AN INACCURATE first term did not sway a desperate Fremantle from keeping its finals hopes intact, running out 44-point victors over Richmond in the west. The Dockers had far more on the line given a loss would all but end any hopes of a post-season appearance, and after kicking 1.5 in the first 20 minutes, Fremantle put the foot down with seven goals to one for the remaining three quarters.

Fremantle coach Lisa Webb said her side expected a tough game against a Richmond team she described as “fierce” and she was pleased the Dockers are still in the hunt for finals. While not addressing the need to win for a post-season spot, the players would have been well aware of the stakes, which made the win all the more “impressive”.

“I’m really glad we know how important these wins are to bank a few in a row and I didn’t want the girls looking too far ahead which they never have, and credit to them,” Webb said. “We stayed in first quarter, second quarter and every team we’ve come up against we’ve had to fight really hard.

“We don’t get wins too easily to be honest, so for them to stay on task and be really brave and keep attacking the game is something I’m really pleased with.”

Now sitting percentage – albeit 27.5 per cent – outside the top eight, Fremantle’s task requires the Dockers to knock off Adelaide who sits in that precious eighth spot, all while needing one of West Coast (vs Carlton) or Sydney (vs Essendon) to lose, in order to snatch a finals place.

Webb said it was the “control” the team showed that enabled the Dockers to pick up the four points, and would need to do more of the same against the Crows in Round 12.

“We needed to be really composed with ball in hand, we knew that they’ve got lots of talent and they can do different things with it, whether they have numbers behind the ball and what they do,” she said.

“Slowing down (Monique) Conti‘s always a really difficult one as well so we just had to stick to task on that, and then when we do get an opportunity forward, I thought we were far better today and we’ve certainly been growing in that area, but to be able to execute in crucial times of the game was really pleasing.”

Fremantle is not often in a strong position at the main break, so Webb said while there were “certainly” parts to improve on in the second half, she was pleased with the team’s start.

“We still have bits to improve on of course, and to go into half-time with a bit of a lead is a bit unusual for us, we’ve always been in tight games,” she said. “So really tried to keep them on task and reset and go again. Obviously the third was disappointing as well, so we need to be a consistent team over four quarters, especially looking now to next week against Adelaide who are a really dominant team.”

As for taking a look at potential ladder predictors and what the team needed to do to make the finals, Webb said she “doesn’t get into that too much” and left it up for others to decipher.

“I coach my best when I’ve got a really clear mind and focus on what the players need to do and how I can be best in the box so if I’m crunching numbers its probably not my best, there’s probably plenty of people here who are maths geniuses and teachers so they get to do all that,” she said.

“We just needed to get the win which is important, but also build on the work that we have been doing. Its been pleasing, it’s certainly not a four-quarter performance, but we’re getting there.”

Richmond coach Ryan Ferguson said the game was lost in the first half, and he was “pretty disappointed” with that period.

“First quarter was a bit of an armwrestle early, but they started to flex their muscle and outwork us and get territory and lock us in in our own half,” he said. “Second quarter we lost our way a little bit, structurally lost our way, got outworked, just weren’t playing our brand of footy.

“I liked the response after half-time, I thought the third quarter was really strong, we got territory, we looked more assured, we looked stronger, we looked tougher, we were executing bolder with our ball movement, so there was a lot of things in the first half that didn’t look like us.

“The response after half-time was fantastic, but you obviously don’t want it to get to that point. In saying that, a really strong team that’s going to ask questions of you.”