Garry Lyon: No excuses for Fremantle in race for 2025 AFL premiership
If you were starting an AFL team, who would you pick? Garry Lyon gives his thoughts and reveals why one of this year’s contenders has all the makings of a premiership side.
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What if you were starting a team from scratch? You’ve got a team sheet in front of you, with 23 positions to fill. Where do you start, and what do you prioritise?
Brendon Gale, as the CEO of the soon to be Tasmanian devils, and his list management team are wrestling with that very notion right now.
As were the Fremantle Dockers, some 30 years ago when they first entered the competition. With plenty of trial and error, tough times combined with sustained growth, they arrive at Marvel Stadium on Friday night with a list that is as capable as any they have had in their history of achieving the ultimate success. They have experienced finals football in eight of those 30 years, been top four twice and played off in the grand final once.
The Crows had won their two flags in their first eight years. The Eagles had two flags to their name in the same time frame. Port Adelaide took eight years to win their first. The Lions had to wait 15 years for their first flag, but they then went on to win the next two. All of these clubs entered under slightly different circumstances, with slightly different allowances, but the inescapable fact is the Fremantle Dockers, after 30 years, are still playing catch up.
Which brings me back to my original question; what if you were building a team from scratch? And how closely does that ideal, hypothetical, team that you build resemble the one that the Dockers are able to assemble on Friday night?
THE BACKLINE
Request: A big bodied, 196cm plus mobile key defender to play on the opposition’s big key forward. Needs to be able to lead the back half and keep them organised.
Answer: Alex Pearce. Captain of the Dockers, can confidently be deployed on the Riley Thilthorpe, Jesse Hogan, Nick Larkey types.
Request: 2nd tall to go to the other dangerous, marking tall in the opposition. Needs flexibility and mobility, and an attacking mindset.
Answer: Brennan Cox. Underrated, he can provide great support for Pearce, can intercept mark and is used as a target on the way out, especially from kick ins.
Request: Must have an intercept marker who reads the play better than his opponent, but lock down when necessary.
Answer: Luke Ryan. Is a prolific ball winner who seems to know when to come off his man at the right time. Tough, durable and a decent user of the ball.
Request: One, preferably two, rebounding, creative half backs.
Answer: Jordan Clark. This role has never been more important than it is right now. You will get the football, you will find yourself as the spare on occasion, so you must be able to maximise the damage with ball in hand.
THE MIDFIELD
Request: Prolific accumulators, hard, contested ball winners, clearance animals, relentless gut runners, damaging ball users, consistent and durable leaders.
Answer: In Caleb Serong and Andrew Brayshaw, the Dockers are very well served. They are the beating heart of this group and their consistency and will to win is elite. The only criticism would be that they get a little more bang for their buck, and that their possessions inflict maximum damage on the opposition. Very good leaders.
Request: A mid-forward who has the capacity to turn a game on its head from either part of the ground.
Answer: Shai Bolton provides this in spades. He can light up a match in the forward 50 and be just as damaging with brilliance through the middle. Hayden Young is developing into this role as well. His mid field work is superb, his kicking is reflective of what the modern game demands, and he is showing signs, with 13 goals last year, of developing into an offensive threat.
Request: Hard running wingmen whose workmate has them assisting in defence at the right time and pushing forward and becoming a dangerous forward threat.
Answer: I’m not sure the Dockers have absolutely got these roles nailed. They have used Jeremy Sharp there a lot, and while he is promising, he’s a step off the elite.
Request: Midfield depth
Answer: Matthew Johnson, Jaeger O’Meara, Nathan Fyfe, Nathan O’Driscoll. They will hope in time Murphy Reid can spend time in there and Sam Switkowski can have cameos. Again, there is heavy reliance on their big gun superstars.
THE FORWARD LINE
Request: Two big keys, preferably one of them is a dominant alpha who plays with dangerous intent.
Answer: The Dockers are magnificently placed here with Josh Treacy everything you want in a modern day key position forward. He is aggressive, competitive, a great athlete, a team first player who crashes packs as naturally as he does hit up at the football. His want to be the best player he can be is only surpassed by his want for team success.
Jye Amiss should be, and has been in the past, his perfect running mate. Just seems a little off so far this year, with 11 goals from 7 outings. Has kicked 41 and 36 goals in the past 2 years. At his best, combined with Treacy, could be the best 1-2 forward combination in the competition.
Request: X factor
Answer: Shai Bolton is exactly that. Almost unstoppable when he gets rolling. Has kicked 108 goals in the last 3 years. Murphy Reid is just a baby but 4 goals in a quarter on debut tells you plenty about this young lad.
Michael Frederick has shown signs that he has designs on this role as well. Michael Walter has been this player for a long time at the Dockers, and while he will continue to contribute, his ageing body is a challenge.
Request: Pressure Forward
Answer: Sam Switkowski provides the pressure in the forward 50. His workmate and appetite for the defensive aspects is critical to this group and hugely respected. Isaiah Dudley has just started his AFL journey, but this is a role he seems well suited to.
Ruck
Request: 2 players capable of playing in the genuine ruck position. One of those players must also earn his spot in the team in another role.
Answer: On paper, the Dockers have got this as well covered as any team. Sean Darcy, with continuity in his football, has still got plenty to offer as a bullocking, big bodied ruckman. Luke Jackson is the archetypal ruck/forward. What a pair of weapons to deploy when they are both fit. Jackson provides a completely different match up challenge to Darcy, and together, they have the potential to trouble every rucking set up in the competition.
THE VERDICT
So, by my reckoning, the Dockers have the key pillars in place to make a serious tilt at this year’s flag. But not without their challenges. They can handle most tall opposition forward set ups, but could be vulnerable to the quicker, smaller more mobile group. The Geelong loss in Round 1, by 78 points, speaks to that.
They have been a little more leaky this year, going from 4th for points against to 9th and 6th for scores per inside 50 to 9th, but they are punishing teams from intercept (4th) and are the number 1 scoring team from the back half. 4 of the last 6 Premiers have been rated #1 for scoring from half back.
They have also stepped away from their high uncontested mark game last year, going from 7th to 16th, preferring to kick the ball long down the line, from 13th last year to 4th this year.
Of some concern is their clearance numbers. After producing the 2nd best clearance numbers of any side in the past 20 years last season, they now sit in 8th position this year, 11th for clearance to score and only St Kilda, Richmond and North have given up more scores from clearance. With Serong and Brayshaw in the side, this is surprising. Contested possessions have dropped from 4th to 11th and ground balls from 5th to 9th.
With all of that going on, they have managed to get ahead of the win/loss count and sit just outside the 8.
If they’re to be taken seriously, they handle the Saints in the Friday night prime time slot. Justin Longmuir has spoken of the need for a more ruthless mindset. They had it against Adelaide last week yet they were everything but that against Melbourne the week before.
There are plenty of doubters in the football world still, about the Dockers. My question is whether some of those doubters are wearing Fremantle jumpers? Do they really believe they are capable of winning the AFL premiership this year? If you were starting from scratch with this team, you should.
Originally published as Garry Lyon: No excuses for Fremantle in race for 2025 AFL premiership
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