It took until the final game of the final round for Williamstown to seal a Victorian Football League wildcard play off spot but now it all begins again.
Seagulls have had an up and down season with losing streaks and an eight game winning streak thrown in the middle.
The Seagulls season all came down to Sunday afternoon as they faced Richmond at DSV Stadium.
A win meant the Seagulls would finish 10th, a loss would mean Coburg would remain in 10th spot.
Seagulls coach Justin Plapp said they were happy to come away with the win.
“It was a pretty tough game and a bit of inaccuracy made it a bit harder than it should have been,” he said.
“It was clearly about player motivation and it was more about them than the vibe. We know we’ve done a lot of work for 22-24 weeks to get to this position.
“It was more about the team putting out the pressure that was needed and I thought the players were really good in that area.”
The Tigers led by 10 points at quarter time before the Seagulls kicked four goals to one in the second quarter to lead by 13 points at half time.
The margin was reduced to 11 points at the last break before the Seagulls had plenty of chances in the last quarter.
While they didn’t make the most of them, the Seagulls did enough to win, 9.19 (73)-8.4 (52).
Brodie McLaughlin kicked four goals to take his tally to 67 goals for the season.
It was enough for him to claim his second Jim ‘Frosty’ Miller Medal for the league’s leading goal kicker.
Plapp said he had another good season.
“It’s a great achievement for him,” he said. “When the team is playing well they are finding him and it’s a byproduct of that.
“He’s had a terrific season again and is one of the real quality forwards in the competition.”
Jake Greiser had 32 disposals for the Seagulls while Mitch Cox had 24 and Joel Fitzgerald had 21.
The rest of the season is do or die for the Seagulls as they aim to keep their premiership hopes alive.
Plapp said they might get three or four players back this week, led by co-captain Cam Polson, who has again had a horrible run of injuries.
Jovan Petric made his return on Sunday for a knee injury in another positive.
The Seagulls will face Collingwood in the wildcard round.
Plapp said they take plenty of confidence into that match.
“We played Collingwood two weeks ago and felt like we should have won that game.
“Some inaccurate kicking and poor errors late hurt us. We’re not fearing them and I think it will be an even contest.
“We feel going into the game that if we play our best footy we can put on a real good show.”
Footscray finished on top of the ladder and will have the week off.
