Archive for August, 2011
No holding back says Sandi
0Stand-in captain Aaron Sandilands says the team won’t be holding back this Saturday when Fremantle plays its final game of the 2011 season against the Western Bulldogs at Etihad Stadium.
The champion ruckman said a win would give the side momentum heading into the pre-season.
“Especially after the last two weeks, they’ve been big losses and we want to go out and put in a really good performance against the Western Bulldogs and get some confidence coming into pre-season next year,” he said.
Sandilands admitted Freo’s injury list had crippled the squad’s numbers, but he said it was important that the 22 that do play this weekend give a good performance.
“It is a big injury list but it’s given opportunities to guys to play AFL and give them some experience,” he said.
“We don’t have a lot to choose from but it’s our last game for the year and it’s one that we want to put a good performance in because it’s a long time between the last game and the first one next year.
How your team can benefit from a GWS raid
0Hardboiled’s Mark Stevens reveals why it’s not all bad news if your club loses one of its best players to Greater Western Sydney.
1. FROM BAD COMES GOOD
IF Tom Scully is a 99.5 per cent chance of heading to Greater Western Sydney, Rhys Palmer is tracking at 99.8.
All those in the know in AFL circles, expect Palmer to announce he is leaving the Dockers for the GWS enclave of Breakfast Point soon after next weekend’s final round clash with the Western Bulldogs.
But while there will be tears over Scully, and another likely victim Callan Ward, the Palmer scenario looms as a win/win.
Palmer is the Campbell Brown of 2012.
The expansion clubs are painted as evil vultures, but they can actually help with list management at existing clubs.
As a top 10 pick with potentially eight to 10 years left in the game, the Dockers should get ample compensation for losing a player who has found himself on the fringes of their best 22.
Barlow marvels at Pies’ depth
0When Fremantle’s injury-ravaged midfield lined up against Collingwood’s on Friday night, depth and ball-use were the two obvious shortcomings, according to Michael Barlow.
Collingwood midfielders Dane Swan, Scott Pendlebury, Dayne Beams and Dale Thomas feasted on the wounded Fremantle at Patersons Stadium, but the list of damaging Magpie runners went on.
Alan Didak, Ben Johnson, Leon Davis, Alex Fasolo, Andrew Krakouer and Jarryd Blair all carved through Fremantle with their precision skills and hard running.
For the home team, Nick Lower was brave and won 11 clearances, Barlow was steady and had 32 possessions, and Stephen Hill appeared livelier than he has for much of the second half of the season.
However, Fremantle couldn’t match Collingwood’s depth and, when they won the ball, skill execution was a major concern under the fierce defensive pressure the Magpies applied.
Freo downed by Pies
0Collingwood 6.0 12.4 17.9 20.12 (132)
Fremantle 2.0 2.2 4.2 8.4 (52)
GOALS
Collingwood: Cloke 4, Krakouer 4, Wood 3, Swan 2, Beams 2, Pendlebury 2, Sidebottom, Blair, Fasolo
Fremantle: Bradley 2, Fyfe 2, Crowley 2, Lower, Sandilands
BEST
Collingwood: Swan, Pendlebury, Cloke, Didak, Davis, Beams, Krakouer
Fremantle: Barlow, Lower, Sandilands, Hill, Anthony, Fyfe
INJURIES
Collingwood: Darren Jolly (cut hand)
Fremantle: Garrick Ibbotson (left shoulder), Peter Faulks (fractured cheekbone)
SUBSTITUTES
Collingwood: Leon Davis replaced by Tom Young in the third quarter
Fremantle: Garrick Ibbotson (left shoulder) replaced by Clayton Hinkley in the second quarter
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Margetts, Findlay, Ryan
Official crowd: 31,985 at Patersons Stadium
Harvey: I might turn Jack Anthony into a defender
0Fremantle coach Mark Harvey has thrown his support behind embattled forward Jack Anthony, quashing rumours the 23-year-old is looking to move elsewhere at the end of the season.
Anthony was named on the interchange bench for tonight’s clash against his former team Collingwood at Patersons Stadium.
“What I will say to people is I remember (Chris) Tarrant going through the same sort of criticism in the first two years and I turned him into a defender,” Harvey said. “Don’t think I won’t do that with Jack.”
Mitch Clark may have played last game for Lions as Fremantle, Richmond, Sydney, GWS chase off-contract star
0Brisbane star Mitch Clark may have played his last match for the Lions.
The out-of-contract forward/ruckman is under an injury cloud and is in doubt for Saturday’s clash with West Coast at the Gabba – Brisbane’s second-last outing of 2011.
Clark hobbled to Lions training yesterday on crutches with his foot in a surgical moon boot.
If he misses the showdown with the Eagles it is unlikely he would play against Sydney in the Lions’ final fixture for the year.
Magpie Davis eyes WA homecoming
0Leon Davis has not ruled out drawing the curtain on his brilliant Collingwood career at the end of this season and could finish his football fairytale back home in WA.
Davis, who flew to Perth yesterday to spend time with his family before tomorrow night’s clash with Fremantle at Patersons Stadium, said he owed a deep debt of gratitude to Collingwood, coach Mick Malthouse and assistant coach Scott Watters for breathing new life into his career.
Almost certain to this year add an All-Australian gong as a defender to his 2009 honour as a forward, Davis said his devotion to his WA family meant he would consider any approach from West Coast or Fremantle when his contract expired at the end of this season.
The 30-year-old, whose 221 games place him in Collingwood’s all-time top 20 for matches played, said he was desperate to return to his home State when his career ended. But he stressed that decision would be made regardless of whether he achieved premiership redemption after cruelly missing out on the Magpies’ flag win last year.
When opportunity knocks… there’s plenty to fight for
0Coming into the Fremantle side is Paul Duffield, Nick Lower, Kepler Bradley, Clancee Pearce and Peter Faulks, who have all tasted senior team action at some stage this season.
Byron Schammer also returns for his first game since round 12, 2010, while Jack Anthony, who has played only two games since moving from Collingwood, comes in to face his old side.
Plenty of action PROGRAMMED for Friday Night Footy
0To celebrate its rebrand from the Integrated Group to Programmed Integrated Workforce, plenty of action has been programmed for Patersons Stadium, with pre-match fireworks set to go off, the Programmed blimp to fly around the stadium and one lucky fan to win a Vmoto scooter!
To be in the running to win this great prize, simply collect your free hand clapper from any of the friendly Programmed staff on your way in to Patersons Stadium and be sure to wave it at half time. If you are the lucky person to be picked in the crowd, the Programmed branded scooter, including all on-road costs, is yours!*
And if you’re not the lucky owner of a new scooter you could be the winner of some other great prizes. Programmed is also giving away a framed Fremantle Dockers’ jumper signed by Matthew Pavlich and a Programmed footy. So wave those hand clappers at half time to be in the running to WIN!
Programmed Integrated Workforce renews sponsorship
0Programmed Integrated Workforce, formerly known as the Integrated Group, has renewed its co-major sponsorship of the Fremantle Dockers for a further three years.
A leading provider of staffing and maintenance services to all industry sectors across Australia and New Zealand, Programmed acquired the Integrated Group in 2007.
Programmed managing director Chris Sutherland said today’s announcement would reposition Programmed as the master brand, which encompasses Programmed Integrated Workforce.
“We are delighted to continue as a major sponsor of the Fremantle Dockers for the next three years and continue our 16 year association with the club,” he said.
“We believe in the strong alignment of core values between the two organisations and the Fremantle Football Club is a great vehicle to promote the Programmed brand.”