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West Coast Eagles’ Daisy Pearce and Fremantle’s Lisa Webb reveal their plans for AFLW success

Daisy Pearce has spent more than a decade with an entire sport on her back. The face and the embodiment of women’s football in Victoria long before even the AFLW, Pearce blazed a trail for females in the sport. At times for little recognition and even less financial gain. It was a playing career driven by a fierce competitiveness. After dominating the playing field, then the commentary box, Pearce is embarking on a coaching career with one of the biggest clubs in the country — and she wants West Coast to take on the same competitive spirit. “We want to become a really competitive team that’s hard to play against . . . I want to keep building that so we become unconditional competitors who believe that we’re a contender in the competition,” she said in a rare sit-down interview with The West Australian alongside rival Fremantle coach Lisa Webb. These are not words that have been used to describe West Coast’s AFLW program before. They have won just 8 games out of 45 across 5 seasons and have never finished higher than 12th. The signing of Pearce — the highest-profile figure in women’s football — is seen as the Eagles’ first major step towards serious investment in its AFLW program. It has been a clear focus under new chief executive Don Pyke. “I didn’t come over here to make up the numbers, I’ve got real belief that we can work really hard and give ourselves an opportunity to be a real contender in the competition,” Pearce said. “I think the drawcard was a really strong club. Michelle Cowan as the head of footy is really passionate about women’s footy and has been doing the job for a long time. “The support of the broader club — Trevor (Nisbett) was fantastic at getting me across — and now with Don, there is genuine investment and want for women’s footy to become a really successful part of the club. “What do we want to add? To keep building on that and make the women’s program something that this huge supporter base is really proud to get behind. “It starts with our on field performance and telling the stories of our players and people, to think of where we could get in the next few years with a hundred plus thousand members as women’s footy continues to grow is an exciting opportunity.” Both highly-touted and high draft picks, Ella Roberts and Charlie Thomas are considered the pillars of the Eagles’ build at either end of the ground, while Bella Lewis is emerging as one of the game’s top midfielders — under the wing of veteran captain Emma Swanson. Western Australia’s clubs are yet to taste the success of their men’s counterparts. It is widely considered Fremantle were robbed of a maiden premiership in 2020 when COVID slammed the brakes on a competition the Dockers were romping towards winning. The Eagles have barely got off the ground at this level But Pearce has had her astute eye on WA’s talent — often first-hand — well before the professional competition was established. And she is confident there is enough here for both teams to be powerhouses. “I’ve watched the West Australian teams from afar for a long time, because before AFLW the Victoria State team versus the WA State team was the pinnacle of the sport, and the highest level of the game, I thought, you would get to play was playing against WA,” she said. “They were the two strongest teams before AFLW by a long way, so I’ve always sat back and admired and had that competitive rivalry and respect for West Australian footy and the players that were over here. “I’ve kind of always watched them and thought there was a great opportunity over here for the teams to become powerhouses. “Fremantle and their crew have had relative success and (were) probably a bit unlucky the COVID season got shut down but I looked at West Coast and thought there’s no reason why we cant be good, so lets get good. “I’ve been really happy to find that’s the attitude of the players here as well. They acknowledge we’ve got a whole lot of work to do to close that gap but the appetite and the will to want to do that is there, which has been pleasing to see.” Pinching star midfielder Aisling McCarthy from across town and former No.1 pick Gabby Newton from across the country has the Dockers primed for their next surge up the ladder. Every missed finals campaign over the past few seasons has picked at the scars of Fremantle’s missed opportunity. Webb has gone and hand-picked leaders from across the league to build the club around — and they now have a void to fill, with Kiara Bowers set to miss the season while pregnant and the highly-popular Ange Stannett sitting out with an ACL injury. “We’ve brought in a few really experienced players I think they have all been leaders — Ash McCarthy was a leader at her former club, Ash Brazill is an exceptional leader, just her impact,” she said. “She has only been here three or four weeks but she’s been huge and then Gabby Newton, she’s a sensational person and I’ve known her previously. “You can build a really strong club around players like her and we feel we’ve got a large group of them, so having a strong commitment from a lot of those players coming in sets the tone for us going forward.” Even the weeks before Webb’s second pre-season in charge weren’t all smooth sailing. She described Bowers’ absence as a great challenge. The league best-and-fairest winner battled injury last season and the Dockers’ midfield has only just started finding ways to win that part of the ground without her. But Bowers’ second child will add to a growing family feel to the Dockers. “It’s really exciting for her, I’ve been through that and another teammate of ours has been through that too so I think the environment we are creating there — ‘babysitter’s club’ as we like to call it, where kids can come in and feel a part of it, that’s one of the thing that we want to make sure we can put in place for Turbo,” Webb said. “One thing we know is that she isn’t going to slack off.” Fremantle players, including those that played with Webb in 2018, were quick to respond to a fresh outlook and her focus on education. But as she points out, one season of experience in the AFLW is worth just 10 games. Despite that, Webb has supreme confidence in the club’s women’s program — declaring it the league’s best. “I’ve been coaching this team now for one year and one year in women’s footy is ten games, so it is really raw. We are still implementing things that we want to do and girls are still learning how we want to play,” she said. “It’s a different lifestyle over here and we feel at Freo we are offering the best program nationwide. “That’s something that we’re really proud of, and we want to make sure we are building a team that has great people, a great culture but is highly competitive because we are here to win games and we want to win.” Underpinned by that program, Webb is confident the Dockers are building a team that can soon become finals regulars. “One of those plans is get back to playing finals and then be really successful in finals for as long as we can. We feel we are building that team.”

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West Coast Eagles’ Daisy Pearce and Fremantle’s Lisa Webb reveal their plans for AFLW success

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The West Australian exclusiveWest Coast Eagles’ Daisy Pearce and Fremantle’s Lisa Webb reveal their plans for AFLW success

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West Coast Eagles’ Daisy Pearce and Fremantle’s Lisa Webb reveal their plans for AFLW success