‘Mugshots’ in AFL team’s dressing room causes stir

Fremantle has raised eyebrows with footage showing four mugshots posted up on the walls of the team’s dressing room on Saturday.

Fremantle has raised eyebrows with footage showing photos of AFL umpires were posted up on the walls of their dressing room on Saturday.

The vision of four umpire “mugshots” inside the club’s dressing room at Optus Stadium during their nail-biting win over North Melbourne was captured by Fox Footy cameras and is now beginning to cause a stir.

St Kilda legend Nick Riewoldt on Monday night said it was “interesting” to see the faces of the four umpires up on the wall, interpreting it as a tactic of making players aware of the whistleblowers and their style of officiating.

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“I saw this from the weekend, found it interesting,” Riewoldt said on Channel 7’s Agenda Setters.

“They’re clearly trying to arm the players with the umpires’ names.

“They look like mug shots, those pics.

“But I reckon the players have got enough to worry about, don’t they? Without trying to memorise umpires’ names.”

Veteran footy commentator Craig Hutchison responded by saying: “I think it’s smart. Trying to get an edge.”

The mugshots were shown on the Fox Footy coverage. Photo: Fox Footy.

The faces of the four umpires were shown on The Agenda Setters. Photo: Channel 7.

It seems unlikely the strategy would have changed anything, but Fremantle did win the free kick count 25-23.

It was yet another frustrating loss for North Melbourne as the Dockers held on to win by just six points.

Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir believes that in recent seasons, his side would have lost Saturday night’s game after giving up a 28-point lead late in the third quarter.

The Roos, who Longmuir declared to be better than their ladder position suggests, went on a roll. They kicked five consecutive goals to tie the game, with more than seven minutes left to play.

But Longmuir’s team got over the line, courtesy of a Luke Jackson goal and a contested mark in defence in the dying seconds by Josh Treacy.

“I think the players are a lot clearer on what we need in those moments,” Longmuir said.

“They understand that we play our best footy anyway when it’s in the contest, but to be able to close the game down like that for a long period of time and take sort of their momentum away, it shows good maturity.

“To be able to be challenged — they kick five in a row to get it to a draw — and to be able to stay connected to what the game needs. I think that maturity is coming.

“So there’s a lot of different things, some of it tactical, some of it leadership, some of it just players being in those positions more, and knowing what is needed.

“We got challenged on the Gold Coast in that third quarter when they hit the front and we were able to find something and get the game back on our terms.”

Last season, the Dockers lost six games when leading at three-quarter-time, plus drew a game they could have won against Collingwood.

They missed the finals by half a win and were only two wins further away from a top four finish.

Fremantle’s six-point win on Saturday night was its fourth in a row.

The Dockers have gone from 11th on the ladder, one win outside of the top eight, to eighth spot, a game clear of ninth-placed Western Bulldogs.

The Dockers sing the team song. Photo by Daniel Carson/AFL Photos via Getty Images.

They can go three games clear of 10th placed Essendon on Thursday night when they play each other in Perth.

The Bombers head to Perth licking wounds from a 95-point hiding at the hands of Geelong.

Both teams will be coming off five-day breaks.

Longmuir said they expect to be carrying fatigue into the game, but will work hard on recovery during the week to mitigate it.

“It is what it is,” he said.

“I said to the players after the game, we put that game behind us.

“We’ll review it with an eye to Essendon. I think it’s really important that we maximise our recovery in the next 24 hours and understand that we might not be at 100 per cent fitness, and might carry a bit of fatigue into the game against Essendon.

“But do what we can to get as good as we can and go out there and give our best.”

Michael Walters is given a chance to play his first game since the Indigenous All Stars game in the pre-season. He’d be a like replacement for Sam Switkowski, who was subbed out of Saturday’s win with hamstring tightness.

However, captain Alex Pearce is unlikely to play against the Bombers as he works his way back from a shin injury.

— with NewsWire

Originally published as ‘Mugshots’ in AFL team’s dressing room causes stir