IN a see-sawing AFL Women’s affair that took place at Alberton Oval on Saturday afternoon, the Fremantle Dockers beat Port Adelaide by eight points.

There were several performances that impressed Dockers head coach Lisa Webb, but none more so than that from Gabby O’Sullivan. She slotted a goal and a behind to go with 15 disposals, three clearances, a mark and four tackles.

Webb gave O’Sullivan her flowers after the game, stating that she was proud of her and her versatility.

“Gabby O’Sullivan I thought was really important for us,” Webb explained.

“We played her [at] half-back last week on a really dangerous forward and then we said ‘hey, do you want to play midfield and forward’.

“She’s really balanced with her approach, I’m just really proud of her cause she’s one I’ve thrown around a few different positions, she just embraces anything I throw her and I thought she did a great job for some impact inside.”

O’Sullivan’s impact was vital to Fremantle who was without midfielder/forward Aisling McCarthy after she was a late withdrawal due to knee soreness. She has had 24 and 17 touches in the two prior games this season.

“She had bone bruising so we are hopeful that she will be back next week,” she said.

“[She’s] a really important player for us but one that compliments our midfield so [we are] hopeful she will get up next week.”

After a rather disappointing showing against Adelaide last weekend, it was clear that the Dockers were going into Saturday’s game with the win on their mind.

Former captain Hayley Miller had a big impact, kicking the match-winning goal. She also had 18 disposals, two marks, five tackles and seven clearances. Fremantle ruck Mim Strom was pivotal in their midfield ascendency in the second half, she had 33 hitouts along with nine tackles, five marks, five clearances and 18 touches.

Webb spoke about what they had to fix during the week and some standout performances.

“There was a lot of areas to be honest with you, I thought not many of our players got up [last week] so to speak,” Webb continued.

“Our mids went to work today, I thought Hayley [Miller] was really impressive and Gabrielle Newton in there, Mim [Strom] did a good job against a strong ruck as well.

“We just challenged a few players in terms of what we needed to see and that was consistency but we are a team that really wants to make sure every player chips in and I thought they did today.

“There were moments in which maybe me missed in the first half but I thought we executed better in the second.”

When questioned about the comeback after half-time, Webb points to the group’s ability to get to work and be clean out of the midfield.

“I thought Port played the conditions better in the first half, we knew what we needed to do [and] we just couldn’t execute,” she said.

“Thankfully we had a pretty strong chat at half-time and put some measures in place to make sure we were a bit cleaner around the contest as well and that’s the reason we got over the top.”

After the game, Port Adelaide coach Lauren Arnell was very disappointed, not just with the loss, but the way in which her side let the contest slip. Port Adelaide’s last quarter differential was minus-10 for contested possessions, a statistic that Port Adelaide measures as one of its hallmarks.

“We’ve got some things that we measure ourselves by, and we didn’t get a couple of the crucial areas done, particularly contested possession today,” Arnell said.

“[In the] first and fourth quarter we lost [the contested possession differential] and I think ‘Freo’ were a bit smarter in managing the wind a little bit better particularly when they had it.

“They were easily the better team today.”

Arnell discussed the overall disappointment and the reason that she felt like Fremantle had more to play for.

“It was certainly disappointing to lose that game, it felt like ‘Freo’ came out of last week’s game against the Crows pretty unhappy with their performance and I think they showed a real hunger for the contest and at crucial times. I think that was part of the reason why they won.”