Waalitj Marawar come into round nine on the back of a 23-point loss in the RAC Derby last week, the margin reflective of some missed opportunities and inaccuracy in front of goal.

Senior coach Daisy Pearce said the team will focus on getting ‘bang for buck’ on the scoreboard this weekend when the team take on Geelong at Mineral Resources Park.

“We were disappointed with our start, just probably a few concentration errors, and as good teams do, Fremantle took their opportunities when we were a bit off earlier in the game,” Pearce said.

“But really proud of our effort an ability to work our way into the game and for big chunks of it, in terms of the KPIs that we’re looking at, we thought we were able to win some really important aspects of the contest.

“Fremantle are a great contest team and really good at owning territory and locking the ball in their front half, and that’s why they find themselves were they are, we’ve got a lot of respect for the way that they play.

“We were really proud of our ability to turn around, what was a bit of a disappointing effort against Hawthorn in the contest, to be able to win first possession, inside 50s, time in forward half against Fremantle, who are strong in that space, we were proud of.

“Probably the biggest things to work on will be getting bang for buck and being efficient when we go inside forward 50 and do have the ball locked in our end of the ground, and just being a bit sharper defensively.”

This Saturday, the blue and gold face Geelong at Mineral Resources Park, and Pearce said she backs the group to challenge a dangerous Cats midfield.

“Nina Morrison, Georgie Prespakis and I think they will get Amy McDonald back this week as well, plus ‘Becky’ Webster is a good one to go through there as well,” Pearce said.

“They’re really strong, but we back in our midfield group to go head-to-head with them and look forward to that challenge, and really looking forward to seeing what Sarah Lakay can do in the ruck as well.

“Whilst their midfield is strong, they play off turnovers quite a bit, almost like their men's side do, they often get their damage done off winning the ball back in their defensive half and moving it off that.

“Ensuring players like ‘Hosko’ gives a good contest ahead of the ball, and our ability to really pressure them in our front half is going to be key.”

Experienced recruit Jess Hosking said despite the uphill battle of making finals, the team remains motivated to finish the season strongly.

“We’ve got a really good, young and energetic side, and our staff bring amazing enthusiasm to everything that they do, and bring that to us,” Hosking said.

“I don’t think motivation has been an issue at all, and I think each week, while we’re looking at the Hawthorn loss to the Freo loss, it starts hurting a little bit more because we know we could probably win them.

“There’s a lot of motivation, we’ve got incredible staff who have the ability to bring people in like Chris Judd to come and give us that little boost as well.

“Juddy’ had some amazing stories and insights into what it was like for him to perform, our girls have taken a lot of that on board, and staff as well, lessons that we can take away to be better as players and as a group.”

This is Hosking’s first season in the blue and gold, and the former Tiger and Blue said she now calls ‘the nest’ home.

“I’m very pleased I made the move, I’m loving it over here and I call this home now,” Hosking said.

“We’ve got such a young and exciting group, but we’ve been able to add a bit of experience, that’s probably where my age and experience comes in a little bit.

“I’m just loving being around the group and we’ve worked on so much stuff and from building on last season, we’ve been able to develop in areas of the game and growth in the game and key aspects of the game.

“I see us having massive growth this season, and while finals is on the cards, we’re just looking at this game this week and we know we can crack in and we want to win it, and we know we need to get the job done.”