Anything and Everything Fremantle
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Fremantle makes massive bid for free-agent Travis Cloke
May 1st
Fremantle has entered the fight for Travis Cloke with a knockout offer of about $1 million a season.
As Cloke discussions continue with Collingwood, the Dockers have become the first interstate club to make a genuine play for the powerhouse forward.
The Dockers have spoken to Cloke’s manager, his father David. Talks are in their infancy.
Cloke is at the top of the Dockers’ free-agent hit list.
Free Judd
May 1st
AFL umpires boss Jeff Gieschen has admitted Carlton champion Chris Judd deserved more free kicks last week when being tagged by Fremantle’s Ryan Crowley.
Crowley’s shutdown job on Judd drew the ire of Gold Coast captain Gary Ablett, who tweeted that the Freo midfielder was “a joke” and should “play the ball, not the man”.
Speaking on AFL.com.au’s weekly program It’s Your Call, Gieschen said Judd was unlucky not to receive more protection from the umpires.
“By and large Crowley did a terrific job, but quite clearly during the game there was a couple of times we missed free kicks to Chris Judd,” he said.
“But this can happen any week.”
Gieschen noted that the umpires were aware of a growing trend of new tactics by taggers this year.
Time to run for a reason
May 1st
The 2012 HBF Run For A Reason is coming up and, as an official ambassador for Diabetes WA, Nat Fyfe has been encouraging Freo fans to take part in the event and make ’Freedom from Diabetes’ their reason to run.
Diabetes WA is the peak body of diabetes in WA and an organisation I am very proud to be involved with. The team at Diabetes WA strive to minimise the impact of diabetes for those living with the chronic condition by providing a range of support and education services.
With more than one million Australians diagnosed with diabetes it is something that would be close to home for many of us. The scary thing is that in Austtralia, for every person diagnosed with type 2 Diabetes, there is thought to be another undiagnosed!
And this is where you can help to awareness… by making diabetes your reason to run!
The HBF Run for a Reason will be held on Sunday 27 May, and we urge our fans to take part in the event and help raise funds for a terrific cause.
It’s sweet to tweet
May 1st
Gary Ablett should be sacked, or at the very least, suspended for half a season.
How dare he have an opinion. How dare he express it. How dare he be prepared to let the football world know he has a personality that proves him not to be a robot.
Hell, what’s football coming to? A highly decorated player volunteering truthful thoughts. An intelligent 27-year-old offering insight into what an elite football mind thinks of a certain opponent.
Well, we can’t have that now, can we?
Nup. We must have all players regurgitate the same boring, condescending, lip service and cliches.
Most reaction to Ablett’s tweet of last Friday night has been oh so typical. Senior football officials have been critical, many have talked of the tweet creating “undue pressure” on his club and teammates.
Hill breaking the shackles
May 1st
Often criticised for his struggles against a tight tag, exciting Freo midfielder Stephen Hill seems to have sprouted wings in the past fortnight and exploded into the best form of his young career.
A match-winning second half display against St Kilda in round 4, where he beat his nemesis Clinton Jones, was backed up by a gut-busting attempt to lift his team in last Friday night’s close loss to Carlton.
Hill tried to inspire Freo with a series of scintillating runs against the Blues, often with the ball in hand.
And when his team had caused a turnover, Hill brilliantly managed to get over the top of the Carlton defence on numerous occasions and create an option for his teammates when one didn’t initially exist.
The 22-year-old said he’d made it a focus this season to try and run his direct opponents into the ground.
“It’s something I’ve been working on, trying to wear them down with my run,” he said.
Lyon ‘the best thing’
May 1st
Fremantle midfielder Clancee Pearce says new coach Ross Lyon is the best thing to have happened to his football after the former rookie’s career revival continued in round five.
Pearce was delisted by Fremantle at the end of 2011 after 26 games in three seasons on the rookie list, but he earned another chance under Lyon and has emerged as one of the club’s most consistent performers this season.
The 21-year-old has refined his body shape and pushed into the midfield to average 19 disposals and a goal a game this season, continuing his strong start to the year with 20 possessions (10 contested) and a team-high six clearances against Carlton last Friday night.
Pearce said he had worked hard over the off-season to restart his career, but added Lyon’s influence since arriving at the club last September had been enormous.
“He’s probably been the best thing that’s happened for my football,” Pearce told AFL.com.au. “He just gives me a lot of confidence and shows that if you do the work you’re going to get rewarded.
Shoulder surgery for Fyfe
May 1st
Fremantle midfielder Nat Fyfe is to undergo surgery on his left shoulder.
The 20-year-old dislocated his shoulder today at training ahead of the club’s round six clash with Gold Coast on Saturday.
Fyfe was a late withdrawal from the game against St Kilda in round four but returned to play against Carlton last Friday night at Patersons Stadium following specialist medical advice.
Senior coach Ross Lyon has previously said that if Fyfe aggravated the injury again, the club would have no hesitation in sending him for surgery.
General manager of football operations Chris Bond said today that the operation would be carried out by the Melbourne specialist Fyfe consulted last month.
“We believe that the appropriate course of action for Nat’s long-term playing future and his general well being is to have the operation at this time,” Bond said.
Lyon slams ‘no respect’ Suns
May 1st
Fremantle coach Ross Lyon has slammed the Gold Coast Suns, saying they lack respect and Fremantle are keen to have “a good go” against them when the clubs meet on Saturday.
Comments that Suns captain Gary Ablett and teammate Trent McKenzie posted on Twitter have stirred up Fremantle ahead of the match.
On Friday night, Ablett described Fremantle tagger Ryan Crowley as “a joke” for the way he played on Carlton captain Chris Judd.
If Ablett returns from injury on Saturday, Crowley will no doubt line up on him.
McKenzie also said a few weeks ago that Geelong full-back Matthew Scarlett “did a favour for most people” by punching Fremantle small-forward Hayden Ballantyne in their fiery round one match.
Lyon said the comments showed a lack of respect towards his club.
Lyon says Fyfe alright
May 1st
Ross Lyon says star midfielder Nathan Fyfe pulled up well after Friday’s eight point loss to Carlton and is good to go for Saturday’s clash against Gold Coast and beyond.
Fyfe missed the round 4 win over St Kilda after he injured his troublesome left shoulder in round 3.
The 20-year-old returned to action against the Blues on Friday night and had 22 disposals and six tackles, an outcome that left Lyon satisfied.
“He got through unscathed, particularly in the first half he was really strong,” Lyon said.
“I think we’d all be happy that he got through and contributed.”
Fyfe’s heavily strapped left shoulder was tested on a few occasions on Friday.
A heavy bump with Carlton ruckman Matthew Kreuzer in the second term left the Freo youngster looking a bit sore and caused him to protect the shoulder in the ensuing minutes.
Room to improve for Freo and Griffin
Apr 30th
Freo’s Jonathon Griffin made a solid return to AFL footy in Friday night’s loss to Carlton at Patersons Stadium.
Thrust immediately into the role of number one ruckman after champion Aaron Sandilands had been ruled out of the match, Griffin competed admirably against up-and-coming Blues’ big man Matthew Kreuzer.
The 26-year-old had 14 disposals and 25 hitouts, which helped Freo enjoy a 38-32 clearances advantage.
He was reasonably pleased with his performance but acknowledged there was still plenty of room for improvement.
“The intensity of the game definitely caught up with me, but it’s my first game back and, hopefully, there’s many more to come,” he said.
Griffin said captain Matthew Pavlich chose to focus on the positives when he addressed the team on the ground at the conclusion of the game.
“He told us that we’re not too far off and that we’ve still got improvement to go,” Griffin said.
