WALYALUP ground out a 7.13 (55) to 4.1 (25) win over GWS yesterday to book its spot in the 2024 AFL Women’s Finals series.

It was not an easy win though, with the Giants pushing their visitors for much of the match in what was blustery conditions.

“I thought we were a bit cleaner today in certain areas of the ground. We knew that they were going to be a really strong team,” Walyalup coach Lisa Webb said, reflecting on the contest post-match.

“We’ve seen especially early on against Hawthorn, they were really impressive, but for us to grind it out over four quarters is something we always focus on. I thought they got a hold of us a bit in the third, but to our girls credit, we stayed to task and managed to get over them in the end.”

The win does take a big task off the Dockers’ to do list for before the end of the season, having now locked up a place in the finals with one match left to go in the home and away season.

But according to Webb, the process is the main focus.

“I think to be honest with you, we’ve just been so clear on, I know it’s a cliche, but we just really wanted to stick to that process of what we’ve been wanting to do,” Webb said.

“And when you were up for a fight, I think once again, Western Bulldogs have got some great players down there and they’re putting in some strong performances. So we really want to finish off and no matter where we go, and hopefully that is finals, is we want to make sure we’re playing our best footy and we’ve had a few ups and downs during the season. So to have a couple strong performances together is really pleasing, but we want to make sure we’re on the front foot next week as well.”

One player who again drew praise from Webb was Aisling McCarthy, who combined with her fellow Irish Dockers to really make an influence on the match.

“She’s seriously impressive,” Webb said.

“There’s a bit of an Irish flair, I think the first three goals for us were from our Irish players.

“They’re incredible players. “They can kick in blustery conditions and they still manage to execute.”

Not all went to plan for the Dockers, with Ash Brazill going down with an ankle injury.

However, Webb confirmed that bringing her off when the Dockers did was “precautionary”.

“We had a few moves in terms of backs that could play back so we thought we might not risk it,” Webb said. “She thinks she’s under 30 but she’s a little over 30 so we wanted to protect her a bit. “She’s been holding down a really great role for us down back but at the moment we’re just seeing it as ankle soreness but I haven’t gone into depths with medical yet.”