The West Coast Eagles have taken confidence from their win against the Giants and will head into Thursday’s RAC AFLW Derby believing they can give Fremantle a tough contest, coach Michael Prior says.
Despite the build-up to the crosstown clash, Prior declared the Eagles were preparing to face the Dockers as they would for any other game.
“I think we played a good brand of footy on the weekend and our girls will take some confidence out of that,” Prior said.
“It doesn’t matter about our opponent coming up this week, any team would take confidence from a performance like that.
“I think Thursday’s match will be a good game, it’ll be a contested match.”
Fremantle has won all four RAC Derbies since West Coast entered the competition and the Eagles are under no illusion that the Dockers are going to be a strong opponent.
“Looking at the numbers yesterday, Fremantle are sitting second in pressure, and we are sitting at sixth, so it’s going to be a highly contested game,” Prior said.
“Whatever team can deal with that the best is going to get on top, obviously there is a crucial battle in the midfield so we look forward to the challenge and we are up for the fight.”
Fremantle is coming off a draw at home against Carlton last weekend and boasts a strong midfield with the likes of captain Hayley Miller and Dana East.
Prior will look to his backline to keep up the form they’ve shown over the last four weeks, relying on them to hold down key matchups, including on Freo’s dangerous Irish forward Aine Tighe.
“I think we’ve got a couple of options down in the backline, Sophie McDonald has played very well and Eleanor Hartill has impressed in her two games,” he said.
Prior said West Coast’s players have focused on recovery this week, given the short turnaround between games, and are excited to play their rivals at Optus Stadium.
“The team really enjoy coming here to play, it’s a public holiday on Thursday so it’s a great opportunity for fans to bring down their families and support their teams,” he said.
“Optus is the premier stadium in WA so the players really get a good kick out of performing here."
