Sabrina Frederick on reaching 50 games
“To have the opportunity to play my 50th game this weekend with such a special group is an absolute honour.”
“It’s been amazing. I love this club. I love the group and I’m just glad I can play my 50th game with this group.”
Developing since the beginning
“My game has changed a lot since the first year. My role has def changed as well, playing a bit more ruck than I ever have been.”
“I’ve really enjoyed that challenge and giving Al Downie a bit of chop out as well in our team.”
“Although at the start I was just a forward, I think that now it has added a strength to the bow and I’m really looking forward to take that role as that key forward and a ruck as well.”
On reaching 100 games?
“I’m 25, so I see it as if I keep fit physically and mentally, I hope I can definitely get there.”
Steve Symonds on Frederick's impact
“She’s been fantastic, not only for what she does on the field, she’s filled a really important role for us off the field.”
"What she brings off the field inside our four walls is outstanding."
"The experience she has brought from day one and being involved in women’s programs at other clubs and to bring those experiences into our clubs.”
“We are very proud to have her involved in our program.”
The hot start to the season
“It’s always good to win early.”
“It’s a short season, momentum is pretty vital so to get a couple of wins on the board early is always good and hopefully we can build momentum.”
The challenge against Geelong
“They’re going to be very difficult to score against, as we are at the moment as well, so it might be a battle of the defences.”
“They usually bring a fairly strong contested brand, they get good numbers to the context as well, so we got to be aware of that.”
Playing at GMHBA
“We enjoy playing down at their oval."
“It’s unique; a skinny oval so the ball does tend to play down the line a bit more which they’re strong at doing because obviously they play to their strengths down there, but we also think that’s one of our strengths as well so we’ll enjoy playing down there.”
Building towards success
“We felt the back end of last year, despite us losing a few players during the season, we felt the back of the season we did work through a few themes that worked for us.”
“We play a strong role system-based game style so we think we can cover that quite well.”
Injury prevention
“We have not been in a professional environment for long enough.”
“I think you’ll see over the next few years that it's building a foundation of lifting and running at a really high level, I hope that the injuries come away a little bit like that.”
AFLW development
“I think that each year we’re definitely pushing for more games and building and building on that.”
“I think that eventually, now that we have got 18 teams, it’s only fair that we get to play a full-length season.”
“It will definitely get there; it’s more just taking the right amount of time to make sure that every game is really watchable and making sure that we can deliver that as well.”
Full press conference:
