Skipper Hayley Miller said she was ‘incredibly proud of the girls’ after Freo’s impressive AFLW season came to a close on Saturday, falling short to Adelaide in the preliminary final by 14-points at Adelaide Oval.  
 
The highly-contested game saw Fremantle miss out on what could have been their first AFL Women’s Grand Final berth. 
 
Miller said although the loss was disappointing, she was extremely proud of the team and their results this season.  
 
“I don’t really have much to say, just incredibly disappointing obviously with the result not going our way,” Miller said.  
 
“I’m incredibly proud of the girls and everything we’ve come up against this season and taken it head on and done the best we can.  
 
“Unfortunately, today we just couldn’t put it together.” 

A strong second half from Fremantle saw lots of pressure and effort in an attempt to get ahead on the scoreboard, however, Adelaide’s defence welcomed the challenge.  
 
The captain credited the experienced Adelaide side’s transition and how they seemed to ‘click’ together on the field.  
 
“They transition the footy so well and we have a lot to learn watching them play,” Miller said.  
 
“We kicked a goal and got ourselves back in it and they went down the other end and kicked another one.  
 
“When that happens it’s just a really good team, a really experienced team and the team that clicked on the day and that was Adelaide and unfortunately not us. 
 
“If a few more things had gone our way you know, we were right in it and in the second quarter there were things that weren’t quite going our way. 
 
“We managed to be nice and strong mentally and build ourselves back into the game but in the end unfortunately it wasn’t enough.” 
 
A season of amazing highs and some lows had presented a challenge for the first time skipper who led the team into the preliminary final. 
 
“To become captain of the group this year has been pretty challenging for me,” Miller said. 
 
“I’ve learnt so much and I’ve learnt so much about my teammates that I didn’t know before and it’s just been an absolute pleasure to be able to watch them go about what they do each and every week.” 

Miller took some time to thank those who played a key role in the team’s 2022 campaign.
 
“I’m incredibly proud of every single player, those that played and those who didn’t, as well as the support staff and everyone that sacrificed a lot,” Miller said.  
 
“We as players sacrificed a lot but so did our support staff and everyone so a massive shoutout to everyone that supported us throughout the year.”
  
“You can certainly feel the wave of support both from home; those that travelled over here, family, friends, and everyone in between, the boys sending us messages of support, the Club as a whole and our whole supporter base.  
 
“Thank you so much for coming on this ride with us and please stick with us for next season and we’ll give it another red-hot crack.”