Williamstown’s Brett Goodes fires off a handball in a best-on-ground display. 70639 Picture: DAMIAN VISENTINI
BY MICHAEL ESPOSITO
WILLIAMSTOWN continued its dominant finals form with an 83-point demolition of Werribee on the weekend to set up a grand final showdown with its fiercest rival of all, Port Melbourne, this Sunday.
The Seagulls shattered any preconceived ideas that this was going to be a slogfest with a first-quarter burst that Werribee never recovered from.
A shell-shocked Tigers were overwhelmed by the dashing pace, slick ball movement and merciless pressure applied by Williamstown, which kicked six first-term goals to Werribee’s none.
The Tigers’ best quarter was their second, when they booted six goals, but Williamstown went two better in what was an end-to-end game that suited the Seagulls’ run and spread.
Sam Reid played one of his best games of the season with a five-goal haul, while Brett Goodes was superb in the middle.
Williamstown coach Peter German said the performance was “pretty much up there” with his side’s best efforts this season.
“You always worry when you have the week off that you may lost just that little bit of sharpness but I thought it was terrific that the boys made a statement early,” he said.
Will Minson, who shared ruck duties with Jordan Roughead, continued his spectacular form and was rested for most of the last quarter to keep him fresh for the grand final.
His and Roughead’s dominance made Majak Daw’s absence all the more visible. The Werribee big man fractured his finger in the previous week’s game against Casey, giving Will Sullivan main ruck duties. He battled valiantly, but could not keep Minson down.
Werribee coach Paul Satterley said Daw’s injury was a huge blow.
“We always have him as a get out of jail card down the line and today we just didn’t have that ability to when we were in a bit of strife to just go down the line. We just tried to always look for that little 45 (degrees) option, and their heat on us there was just too many turnovers.”
Many of Williamstown’s goals started from the backline, with Josh Hill and Brennan Stack in particular using their dash to launch numerous attacks.
“Hill and Stack have really grown,” German said. “This time last year they were playing half forward. To their credit they’ve gone back and been really positive and approached their football with far more urgency.”
Urgency was something Werribee lacked on Sunday, according to Satterley. “We didn’t get the game on our terms at any stage today,” he said. “We thought their last four weeks had been pretty soft. We didn’t feel they were really physically impacted at all in any of those games. That’s our real strength but we didn’t bring that to the table.”
“Just their spread, their pace, their use of the footy, and clearances early we got smacked. And if we’re laying only six tackles for the quarter we’re reactive.”
German said it was important to prevent Werribee’s defenders linking up.
“Pretty much all year they’ve been a pretty offensive side, I think that they run hard and set up from down back, so that was still important that we try and negate that,” German said.
Sam Reid, normally a midfielder, was deadly in front of goals, especially around the 50m mark. Reid initially questioned German’s decision to play him forward late in the home-and-away season, but it certainly paid off on Sunday.
“When you’ve got six or seven midfielders, to keep blokes on the ground they need to go forward with the rotations that happen so often, that Sam has played a bit forward and I think now he understands why, because he’s actually quite capable,” German said.
