Coach: Andrew Collins (third year)
Captain: Ben Jolley (fifth year)
2015 finish: Premier
2015 best and fairest placings: 1. Ben Jolley / 2. Sam Dunell / 3. Mitch Banner
Last premiership: 2015
Alignment: VFL standalone
The Seagulls weren’t able to enjoy winning their first flag since 2003 for too long, needing to quickly recruit replacements for some significant off-season losses. While premiership stars such as Ben Jolley, Nick Meese, Sam Dunell, Peter Faulks and Michael Gibbons are going around again, others have departed on a high.
Dynamic small forward Andrew Gallucci and tough inside midfielder Adam Marcon have graduated to the elite level after being selected in last year’s AFL Rookie Draft, while classy wingman Mitch Banner will play in the Ballarat Football League. Influential big men Scott Clouston and Sean Tighe will also leave big holes in the Williamstown spine.
Two players who would’ve stepped straight into the line-up were out the door almost as soon as they’d been signed, with Ariel Steinberg suspended due to the Essendon supplements saga and Matt Dea required as a Bombers top-up player. Ayce Cordy will definitely play though, the 204cm ex-Western Bulldogs forward/ruckman likely to become the club’s no.1 target inside 50.
Delisted St Kilda utility Arryn Siposs will provide another big body around the ball, while athletic former GWS Giants Academy member Liam Griffiths joins the Seagulls after a stellar season in the NEAFL. The club’s strong link with the Western Jets continues, with the first and second-placed finishers in Western’s 2015 best and fairest count, Lachlan Knight and Mitch Norton, joining Brayden Monk as promising midfielder/forwards on the list.
Despite the big departures, premiership coach Andrew Collins will be loath to change much about Williamstown’s successful style of play. 2015’s top-ranked team for contested possessions and clearances per game would win the ball in the engine room and kick it long to a devastating mix of strong marking talls and zippy pressurising smalls inside 50, the league’s most effective group at scoring once the ball was in its zone.
Ins: Liam Griffiths (Ainslie), Jayden Burke, Lachie Schultz, Mitchell Trait (Bendigo Pioneers), Tom Condon (Calder Cannons), Christian Buykx-Smith (Gippsland Power), Josh Minogue (Murray Bushrangers), Dex Brumby (PEGS), Arryn Siposs (St Kilda), Ayce Cordy (Western Bulldogs), Liam Carter, Lachlan Knight, Brayden Monk, Mitch Norton (Western Jets), Ben Deller, Nick Ebinger (Williamstown CYMS)
Outs: Andrew Gallucci (Carlton), Matthew Merlo (Coburg), Mitch Banner (Darley), Matt Dea (Essendon AFL top-up player), Ariel Steinberg (Essendon suspension), Ben Casley (Northern Blues), Jake McKenzie (Port Melbourne), Adam Marcon (Richmond AFL), Brad Mangan, Sean Tighe (Strathmore), Scott Clouston