WFL Record 13.indd - Western Region Football League

Williamstown stormed into the inaugural
Foxtel Cup Grand Final with a
clinical 71-point win against East
Perth at Etihad Stadium last weekend.
The Seagulls will take on the winner of the
Saturday semi-fi nal clash between Claremont
(WAFL) and Port Adelaide (SANFL) in either
Perth or Adelaide in early August.
Playing under a closed roof, Williamstown
trampled over the hapless Royals in the fi rst
half, kicking the fi rst ten goals and only allowing
East Perth its fi rst goal in the 16th minute of the
second quarter.
The visitors were more competitive in the second
half, kicking three goals to Williamstown’s fi ve,
but never looked like worrying a Williamstown
side that fi elded several younger players
who have spent most of the VFL season in
the reserves.
Bulldogs-listed forward Patrick Veszpremi was a
stand-out with four goals in a performance that
showcased his canny goal sense.
But it was his defensive efforts that really pleased
coach Peter German.
“He’s always been a smart in front of goals,
but for me it’s him really adding to his game
defensively and I thought he did that pretty well,”
German said.
Veszpremi had plenty of support up front from
fellow Bulldogs Jordan Roughead, Mitch
Hahn, Will Minson and Zephaniah Skinner,
whose fi rst-quarter screamer was one of the
match’s highlights, but the team’s decidedly less
inexperienced backline was equally impressive,
restricting East Perth to just four goals.
“I was really pleased with guys like Phil Smith
who’d come in, guys like Nick Walters and Steve
McCallum,” German said.
“We’ve really got a bit of a makeshift backline
that’s a bit new and is inexperienced in some
ways, but I thought they did the job. Mulligan
FLYING HIGH
Seagulls Storm Into Foxtel Cup Final
coming back from three weeks off on Josh Smith
(two goals), I thought he did a reasonable job.”
East Perth struggled to penetrate the forward 50,
particularly in the fi rst half, with Williamstown’s
use of the wings to run the ball from half-back
highlighting the difference in class between the
two teams.
The Seagulls also imposed a greater physicality,
which rattled the Royals and led to several
turnovers in their defensive third. “I think our
fi rst half was really pleasing for the way we
structured up in a lot of the areas we’ve been
focusing on, so to me the scoreboard in a lot of
ways refl ected that,” German said.
German rested Ben Jolley, who has endured
a massive workload in the centre this year,
but Jolley will play against Collingwood in
Wangarratta this weekend.
List management will be crucial for the Seagulls
in the coming weeks, with games against North
Ballarat and Port Melbourne on either side of the
Foxtel Cup grand fi nal.
“From our point of view it’s good to get an
opportunity in the Foxtel Cup, if we had a rest
this week we wouldn’t have been able to expose
those young kids,” German said.
33 WRFL FOOTY RECORD