Sport
6 April, 2026
Warriors secure thrilling win over Ararat
The Stawell Warriors have claimed a hard-fought five-point victory over Ararat in their annual Good Friday clash at North Park in the Wimmera Football Netball League.
With a near full-strength line-up, Stawell came out firing early, taking control of the opening term to lead by seven points at quarter-time. The margin could have been significantly greater if not for inaccuracy in front of goal, with the Warriors registering eight behinds.
Stawell continued its strong form into the second quarter, linking smoothly throughout the ground to maintain a narrow five-point lead at half-time.
The third term saw the Warriors again assert their dominance, extending their advantage to 17 points. That momentum carried into the final quarter, where they pushed the lead out to 22 points at the 10-minute mark and appeared in control.
However, Ararat responded like the champions they are. Led by a dominant midfield performance from Ben Taylor, the visitors surged back into the contest. When Tom Williamson snapped a goal at the 20-minute mark, the margin was cut to just eight points.
Moments later, Naish McRoberts added another, reducing the deficit to under a goal and giving Ararat all the momentum.
Despite the late surge, the Warriors held firm under pressure to secure an 11.20 (86) to 12.9 (81) victory.
Paul Summers led the scoring with four goals, while Harry Grintell marked a successful return from osteitis pubis with three majors. Recruit Sunny Brazier also impressed with two goals.
Josh Fowkes was outstanding in the ruck and around the ground, earning best-on-ground honours. He was well supported by Harry Grintell, Sunny Brazier, Thomas Eckel, Owen Summers and Daniel Guccione.
Warriors’ co-coach Perry Meka put the win down to 21 players playing their role.
“Play your role. That’s all we ask of the players, and everyone played their role,” he said.
“It feels fantastic to defeat Ararat, don’t get me wrong, but what is good about the win is the structures that we put in place, the boys executed. We go into games with the theme that we don’t care who we play, but we care how we play.
“We respect Ararat. They are the best there is, and if we went in with the fact that we must beat Ararat, I don’t think it would have worked.”
Perry highlighted the match simulation the club has been doing to prepare themselves for moments in the game.
“All pre-season we trained a certain style of play, and the boys executed it, and it worked,” he said.
“In the end, when they came at us, there was a certain style we had worked on to stop that, and we held them off, and the boys executed their roles.
"I said to the boys after the match that everything we spoke about, trained all pre-season about, and told them each quarter break what they needed to do, they went out there and executed it, and as a coach, that’s all you can ask.”
The three recruits, Michael Romero, Daniel Guccione and Sunny Brazier, all played well, and it looked like they had been playing with the Warriors for years.
Meka put it down to his experience of coaching them in the past, and the work he did with them during the pre-season.
“I have coached the three of them at VFL level, so they are not new to me,” he said.
“I spoke to them a lot, and watched them play in Melbourne and had coffees with them numerous times and told them how we wanted to play, and they played our style.”
As an example of players' roles, Meka also highlighted Riley Ika’s role, likening it to that of Brisbane Lions' excitement machine, Cam Rayner.
“We have given Riley the Rayner role, and he played it,” he said.
“We don’t need him to get 30 possessions as we have the Tom Eckels to do that, but 15 quality possessions and put pressure on the opposition like Rayner does for Brisbane is what we want, and he provided that.”
Meka highlighted Josh Fowkes and Aiden Graveson, for their work around the ground.
“I thought Josh was one of our best players, and a bonus, I thought Aiden Graveson was fantastic as well,” he said.
“Graveson played a fantastic role up forward and into that second ruck, and it goes again to playing your role, which he did.”
Harry Grintell, a Werribee-listed VFL player, played his first game back from osteitis pubis (OP) and said it was good to get the win.
“I don’t know the rivalry as much as the boys, but defeating Ararat, who everyone talks about, and has been the benchmark for the last couple of years, is great,” he said.
“It was also great for me coming back from injury and getting a game under the belt. OP is not a fun injury, and it was good that I could play the way the club expected me to.”
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