AFLW vice-captain Dana Hooker was pleased West Coast got reward for effort and finished a challenging three weeks in the Melbourne hub on a high thanks to a nailbiting two-point win against St Kilda.

Making the difficult decision to leave her daughter, Alice, at home to begin year one, Hooker joined the team in an extended stay in Victoria to play three AFLW matches before returning home to Perth to finish off the season.

Although the stay presented unexpected tribulations, including a number of players entering the AFL’s Health and Safety protocols, and returning home to Perth at a later date than expected, Hooker said the ending the trip on a high note has made an impact on the group’s confidence levels ahead of the round six clash against Collingwood on Sunday.

“Obviously we had a fairly trying three-and-a-half weeks while we were away, had lots of ups and downs and different experiences whilst we were in the hub,” Hooker told SportFM.

“Being away from home for that period of time, in itself can be challenging away from family, but add into the mix employment situations for a lot of the girls as well.

“All the football meetings, the three hour time difference, and then you mix in changes to the border situation halfway through, and obviously we had COVID that came through part of the group as well.

“But, to come away with the four points is obviously a great way to finish our experience there, and we were so close four days before against Geelong.

“That one hurt, to have let that one slip through, but really pleased with the efforts of the team, to hold it together and get the job done.”

The final minutes of the match had fans holding their breath, but Hooker said the team felt grounded on-field as they battled it out to eventually come away with the four premiership points.

The midfield group working hard on tackle pressure and strength in the contest to ensure they prevented a late score from St Kilda, as had happened previously in matches against Gold Coast and Geelong.

“I felt confident that we knew what we needed to do to hang onto that game and to lock the ball down and get a lot of repeat stoppages,” Hooker said.

“Not give them any easy exits inside 50, so the way it was going the girls were fighting hard, I knew how desperate everyone in the team was to get over the line.

“People were clear on what their role was, particularly in that part of play, so I’m glad we were able to execute what we’d spoken about.

“We had a real strong, clear idea of how we wanted to play and work together amongst the midfield group.

“Across the line, our midfield group were really pleased with the way we went about our business, and we’re looking to continue our build because we’re only halfway there now.”

West Coast now look to back it up against Collingwood on Sunday, playing three matches in the space of eight days after coming up against St Kilda after a three day break, and the Pies after five.

“Collingwood, they had a really great start to the season, unfortunately they lost Bri Davey really early, which has hurt them, but their midfield group with Brit Bonnici and Jamie Lambert, they’ve got a strong side,” Hooker said.

“We’ll just see how this plays out, we’re really grateful that they’re able to come across and play us here at home.

“We’ll do our opposition reviews throughout the week, a little bit closer to the game, and we’ll see what Mick presents to us and how he wants us to tackle that.

“But we’re just looking forward to that opportunity to play Collingwood and get a home game.”