Fremantle 2019 season review: Mick McGuane takes an in-depth look at where the Dockers are at

Some star players are on the way out and there will be a new coach in town. But just how good can the Dockers be in 2020? Mick McGuane and Glenn McFarlane take an in-depth look.

Nathan Fyfe and Michael Walters had strong seasons but it wasn’t enough to lift the Dockers to finals. Picture: Getty Images

Fremantle were a bit of a tease at times this season.

At their best, they were good enough to beat the leading teams in the competition and scored wins against five of this year’s finalists.

They defeated Brisbane, Collingwood on the road at the MCG, the Giants away as well, but their biggest scalp was a five-goal win against minor premiers Geelong in Round 20.

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When they have their best personnel and are playing at their best, they do a lot right.

Generally speaking, they are a very good contest team and that is reflected in a +6 contested possession differential against the rest of the competition.

Michael Walters had a sensational year with his 37 goals, his ability to clear the ball at the stoppage and also his ball use was phenomenal to earn All-Australian selection.

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Credit must also be given to Joel Hamling, who was in the top 10 for intercept marks in the competition and second in the league for spoils.

As good as Walters is, the Fremantle attack suffered without consistent forward 50 personnel.

Jesse Hogan (12 games), Matt Taberner (nine games) and Cam McCarthy (12 games) missed large parts of the season and we didn’t get much of a chance to see if they can work together.

That hurt their forward 50 efficiency in terms of their ability to score. They were ranked 17th for goals per inside 50s in the competition and also 16th for scores once inside 50.

Nathan Fyfe is one of the Brownlow Medal favourites. Picture: Getty Images

If you have got that personnel, who are good one-on-one players and win the ball and have shots on goal, that will clearly be an area where they can get better.

Kicking efficiency is another key area where the Dockers need to sharpen up. They are a poor kicking team and their ability to exit defensive 50 was an issue and created uncertainty in offence.

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Ross Lyon tried everything to get a better ball using group out of defensive 50. They have got to identify some really good ball users and a bit more outside influence. That would be a priority.

The call to end senior coach Lyon’s tenure was not timely. It was a senseless decision with a year to run on his deal. Why before the last round? What was that going to prove?

They might have jumped the gun thinking other clubs are maybe talking to a couple of their priorities and they panicked.

Their win-loss record is not where they would like it to be, but there is enough evidence to suggest what they are capable of doing. It is there before their eyes.

Originally published as Fremantle 2019 season review: Mick McGuane takes an in-depth look at where the Dockers are at