Senior coach Trent Cooper hopes that Fremantle’s current AFLW list has the right mix to contend for the next few seasons, as the start date for season six draws closer.
After a disappointing qualifying final exit in 2021, Cooper said there was an off-season focus placed on bolstering Freo’s midfield depth.
As one of the younger sides in the AFLW competition, the acquisition of talent such as Dana East, Airlie Runnalls and Jess Low in the recent NAB AFLW Draft, will help boost Freo’s potential midfield make-up.
“We’re really happy with the youth side of things, we are in the bottom half in the competition for age which gives us a chance for that sustained success of challenging for quite a few years,” Cooper told SportFM.
“We have also got some real genuine stars in the likes of Kiara Bowers and Janelle Cuthbertson, who was All-Australian last year, and then Gemma Houghton at her best is an All-Australian player as well.
“(The focus is on) adding a bit more depth through there and a bit more size and that’s what we are working on at the moment, but we think our list is strong enough to challenge in 2022.”
Freo’s AFLW squad returned to Fremantle Oval over the weekend for a Saturday morning training session and team photoshoot day.
It was the first official outing for new Head of Football Operations and Performance Bob Murphy since arriving at the Club.
Cooper said Murphy would add a lot to the AFLW program.
“Bob has taken a really big role in our AFLW space,” Cooper said.
“He basically sits above us and gives a lot of input…we sat down yesterday and spent almost four hours with him going through our list, firstly from a football perspective and secondly from a welfare perspective.
“He will be at training a lot and he will be fantastic for us. He has got a demeanour about him that is very calming but also committed and he’s a winner at everything he does so he is going to add a lot to us.”
