Saturday morning's practice match saw Fremantle play a tough contested game all day, but ultimately fall short to the Saints by seven points at Victor George Kailis Oval.

The 1.9 (15) to 2.10 (22) loss came as both sides struggled to get on the end of majors on the scoreboards as they battled through the wet weather all morning.

Senior Coach Lisa Webb gave credit to St Kilda, who she believed managed the conditions well.

“I thought they played (in the conditions) better, they were just cleaner around the footy. Their contested inside-mids were really strong today, and that’s something we’ve got to work on, but there were plenty of positives out of today as well,” Webb said.

St Kilda started the game strongly, taking 17 marks to Fremantle’s one in the first term, which Webb said made the difference.

“I just thought (Saints) got on top early especially in those marks, and we didn’t get to snap or reference that quick enough, which obviously affected our ball movement,” Webb said.

Utility Sarah Verrier was clean around the ball all day, and managed to slot Fremantle’s sole goal for the day deep into the second term.

“(Sarah’s) been in really good form, and was probably the difference today," Webb said.

"She was really clean and at times we just couldn’t be, but I thought she was exceptional today, especially on her birthday.” 

Returning stars Kiara Bowers and Ange Stannett got busy in the middle alongside Gabby Newton and ruck Mim Strom, setting the tone with some huge tackles at important moments in the game.

Webb praised her side’s backline who held up strong down back, consistently creating momentum coming into the midfield and applying pressure to the Saints forward line.

“They’re always strong; they’re really well led down there,” Webb said.

New recruit Indi Strom held her own against St Kilda’s Jesse Wardlaw today, with repeat efforts to the ball and attempts to limit scoring opportunities.

“I thought Indi did a terrific job down there, she played on Wardlaw for a while, who is a very good player and she held up her end of the bargain,” Webb said.

“(Indi’s) been terrific, as have all of our new players to be honest. There’s so much talent there, we just need to keep building. Today’s not what we’re after, but it’s a good learning curve.”

Fremantle will now look ahead to Round 1 of the 2025 NAB AFLW Season, where they will play Port Adelaide at Alberton Oval on Sunday 17 August.

“(We had some) great learnings out of today and then a lot of things we can control over the next few weeks; (we’ll) continue to work on our structure and skill execution under pressure,” Webb said.

“It’s going to be a red hot season and just looking at the results over pre-season, you have to be on to win any game this season and that’s something we’ll be focusing on.”