Insider: The Freo funnel — the efficient Dockers are the AFL’s corridor kings

THEY are renowned for their defensive prowess but when the Dockers attack they do it with a killer mentality and impressive strike rate.

THEY are renowned for their defensive prowess but when the Dockers attack they do it with a killer mentality.

Ross Lyon’s No. 2 ranked defensive side sits seventh in scoring this year, averaging 91 points a game, but its ability to turn inside 50s into goals is chilling.

For a top-four side, Fremantle doesn’t get a lot of inside 50s, ranking ninth in the league with an average of 50 a game.

But its goals strike rate is causing Port Adelaide great concern as it plots a finals boilover at Patersons Stadium on Saturday.

The Dockers turn 26.6 per cent of their inside 50s into majors — ranked third behind premier Hawthorn and West Coast, who boast star-studded attacks.

Their success is built on attacking the corridor.

A remarkable 54 per cent of Fremantle inside 50s land right where they hurt the opposition most — in front of goal.

This is two per cent higher than the next-ranked team, North Melbourne, and a massive eight per cent greater than the third-ranked side, Geelong.

Twenty-seven per cent of the Dockers’ inside 50s have lobbed in the right side of the field and 19 per cent to the left.

Their ability to strike hard and fast through the middle — skipper Matthew Pavlich’s favourite lead-up spot — is a key reason why they beat the Power in round 23, despite losing the inside 50 count 55-41.

Of its 41 forward entires, Fremantle turned 16 into goals. In contrast, Port goaled from just 14 of its inside 50s.

Power key forward Jay Schulz says the club is aware of Fremantle’s ability to hit the inside 50 corridor more than any other team and that the coaches have been busy formulating a plan to combat it.

This includes sitting an extra defender right in the heart of the Dockers’ attacking arc.

But Schulz said knowing how the Dockers want to play is one thing, stopping their aggressive approach to goal is another.

“You’ve got to be careful sometimes with trying to block up spaces and where you do it because they can sort of go the other way and go around you,’’ he said.

“I remember two weeks ago (Hayden) Ballantyne kicked three of his four goals from the boundary.

“But you do have to try and get your numbers back to clog space, although if the ball’s coming in quickly it’s very hard for your defenders to try to stop the ball movement.’’

Schulz said Port’s best hope was to take an all-field mentality to defence and stifle the Dockers by not allowing them to move the ball swiftly into their scoring zone.

“That’s why our forwards and midfielders will need to play such a big role in making sure that the ball isn’t getting in there quickly and cleanly,’’ he said.

“We’ve got to try to make sure it’s as slow as possible and that we’ve got our mids and forwards helping to get back to defend.

“We need to be able to help out whoever’s playing on Pav (Pavlich) and the other big guys and make sure the ball is moving as slowly as possible into their forward line because if it moves quickly their small guys are that dangerous and their big guys are super skilled (that they’ll take advantage of it).

“If we can force them into bringing the ball in slowly so we’ve got as many numbers back there as possible then hopefully we can get the ball to ground and run it back out.’’