By Ewen McRae
Newly re-appointed Williamstown VFLW coach Amy Catterall is already looking forward to 2019, after a positive finish to the club’s inaugural season.
While the Seagulls struggled early in the season, they closed it out with three wins in a row to leave the group optimistic of a brighter season to come.
Catterall, who was recently announced by the Seagulls as the continuing coach for next year, said there were lots of positives out of the season.
“It was a good experience,” she said.
“I was really proud of how the group stuck together throughout the season, and to win those three at the end was good reward and great to see everything that we’d been working towards come together.
“We went through that journey together from the start of the year and you could really see that progression that they ended up achieving.
“We started off as any new team would in their first year, and from there the bonus was that we got better as the season rolled on and we finished really strong, so it’s an exciting time for the side.”
Williamstown knocked off Richmond in round 4 to get its first win in the competition, but then had to wait until round 14 to add to its tally, finishing with its best run of games for the year.
While the Seagulls struggled at times, Jess Duffin was a standout player throughout the season and collected the league’s best and fairest award. She got great support throughout from Megan Williamson, Jacinta Reid and Sophie Van De Heuvel who were always among the best.
Catterall identified the need for improved fitness if they wanted to take the next step in 2019.
“I definitely need to get the group fitter next year, that will be a big focus when we get to pre-season,” she said.
“The strength and conditioning side is becoming more important so we have to be better at that earlier in the season.”
With the difficult first year out of the way, Catterall said expectations on the group would be lifted next year.
“We’ll definitely be stepping things up now that they’ve proven they can play at the level,” she said. “The goals that we set at the start of the season were achieved by the end, so now we’ve got to step it up another level to keep up with everyone else and set some new goals and standards.
“A lot of that will come down to our fitness and just natural improvement in our skills.”
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