When Senior Coach sent one of her most reliable and experienced players in Ange Stannett from the backline to the forward for the 2023 season, one could expect that loss to have an impact on the relatively young group.
 
However Stannett herself has been thrilled with how Freo’s defence has stood up after three rounds, and joked that she hasn’t been missed by her former line teammates.
 
As Freo’s best in the round one RAC Derby, the 29-year-old Laura Pugh has been Freo’s general, however much has been expected of Jess Low (23), Emma O’Driscoll (23), Madi Scanlon (22), Sarah Verrier (21) and Mikayla Hyde (20).
 
Stannett credited the maturity of the group despite their young age.
 
“They’re not missing me! They’re amazing, how good were they?” Stannett said after Freo’s 13-point win against Hawthorn on Saturday.
 
“They helped us all day, we’ve got some really great leaders down there, some really great young girls coming through who are leaders in their own right as well.
 
“They’ve been incredible, (against Hawthorn) particularly, but they’re going to continue to build week on week and become a backline that is really challenging for teams to break through.”

O’Driscoll is the only Fremantle player to earn coaches votes in both rounds one and two, and she impressed against with 17 disposals and 10 intercepts in Fremantle’s 13-point win against Hawthorn on Saturday.
 
Hyde has also made the most of the opportunity by stepping up into Stannett’s role as one of the breakouts for Freo this year.

“We always know what we’re going to get from those girls,” Stannett said of Hyde and O’Driscoll.
 
“It’s really nice when they get the footy in hand as they’re also really great ball users for us.”