After conceding 12 first quarter goals and being held scoreless, it was anyone’s guess as to how much West Footscray would end up losing its WRFL division 2 season opener to Albanvale at Robert Bruce Reserve on Saturday.
A conservative estimate would have been more than 200 points but there would have been willing backers for a 300-plus margin.
But the Roosters avoided further embarrassment, hanging tough for the remaining three quarters and stemming the tide to eventually lose by 152.
A 25-goal loss is never an ideal way to start a season but this was a starting point for the Roosters in their bid to put their off season woes behind them.
In conceding just eight second-half goals and finishing the game with 12 scoring shots of their own, the Roosters showed coach Shane Lucas that his men will provide a fight no matter how dire the circumstances.
“Three weeks ago, there was only 10 of us on the track and we didn’t have a coach,” Roosters playing assistant coach Kane Liossis told Star Weekly.
“Coming from there to now, there were 22 there yesterday and a few blokes that couldn’t play as well – to get out there and have a real crack, not lose our cool and play to the end, it was a good sign.
“Obviously, we’re aware that we have a long way to go, but we’ll keep working hard.”
West Footscray had a well-publicised mass exodus of players from its grand final side last season.
There were some who felt the Roosters’ days might be numbered.
But the club avoided termination at the 11th hour, gathering enough players to make up a senior side for the opening round.
Liossis conceded it was a tough grind when his side was at times powerless to halt the Cobras from piling on the pain.
“There’s rumours going around saying that we’re done and we’re closing the doors,” Liossis said. “We lost on the weekend but we’re still there – we’ve got players and we’re pushing to get a few more players so we can get the second side up.
“It was hard but we’re aware of the situation we’ve got for the year so we’ll stick fat and keep having a crack.”
Against Albanvale, the Roosters turned only two of their 12 scoring shots into goals.
That was a paltry reward for the tireless efforts of captain Nick Parker, centre half-back/ruck Matthew Hilton and onballer/half-back Jimmy Pham.
Like so many of his teammates, Hilton has not played competitive football for more than a year, but he got the nod for best player on his side.
“Coming in from one training session, he did pretty well,” Liossis said.
The Roosters will host Yarraville-Seddon in their home opener at Shorten Reserve on Saturday.
Lucas has put the call out through the Roosters’ social media channels for supporters of the club to come out in full force to help keep the club alive.
It reads in part: “It’s going to be tough throughout the year and just hoping that if you are or have been associated with the club somewhere along the line, you can get down at some stage and give some support to the club No.1 and also to the players that are fighting on the field to keep West Footscray running”.
