Sometimes you get a game full of fire, passion, chaos and heat. And sometimes you get… this.
Don’t get me wrong—there were moments. A few. If you squinted. But this was one of those weird derbies that almost looked like a demolition job on the scoreboard, and it got to the point where it almost felt as if it could be, but it never really felt like one.
Fremantle were the better side. They were harder for longer, kicked straighter (eventually), and played like a team on the edge of finals relevance. But West Coast brought enough fight to make it messy, annoying, and — in patches — downright frustrating.
This wasn’t the kind of derby you’d show a new AFL fan. But if you were an old one? Well, there was almost the bare minimum of spite, slop, and “what are we even doing?” moments to give you vague, nostalgic memories of the past clashes between these two teams that apparently care about beating each other.
Fortunately, I’ve watched this game so that you didn’t need to. Because you’re a smart person who switched over to something slightly less rubbish after Freo kicked about their sixth behind in a row, and the Eagles did whatever they were doing between Freo misses.
And look—I know premierships aren’t won in late July. But this was one of those “don’t stuff it up” games for Freo. And while they tried really hard to do just that, they didn’t.
Here’s what I saw:
Does nobody care for the Derby anymore?
In a day of state rivalries, this game was a good reminder about just how forgettable the Western Derby has become. They meant something in the early days, sure, but there’s no real hatred between these teams; not like the South Australian or Sydney sides. Outside a few exceptions, the Derbies are just, kinda, meh. They’re without the spite, interest, and largely, the unpredictable results that rivalry games can often have.
We did get a small amount of classic derby spice. About half way through the first quarter, Pat Voss harnessed some of the old demo derby attitude and gave Harley Reid a decent bump off the ball. It was a good bump.… shame no one else joined in. Rivalry fatigue, maybe?
The Dockers found second gear and were happy to stay in it
Fremantle started the game like a team still shaking the red-eye fog from their eyes, with West Coast showing some real intent and handling their younger brother’s pressure with relative ease. Freo got out of first gear about half way through the first after a nice goal from Isiah Dudley – who was basically the guy for the Dockers in the opening term.
Michael Frederick was playing the game of his life in the first half, and Freo constantly looked on the verge of breaking it open. They went into quarter time with 6.4 on the board to West Coast’s 2.0. But then they went into their shell. Or, more accurately, stopped trusting the run. When West Coast set up behind the ball, Freo seemed content to chip and stall. This is fine sometimes; there’s little value in giving it to the guy running past if he has to then rush the kick. However, chipping and getting nowhere, then turning it over anyway? Yes, knowing when to go and when not to go is a thing that Freo is starting to get right, but in much of this game, they got it wrong.
Not that it was all bad. To speak poorly of the Dockers probably doesn’t give them enough credit, and is perhaps a bit disrespectful to the Eagles, who did some nice things defensively to slow Freo down.
The Dockers dominated the midfield. After the Eagles jumped the gun, Fremantle won 10 of the next 12 clearances and kicked four goals from them. They finished totally dominating that stat 45-27. They dominated possession, contested possession, inside 50s and scoring shots. And they brought effort: How about Amiss? Ran 20 metres to cut off a kick out, earning a goal from sheer pressure and willingness to do the hard yards. That’s what you love to see from a player down on form but still putting in the work. Tom McCarthy would like that kick back – if you see a guy sprinting to exactly where you’re going to kick it, maybe kick it somewhere else.
Ultimately, however, the Dockers just didn’t ever seem to put their foot down. They’re a nice team – they’ll always bring their best footy against the best teams, and have shown they can beat anyone, anywhere, anytime. But when they come across a team they should beat – well that philosophy becomes a little shakier.
Bad Kicking is Bad Football
Freo have a very good forwardline: Amiss, Treacy and Voss are three of the better young key forwards around. Yet, they have this weird thing where one seems the be the main goal target at a time. Last week it was Voss, this week it was Amiss’ turn. The man dubbed ‘Nev’ Amiss, due to his accuracy has had to lose that moniker, as he’s had the absolute yips in front of goal this year. He ended up with 3.2 from seven shots on goal – the hardest angle breaking his own drought of misses, after a goal with his first chance. But his kicking was bad. You can always tell – if he’s slow and steady, he slots it. If he’s slow and stumbly, he misses. There were a few stumbles in his run up today and that was contagious across the team.
Simply put, the Eagles stayed in this game for a long time because the Dockers simply didn’t take their chances. After putting on 4.6 in the first quarter, they managed only one goal in the second from seven shots on goal, and then put another three behinds on the board the board in the third before kicking their second goal since the quarter time break. Fremantle managed to lose the second term despite having seven scoring shots to three.
The Eagles?
Three-straight goals put them back in the game.
But it wasn’t just bad kicking – their entire forward line seemed bereft of reason at some stages, and when Dudley passed unnecessarily to Shai Bolton who…. well, when he decided that dribbling along the ground was the way to get it past a defender on the goal line, I was wondering whether the Freo forwards had left their brains at the MCG.
The Eagles gave us a bit to like.
For a team that’s had a season to forget, they’ve had glimpses this year that things aren’t too far from clicking. They started well and I really like how they handled the pressure from Freo. Sure, it wasn’t the level of pressure that’s breaking any records, but they were under the pump for a lot of this game and they just did not lose their heads. Their forward line functioned fairly well. They only had the 42 inside 50s, but each time it went in there, they looked a genuine threat of scoring. Cripps, Baker, Reid, Kelly all kicked a couple and Flyin’ Ryan was a live-wire, with 1.3 and a good chance at mark of the year towards the end of the game. One of the classic grabs.
Defensively, I like how they set up behind the ball. Freo burnt them quite a few times on turnover, but they have a decent structure when they can get organised. It was, at times, near impossible for Freo to generate any kind of ball movement. Then, the Eagles are quick on the rebound. They can move the ball very well.
Tim Kelly looked back to his best. Well not his best, but he looked much more like a player who wants and deserves to be there than he has for much of this season. A consistent Kelly is key to the Eagles’ improvement.
I also really like Tom McCarthy in the backline. Bad kick-out aside, this guy has some class. 18 kicks from 21 disposals – he’s willing to take the responsibility to be the prime mover. And before you say “kick ins.” No. Shut up. Eight rebound 50s, three inside 50s, five score involvements and 617 metres gained. Those aren’t cheap stats you get from taking the safe kick-in option repeatedly. They’re the stats you get when you’re the guy who drives your team’s ball movement. They’re the stats you get from the best play-making defenders.
The Eagles’ issue is that they’re simply just not getting their hands on it enough in the contest, and they’re not pressuring enough around the ball, which gives them very little time to set those structures up. They know how to do it, they’re just not capable of doing it with any consistency. And that’s why they are where they are – but it’s also why it’s not doom and gloom. They’ll get better.
The Gladiators
One Eagle I could watch all day is Reuben Ginbey. He went up against a much bigger opponent in Josh Treacy and got the points in the end. I’m calling this section ‘the gladiators’ partly because Ginbey reminds me of a character, Varro, from the show Spartacus, but also because these two are just quality combatants who love a physical game. Treacy drew first blood with a great tackle (he missed the shot), but after that, Ginbey was all over his much taller forward.
Giving up size and mass, Ginbey just did whatever he could to nudge Treacy and get him off balance. Then, his run and carry off half back was quick and usually effective. Yes, Ginbey gets caught with the ball a few times – but he’s a guy who makes things happen. It’s not always pretty, but he’s the kind of player who can lift a team.
Reid all about it
Who has the best Reid in WA? Apparently that’s a question that needs answering. In the Yellow, we have Harley, who barely needs an introduction – three months of daily coverage before he debuted did enough of that. In the Purple corner is Murphy. The bloke who won’t win the rising star, but probably should. Then there’s Archer who played the role of awkward third wheel.
Harley spent a lot of this game on the ground. The Dockers had a plan to be physical and they were. He didn’t like it very much, getting quite frustrated at the umpire (and I agreed with him – he had probably been tunnelled) and even, at one stage, appearing to make the cardinal sin of gesturing towards the scoreboard. But I like Harley. If you’re an Eagles fan who’s worried about him leaving – don’t. This guy bleeds Blue and Yellow.
He was low on numbers, but his running goal and follow up centre clearance in the second quarter not only reminded everyone what he can do when given an inch, it was a clear statement that he’s willing to pull up his socks and drag his team back into games. He just can’t do it consistently. Not yet, anyway.
What I don’t get was why he was booed? I’m not sure what he’s done to slight Freo fans, except beat us once (and who hasn’t done that?), but I was particularly disappointed in those members of the Purple army that booed him as he limped off injured. Bad form, guys.
But then, Harley, I suppose if you want people to like you, don’t ‘shhh’ them when you’re 48 points down.
Murphy, conversely, had a less emotionally charged game, but possibly his best game for the club, which is saying a lot because he seems to have a lot of those. He picked up 23 disposals, half of those in a third quarter riot, and a goal. But overall, Reid’s 15 score involvements and seven score assists demonstrates his importance and quality of the half forward. He’s only the third player in history to get those numbers in his first season – Cyril and Cotchin the other two. That’s some quality in which to be compared.
Archer got it twice. A game to forget for him.
Now there are three of them
Freo like having their two key mids run riot, so much so that for a part of this season, it was ‘no Serong, No Freo.’ The idea being, you can beat their mids just by beating Serong. The Eagles definitely aimed to do that, keeping the star quiet, particularly in the first, where he only had the two touches. But the Eagles forgot that Freo now have a third mid.
Hayden Young ran absolute riot. In the first quarter alone he had ten disposals and two goals to his name. He was absolutely dominant all game – and I say all game, but he only played 57% of it, as his minutes were managed, coming back from injury. His third goal came in the third – a clean, classy running goal from 50, showing his quality compared to the moments before when Amiss had lived up to his name for a third time and Voss made an absolute meal of a chance. When he was subbed off at the end of the third quarter, the medal was all but his. A deserved winner.
The Wrap
Fremantle won this one by 48 points. They didn’t look great doing it. Still, they’ll take the four points. They’re just too nice.
For the Eagles, this is a weird one. They’ll be disappointed, but not totally, and certainly not disheartened. Their effort was there, their structure held up okay when they got it together, and they’re stating to create winners in each three areas of the ground
But for Freo, this should’ve been better.. Their percentage isn’t flash, and games like this are where you pad it. Because, as I’m writing this, Geelong are adding about 6% to theirs by thumping North and leapfrogging the men in Purple. But, they didn’t. They’re not that team. They’re too bloody nice.
And that’s probably why the derby doesn’t matter anymore.
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