Fremantle Dockers captain Ange Stannett loved feeling nervous again in her AFLW comeback from knee injury

Fremantle captain Ange Stannett has declared she missed feeling nervous before games of footy and loved the anxiety and trepidation which came from making her comeback on Sunday from a knee reconstruction.

Stannett was influential in Fremantle’s 22-point win over Port Adelaide with two goals and a series of inspirational smothers to open the Dockers’ AFLW season in style.

It was her first game back after recovering from a knee reconstruction and was also her first match as Dockers captain.

Having helped the coaches last season while in rehab, Stannett admitted she’d been nervous before the match, but quickly realised how much more enjoyable playing footy is when feeling on edge.

“I was definitely nervous, but I actually missed that feeling,” she told The West Australian.

“I missed that feeling all of last year because you get different nerves when you’re coaching. You’ve got no control once game day hits. You’ve done all the prep you can when you’re coaching. As soon as that ball goes up, that’s when it’s exciting.

“Even when you get to the ground those nerves settle, I find. It was good. I tried to manage my expectations.”

Dockers coach Lisa Webb re-named Stannett after the match, calling her Smother Theresa after watching her lay three smothers in 10 seconds. Stannett said that moment came down to her love of applying pressure to the opposition.

“I’m a defender at heart. That’s how I started my career so those sort of pressure acts are my bread and butter and I like to build my game off that. Whenever I can bring that, I am happy to,” she said.

But nothing lifts a team more than watching a player kick a goal in an emotional game. Stannett needed only four minutes to achieve that and her teammates rushed from everywhere to celebrate.

The small forward won the ball off the ground, wheeled on to her left foot and snapped a classy goal to get the Dockers away to a great start. She said that goal was the perfect reminder of how much hard work the team had done during pre-season.

“It was purely instinct and bang it on the left boot. You train it enough so that it does become instinct with your crumbing craft,” she said.

“Something we’ve been working hard as a forward group is making sure we get around the feet of our talls who we know are going to create a really strong contest.”