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Michelle, what did you make of the game?
I thought GWS had great urgency for four quarters and played really good football for four quarters as well. It’s probably the thing, looking at the game, they were really hungry at the contest and around the entire ground. There was great urgency from them and I thought they played really well.
Fremantle dominated the clearances, why couldn’t the team make the most of these opportunities?
They certainly put us under pressure in there when we won it and it was a really hot footy in there so we weren’t able to, I guess, get a bit of time to be able to clear it cleanly through the stoppage. The (Fremantle) mids certainly fought really hard in there and they did pretty well.
Fremantle missed a couple golden chances in front of goal, too.
They’re short games and you’ve got to take your opportunities and we’ve seen in previous games that the girls have done that really well. Today, even in the first quarter, to only have two inside 50s, we want to start better than that. We do speak about it and they (GWS) made the most of their opportunities going in there as well.
Today’s results puts to bed any GF hopes, how hard is that to take?
I’m not sure if it does, I haven’t had a look at the numbers. Anything can happen in this competition, as it’s been a whirlwind five rounds already. I’m not sure if it puts us out of it but we’re certainly hungry to play competitive footy and we want sustained success in this competition. That’s what we’re driving for. The expectation is for continuous improvement and continuing to work with the group and with the girls about the brand of footy that we want to play and make sure we bring that consistently week in week out.
How to you keep that hunger up without the potential prospect of a final?
We do that really well. Our reviews are really thorough and they always walk away with something to work on. This group has so many things that they can work on and in the time that we have with them we want to continue to challenge them. We’ve got a really positive environment down at the footy club, we’ve got exceptional leaders within this group and they’re going to be driving the standards as much, if not more than I am.
Any injuries for the side?
All clear.
Anyone close to making their return?
We do have a couple of girls that are still in our rehab and are really close to presenting but we’ll wait until we get the tick off from medical. That’s Kiara Bowers and Kellie Gibson, I can’t see them being available for next week but we’ll continue to work with them. Maybe they’ll play round seven and it may be next season.
Would you want to get Kiara Bowers back for a game because she’s had such a long time out?
It has been but it will purely come down to a medical and the doctors making that decision.
Who stood out for you today?
I thought Ebony Antonio, down back, when she does get the footy and runs and carries, she looks really dangerous for us. Again, I thought through the middle our mids really competed well and I was particularly impressed with (Lisa) Webb and (Stephanie) Cain on the wings. They had an impact on the game.
Why do you think Fremantle didn’t take advantage of their clearance dominance?
I thought they (GWS) were able to put us under pressure, not being able to get a clean clearance out of the stoppage area. It was just about getting it forward and then it probably didn’t go our way.