Fremantle’s preparations for Season 7 are ready to get underway with 25 players committed to the Club.
The next NAB AFL Women’s season will begin on the weekend of the 25-27 August and pre-season will kick off on Monday 13 June.
As well as the re-signing of Ebony Antonio for two seasons, Fremantle have locked in captain Hayley Miller, three time Fairest and Best winner Kiara Bowers, 2021 All Australian Janelle Cuthbertson and vice captain Ange Stannett among the re-signings.
Gabby O’Sullivan, Kara Antonio, Mim Strom, Laura Pugh, Phil Seth, Emma O’Driscoll, Sarah Verrier, Aine Tighe, Roxy Roux, Airlie Runnalls, Dana East, Jess Low, Makaela Tuhakaraina, Amy Franklin, Sarah Wielstra, Mikayla Hyde, Matilda Sergeant, Bianca Webb, Mikayla Morrison and Ashley Sharp are the other players locked in.
Morrison and Sharp will be placed on the inactive list. Morrison will take the season to continue her recovery from an ACL injury while Sharp will be retained through the pregnancy policy, as the sharpshooter looks to prepare for a return in Season 8 next year.
New recruit Nikki Gore from Adelaide and the selections from the upcoming NAB AFLW Draft will round out Fremantle’s playing list of 30.
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Senior Coach Trent Cooper said he was thrilled to be leading such a committed group for another season.
“In the period of expansion with Port Adelaide, Essendon, Hawthorn and Sydney joining the competition, a lot of these girls knocked back a lot larger offers to pledge their loyalty to this group and try to take us to the next step,” Cooper said.
“At the end of last year, the girls were fairly exhausted after what was a full on season but it didn’t take them long to shake that off and be really keen to get back into it.
“The season coming around early has been perfect for most because we can’t wait to get our teeth into a shorter pre-season. It’s one that may be a little different with load management being in the front of our mind.
Cooper was equally pleased to have former captain Kara Antonio go around for a seventh year.
“Kara took a bit of time to decide if she was going to play on and I think she got a lot of pushes from coaches and teammates alike that we wanted her to go around again,” Cooper said.
“We still think she’s got a lot to offer on the field and off the field with her leadership and we’re really excited that she’s going to be a key part of our forward line again in the back half of the year.”
