By Lance Jenkinson
Williamstown is ready to exorcise its Victorian Football League preliminary final demons.
The Seagulls advanced to the penultimate week of the finals with a 25-point win over minor premiers Richmond in the qualifying final at the Swinburne Centre on Saturday night.
Since its last premiership in 2015, Williamstown has been knocked out of the finals at the preliminary final stage in the past two seasons.
Seagulls coach Andrew Collins believes the harsh learning curves will stand the side in good stead for their next shot on that stage.
“To get into a prelim final is really hard, to get into a grand final in the final eight system is really difficult because it’s do or die on that prelim final day,” he said.
“I’d rather be in this position every year than not.
“The mathematics is such that if we keep putting ourselves in that position, we’ll win them as well.”
Williamstown has been one of the hottest teams in the competition since near the halfway mark of the season.
After round nine, the Seagulls were ninth on the ladder and giving no inclination of their premiership contender status.
In the last 10 games of the home-and-away rounds, the Seagulls won nine out of 10, including confidence-boosting wins over top two sides Richmond and Casey Demons.
The momentum rolled into week one of the finals for Williamstown.
“I think this year our game is as strong as it’s been and it’s not reliant on any individual,” Collins said.
“I feel like I’ve got quite a few options on game day to make some significant changes if things aren’t working.”
With the AFL having a pre-finals bye and the VFL taking centre stage on Channel Seven in prime time television on Saturday night, it was Williamstown that rose to the occasion.
The Seagulls showed no signs of stage fright as they marched to a convincing victory.
“It was a real credit to Channel Seven and they should get all the accolades for putting a VFL game on in prime time,” Collins said.
“I suppose the old cliche is that it becomes a game of footy really quickly.
“The initial nerves or excitement of that prime time television quickly faded and we had to get down to business.”
After a closely fought first half, Williamstown kicked clear with three goals to one in the third quarter to lead by 19 points.
All that could stop the Seagulls at that point was the lights going out at the venue, which forced umpires to delay the game.
Even with the momentum sapping time out, Williamstown remained focused on the task at hand with a goal from Sam Dunell early in the fourth quarter boosting the lead to 26.
Richmond did not give up though, causing a bit of panic late on, but Lachie George kicked the game sealer deep into time on.
“I thought that our pressure was outstanding in that third quarter and that was a small difference,” Collins said.
The eyes of the football world were on Michael Gibbons – one of the VFL’s most highly rated midfielders and widely urged to be drafted this year. Gibbons only enhanced his reputation with a 35 possession game.
Collins rates him highly and would dearly love for AFL recruiters to have a closer look.
“I’ve coached too long to be mucking around with this,” he said.
“He’s an elite footy talent that needs an opportunity [in the AFL].”
Williamstown will await the winner of the semi-final clash between Geelong and Box Hill Hawks on Sunday.
