Anything and Everything Fremantle
News
Wayward Freo pay the price
Apr 28th
Coach Ross Lyon has bemoaned a wayward performance from his forward line on Friday night, with inaccuracy costing Fremantle dearly in its eight-point loss to Carlton.
Fremantle controlled the first half of Friday night’s match, but a 2.7 second quarter saw them enter the main break six points behind, the final scoreline a frustrating 7.15 (57) to Carlton’s 10.5 (65).
Lyon said his team failed to capitalise on its midfield dominance in the first half, adding his three-pronged tall forward line was still a work in progress after a goalless return from Jack Anthony.
“I just think when we had ascendency and dominated the second quarter, to kick 2.7 against what everybody believes to be a top-four team … you need to put scoreboard pressure on,” Lyon said.
“We all know that a lot of games are won and lost on accuracy. We probably won on accuracy last week and probably lost on it tonight.”
Freo falls at home
Apr 28th
Carlton 2.1 6.2 9.4 10.5 (65)
Fremantle 1.2 3.9 4.10 7.15 (57)
GOALS
Carlton: Garlett 2, Walker 2, Robinson 2, Hampson, Waite, Betts, Simpson
Fremantle: Hill, Mayne, Ballantyne, Clarke, Pavlich, Crowley, McPharlin
BEST
Carlton: Simpson, Gibbs, Murphy, Robinson, Scotland, Walker
Fremantle: Hill, Duffield, Mzungu, Pavlich, McPharlin, Crowley
INJURIES
Carlton: Nil
Fremantle: Nil
SUBSTITUTES
Carlton: Kane Lucas replaced Zach Tuohy in the final quarter.
Fremantle: Lachie Neale replaced John Anthony in the third quarter.
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Margetts, Farmer, Dalgleish
Official crowd: 38,847 at Patersons Stadium
The Freo Line-up: Griff in for Sandi, Fyfe to play
Apr 26th
Ruckman Jonathon Griffin has been handed the giant task of replacing Aaron Sandilands for Friday night’s Len Hall Game against Carlton at Patersons Stadium.Griffin has been named to lead Fremantle’s ruck after Sandilands could not be considered because of a knee injury.
Star young midfielder Nathan Fyfe will play after missing last weekend’s win over St Kilda with a shoulder injury, while Nick Suban was omitted and will play WAFL for Claremont.
Rookie-listed Lee Spurr was today elevated onto the senior list and has been named as an emergency along with Kepler Bradley and Dylan Roberton.
Fremantle assistant coach Peter Sumich said recent form and past history gave the club every confidence that Griffin would do the job on Friday night.
The former Adelaide ruckman performed admirably in 2011 when Sandilands was out of the side.
Lee Spurr elevated onto senior list
Apr 26th
Rookie Lee Spurr has been elevated onto Fremantle’s senior list after the AFL granted the club permission to move the South-Australian off the rookie list.
The spot on the senior list was made available after the club placed Josh Mellington (hamstring) on the long-term injury list.
Spurr, 24, can now be selected for senior action and has been named as an emergency for Friday night’s match against Carlton at Patersons Stadium.
Sandilands out of Blues’ clash
Apr 26th
Senior coach Ross Lyon has confirmed that star ruckman Aaron Sandilands (knee) will not be named in Fremantle’s team to take on Carlton in Friday’s Len Hall Game at Patersons Stadium.
Sandilands will be replaced by Jonathon Griffin, who has played WAFL for East Fremantle in the past few weeks.
Lyon also said Nathan Fyfe would play against the Blues after missing last week’s 13-point win over St Kilda at Etihad Stadium.
McPharlin eager for Carlton challenge
Apr 25th
Luke McPharlin wants Fremantle to honour the spirit of the Anzacs against Carlton in Friday night’s Len Hall Game at Patersons Stadium.
“It’s an opportunity to honour the memory of some great women and men and the best way we can do that is by showing great effort,” the champion defender said of the club’s annual Anzac tribute match.
Bringing great effort has been a non-negotiable theme of Fremantle’s approach to life under senior coach Ross Lyon, and McPharlin said the team did just that in last Friday night’s pulsating win over St Kilda at Etihad Stadium.
“We pride ourselves on giving great effort and I think we gave that on Friday night,” he said.
“We want to continue to do that against every side. We’ve had some pretty tough games so far this year and this Friday night against Carlton will be no different.”
The 30-year-old said the 3-1 Blues, who started the season in scintillating form, will present Freo with a massive challenge.
Exiled Fremantle Docker Michael Walters hungry for AFL return
Apr 24th
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.
Great effort a recipe for success
Apr 24th
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.
Man mountain
Apr 21st
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
Apr 21st
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.’”
