Anything and Everything Fremantle
Archive for April, 2012
Fremantle’s Adam McPhee backed for defensive role on key Carlton duo
012 years
by DockerNow.com
in Miscellaneous
After keeping St Kilda goalsneak Stephen Milne quiet, Fremantle defender Adam McPhee is steeling himself for another big task against Carlton on Friday night.
McPhee was one of the Dockers’ best in last Friday’s 13-point win over St Kilda, restricting Milne to just nine possessions and one goal while collecting 20 disposals himself.
But an even bigger challenge looms this week for 29-year-old McPhee, who is in line to get the job on Carlton dangerman Eddie Betts.
Exiled Fremantle Docker Michael Walters hungry for AFL return
012 years
by DockerNow.com
in News
Fremantle forward Michael Walters has learned much about life since he was exiled from the Dockers at the start of the year.
The death of his grandfather and the birth of his first child demanded his attention as he battled to drop weight and regain the belief of his AFL club.
Having manoeuvred his way through a difficult few months, Walters says the break from the AFL scene has renewed his appetite.
St Kilda forward Stephen Milne full of praise for Fremantle Dockers
012 years
by DockerNow.com
in Miscellaneous
St Kilda forward Stephen Milne says the Dockers are playing “pretty good footy” under new coach Ross Lyon.
Lyon returned to face the Saints for the first time since his sensational walkout on the club last September to join Fremantle, with the Dockers holding off the Saints to win by 13 points at Etihad Stadium.
After a big build-up in the media, Saints fans among the crowd of 30,172 responded with plenty of boos and taunts.
Great effort a recipe for success
012 years
by DockerNow.com
in News
Great effort. It’s the gospel according to Ross Lyon.
The Freo senior coach is a firm believer that the road to ‘greatness’ must be paved with great effort, and last Friday night against St Kilda at Etihad Stadium, he got it in truckloads from his troops.
There were contributions left, right, centre and in the stands from those wearing purple, some as discernable as Dennis Cometti’s voice, others not so transparent.
Most lucid was Stephen Hill.
Shut down in the first half by Saint Clinton Jones, as he had been so often in the past, Hill could have been forgiven for thinking this was one ghost that wasn’t going away.
So, in the second half, with the game on a knife-edge, Hill decided to run away.
Run away from his opponent with the footy in hand, that is.
Time and time again, the 21-year-old willed himself towards the contest, swooped on the ball, and pressed GO.
Were the Saints fans too close?
012 years
by DockerNow.com
in Miscellaneous
Fremantle coach Ross Lyon has not taken personal offence to the St Kilda fans relentless jeering, after his sides 13-point win on Friday night.
Following the win Lyon walked through a crowd of St Kilda fans who were not afraid to express their feelings toward the man who took their club to consecutive Grand Finals in 2009 and 2010.
“The fans, they pay their coin and it’s the entertainment business” Ross Lyon told 3AW Football.
“The only difficulty for me mostly, and I was fine, but it’s a group of players (St Kilda) that you come up to for the first time. It’s been put away in a compartment, while I’ve been over in Perth, but you walk back into Etihad and it floods back a little bit.”
Diabetes – Fyfe’s reason to run
012 years
by DockerNow.com
in Miscellaneous
Freo Diabetes WA ambassador Nat Fyfe has two reasons to run on Sunday May 27. One will be to chase the football and help his team beat the West Coast Eagles.
The other is HBF’s Run for a Reason event on the same day.
Fyfey’s commitments to Freo means he can’t run himself in the event, but the star midfielder is committed to getting as many people as he can to represent him and make their reason for running Diabetes WA.
“Diabetes WA does some great work to raise awareness,” he said.
“I encourage people that are going to run, if they don’t already have a charity to run for, to run for Diabetes WA.”
For Fyfe, diabetes hits close to home. One of his close friends back in Lake Grace, where he grew up, has been recently diagnosed with the condition.
“That was real eye opener for me,” Fyfe said.
Man mountain
012 years
by DockerNow.com
in News
Giant Fremantle ruckman Aaron Sandilands continued his dominant start to the season at Etihad Stadium on Friday night, racking up 44 hit-outs in his team’s 13-point win over St Kilda.
The 211cm man mountain also took four contested marks, gathered 20 possessions and booted a goal in a performance that helped pilot Fremantle to its first win over the Saints since 2007.
Sandilands has now amassed an incredible 152 hit-outs in his past three matches, after posting career-high totals of 54 against both the Sydney Swans in round two and Brisbane Lions in round three.
Friday night was the 10th time in his 173-game career that the 29-year-old has had 44 or more hit-outs.
But despite Sandilands’ commanding display, Fremantle was thrashed 43-30 at clearances.
St Kilda champion Lenny Hayes took the ball from a stoppage a game-high nine times, with Clinton Jones collecting six clearances and Jack Steven and Nick Dal Santo five each.
Fyfe intrigue continues
012 years
by DockerNow.com
in News
Fremantle coach Ross Lyon is confident his young star Nathan Fyfe can see out the season without shoulder surgery.
Fyfe dislocated his shoulder against the Brisbane Lions in round three, the same shoulder he had reconstructed at the end of 2011.
The 20-year-old had hoped to play against St Kilda at Etihad Stadium on Friday night, but after consulting a surgeon in Melbourne during the week, was a late withdrawal from Fremantle’s line-up.
“He met with the surgeon yesterday, and they just threw a little bit of doubt in for this week, but not [for] next week,” Lyon told radio stationTriple M in the lead-up to the match.
“Basically, he’s not in any pain.
“He was desperate to play tonight, and we wanted him to play and we had him in the team.
“We basically did the team meeting and our doctor and physio said ‘you’re running a really high risk this week and if you hold off the week we can increase the strength in the shoulder another twenty per cent.'”
Freo in a Thriller
012 years
ST KILDA 4.3 6.9 8.10 11.13 (79)
FREMANTLE 3.2 6.3 11.6 14.8 (92)
GOALS
St Kilda: Koschitzke 3, Gilbert 2, McEvoy, Riewoldt, Dal Santo, Stanley, Cripps, Milne
Fremantle: Anthony 2, Clarke 2, Mayne 2, Mzungu 2, Crowley, Pavlich, Sandilands, De Boer, Pearce, Broughton
BEST
St Kilda: Hayes, Steven, Geary, Goddard, Koschitzke
Fremantle: Sandilands, Crowley, Barlow, Pearce, McPhee, Clarke
INJURIES
St Kilda: Nil
Fremantle: Fyfe (shoulder) replaced in selected side by Anthony
SUBSTITUTES
St Kilda: Jamie Cripps replaced Jack Newnes at three-quarter-time
Fremantle: Lachie Neale replaced Nick Suban in the third quarter
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Stevic, McInerney, Mollison
Official crowd: 30,172 at Etihad Stadium
Lyon tamer, ready to halt Freo’s fall
012 years
by DockerNow.com
in Miscellaneous
The Dockers’ new coach has made a big impression.
When asked what has surprised him the most about his new coach, Fremantle chief executive Steve Rosich says it has been Ross Lyon’s humour. ”He is quite funny. He certainly has a good sense of humour,” Rosich said this week.
”In the cut and thrust of AFL football and in the professionalism of this environment, it’s often good to have that in your repertoire.”
Rewind seven months and it was certainly no laughing matter for St Kilda when Lyon, the man who had led the club into grand finals in 2009 and 2010, stunned many by joining the Dockers just days after the Saints’ season had ended.
