WILLIAMSTOWN VFLW coach Liam Cavanagh was a relieved man post-match after his Seagulls side defeated the Western Bulldogs to move one win away from an inaugural Grand Final appearance.

“I think it’s a nice piece of history for the girls,” Cavanagh said.

“We were talking about it just then. “153 players have pulled on the jumper for the club and we’re the first 21 to win a final. Which is really exciting for them.:

“I think the way we did it, we rode the bumps of the game. We know what we’re doing. Bulldogs are a very good side, so we’re feeling really good about the game. There’s probably some stuff we’d like to get back, some moments we’d like to do better, but it’s kind of almost like a monkey off the back feeling at the moment.”

It was a historic win for the Seagulls, with it being their first ever finals win in the VFLW competition.

“I think it’s special, but it’s also going to make the next few much easier,” Cavanagh said.

“Now that there’s not the pressure to be the first team to do certain things and we know we can win a final. They say you have to lose one before you can win one, and we did that last year.”

The Western Bulldogs were threatening to take control of the match at the end of the first half, but Cavanagh had a pretty simple message for his side at the main break.

“I think with the conditions here, we knew the third quarter had to be the scoring quarter to set the game up and so we just said ‘let’s go for it and see what happens’,” Cavanagh said. “Let’s remove some of the risk or the fear of losing. and just try and set ourselves up, and then if we do that, we’ll be able to protect it. And to the girls’ credit, I think they put on three, maybe four goals in that period, and then we’re able to just really shut it down from there.”

Many of Williamstown’s usual suspects starred on the weekend, and while the likes of Emily Eaves, Sharnie Whiting and Megan Williamson were all praised by the coach, Cavanagh through another name into the hat for best on ground Seagull.

“I thought they were all brilliant. I actually thought our best player today was probably Lori Stepnell at centre half-back.  She set the game up beautifully with her intercepting and, and sort of protecting us.

“Sharnie played probably the most selfless role we could ask from one of the best goal kickers in the comp. She spent half the game as the spare in defence. I thought our whole midfield, including Emily and Megan were really strong in the contest and in the second quarter when we were against the breeze, we just knew we needed to win territory.”

The 2024 season has been a breakthrough year for the Seagulls, with the side winning an inaugural minor premiership after a tough start to their history in the competition.

Cavanagh agreed that their success this season is extra special because they are not aligned with an AFLW club and as such have a disadvantage compared to those who are.

“It’s a real point of pride to be honest,” Cavanagh said. “We love playing against AFL clubs and being much smaller. Much less financial capital, much less talent resources to pick from, but we still find a way. We think it’s a reflection of the culture of the club and the connection we have.

“We love being the underdog. Even when we’re on top of the ladder, we’re still the underdog, which is awesome.”

Next week the Seagulls face the Kangaroos, and Cavanagh has a few ideas about what he expects.

“I think it’s interesting,” he said. “They play a different style to the Doggies do and they’re really good around the contest so we’ll have to be super sharp in close.

“They’ve got a lot of scoring potency, so we’ve obviously been able to defend pretty well this year but no doubt that’ll get challenged as well. I think with North Melbourne, we only won by two points last time, so we won’t be assuming anything.”