Tara Murray
Williamstown couldn’t have asked for a better start to the Victorian Football League Women’s season on Saturday.
The Seagulls faced the Darebin Falcons on Saturday evening and were able to put a solid four quarter performance together, winning 11.12 (78)-0.2 (2).
Seagulls coach Liam Cavanagh said it was a nice way to start the season.
“It was good reward for all the work that we’ve put in,” he said. “ We feel like, and every team probably feels like, the fittest team in the competition,
“Our fitness levels are significantly better than a year ago. Our praccy matches were really strong.
“We played against Darebin and won by 10 points. Now to beat them by 10 goals, it shows there’s a lot of improvement in us.”
Cavanagh said they were able to make the most of the opportunities they had against the Falcons.
Cavanagh said he was pleased to see the group put together a four quarter performance.
“The most pleasing thing for me was at three quarter time we felt like we had won it,” he said.
“We still did the process and continued to play the game and didn’t get caught up in the score. It was a big thing for us.
“The first half was contested, tough, hard football and we held our own and the game opened up and we showed the work we had done over the pre-season.”
Molly Simpson kicked four goals on debut for the Seagulls, while Sharnie Whiting and Eliza Straford kicked two goals each.
Cavanagh said that Lori Stepnell was their best, with 18 possessions and five intercept marks and a goal.
Cat O’Bryan had a strong game in the ruck in her first game for the club, while he was impressed with Simpson as well.
One of the good news stories out of the game was the return of Erin Meade.
“For her it has been 728 days since she played in a VFLW winning game,” Cavanagh said.
“She played two minutes last season. It’s good to have her back. She’s super fit and was ready to go.
“Everyone wanted to make sure that Erin got the win.”
Having played finals for the first time, Cavanagh said the group wanted to continue to build on that.
He said being from a standalone club there are many that will always see them as a bit of an underdog.
“Last season was great for us and it was a great experience,” he said. “We’ve got a full team that played finals and have brought in some recruits with experience.
“We know what it is like and we’re hungrier to get more out of ourselves and as a team and evolve.
“The goal is to play in the last game of the year and we want to build a brand to get us there.”
The Seagulls will be in action on Saturday in round two against Essendon.
Cavanagh said you can never underestimate the Bombers, who are coming off a disappointing loss where they didn’t kick a goal.
