Fremantle held a four-quarter match practice on Saturday ahead of the rapidly approaching 2022 NAB AFL Women’s season.

There are just four weeks between now and Freo’s round one clash against Adelaide at Fremantle Oval on 8 January, and 28 of Fremantle’s 30 players were in action in a promising sign of the team’s availability.

The White team defeated Purple five goals to two in a game limited to four 12-minute quarters.

Two players chasing their long-awaited debuts in Aine Tighe and Ann McMahon had the biggest impact on the scoreboard, kicking two goals each for White.

First year key forward/defender Amy Franklin provided White’s other goal while Gemma Houghon kicked a goal for Purple.

Senior coach Trent Cooper highlighted some usual suspects as the standouts.

“Today’s goal was to get the intensity up. Overall that intensity was, not surprisingly, led by Kiara Bowers (White). I’m not sure how many tackles she had but she was very influential,” Cooper said.

“(Purple’s) Ebony Antonio was close to best on ground, she’s been playing across multiple positions in training. She did that again and was really good.

“(White’s) Gabby O’Sullivan has been really lively in her dual forward and midfield role. They were probably the three that stood out today.”

Cooper was thrilled just to see Tighe and McMahon playing, let alone impacting the scoreboard.

“Aine, it’s just exciting to have her out there and to see what she can do. I thought Ann was great today in the first half in the midfield and then went forward to hit the scoreboard as well,” Cooper said.

“It’s been a long road for both of them and they’re both putting their hands up for consideration for round one selection.”

The ruck battles provided the most intrigue for the clash with first year Sarah Wielstra (White) having her hands full against Purple’s Mim Strom and Roxy Roux.

Wielstra was Fremantle’s final selection of the 2021 NAB AFLW Draft but has proved to be a valuable pickup after holding her own against her more experienced teammates.

“It’s so good to have that extra ruck on the list with Sarah, she can come in and play her role straight away. We didn’t see it today but she can also be handy up forward,” Cooper said.

“It’s really good for Mim to have that competition, which she probably hasn’t had to practice against. That was really good and Sarah is so competitive, she just charges in all day.

“There wasn’t a lot in it. I think Mim has been on top through the pre-season but I reckon ‘Dozer’ (Wielstra) matched it with her today, she was influential to her team getting the points.”

In other impressive performances on the day, first-year defender Jess Low continued her one-on-one battles on Houghton and played a part in limiting the star forward’s impact to one goal.

Both Tiah Toth and Jasmin Stewart were influential in the middle, providing most of White’s inside 50s.

White’s Ange Stannett continued to be one of Fremantle’s strongest down back, limiting the impact of Purple’s small forwards.

When Purple was on top, it was through Hayley Miller’s work in the midfield, with the captain frequently behind her teams advances through the midfield.

Freo’s pre-season will continue to ramp up, with a scratch match scheduled against West Coast in 10 days’ time.