Tara Murray
Williamstown might not have come away with the points against Essendon in the Victorian Football League Women’s competition on Saturday, but it ticked a lot of boxes.
Facing the inform Bombers, the Seagulls knew they would be in for a challenge.
Coach Penny Cula-Reid said heading into the game it wasn’t necessarily about the final result for them.
“They are a great side that has been building for some time,” she said.
“We knew it would be a bit of a challenge. We wanted our girls to have a good hot crack as we know how well Essendon has been going.
“It was an indication of where we are at as a club and program.”
The Bombers controlled the scoreboard throughout the match, winning 10.5 (65)-2.1 (13).
Cula-Reid said the Bombers proved to be cleaner with the ball in the forward half and got the results on the scoreboard.
“There were a couple of things we really wanted to work on,” she said.
“We wanted to limit their inside 50s and uncontested marks. And we wanted to win the clearances.
“Putting up the numbers in our KPIs [key performance indicators] from our program, we ticked all the boxes.
“The scoreboard didn’t reflect our efforts and endeavors. We played really well.”
Ellie Cleland and Ruby Tripodi were the goal scorers for the Seagulls.
Cula-Reid said it was the leaders that really stood up in the side. She said Tripodi played her best game for the season.
Bridie Kennedy and Gabrielle Biedenweg-Webster stood up down back, while Eliza Straford also had a good game.
Cula-Reid said for side it was about taking what they learned in the game and implementing it at training and in games.
“Our defence is right, we have to work on attack,” she said.
“It’s about that balance between attack and defence. Playing community football, you don’t have a lot of defensive strategy
“It’s about programming them to how we want them to play and that takes time. We’re seeing that coming through.
“We want that continuity between the lines and consistently hit the scoreboard. We didn’t hit the scoreboard as much as I would have liked.”
The loss leaves the Seagulls sitting 1-3 after the opening month of the season.
The Seagulls face North Melbourne on Sunday, which Cula-Reid said was a really winnable game.
She said it would be a big few weeks for the side.
“We’ve got some winnable games coming up,” she said.
“We’ve got this week against North Melbourne and then a break and three matches before the Easter break.
“If we can win two of those three games it will hold us in good stead for the second half of the season.”
Meanwhile, the Western Bulldogs VFLW side was on the end of a big loss against the Casey Demons.
The Bulldogs only goal of the game came in the first quarter, with the side losing 15.7 (97)-1.0 (6). Annaleise Xanthos was the goal scorer for the Bulldogs.
Lucy Schneider had 21 possessions in the loss.
