Ebony Antonio and Kiara Bowers may have stolen the show as the joint best on ground medallists, but Hayley Miller showed she’s more than adept to handle the load as an AFLW captain with an outstanding performance in her first game in the role.

Her two goal, 16 disposals, nine tackle and seven clearance effort helped lead Fremantle to their fourth victory against West Coast in four attempts.

Antonio was full of praise for the captain post-match.

“Miller was fantastic,” Antonio said.

“I got around her before the game and told her to really enjoy the first game captaining the side. It was an RAC Derby, making it a pretty historic moment in itself.

Antonio said if Fremantle can get contributions like they got on Saturday from Miller they will be tough to beat in 2022.

“I think if we can get a few midfield goals each game we’re going to be very dangerous going forward,” Antonio said.

Fremantle now head east for three weeks, playing four games against GWS, Richmond, Collingwood and North Melbourne before returning to play Carlton at Fremantle Oval in round six.

Antonio said the Fremantle playing group will be encouraged to enjoy the trip despite the need to remain vigilant due to the current Covid outbreak on the east coast.

“The message is to enjoy it. Each day, we’re probably going to get updates on what we can and what we can’t do,” Antonio said.

“People may get Covid, people may not. As long as we can stick together and really gel and have an open mindset, I think we’ll be in good stead for our time away.”