Fremantle AFLW coach Lisa Webb has praised her players for handling the pressure of being without two of their biggest stars to beat Essendon by 15 points at Cockburn ARC Oval on Sunday.
The Dockers won their first ever game at their new home ground despite losing star ruck Mim Strom to a shoulder injury before the game and then having Emma O’Driscoll injure her knee in the opening minutes.
Webb said it would have been easy for the Dockers to lose focus and worry about how to replace their key players. She said the team had done a great job of adjusting to win 5.7 (37) to 3.4 (22)
“It’s easy to be distracted by that, but I never felt our players were this week. That’s what I’m most proud of,” Webb said.
“Previously it probably would have been like ‘how are we going to do this?’ But now we understand and we’re really clear on our roles. At times it wasn’t pretty. But we ground it out and got it done.
“They’ve been working really hard on that. Trying to replace Emma O’Driscoll is impossible, but it was one we were able to cover. And as long I’ve been here, we’ve never rucked without Mim. She’s such an important player.
“But we’ve been putting a lot of time into ensuring that whenever the moment came where we wanted to play her somewhere else, or where something did happen, that we’d have others.”
Webb was confident Strom would be available for next week’s game against the Western Bulldogs but she needs more information about O’Driscoll. Key forward Bella Smith faces a nervous wait after a bone jarring bump on Bess Keaney resulted in a head clash that forced the Bomber from the field bleeding.
The win took Fremantle to 3-2 for the season and was their first win in Perth. But more importantly, it was the Dockers’ first win at Cockburn ARC Oval.
The club moved their home games to Cockburn this season after previously playing at Fremantle Oval but lost the opening games to Port Adelaide and Carlton.
Webb said it was important to produce a victory at home.
“Definitely. It’s been one that’s wearing on me for a bit that we haven’t been able to get a win here,” she said.
“So, I’m delighted. It was obviously another great show of support for our club and I’m really pleased with the girls’ efforts.
