AFLW: Walyalup (Fremantle) Dockers forward Gabby Biedenweg-Webster’s rise from discard to goal-kicker

Gabby Biedenweg-Webster played three games in as many seasons for the Gold Coast. Then she was handed an AFLW lifeline by Walyalup (Fremantle) as a replacement for Dockers captain Ange Stannett, who ruptured her ACL in May. The 26-year-old has played eight games and is now a regular in Lisa Webb’s forward line as the club charges towards finals for the first time in three seasons. It is a rapid rise from Suns discard to Dockers treasure. Biedenweg-Webster kicked goals against Narrm (Melbourne) in week four and Euro-Yroke (St Kilda) in week five. Then she booted two in the wester derby against Waalitj Marawar (West Coast) in a coming out party in the most important game of the home-and-away season. She is a part of the forward line that is without Stannett and gun overhead marker Aine Tighe. Stannett said she has gone some way to helping fill the void. “(She’s got a) great running capacity, but great hands overhead as well. I think it’s also her ability to stay in games, she’s switched on, engaged and ready for any opportunity, because at times it can be pretty stingy in the forward line,” she told The West Australian’s Dubya podcast. “Making the most of those and almost doing the selfless running, so breaking hard regardless of whether she’s going to get it gives her more chance of actually getting on the end of one as well.” The Dockers’ forward line largely hinges off replacement players now. Tunisha Kikoak, a defender from Tasmania, was plucked by the club after Kiara Bowers revealed she would miss the season while pregnant. “She has been fantastic. As much as you don’t want injuries to happen, season-ending injuries, it has been incredible to see the likes of herself and TK (Tunisha Kikoak) come in and make the most of this opportunity,” Stannett said. “I think they both recognise that it’s one not every player gets, whether it’s another chance at an AFLW club or a first chance to break in. “As much as you don’t want injuries it’s been so good the way they have been able to approach it.” Biedenweg-Webster says the leadership Tighe, one of the club’s vice-captain, has offered from the sidelines has helped shape her first season at the club. “We’ve lost Aine on the field, actually being out there, but she’s still been there every game, every training for her wisdom, and she’s incredible,” she said. “You can hear her from the sidelines; every training, everyone looks to her to give that guidance. She’s not out on the park, but we still feel her presence every game. “We’ve got the depth to be able to fill it, it’s not one person that’s going to win a game for us.”