Fremantle Dockers prepared for big moment in Grand Final, says coach Ross Lyon

FREMANTLE coach Ross Lyon has revealed he has been constantly building and refining his Grand Final game plan assault for more than eighteen months.

Grand Final Parade

FREMANTLE coach Ross Lyon has revealed he has been constantly building and refining his Grand Final game plan assault for more than eighteen months in his bid to upset favourites Hawthorn at the MCG tomorrow.

And potential grand final-winning Dockers captain Matthew Pavlich has declared that a chilling defensive first-half execution of Sydney in last Saturday’s preliminary final win in Perth will need to be in full operation for the entire grand final to win Fremantle an historic first-ever flag.

“If we do bring that type of pressure we’re a strong chance to be right in to the end and that’s the way we play, certainly in the back half of the year and certainly the last six or seven weeks,” Pavlich said following the Grand Final parade in Melbourne today.

“Last week early in the game we were terrific...but we certainly dropped away late as the game went along, which we have reviewed strongly.

“We’re going to have to it for four quarters. We’re under no illusions from that.”

Pavlich, 31, plays his first grand final in 14 years and 290 games of herculean service as Fremantle’s greatest-ever player and leads an unchanged line-up into battle against the season-long favourites to take the flag.

Pavlich declared that anything but Fremantle’s most ferocious defensive mechanisms won’t be enough to dismantle Hawthorn’s renowned skilful kicking game and ball retention to generate scoring potency with power forwards Lance Franklin and Jarryd Roughead.

“What we’ve seen waiting around is a lot of hype and external noise both in Perth and in Australia about what’s going to happen in the prelim and now straight in to the GF,” said Pavlich.

“That’s given us a reasonable leg-up because we’ve been able to focus on the job at hand and certainly enjoyed the week and embraced it.

“But right now it’s about how we prepare mentally, because we know it’s going to red hot.

“We know we’re going to have to play at our very best to get the job done.” 

Grand Final Parade

Lyon declared key defender Luke McPharlin and crucial forward Chris Mayne certain to play after light training all week recovering from injury worries.

McPharlin is nursing calf and groin soreness, while Mayne has a nagging back injury.

But Lyon was not as blunt with prospects of All-Australian back man Michael Johnson being fully fit as he battles ongoing calf trouble.
 
Johnson, 28, is tipped to play but looks set for a last minute medical check tomorrow morning.

“Michael is a bit more of a concern,” Lyon disclosed at a packed media conference after the parade.

“He’s certainly in the 22 and I’d be very, very surprised if he doesn’t play.

“Anything can come from left-field, so until they get to the line anything is possible, I’ve learnt that.

“But as we sit, we’re pretty comfortable.”

Lyon has transformed the long-time underachieving Dockers into a brutal defensive machine, conceding just 69 points across 24 games this season, including comprehensive finals victories so far over superpowers Geelong and Sydney. 

His fiercely intimidating attacking and harassing game style has moulded the Dockers into a defensive unit most likely to threaten Hawthorn’s exquisite foot-passing, which is the best scoring outfit in the business, registering 114 points a game.

Lyon and his rising Dockers have unashamedly enforced an unrelenting defensive pressure all over the ground throughout Fremantle’s club record breaking home-and-away season which has them primed for a first ever grand final without fears, according to Lyon.  

“We’ve been building ourselves for the finals for the past 18 months,” he declared.

“So we know it stands up.

“It stood up last year and we’ve certainly improved. We’ve improved in a lot of areas.

“The pressure? We’ve built it and conditioned it.”

Lyon has encouraged his emerging AFL powerhouse to write their own history and ignore heavy scrutiny of his much-vaunted playing style.

“We’re just worrying about writing our own story and the actions that we need to write our own story,” he said.

“We’re really clear on that and we’re under no illusions on how great a team Hawthorn has been all year and that burn of the losing grand final year-on-year, which I’ve done and experienced losing two.

“They’ll be keen to avoid that.

“So we’re certainly focused and we need to get into action and prepare not play the game before we get there.”

Lyon appears to have called on his three grand final engagements as St Kilda coach in 2009 against Geelong and in 2010 - with the famous draw and then heavy loss to Collingwood a week later - as experience for the Dockers to draw from ahead of their appointment with destiny.

“I’d be really disappointed if any (Dockers) players were seduced by the hype, of a few tackles in a (last week) quarter,” Lyons said.

“I feel blessed to have (another) opportunity,” Lyon said.

“The player group has worked incredibly hard with the coaching panel.

“We all understand how hard (grand finals) are to get to. You need to take the opportunities on the day.

“But the past is really irrelevant to me, except I have an understanding of what’s been coming.

“So we keep as a football club, as Hawthorn have been demonstrating for some time, that you need to get yourself to a level to be able to compete and knock on the door consistently and keep turning up ‘till you get what you want.

“That’s what I apply to myself as well as the collective the club.”