Season Preview – Woori Yallock

Woori Yallock Club President Robert Thompson is excited by the depth within his club in 2021, giving him confidence ahead of the Tigers’ Round 1 match, and 2019 elimination final rematch, against Cranbourne this Saturday.

“We’ve had some good football numbers this pre-season and some of our players have benefitted from the year off, being able to give their injuries a rest,” Thompson said.

“We’ll be fielding two fairly even teams, our seconds will be stronger than they have been for a while.”

Woori Yallock was determined to field a women’s side in 2021, which has resulted in them joining forces with Seville’s women’s team.

The Woori Seville Women’s will be coached by Georgie Scott, who has years of experience at both clubs.

“It’s kind of like history repeating itself in a way, because in the 1970s, Wandin, Woori Yallock and Seville merged as ‘Valley United’ and they won a few premierships,” Thompson said.

“We’re really pleased we’ve done everything to ensure our women are playing this year, because we know that is the most important thing for the community at the moment.

“Our netballers can’t wait to take to the court as well, and we have an exceptional coach in Sarah Hogan.”

The announcement in February that favourite son Zach Monkhorst was returning to the club, joining brothers Ryley and Ben, completed the highly-anticipated return of all three Monkhorst brothers to the Tigers.

“We’ve got the three brothers back playing for Woori Yallock for the first time for a few years. They play such an important role for the team and it has an impact on the opposition as well, who worries about them,” Thompson said.

“It’s great to have them back. That’s been our policy, we hope the young boys will go play in Melbourne and then come back.

“Our culture is that we expect to make the finals this year.

“We’ve had work to do. With the bigger grounds we need to run more, so, against the southern teams, their last quarters have been stronger than ours (in previous years).

“So fitness levels have been vital for us and we’ve put in the work over the pre-season to overcome that.

“We’re also looking forward to celebrating our reunions of our 1970, 1971, 1981, and 2010 senior premiership this year. Former players and supporters can get in touch about this event.”