Tara Murray
Williamstown kept its Victorian Football League season alive with a hard fought win on Saturday against the Box Hill Hawks in an elimination final.
Having won through to the finals in the wildcard round, the Seagulls were underdogs against the Hawks, who had 17 AFL-listed players playing.
Seagulls director of coaching Jeff Andrews said they were pretty happy to come away with the win.
“We certainly weren’t as good as we have been, but we were good enough to get it done against 17 AFL-listed players,” he said.
“I think we’re playing the way we know we’ve needed to all year but it sort of eluded us for quite a few weeks.
“At the moment the belief is just growing, especially today [Saturday]. That’ll do an enormous benefit for belief.”
The Seagulls were met with windy conditions at Box Hill, but not to the degree they get at Williamstown on a regular basis.
Andrews said it was a three to four goal advantage.
The Hawks decided to kick against it in the first quarter and it would be a decision that worked in the favour of the Seagulls.
“That was interesting,” Andrews said. “We put the score on the board and then we were able to stay in front and really limit their score in the second quarter.
“They kicked the first two of the third and we thought we’re in a bit of trouble here. Then we kicked away to five goals and it was goal for goal after that.”
Andrews said putting the score on the board early proved to be important as they didn’t know what the weather was doing and whether there would be rain.
He said it was a bit reminiscent of their wildcard round win against Richmond and getting the score on the board early and being able to control the game from there.
Brodie McLaughlin kicked four goals for the Seagulls, while Corey Ellison kicked three.
Joel Fitzgerald had 30 touches, while Jake Greiser and Riley Collier-Dawkins were also busy.
Andrews said Ellison was really good, playing a half up forward and a half in defence as he swung ends with the wind.
He said Greiser and Fitzgerald were good defensively, while Collier-Dawkins continued his good form.
The Seagulls now face the Brisbane Lions in a semi final, after the Lions lost to the Footscray Bulldogs in a qualifying final.
The Lions knocked the Seagulls out of finals at the same stage last year.
Andrews said they were expecting to face a number of AFL-listed players in the match which will be played in Brisbane.
“We will head up Friday,” he said. “We’ll take a full squad and we’ll get a couple back this week.
“Looking forward to that. We want to make amends for last year. We’re not sure how their AFL team playing on Saturday night affects them in terms of how many they put out there.
“They are certainly a very capable of side playing at home, we have our work cut out for us.”
