Skipper’s goal keeps Fremantle in hunt for top four finish
A moment of magic from Fremantle captain Alex Pearce, in his first game back from a leg injury, has kept his side’s dreams of a top four finish well and truly alive as he clinched a victory over Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval on Saturday night.
The Freo full back made a gutsy decision to push forward in the dying stages, taking a brilliant contested mark and slotting the ensuing goal to give his side the 13.8 (86) to 13.14 (92) win.
It was another fourth-quarter comeback win for the Dockers, who trailed Port Adelaide by 15 points in the final term before majors to Michael Frederick, a couple to Pat Voss, and the eventual match winner to Pearce sealed the deal.
The Power certainly made them work for it, though.
Having jumped out of the blocks kicking four goals to none in the opening term, it looked as though this game was going to be one-way traffic in favour of the visitors.
Shai Bolton slotted two first-quarter goals, Luke Jackson was dominating around the ground, and if anything Fremantle should have been even further in front having missed five relatively simple shots.
But to their credit, and perhaps in a nod to outgoing champion Travis Boak and coach Ken Hinkley, a Port Adelaide side that has struggled mightily to turn the tide this year was able to do just that.
An eight-goal explosion in the second term flipped the game on its head, and all of a sudden Fremantle were on the back foot.
Captain Connor Rozee and running mate Zak Butters went to work in the middle of the ground, dominating the centre bounce clearances, while Aliir Aliir turned in a season-best performance down back.
In fact, the key defender was so up and about, he joined the party on the scoreboard, booting one of his side’s eight majors for the period.
Mitch Georgiades bagged a couple for himself, while Joe Richards, Jack Lukosius, Jed McEntee, Willie Rioli and Rozee all followed suit to give Port a slim lead at half time.
The game entered a bit of an arm wrestle period after the long break, with Fremantle desperately trying to gain some momentum.
Caleb Serong did his best to lead his side back into the fray, but Port was able to extend their lead with three goals to Freo’s two in the term.
It took some boundary line brilliance from young gun Murphy Reid to keep the Dockers in the contest; a goal that would eventually prove crucial down the stretch.
And now we come to the fourth term, a place where Fremantle is growing more comfortable by the week.
I wrote in my review of last week’s Freo game that we need to start paying attention to this side’s ability to run out games better than their opponents, and that held true in this one.
Fremantle dominated the territory battle for large portions of the fourth quarter, but as so often happens in footy, it was their opponent snaring the first goal of the term with Rioli putting the Power up by 15.
The Dockers steadied, however, and it was cult hero Voss leading the way as he booted back-to-back majors to give Fremantle the lead while doing his best to antagonise Power players and fans.
The lead wouldn’t last long, though, as a sore Rozee would brush off some pain in his ankle to snap a captain’s goal of his own at the 26-minute mark.
It looked as though Port was about to put a serious dent in Fremantle’s finals ambitions, but the Dockers were able to show how they’ve grown into a more mature outfit with a sublime response.
Trailing by a point, they would win the ensuing centre clearance to force a rushed behind that would tie the game. From there, Serong was able to take a fantastic intercept mark and send the ball back into his attacking 50m.
Floating down from defence, Pearce plucked a fantastic mark and converted the game-winner.
The victory pushes Fremantle into the top four for the first time this season, and sets up a huge fortnight for the purple haze as they head into must-win games against Brisbane and the Western Bulldogs.
The Dockers have now won 11 of their past 12 matches, but still their spot in the top eight is yet to be cemented.
Port Adelaide will have two more chances to send Hinkley and Boak out in style, with games against Carlton and the Gold Coast to come.
As always, now that the match report is out of the way, let’s dig into some of the things that piqued my interest in this one.
Freo’s midfield can’t keep falling asleep
It came out after the game that coach Justin Longmuir gave his boys one of his best sprays at the half-time break in this one, and boy did they deserve a bake.
In particular, the Freo midfield, which for the second straight week went through an elongated period of being crushed at the centre bounce.
Caleb Serong was copping the Willem Drew tag and doing his best to battle through it, but Jaeger O’Meara and Andrew Brayshaw were getting soundly beaten in their direct match-ups.
The speed and burst of Zak Butters and Connor Rozee were too much for the Dockers to handle, and while they did turn things back around in the second half and won the centre clearance count handily, that second term won’t be a pleasant one in Freo’s post-match review.
It’s something Fremantle need to get right before the finals, because it could cost them in the long run.
Speaking of Zak Butters…
He found his old self in this one! Last week was perhaps the least impactful game the Port Adelaide superstar has ever put on the record, so it was a sight for the sore eyes of Power fans to see him back doing what he does best on Saturday night.
Finishing with 29 disposals, eight marks, four tackles and five clearances, Butters gave himself a base to finish the season strong and head into next year on a high.
Voss the villain is the sub-plot Freo need
Every good team needs a villain, and it appears the Dockers have found their own.
Pat Voss was a firecracker in this game, telling the crowd to shoosh, waving them goodbye, and bumping into Port players at any and every opportunity. It’s something we haven’t seen much of from Fremantle for the better part of a decade, and it’s an edge they should absolutely lean into.
Captain Alex Pearce described Voss in the post-game as being like his former teammate Hayden Ballantyne, in the sense that everyone outside of his own club’s four walls absolutely hates the bloke, while those inside the walls love everything about him.
The good thing is, Voss is walking the walk as well as talking the talk. He has booted 15 goals from his past four games, including three in this one (two of which came in the clutch deep into the fourth quarter).
Like I said, every team needs someone willing to fly the flag and stir a little shit, and Voss is doing a bloody good job of it at the moment.
Some praise for Travis Boak
One of the AFL’s true class acts announced his impending retirement during the week, and it was great to see him wind the clock back a little in this game.
His 22 disposals had plenty of impact, and he reeled in 10 marks to go along with them.
It was also great to see him and Nat Fyfe sharing a moment with a guernsey swap after the final siren. Two absolute legends.
Speaking of Nat Fyfe…
He made a hell of an impact coming on as the sub in this one. With his side struggling to get the ball clear of congestion, Fyfe was able to use his big frame and veteran savvy to give the Dockers an edge at the coalface in the fourth term.
He finished with seven disposals and three clearances from his limited playing time.
And some quick hitters to finish us off
- Bailey Banfield’s performance was sub par in this one, and it puts his spot in jeopardy with Corey Wagner knocking on the door for a return
- Murphy Reid being able to seize the moment should also see him seize the rising star award. Two crucial goals in this game, pushing him to 22 on the year.
- Jordan Sweet had the better of Freo’s Darcy/Jackson combo for large portions of this game. Impressive outing from the Port ruckman.
- Neil Erasmus played his best game at AFL level, finishing with 26 disposals and six clearances.
- Aliir Aliir was on one in this game. 17 marks is wild!
