Fremantle AFLW senior coach Trent Cooper said the club will make a decision either overnight or tomorrow morning on whether to challenge a one-match sanction offered to midfielder Kiara Bowers.
Bowers was charged with Rough Conduct (Dangerous Tackle) against Melbourne midfielder Eden Zanker in Freo’s five-point loss to Melbourne at Fremantle Oval on Sunday.
The tackle was assessed by the Match Review Officer as Careless Conduct, Medium Impact and High Contact.
It comes ahead of Freo’s final clash for the home and away season against North Melbourne this weekend.
“It does have big ramifications with her ability through our midfield,” Cooper said on 6PR.
“From an individual perspective - I know what Kiara is like - she won’t care about that (any impact to a potential best and fairest award) at all.
“She would be worried about trying to get out with the team to make sure we can finish as high as possible.
“We will look at the vision and some other similar cases and the club will make a decision overnight or early tomorrow morning on whether we challenge that one.”
Fremantle’s round eight loss to Melbourne followed a similar pattern to previous weeks, with a disappointing start allowing the Demons to get ahead in the game.
It took until the third quarter for Freo to register their first goal, while Melbourne kicked four unanswered majors heading into half time.
Cooper said the sluggish starts could be attributed to Freo’s trademark pressure game being below its usual standard.
“That’s the main thing that we need to work on, as well as getting the ball in our hands.
“We were down by 30 possessions at quarter time which is an awful lot.”
Cooper said he was pleased with the healthy depth of Freo’s list, in a season that has run longer than ever before.
However, Cooper suggested the loss to Melbourne wouldn’t necessarily bring changes to the line-up.
“We’ve got a few options; I don’t think we will panic because of the loss because I think we played really good footy for the last two and a half quarters,” Cooper said.
“Mikayla Morrison has been kicking goals in the WAFLW and has kicked bags of three, four and two goals, so she is pushing for a debut.
“Ann McMahon is building a good body of work and Alex Williams is always solid down back and available, so we have got a few options there.
“As far as the whole list is concerned, we are reasonably healthy with a few options which is a good thing to have this deep in the AFLW season…so we are pretty fortunate in that regard.”
