Fremantle Dockers 'survivors' chase redemption for 2006 preliminary final

THEY have waited 2556 days to get another chance to play off for a spot in the Grand Final.

Dockers

THEY have waited 2556 days to get another chance to play off for a spot in the Grand Final.

At least Matthew Pavlich, Luke McPharlin, Aaron Sandilands, Ryan Crowley, David Mundy and fingers crossed, Michael Johnson, will get that chance.

Sixteen of the Fremantle players who went into battle in the 2006 first preliminary final against Sydney at ANZ Stadium have since departed the AFL scene.

For the survivors, Saturday's preliminary final at Patersons Stadium represents a second chance.

And having had seven years to mull over the missed opportunity, the elder statesmen are imploring the new generation of Dockers to make it count.

"I've been in football long enough to know that it doesn't just get served up to you on a plate," McPharlin said.

"To be a top-four side this year doesn't guarantee that it will happen again next year.

"For the six players, to be involved in another prelim is really exciting, and this one's at home so it makes it even more exciting.

"This is an enormous opportunity for this football club. But there's no guarantees and we have to get into action next week and play a really strong brand of football."

While Fremantle's preliminary final appearance on Saturday has been the culmination of a two-year build since the appointment of Ross Lyon, the Dockers' first appearance in the competition's penultimate weekend seven years ago came out of the blue.

Sitting 10th on the ladder leading into Round 14 after three straight losses, Fremantle stormed home with a remarkable nine consecutive wins to secure the first top-four finish in club history.

Then-skipper Peter Bell recalls a conversation with coach Chris Connolly as a pivotal turning point.

They decided the Dockers should throw caution to the wind, attacking through the corridor and playing on at all costs.

"Chris confided in me and said it's more than likely that he's not going to be there at the end of the year and did I have any advice on how he should play out the end of the year," Bell said.

"I just said: `As much as you possibly can, mate, try and enjoy yourself and try to relax. Try to simplify the game plan and spend less time meeting and more time actually training'."

McPharlin remembers feeling almost invincible during the unbeaten run.

"The season was a bit of a blur and I remember just feeling so confident every weekend," he said.

"It was a really exciting place to be around.

"Unfortunately we fell short in the prelim. You've got to book your chance to play in a grand final and we didn't get there."

Bell looked back on the '06 campaign as "a glass half-full", given where the team came from.

A glance at the false dawn of 2006 underlines the lesson that the future can never be taken for granted.

After the loss to the Swans, Connolly's disappointment was tempered by what he saw as a bright immediate future for the club.

"A lot of players are in a bracket where they're going to really improve," he said.

"I think the club is on track to have an opportunity."

Rather than a stepping stone to a breakthrough premiership in 2007, '06 would remain as the club's high-water mark.

Just 15 games into '07, Connolly was sacked, with the Dockers 13th on the 16-team ladder.

While the club made significant gains off the field, the ultimate on-field failure of the Connolly era and a disastrous first full campaign under new coach Mark Harvey in 2008 heralded a shift in thinking.

Fremantle's ageing list was disbanded and the club opted for a youth-driven rebuild.

The Dockers had eight picks at the '08 national draft, using their first five selections on Stephen Hill (pick 3), Hayden Ballantyne (21), Nick Suban (24), Zac Clarke (37) and Michael Walters (53).

Five years later, time would almost stand still for Freo fans, as Hill picked up the ball on the Simonds Stadium wing, took five bounces in the dying stages of the second qualifying final against Geelong and kicked one of the most memorable goals in the club's history to seal a spot in the preliminary final once more.

Hill, Ballantyne, Suban, Clarke and Walters will all play in Saturday's preliminary final, as the Dockers set their sights on outdoing the class of 2006.

They will know they need to take advantage of the opportunity. Six players in the changerooms will remind them.