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Next challenge: Hawthorn
Jul 26th
The next challenge to present itself for the Fremantle Dockers comes in the form of a powerful Hawthorn unit, led by its inspirational skipper Luke Hodge and the brilliant Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin.
The Hawks go deep, with Sam Mitchell playing as well as he ever has at the age of 28, and stars like Cyril Rioli and Shaun Burgoyne well capable of winning games off of their own boots.
What has really revitalised the 2008 AFL Premiers is the development of its third to fourth year players.
Liam Shiels, Shane Savage and Matt Suckling have all been tremendous this year, giving Hawthorn a different dimension and a renewed enthusiasm.
But Fremantle match up well against Alastair Clarkson’s men, as proven by the round 11 encounter at the MCG earlier this season.
On that occasion, Freo outplayed the Hawks for three quarters, only to fall away badly and be overrun in the final term for a 22-point defeat.
Courage under fire
Jul 26th
Deep into the final term of Sunday’s Carlton Mid Derby, Fremantle were all but defeated.
All that was left in the tank was one surge at stealing the most unlikeliest of victories.
That Mark Harvey’s men dug deep into the reserves to come within a matter of inches of winning speaks volumes of the courage this group possesses.
Already reeling from a season in which the club’s physio room at times could have been confused for the neighbouring Fremantle Hospital, the loss of ruckman Jon Griffin in the third term should have been a fatal blow against West Coast’s imposing ruck duo Dean Cox and Nic Naitanui.
Harvey has often said, echoing the thoughts of his mentor Kevin Sheedy, that a lot can be found out about a player when they are thrown onto the big stage in the face of adversity.
That’s exactly what happened to Zac Clarke in his 15th AFL game, when he suddenly found himself thrust into the role of lead ruckman against the Eagles’ twin towers.
Buddy big job for Silvagni
Jul 26th
Fremantle defender Alex Silvagni could take on the giant challenge of stopping Hawthorn star Lance Franklin in Saturday night’s decisive clash after Luke McPharlin was offered a one-match suspension.
McPharlin, who is in All Australian form this season, was charged on Monday with a level one striking offence for collecting Eagle Josh Kennedy high with a forearm in the last quarter of Sunday’s dramatic one-point loss to West Coast.
The offence drew a reprimand and 80 demerit points, but McPharlin had accrued 70.31 carryover points for a rough conduct charge against the Sydney Swans in round 17.
If he accepts the penalty, McPharlin will miss the clash at Patersons Stadium against his former club, making Silvagni the obvious match-up for Franklin.
Franklin leads the Coleman Medal race after kicking five goals against Melbourne on Sunday.
Fremantle utility Adam McPhee, who will play his 200th game on Saturday, backed Silvagni to stop the star Hawk after making an impressive return from injury four weeks ago against the Brisbane Lions.
Round 24 fixture confirmed
Jul 26th
Details have been confirmed for Fremantle’s round 24 fixture against the Western Bulldogs.
The match will take place on Saturday 3 September at Etihad Stadium.
Bouncedown is 2.10pm EST (12.10pm WST) and the match will be broadcast live into Perth on Network Ten.
Round 24
Western Bulldogs v Fremantle
Saturday 3 September
2.10pm EST
Etihad Stadium
The full schedule of Round 24 AFL games is as follows (local time in each case):
Friday September 2
Collingwood v Geelong Cats at the MCG, 7.40pm
Saturday September 3
Gold Coast Suns v Hawthorn at Metricon Stadium, 1.10pm
Western Bulldogs v Fremantle at Etihad Stadium, 2.10pm
Sydney Swans v Brisbane Lions at the SCG, 4.10pm
Carlton v St Kilda at the MCG, 7.10pm
West Coast v Adelaide Crows at Patersons Stadium, 5.10pm
Sunday September 4
Port Adelaide v Melbourne at Adelaide Oval, 2.40pm
Richmond v North Melbourne at Etihad Stadium, 4.40pm
Barlow bouncing back
Jul 26th
If there was a positive to emerge from Fremantle’s heartbreaking loss to West Coast on Sunday night, it was that key midfielder Michael Barlow appears capable of staying fit and returning to his best form.
Barlow, who has faced hurdles in his return from a broken leg this year, was superb on Sunday, finishing with four inside 50s and four clearances, and winning 14 of his 26 possessions in contests.
Significantly, the 23-year-old played four quarters, managing to have an impact in the midfield despite the aerial dominance of West Coast ruckman Dean Cox, who gave his side a 53-18 edge in hit-outs.
Barlow’s first game this season was against Melbourne in round 13, but he missed the following two matches with soreness, casting doubt over whether he could stay fit.
He was used as a substitute against the Sydney Swans in round 17 and had 11 possessions in 25 minutes, with Fremantle surely anxious to see how he would back up that performance in a full game on Sunday.
Fightback encourages Harvey
Jul 25th
Fremantle coach Mark Harvey says he takes heart from his team’s ultimately unsuccessful fight-back against West Coast in a classic Western Derby at Patersons Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
After falling 22 points behind halfway through the final term, Fremantle kicked three goals in five minutes to draw within three points, with Hayden Ballantyne hitting the post with a difficult set shot after the siren in a thrilling finale.
Rather than dwell on the disappointment, Harvey said the narrow loss should motivate his team as it embarks on a difficult run home, with six teams locked in a battle for the final three spots in the top eight.
Asked on Sunday night whether it was one of the most heartbreaking losses he’d been involved in, Harvey replied: “No, in fact the exact opposite to that.”
“I thought they were gallant,” Harvey said of his players. “I thought whatever they could give [they gave].
“I’d like to think that we never know when the end is near, so we keep fighting and we did that.
Derby heartbreak
Jul 25th
Fremantle 2.3 3.6 6.7 9.10 (64)
West Coast 1.6 3.7 6.14 8.17 (65)
GOALS
Fremantle: Hill 2, Clarke 2, Barlow, Ballantyne, McPhee, Mayne, Fyfe
West Coast: Kennedy 3, LeCras 2, Shuey, Priddis, Darling
BEST
Fremantle: Broughton, Barlow, Mzungu, McPharlin, Crowley, Grover
West Coast: Shuey, Cox, Waters, Kennedy, Glass, Rosa
INJURIES
Fremantle: Jonathon Griffin (hip)
West Coast: Nil
SUBSTITUTIONS
Fremantle: Jonathon Griffin replaced by Paul Duffield in the third quarter
West Coast: Jack Darling replaced by Patrick McGinnity in the third quarter
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Margetts, Schmitt, Ryan
Official crowd: 41,055 at Patersons Stadium
Young giants square up for ruck rumble
Jul 22nd
It is not yet akin to the Thrilla in Manila, but the second “Patersons Battle” between two of the AFL’s new-age ruckman on Sunday will give a rising contender the chance to land a blow on a rival being hailed as a future heavyweight champion of the competition.
In the purple corner for Fremantle is gangly, but growing, former basketball prospect Zac Clarke. In the gold, white and blue corner for West Coast is flying Fijian Nic Naitanui.
WA coaching great Tony Micale hailed their first WAFL bout more than two years ago as “the first round of the Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier rivalry”, an epic stand-off which culminated in the famous Thrilla in Manila nearly 15 years before either Clarke or Naitanui were born.
Their first AFL face-off came later that 2009 season when they were both in their fifth senior game and Fremantle snatched a thrilling five-point win over West Coast. Clarke had just six possessions and four hit-outs, while Naitanui produced a mildly more significant 10 possessions, 10 hit-outs and four tackles in that round-17 battle.
Freo name Carlton Mid Derby squad
Jul 21st
The “cagey” selection moves Mark Harvey predicted at this morning’s Carlton Mid Derby media conference have begun, with Freo adding four players to its squad for Sunday’s crucial clash with West Coast at Patersons Stadium.The returning-from-injury Nick Suban, omitted pair Ryan Crowley and Jayden Pitt, and the yet-to-debut mature-ager Peter Faulks are the additions to the squad of 25.
As expected, the injured Roger Hayden is out, while Aaron Sandilands remains on the sidelines as he recovers from a toe injury.
Freo’s final 22 will be announced on Friday afternoon.
Suban is a logical structural replacement for Hayden, but he has only had one game back at WAFL level since breaking his leg in round 4 against North Melbourne three months ago.
First-year player Pitt hasn’t played AFL since round 8, ironically against West Coast, while Crowley lost his spot in the team when omitted for the game in Sydney.
Dockers’ young gun puts Eagles on edge
Jul 20th
Fremantle youngster Nat Fyfe’s quest to establish himself as an AFL superstar gained another boost on Wednesday when West Coast ruckman Dean Cox labelled the 19-year-old as the Dockers’ most important player.
Fyfe, in just his second season, is on track for All-Australian honours this year after averaging 26 possessions a game to go with his 13 goals.
For years, it has been Matthew Pavlich and Aaron Sandilands who carried Fremantle’s hopes and fortunes.
But Cox believes Fyfe has taken on the mantle of the Dockers’ barometer, labelling the 186cm marking machine as the man to stop in Sunday’s crunch western derby at Patersons Stadium.
“Fyfe’s been in fantastic form. He’s been Fremantle’s best player from an outsider’s perspective,” Cox said.
“He’s just really versatile.
“He can play forward, he’s great in contested situations, he can take a mark and he can push forward and kick goals. (He’s) very damaging, so we’re going to have to cut him out.”
