Fremantle defeated West Coast by 10 points in a scratch match against West Coast on Lathlain Park on Saturday.
Senior coach Trent Cooper runs through his thoughts on the game.
What was your assessment of the game?
It was a really good hitout and probably what you want from a pre-season game because a) we didn’t have any injuries, which is always really important, and b) we didn’t play particularly well at times so it gives us a few things to work on before round one. We’ll go back, assess the tape and work on a few things. It was pleasing that after we gave up a start, we clawed our way into the game and finished it off really strongly.
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West Coast started the game with four unanswered goals. What were West Coast doing well to get on top and what could Fremantle have done better in that time?
They were really good through the midfield and the addition of Aisling McCarthy to their team, she came through the midfield and kicked their first three goals. That’s handy for us to look at ways that we can tighten up in that area.
It’s all about winning the ball from the centre, which we started to do from halfway through the second quarter and I think we controlled the play reasonably well from that point on.
You must be pleased with how Fremantle used that momentum in the second quarter to score three goals in quick succession?
Definitely, especially being so far behind. The addition of Gabby O’Sullivan out on the field (coming on after quarter time) made a big difference. She linked up well with Gemma Houghton to give us those couple of goals to give us that momentum.
Who impressed you from Fremantle today?
Jasmin Stewart has had a solid pre-season and she worked her way into the game and had a real solid four-quarter effort. Kiara Bowers probably impresses everyone every week and when she came on she made a real difference. I thought Janelle Cuthbertson was the standout defender, she was fantastic down there. She repelled a lot of one-on-one opportunities that West Coast had and was a big part of keeping them to the score that they kicked.
Talk us through Janelle’s development, as this is just her second season of football.
It’s amazing. It’s good when they come from different sports. Janelle’s come from tennis where she had to read the flight of the ball early and pic up cues early as a tennis player. She uses that really well as a defender. She’s had a change of body shape and her strength composition, which she did so well as she’s such a hard working athlete. She’s playing really good football and is such a sponge and wants to learn. Along with Ange Stannett who’s come across from soccer, those two together are a formidable combination.
It was the usual suspects up front with Sabreena Duffy and Gemma kicking two goals each?
They were both really solid. I thought Gemma worked hard all day and Sabreena had some really nice moments. I thought Gabby O’Sullivan was probably the best forward, she was playing a bit higher and linked up well with them. We’re looking for them to maintain their chemistry but also looking for another couple to bob up before round one to make things a bit more difficult for GWS.
What are Fremantle working on for the next two weeks before taking on GWS in round one?
We’ll get together at our smoking ceremony tomorrow morning and recover at the beach after that. We’ll focus on a few different things, our fitness we think is at a pretty good level and our run and running patterns. There are a few more things to work on with our inside game and we’ll go from there.
