It’s a story we’ve seen many times: rivals coming together to take on an even greater one.
In the Fremantle Dockers’ case, it’s a group of former WAWFL opponents coming together to face their contemporaries on a national scale.
2016 saw Swan Districts and East Fremantle battling it out in the WAWFL Grand Final and a few months later, a number of the players from both grand final squads and other WAWFL teams were drafted to form the inaugural Fremantle Dockers squad.
Ashley Sharp, who represented Swan Districts and was best on ground in the 2016 WAWFL Grand Final, said it was the best day of her life when she was drafted to the Fremantle Dockers.
“Finding out [the AFL] decided to start the women’s league this year instead of 2020 is just great and I’m so excited to play,” she said.
Sharp was also excited to continue playing with some of her teammates from Swan Districts as well as play alongside her former WAWFL rivals.
“Some of the girls I didn’t really know too well so this way I am able to get to know them and learn the way they play and get used to playing with different people,” she said.
“We have just been training so far but we had a couple of dates during the Christmas break where we caught up for a movie night or go play some golf,”
“Training has been very fun but very different. It’s been good to learn off the new coaches,”
“It’s very hard also but it’s been good to get to know people that I didn’t know before.”
Melissa Caulfield, who represented East Fremantle in the WAWFL Grand Final, also shared her excitement about being drafted in the inaugural AFL Women’s League.
“It was an awesome experience and I’m super glad that [the development of the league] is happening for women’s sport in general,” she said.
Caulfield was happy to continue playing alongside some of her East Fremantle teammates in the inaugural squad.
“You already know how they play so it is a little less to learn about the rest of the girls in the team,” she said.
“The whole club sort of stuff doesn’t really come into effect for me. I think everyone else has sort of dropped that and we are a new team,”
“Training has been going really well, I am enjoying it. We are all learning a lot and learning how each other works,”
“Playing on a national level is so different and so much better.”
Both Sharp and Caulfield are looking forward to getting out on the field in the Fremantle Dockers’ first game of the AFLW season, taking place February 4 against the Western Bulldogs.
