Tara Murray
Williamstown has claimed its first Victorian Football League women’s minor premiership but the work has just begun for the Seagulls.
The Seagulls had done enough entering the final round against Collingwood to make sure they had locked in first place.
They finished the regular season with a win against the Magpies, winning 2.5 (17)-1.1 (7).
Seagulls coach Liam Cavanagh said they were proud to have finished on top.
“I think it’s mixed feelings finishing on top,” he said. “We’re proud and grateful for the season that we’ve had, but we would be disappointed if this was the biggest thing that we had achieved for the year.
‘It’s exciting to get home finals and in particular the double change, we’re in a good position to have a competitive finals series.’
It’s the second straight year the Seagulls have made the finals. Cavanagh said this year is different to 12 months ago when they lost in the first week to Carlton.
“Last year we were on a big wave of momentum,” he said. “This year we’ve been solid for the whole season.
“We’ve been much more even. The big difference is we get the double chance and minimum two finals.
“We get a lot more experience from those games.”
Cavanagh said the match against Collingwood was one that they would rather forget. He said with nothing on the line, the players probably played like that.
He said that it would give them a bit of humility and that they generally bounce back quickly after a poor performance.
“They are a capable side and made us pay for being a little bit off,” he said. “Our backline was good, especially Erin Meade, Eloise Freeman and Zoe Day.
“We didn’t get enough opportunities to score.”
Cavanagh said Emily Eaves had her best game for the season with 20 possessions along with eight tackles and nine clearances.
Ash Thorneycroft had another strong game, while Molly Simpson in her first game back after a number of weeks out provided a lot of forward pressure.
The Seagulls will face second placed Western Bulldogs on Sunday in the first week of finals, with both teams having the double chance.
Cavanagh said they can’t really look at their result from earlier in the season against the Bulldogs.
“They only finished one game behind us on the ladder,” he said. “We won last time which will give us some confidence, but they have improved a lot since last time.
“It’s a new game.”
The Seagulls’ men lost to Werribee, 12.11 (83)-9.9 (63).
The Seagulls now sit in seventh spot, a game off top.
