Fremantle forward Chris Mayne stars as Dockers surge to Grand Final Day

HE is the man with the Sideshow Bob hairstyle, but Chris Mayne is no side act at Fremantle.

Chris Mayne

HE is the man with the Sideshow Bob hairstyle, but Chris Mayne is no side act at Fremantle.

In fact, in Ross Lyon’s mind, he may very well be the main attraction.

For here is a player who is not only unerringly accurate in front of goal, but one who has also revolutionised the art of forward pressure.

Mayne’s staggering ability to execute the latter skill has rival coaches taking notice, opposition forwards petrified and Lyon delighted.

“His work rate is second to none in the AFL,” Lyon has said of Mayne with praise you might have assumed was aimed at Nathan Fyfe or Michael Barlow.

In Fremantle’s frightening dismantling of Sydney in last week’s preliminary final, Mayne was credited with a whopping 39 pressure acts — 34 coming inside the Dockers’ forward 50m.

It is the highest figure recorded since Champion Data started recording the statistic, breaking Mayne’s previous record of 31 against Brisbane Lions in 2011.

Five Sydney turnovers in the Swans’ defensive half of the ground were directly caused by Mayne’s manic harassing.

This year Mayne has averaged 16.3 pressure acts a game — ranked second in the AFL behind the Lions’ Dayne Zorko.

But the 24-year-old All-Australian nominee has gone to another level this September and is the main pillar in Fremantle’s purple wall.

Mayne’s tackle efficiency is 67.1 per cent — ranked No. 3 among general forwards in the competition this season.

Thirteen of his attempted 16 tackles against the Swans stuck last weekend. When he lays hands on a Hawthorn defender on Saturday, don’t give them much chance of slipping the noose. The likes of Grant Birchall, Brent Guerra and Luke Hodge will be hunted.

But Mayne is not just a tackling foot soldier either. When it comes to answering the old question, “Who would you choose to kick for your life”, this bloke would be up there.

In fact, this Grand Final boasts the two most accurate set shots in the AFL in Jack Gunston and Mayne.

The Docker has drilled 36.12 and missed another five shots altogether for an accuracy rate of 67.9 per cent — second only to Gunston. Last year Mayne kicked an uncanny 39.7.

He’s also Fremantle’s No. 1 architect with 34 goal assists and also ranks first at the club for marks inside 50m with 33.

“What I’ve found is the key to goalkicking is the last few steps,” Mayne shared on his ‘Mayne Tip’ video series on the Fremantle website.

“When you’re bringing the ball down to your boot keep it as low as possible, your body over the ball ... and you follow through to the target you’ve picked behind the goals.”