a graveyard for them over the years.
“I think that’s our first win against them at their ground since about 2009,” Warriors coach Steve Kretiuk told Star Weekly.
Two weeks ago, Kretiuk was scathing of his side’s defensive efforts against premiership favourite Deer Park.
And the players seem to have taken heed of his criticism, with Saturday’s performance the best defensive showing of the season in key statistical areas.
They held Altona to 17 scoring shots for a total of 72 points, which they eclipsed by 20.
“We tried to make a bit of a statement about our tackle pressure,” Kretiuk said. “I think we had 21 tackles inside 50, the most we’ve had all year, and 42 in our forward half.”
But it was still not a complete performance from Hoppers Crossing, as the Warriors broke down systematically going forward, something that will be addressed this week.
Kretiuk wants his team to regularly score more than 100 points to show other top sides it can be damaging offensively when needed.
“There are areas where we’re still falling down that we have to fix,” he said. “We lost our way a couple of times – five or 10 minutes here and there – and it gave them some good momentum. It’s pretty obvious what we have to do.”
Matthew Smith capped a best-on-ground performance with two goals. Smith has been known for his hardness in and around the packs but is now adding another string to his bow.
“He’s always been good inside the contest, tough and hard, and he’s our strongest player one on one,” Kretiuk said.
“Now he’s starting to open up his game more and he kicked a fantastic goal when he picked it up one-handed in traffic and converted.”
Jordan Cook has been a handy addition to the ones in the past two weeks after producing a series of dominant matches in the reserves.
“Unfortunately he went away in January and missed a fair bit of preseason, so a couple of guys sort of leap-frogged him,” Kretiuk said.
“But we knew what he could do and it was only a matter of time before he came in,” Kretiuk said. “He was outstanding, one of the best games I’ve seen him play for a long time.”
Mohamad El Hawli also had a significant impact for Hoppers Crossing. He started the game mopping up a kick behind play, but finished as the most damaging forward on the ground with three goals.
“He’s the type of kid we can play anywhere on the ground,” Kretiuk said.
Hoppers Crossing remains level on wins and losses with top side Deer Park at 10-2 and hosts Wyndhamvale in a derby at Hogans Road Reserve on Saturday.
