Fremantle had a number of reasons to hold their heads high despite an 18-point loss to the Crows on Saturday at Unley Oval in Adelaide.
The first career goals to Mim Strom and Phil Seth provided the highlights as Fremantle pushed for an against-the-odds victory against the reigning premiers.
The Crows had been in a run of form never seen in modern football, conceding just four points combined in their past two games with a 96-point win against GWS and a 60-point win against Port.
Fremantle gave Adelaide a wakeup call early in what was the Crows’ first goalless opening term since 2020 on the way to building a nine-point lead at three quarter time.
But Adelaide’s quality shone through as Fremantle faltered with stars Gabby O’Sullivan (shoulder) and Janelle Cuthbertson (ankle) on the sidelines after sustaining early injuries.
“It was a really good three-quarter performance from the girls but in the end the Crows just had us,” Strom said.
“Hopefully we can put it together next week. We were down a couple of rotations but all the girls stepped up and stuck to their roles.
“I feel like we all ran out the game really hard with what we had.
“We want to be a four quarter finishing team so we’ll definitely be addressing that next week.”
Strom’s first AFLW goal came in her 36th game and the 20-year-old celebrated accordingly.
“It was nice to celebrate with the girls but it was a real team goal with Orlagh (Lally’s) great kick over the top and I was just able to finish it off, which was nice,” Strom said.
“It was also great to see Phil join the first goal club.”
Superstar midfielder Kiara Bowers had her career-best game statistically with a career-high 29 disposals. The 19 tackles was also equal to her already impressive career-best efforts while she also had 11 clearances.
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The performances comes after she received 10 coaches votes the week prior in a 30-point loss to Melbourne.
“Look at her performance last week as well, she was clearly best on and she goes to another level every week,” Strom said.
“I’m very lucky to be able to play with her.”
