By Lauren Wood, Williamstown Media
With everything on the line, victory meant the Seagulls would secure a Wildcard Final away from home. Defeat, however, would have ended their 2025 campaign, with Coburg taking their place inside the top 10.
Sitting 11th on the ladder, the Seagulls took to DSV Stadium for the final time this year following the Round 20 bye, knowing the matchup was going to be a challenge.
The breeze wasn’t favouring either side, and Richmond struck first – converting inside the opening minute before adding another at the five-minute mark.
A third quickly followed after a free kick, putting the Tigers 18 points clear before Williamstown could find any rhythm.
It was Damon Hollow who finally broke through, slotting his fourteenth goal of the season with a booming kick in difficult conditions.
Moments later, Jack Toner delivered a superb ball inside 50 for Nick Ebinger, who soared to pull down a mark on the second attempt before finishing truly.
That steadied the ship, but Williamstown still trailed 14-24 at quarter time.
The second term saw the Seagulls lift. Jovan Petric, in his first game since Round 11, opened the scoring before Brodie McLaughlin also hit the scoreboard to give Williamstown its first lead of the day.
McLaughlin followed up with two more goals in quick succession, including a clever soccer effort out of traffic, to push the margin out to 10 points.
By half time, the Seagulls had turned a 10-point deficit into a 13-point advantage, heading into the rooms 43-30 in front.
Noah Gadsby added another early in the third, but it was a frustrating quarter for Williamstown who registered six behinds without another major.
Nerves crept in as a finals spot loomed, and despite dominating territory with seven scoring shots to four, Richmond trimmed the margin to 11 points at the final change.
The last quarter brought more of the same – two more behinds to start before Hugo Hall-Kahan broke through following a clever deflection from Petric.
McLaughlin, fittingly, capped off the day with a strong contested mark and set shot goal to finish with four majors, sealing the result.
Despite kicking just one more goal than Richmond, Williamstown’s relentless pressure told the story, finishing with 19 more inside 50s and 15 more minor scores.
The Seagulls banked their first win since Round 15 and, most importantly, a spot in finals action.
McLaughlin’s four goals all but confirmed his second Jim ‘Frosty’ Miller Medal as the VFL’s leading goalkicker, while Jake Greiser was immense across half-back with 32 disposals, 11 marks, 10 intercepts and zero turnovers in a best-on-ground performance.
Williamstown will now face Collingwood in a Wildcard Final on Sunday 24 August, while Richmond take on GWS earlier in the Wildcard weekend.
Final Score:
WILLIAMSTOWN: 2.2 | 6.7 | 7.13 | 9.19 (73)
RICHMOND: 4.0 | 5.0 | 7.2 | 8.4 (52)
Goal Kickers: McLaughlin (4), Hall-Kahan (1), Ebinger (1), Gadsby (1), Hollow (1), Petric (1)
