AFLW: Fremantle captain Ange Stannett says Dockers ‘owe it’ to fans to throw everything at finals footy

Fremantle’s AFLW captain Ange Stannett says the Dockers owe it to the fans to grab their finals chance with both hands and throw everything they have at a maiden premiership tilt. The girls from the harbour city secured their first finals berth in three seasons with a game to spare after knocking off the Giants 7.13 (55) to 4.1 (25) in enemy territory on Saturday, and are still a chance of securing a home final or even a double chance. Stannett hasn’t been able to impact on-field after tearing her ACL before the season started but has been riding every high and low of the season and says the team are excited to own their finals destiny. “I think we almost owe it to our fans to own it outwardly because we, as a group, have shown we deserve to be there,” she told The West Australian’s Dubya podcast. “It’s what you play for, and it’s not going to happen every year, so again, we want to be able to own it and make the most of it. “It’s something we’ve owned since the start of the season. It’s always the elephant in the room, but internally, it looks very similar (to a normal week).” Just two weeks ago, the club’s finals hopes were on a knife’s edge with five wins and three losses, prompting Stannett and the leadership to get together to keep their campaign on the rails. “A couple of weeks back, the leadership group got together and said, ‘we want to make sure we keep this season on our terms’, you never want to get to that point where you’re waiting on other results or banking on percentage,” she said. “So to be in the top eight now, with a game to go, is exciting. “Finals footy is exciting, and I think it means a lot to the club because they invest so much in the program, and I think for us getting into finals footy with (Lisa) Webby for the first time is another exciting stage for us” Stannett also said the trials of 2024, including her season-ending injury, came with a silver lining she believed would be invaluable come what is set to be an intense finals series next month. “Not everything needs to be perfect for things to go right, and I think that’s something that’s been a highlight of this season,” she revealed. “We’ve been thrown big challenges personnel-wise, big challenges from other teams who have really stepped up this season, every game is a competitive one, and with the length of our season, it only takes a couple of losses to really change whether you can make finals or not. “We’ve got girls in the group this year that, as a whole, the mentality is we’re here to do a job.” The Dockers have one final home game to complete the home-and-away season on Sunday, a meeting with the Western Bulldogs at Community Bank Oval, with a win potentially moving them into a highly-coveted top-four spot. The club may also be weighing up whether to play star on-baller Hayley Miller, who is recovering from a calf injury, against the Dogs or holding her back for the first week of finals action.