Newport may have stunned Hoppers Crossing and the Western Football League division 1 competition with a big win on Saturday, internally it was no surprise.
After being smashed by Werribee Districts the week before, the Panthers produced the upset of the season against the Warriors, winning 11.3 (69)-7.21 (63).
Panthers coach Ali Hamad said they knew a performance like this was coming.
“It was huge,” he said. “It’s easily the biggest win in the club’s history, being in division 1 and beating the reigning premiers.
“It might have been a shock externally, but it was no surprise internally. We knew it was coming, it had to click together.
“The club, supporters and community are over the moon.”
Hamad said last week against the Tigers, there had been a few injuries and a few other things in the club that affected that result.
The return of a couple of players helped buoy the Panthers and turn things in their favour.
Newport led at quarter time before the Warriors kicked four goals to take a lead into the break.
The Panthers accuracy proved vital in the second half as they kicked seven goals straight to the Warriors, 2.11
Hamad said they had really locked in on their defence in recent weeks to reduce the opposition scoring impact.
“We went into the game respecting Hoppers Crossing, they are the reigning premiers,” he said.
“We knew they were going to have shots on goal, so we wanted to do the right plays and spacing and negate what we give them.”
Joel Freeman kicked four goals for the Panthers, while Hussein Hansa kicked three goals.
Hamad said they could have named all 22 players in the best after the performance.
He said Nathan Dowdy in the ruck was clearly best on ground.
Freeman, Nayef Hamad, Josh Smith, Amin Naim, Darcy Cassar and Fawi el Danawi were other standouts.
Hamad said the win would just continue to build on the belief in the club.
“It’s such a unique environment, the belief and spirit is always there,” he said. “There is more confidence in what we are building.”
The win has the Panthers a game outside the top five along with percentage.
Hamad said anything can happen and were very wary about the percentage situation and needing to shut down opposition scoring.
The Panthers play fifth placed Spotswood this week.
Hamad said a lot had changed since they played each other in round one.
“We were up by 20-something points and they kicked 10 goals in the final quarter,” he said.
“We have learned a lot and grown a lot and we’re looking forward to the challenge this week.
The Woodsmen enter the game on the back of a close loss to Werribee Districts, 10.14 (74)-8.13 (61).
Elsewhere, Yarraville Seddon beat Albion, 17.16 (118)-3.4 (22), while Altona lost to Caroline Springs, 10.5 (65)-5.9 (39).
