The goalposts shifted significantly at the weekend for Williamstown in the Victorian Football League.
The Seagulls’ 150th anniversary year, their first under new coach Andy Collins and first since breaking away from the Western Bulldogs, was supposed to be somewhat of a transitional year.
There were moves in the off-season to strengthen the squad, but adding 34 players to a list and asking them to jell first season up was going to be an enormous task for Collins and company.
There were initial teething problems.
Pre-season results were less than impressive and they had close losses in their first two games of the season.
The pundits struggled to find a spot in the top eight for the Gulls at the time.
In an interview with Star Weekly in mid- March, Collins acknowledged it would take time for all of the changes to be implement properly, but he refused to give his players a get-out clause.
“No excuses,” he said. “They better get there by round one.”
But it took until round three for the Seagulls to get their act together. Once they did the positive results started rolling in.
They have won 12 of their past 14 league starts and defied the odds to claim the national Foxtel Cup competition for a second time in spectacular fashion.
Belief is growing at Morris Street.
Six consecutive victories, including Sunday’s hard-fought 40-point win over Northern Blues at Burbank Oval, all but secured the Seagulls a priceless double chance in the forthcoming finals.
More importantly, it confirmed a readjustment of mindset at the club, from one that was content with a finals berth at the start of the season to one that now considers itself a premiership threat.
“It [the double chance] probably exceeded our expectations in the first year,” Collins admitted.
“Now that we’ve put ourselves in a position to have double chances, we’ve got to take these opportunities.
“By finishing top four, you’ve got a real legitimate chance of going after the premiership.
“It’s a big advantage in the top eight system to finish in the top four.”
Ben Casley underlined the Seagulls’ key forward strength with four goals against the Blues. Casley, Scott Clouston and Sean Tighe offer a genuine three-pronged attack that’s posing headaches for opposition defences.
“We’ve been able to get some really good output at least from one of them on any given day,” Collins said.
The Seagulls face North Ballarat in a tough test at the Eureka Stadium on Saturday.
In the development league, Charlie Nastasi and Dylan Conway booted four goals apiece as the Seagulls mauled the Northern Blues by 92 points in the curtain-raiser.
Footscray has made the Werribee Tigers its latest road kill in the VFL in an impressive 40-point victory at Avalon Airport Oval on Sunday.
The Bulldogs stunningly led 50-1 at quarter time and never looked back as Jarrad Grant booted five goals and Fletcher Roberts was named ‘best’ for the second time in three matches.
The Dogs have all but sewn up a double chance ahead of their meeting with Casey Scorpions at Highgate Recreation Reserve in Craigieburn on Sunday.
