Williamstown got a crucial percentage boost ahead of a top-of-the-table clash with rivals Port Melbourne in a gigantic 176-point annihilation of Bendigo Gold on Saturday.
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The Seagulls, sitting second on the ladder, improved their percentage from 139 to 171 in the win, with the game all but over by quarter-time.
Bendigo, which went stand-alone this season after breaking ties with Essendon, has been the VFL’s worst-performed team by a long, long way.
Going into the game the Gold had an average losing margin of 103 points, and their season reached a new nadir at Burbank Oval.
Williamstown had nearly 60 shots on goal for the game and dominated every aspect, even in a final term which it won by just five points. The quarter-by-quarter scores tell the story: 7.9, 13.4, 8.8 and 2.6. Bendigo managed just 5.1 for the entire game. The Seagulls led by 45 at quarter-time, only inaccuracy preventing it from being more.
During the second quarter they put the margin beyond 100 points and led by 115 at the main break. They kept Bendigo scoreless in the third and jumped out to a 171-point lead by three-quarter-time, entertaining thoughts of a park footy-esque 200-plus-point victory, but took the foot off the throat slightly in the last.
It was a complete performance from a Williamstown side still not at full strength. Captain Ben Jolley leads a list of players still to return, including Jamie McNamara, Justin Sherman, Willie Wheeler and Stephen Witkowski.
There were 14 goalkickers, with Charlie Nastasi, Anthony Anastasio and Jarrad Grant all kicking four and Patrick Veszpremi three in a best-on-ground performance.
Coach Peter German said the game presented an opportunity for Williamstown to boost its percentage given it played Bendigo only once.
“We knew Bendigo has a lot of young players and we thought we would have them in size and strength,” he said. “We felt it was an important game to play the way we wanted to play and also take advantage on the scoreboard.
“We shared the ball really well. We wanted to move the ball quickly and share the goals and we did that. We kicked a lot of points, which is not part of our game, so we could have done even more damage on the scoreboard.”
Williamstown hosts ladder leader Port Melbourne this Sunday.
