Fremantle Dockers captain Ange Stannett is confident contested style of footy will help team to thrive

Fremantle captain Ange Stannett is confident her team’s physical approach to games will allow them to finish the season strongly as teams start to feel the impact of the the weekly grind.

The Dockers started the AFLW season slowly but beat Melbourne by five points last week after laying 96 tackles. Kriara Bowers was brilliant with 17 tackles for the day, along with 27 disposals and 16 contested possessions.

Fremantle’s game plan has been based around their contested work and Stannett said that would become more important the longer the season goes.

“We’re very clear on what we value. We are a highly contested side,” she said.

“That was a hot day for both sides and we knew our fitness would get us over the line if we kept going at the ball hard, bringing our physicality and running both ways. At three quarter time we had plenty in the tank. So hopefully that can continue for us.”

Fremantle’s finals hopes would have ended if they’d lost to Melbourne last week but now they are within touching distance of the top eight.

They’re also now preparing to face a GWS team that has lost three games in a row and has a 2-7 record before taking on the lowly Richmond next weekend.

The Dockers had a brutal draw earlier at the start of the season and copped hidings from powerhouses Brisbane and North Melbourne, before also struggling against Hawthorn. Stannett said that made last week’s win over the Demons more important because it showed the players that they had taken key steps forwards.

She said the way the team had come together and sacrificed for each other had given them something to build on.

“We had key players doing key jobs and they were fantastic. Everyone is staying in the moment and staying present,” she said

“That win does change how we think. We’d been close in a lot of games.With a 12 round season, every game matters so we need to keep that mentality. We will take a lot of belief from the win and look to knock off GWS.”

The Dockers made only one change to their team with Poppy Stockwell replacing the injured Aine Tighe. The Giants also made one change with Alicia Eva coming into the line-up at the expense of Aliesha Newman.