As well as a Fremantle win, senior coach Trent Cooper has a long wishlist for Sunday’s RAC Derby, which will be played at a locked out Fremantle Oval.
While fans won’t be in attendance, the clash will still be a chance for WA to come together after a challenging week that saw bushfires and a lockdown hit parts of the state.
To add weight to the occasion, naming rights sponsor RAC have pledged $2000 per goal and $500 per mark in the clash.
Despite rain being expected, Cooper hopes his team can do their best to contribute to the total.
“RAC, who are the sponsor of the RAC Derby, they’ve really come to the fore. They’re donating $500 for every mark taken and $2000 for every goal. That’s fantastic,” Cooper said.
“We’ll be trying to contribute as much as possible to that. In some ways we’re hoping that there’s plenty of rain, so that won’t mean as many marks and goals, because that will be good news for the fires as well.
“We’ll be doing our best to keep that ticking over to help the community, who have been so badly affected by the fires.”
Cooper praised defender Evie Gooch and West Coast captain Emma Swanson who have been doing their bit as fire-fighters this week, and hoped the pair would be available for the clash.
“Evie is rostered to be off on Sunday but as we know, there are bigger things at play. If she’s called in, we’ll definitely be supporting that,” Cooper said.
“We’re stoked to have her in our team, as I’m sure (West Coast senior coach) Daniel Pratt is with Emma - that we’ve got people who are willing to play footy and sacrifice and give so much back to the rest of the community.
“Hopefully, we see both girls out there on Sunday, but if they’re not, they’re doing something more important.”
Cooper said Fremantle will train once lockdown finishes on Friday night and recover on Saturday leading into the game.
“We’re going to train tonight, it will be a late session because we can’t get there until later on, but tomorrow will be just a very light recovery day,” Cooper said.
“We won’t do any training in the wet but I’m sure the girls will adjust quickly if there are wet conditions on Sunday.”
