Williamstown’s premiership defence is on shaky ground after a 46-point loss to Collingwood in a VFL qualifying final at Ikon Park on Saturday.
The Seagulls will have to win three cut-throat finals in a row if they’re to defend their crown.
Seagulls football manager Chris Dixon told Star Weekly his club could take a leaf out of Hawthorn’s book from last year after it went on to win the AFL premiership following a loss in week one of the finals.
“All is not lost after the first week,” he said. “There’s a lot of belief in the group internally and externally, so we’ll get our confidence back up and be ready to face a good Sandringham team on Saturday.”
Williamstown had an unfavourable draw, with a bye on the eve of the finals.
The Seagulls were a tad lethargic in the opening term as Collingwood raced to a 17-point quarter-time lead. And it didn’t get any better for Williamstown in the second term as the Magpies kicked away to a 35-point lead at half-time, bossing the Seagulls in an area of the ground where they had been imperious in recent times.
“I thought they got the ball out of stoppages better,” Dixon said. “The numbers were pretty even in the end, but they seemed to be more effective in terms of the way they moved the football.”
True to form, Williamstown never gave up trying to get back into the contest.
The Seagulls found their groove in the third term but couldn’t make any inroads on the scoreboard.
“We knew we were going to get a response after half-time,” Dixon said.
“But we kicked 2.7 and they kicked 3.1, so the scores remained the same.
“We didn’t make the most of that chance to peg back the margin.
“It might’ve given us greater belief if we’d gone into three-quarter time three goals down and not six.”
The game petered out to a predictable conclusion with Collingwood winning handsomely.
Ed Carr was best for Williamstown for his lock-down job on Magpies danger man Rupert Wills.
Tim Currie, in defence, and Jack Johnstone, both as a defender and pinch-hit midfielder, were tireless workers all day for the Seagulls.
Williamstown needs to brush itself off in preparation for a do-or-die encounter with Sandringham at North Port Oval on Saturday from 11.40am.
The Zebras will arrive with a pep in their step after a 45-point hammering of Port Melbourne.
“To beat Port Melbourne on their home deck is a huge result, so we know the challenge ahead of us,” Dixon said.
Meanwhile, Footscray was taken to the cleaners late in a 70-point loss to Casey Scorpions in the other qualifying final at Casey Fields.
The undermanned Bulldogs were competitive until three-quarter time, but the Scorpions piled on eight goals to one in the last term.
The Bulldogs will face Essendon in a semi- final at North Port Oval on Sunday from 2.40pm.
