Standouts and scouting notes from Fremantle v St Kilda, West Coast v Western Bulldogs AFLW pre-season games

The Bulldogs kicked the final two goals of the game, including a McDonald beauty from the pocket, to level the scores at 4.4 (28) all.

In a tale of two halves, the Daisy Pearce led Eagles looked the goods in the first half thanks to a refreshed line-up and slick ball movement.

But the Bulldogs, fresh off defeating reigning premiers North Melbourne last week, fought back to give themselves some confidence heading into season 2025.

Earlier on Saturday, St Kilda handled the wet conditions masterfully to seal a seven-point win over Fremantle.

Star midfielder Georgia Patrikios returned from a nasty foot injury to inspire the 2.10 (22) to 1.9 (15) interstate win with less than two weeks to go until round one.

SAINTS PILLARS SHINE

If Saturday’s contest is anything to go by, St Kilda’s spine is in great shape heading into the 2025 season.

At one end, Jesse Wardlaw starred in average conditions for key forwards.

Matched up on Indi Strom, younger sister of ruck Mim, and Emma O’Driscoll, Wardlaw got her hands to everything inside 50.

Her follow-up work was also excellent and if she didn’t mark the footy, she found a way to dish it out to a teammate on the run.

With Wardlaw lively in attack, the Saints were anchored by Serene Watson in defence.

The vice-captain didn’t lose a contest down back and her intercepting ability was impressive in the wet.

St Kilda’s team defence was stingy all day, conceding just one goal to Fremantle and forcing the Dockers to take shots under pressure and from tough angles.

WELCOME BACK TURBO

It was a sight for sore eyes seeing Kiara Bowers back in action.

The superstar midfielder missed last season to give birth to son Luca but based on Saturday’s contest, she hasn’t missed a beat.

The 33-year-old is already back winning time trials and her work rate was a feature in the wet.

Bowers laid plenty of tackles, her specialty, but she also pushed back hard into defence to cut off St Kilda’s avenues to goal.

Working in tandem with All-Australian ruck Mim Strom, Bowers also got busy around clearances.

With the return of Bowers and captain Ange Stannett (ACL), Fremantle’s midfield is set to be one of its biggest strengths this season.

With Gabby Newton, Dana East, Hayley Miller and others also rolling through the middle, the Dockers’ enviable depth around the ball will be a constant threat.

Aisling McCarthy was named but didn’t feature after copping a nice laceration just below her eye last week.

It was a similar sentiment at the Western Bulldogs as Ellie Blackburn made her long-awaited return from a serious ankle injury last year.

The inspirational midfielder put together three strong quarters before running laps in the last.

INJURY CONCERNS

There are some concerns for West Coast defender Annabel Johnson after she went down late in the fourth quarter.

After missing all of last season with an ACL, Johnson was in strong form early against the Bulldogs with her intercepting and pinpoint kicking giving the Eagles a reliable distributor.

But then late in the game, Johnson went to turn to track the footy and went to ground with no one around her.

Play was stopped as Johnson struggled to her feet before heading straight to the changerooms.

Mikayla Western’s evening also came to an end before half-time.

WEST COAST IMPROVEMENT

Daisy Pearce spoke during the week about the Eagles’ desire for an improved team defence in 2025.

And for the most part, West Coast looked to have made tangible improvements in that aspect of their game.

Whenever the Bulldogs looked up, the Eagles had spare numbers behind the ball as a result of work rate, making it difficult for their opposition to find a clean opening.

West Coast then used the spare numbers to rebound and move the footy end-to-end, with Lou Painter’s booming kick and Dana Hooker’s hard work on the wing a feature.

Jess Rentsch’s move into the midfield is also a masterstroke with her power and pace set to give West Coast plenty of drive out of the middle in 2025.

Rentsch laid several big rundown tackles and she also linked up well with ruck Liz McGrath, who is fighting with Sarah Lakay for the number one ruck spot, at centre clearances.

ROOKIE WATCH

There were several news faces in action across the park on Saturday as the draft class of 2024 attempt to stake their round one claims.

In Perth, a trio of tall forwards produced strong showings.

Fremantle’s Georgie Brisbane is putting her best foot forward for a round 1 debut, showing promising signs in attack against the Saints.

With Aine Tighe (knee) and Bella Smith (hand) both suffering interrupted pre-seasons so far, the first round draft pick was stationed deep in Fremantle’s forward line and took a few strong marks on the lead.

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St Kilda draftee Zoe Besanko was lively up forward for St Kilda, working well in tandem with Wardlaw.

Then on Saturday night, top 10 draft selection Emma McDonald showed her class for the Western Bulldogs, bravely putting her body on the line to fly for the footy. Then when the game was on the line, McDonald nailed the impossible kick from the pocket to level the scores and all but lock in her round one spot.

Indi Strom was composed in defence for the Dockers, Kayla Dalgleish nailed a classy snap for the Eagles and used the footy well around the ground and Sarah Poustie was hard to miss in her red and blue helmet.