Senior Coach Trent Cooper is embracing a new challenge in Season 7, as Fremantle look to bounce back in Thursday’s RAC Derby clash with West Coast and notch their first win of the year.
Fremantle’s start to Season 7 has been marked so far by three losses and a round four draw to Carlton.
While ladder finishes in previous years have seen Fremantle finish second (conference A) in 2019, first (conference B) in 2020 and fifth for the past two seasons, Freo currently sit 16th with six rounds remaining.
Cooper said the group’s focus had been on incremental improvements across the board rather than wholesale changes.
“There used to be pressure every week to win and get those top two or top four spots that everyone is aiming at,” Cooper said.
“The focus has definitely changed with our start this year after the first two rounds.
“We just need to improve and get better and the girls have been fantastic in taking that onboard.
“We are trying to build bit by bit, we are not trying to fix everything at once.”
Cooper said the drawn result against Carlton at the weekend showed further signs of his players’ willingness to implement the changes asked of them on the training track.
“It would have been great to get the result for them on the weekend because they have worked really hard to implement all of the things that we have asked of them over the last couple of weeks,” Cooper said.
“As a coach, it is really rewarding going to training to try and improve little things and seeing that improvement out there. That’s all we can do at the moment.”
The conditions expected for Thursday’s RAC Derby showdown are expected to be vastly different for both teams at the sheltered confines of Optus Stadium.
“We won’t need to worry about the irregularities of the wind and conditions like you do at Freo Oval or Mineral Resources Park,” Cooper said.
“We can probably be a little bit more aggressive with our ball movement given that the conditions will be different in a stadium.”
Despite a four-day break for both teams leading into Thursday’s outing, Cooper said all players will be mentally prepared for the cross-town clash.
“Both teams will be fresh mentally and ready to go,” Cooper said.
“It’s an RAC Derby and everyone fires up for it, so there’s no complaining at all about how quickly it’s come around (from the previous game).”
