Fremantle Dockers mid-season review: Is Freo coming or going?

FREMANTLE’S 6-6 equilibrium at the bye doesn’t even hint at its extraordinary rollercoaster ride. Ultimate season review plus Robbo’s take, stats and will Nat Fyfe stay or go?

FREMANTLE’S 6-6 equilibrium at the bye doesn’t even hint at its extraordinary rollercoaster ride.

Having stated they were beginning a four-year rebuild, the Dockers began the season by strangely sending out the third-oldest team in the league over the opening two rounds.

REVIEW: WEST COAST MID-YEAR REPORT CARD

When that left them sitting on the bottom of the ladder, coach Ross Lyon swung the axe and opted for youth as Fremantle essentially started its year again.

What followed was a famous victory over the Western Bulldogs and the Dockers strung together six wins from seven starts as they repeatedly found a way to come from behind and pinch the close ones.

But their woeful percentage proved to be a more accurate reading than their 6-3 record, with a horrible loss to last-placed Brisbane Lions sending them to the break with three straight defeats and plenty to think about.

Lachie Neale has backed up his 2016 breakout year.

It’s a stretch that has also exposed how reliant Fremantle remains on man mountain Aaron Sandilands, who missed all three losses with a hamstring issue. The Dockers have won just three of their past 22 games without him.

Sandilands, 34, will play on in 2018 but he can’t go on forever. Promising young ruckman Sean Darcy is a big part of the future and has been handed a two-year contract extension until 2020 before he’s even made his debut.

Captain Nat Fyfe is yet to recapture his scintillating 2015 form, but is understood to have been playing under duress and hopes to be freshened by the break.

While his form has attracted scrutiny, Fyfe has still been among his team’s best most weeks and there’s been no harder trier. The big-name free agent is expected to re-sign with the club during the second half of the season.

Life after Matthew Pavlich has been a struggle up forward. The Dockers average just 76.6 points per game, ranked 17th.

Both Cam McCarthy (16 goals) and Shane Kersten (14 goals) have had their moments, yet neither has been the forward the team needs them to be.

Fellow tall Matt Taberner has been what he has been for his entire career — the occasional tease followed by a failure to back up a breakout performance.

While McCarthy and Kersten remain works in progress, the Dockers would be delighted with fellow trade period acquisitions Bradley Hill and Joel Hamling.

Lyon is spending the bye looking for answers.

“We asked ourselves the question as coaches: ‘What’s changed?’ We were 0-2 and then you win six out of seven. So clearly the principles that we asked to be employed stand up. So really we’ll ask the players what’s changed,” Lyon said.

“We need to go to the break, we need to reassess and we need to make changes because we can’t just roll along.

“We need to improve our football and we need to get a midfield that can be competitive against fierce, quick opposition. At the minute, we’re not getting it done. That’s the bottom line.”

Cam McCarthy has kicked 16 goals this year.

ROBBO SAYS

DON’T know whether Fremantle is coming or going and after the past three weeks, you’d have to favour the latter.

Nice to know Nat Fyfe is carrying injury because he’s a far better player than what we’ve seen recently and if he gets right, Aaron Sandilands returns and Rossy Lyon can perform another coaching masterclass, the Dockers could get going again.

Ticks are Michael Walters, Lachie Neale, Joel Hamling, the Hill brothers and youngsters in Connor Blakely, Lachie Weller, Darcy Tucker, Ed Langdon. They are better than their last game. They want to be.

SEASON SNAPSHOT

Ladder position: 10th

Wins: 6

Losses: 6

Percentage: 78.5

Last year: 16th

A CLOSER LOOK AT THE DOCKERS

MONEY MAN — LACHIE NEALE

Last season’s Doig medallist is not quite in the same prolific form, but has displayed the consistency his teammates have lacked. Averaging 28 touches and his 11 goals put him third on Freo’s goalkicking list.

SURPRISE PACKET — CONNOR BLAKELY

The third-year midfielder has shown he should be a quality long-term player. Averaging 24 disposals a game, Blakely has also been asked to run with some opposition guns and has regularly limited their influence.

GONE BACKWARDS — DANYLE PEARCE

Veteran midfielder’s disposal average of 18.6 per game is his lowest return since his 2005 debut season. Pearce, 31, has twice been dropped and doesn’t look part of the future despite having a contract for next year.

Is Danyle Pearce still part of Ross Lyon’s plans?

STORY SO FAR

R1 L42 Geelong

R2 L89 Port Adelaide

R3 W16 Western Bulldogs

R4 W2 Melbourne

R5 W5 North Melbourne

R6 L41 West Coast

R7 W37 Essendon

R8 W2 Richmond

R9 W35 Carlton

R10 L100 Adelaide

R11 L20 Collingwood

R12 L57 Brisbane Lions

THE RUN HOME

R14 Geelong SS

R15 St Kilda S

R16 North Melbourne ES

R17 West Coast S

R18 Hawthorn S

R19 GWS Spotless

R20 Gold Coast S

R21 Sydney SCG

R22 Richmond S

R23 Essendon ES

STATS THAT MATTER

SUPERCOACH POINTS (AV

Lachie Neale 115

Nat Fyfe 100

David Mundy 96

Aaron Sandilands 96

Connor Blakely 85

DISPOSALS (AV)

Lachie Neale 27.5

Nat Fyfe 25.3

Connor Blakely 23.6

Bradley Hill 23.1

David Mundy 21.8

KICK RATING

Lachie Neale +5.2%

Michael Johnson +4.8%

Brady Grey +3.6%

Ethan Hughes +2.5%

Garrick Ibbotson +1.7%

CONTESTED POSSESSIONS (AV)

Nat Fyfe 13.8

Lachie Neale 13.3

David Mundy 9.7

Connor Blakely 8.8

Stephen Hill 8.4

UNCONTESTED POSSESSIONS (AV)

Bradley Hill 18.7

Connor Blakely 15.2

Lachie Weller 14.9

Lachie Neale 14.5

Lee Spurr 13.2

METRES GAINED (AV)

Bradley Hill 449m

Lachie Weller 428m

Stephen Hill 398m

Danyle Pearce 330m

Michael Walters 314m

Bradley Hill has been a big trade win.

INTERCEPT POSSESSIONS (AV)

Michael Johnson 7.3

Garrick Ibbotson 5.6

Joel Hamling 5.5

Lee Spurr 4.8

Lachie Weller 4.4

SCORE INVOLVEMENTS (AV)

Nat Fyfe 7.2

Lachie Neale 6.6

David Mundy 6.0

Bradley Hill 6.0

Michael Walters 5.8

PRESSURE POINTS (AV)

Nat Fyfe 50.3

Stephen Hill 44.9

Brady Grey 44.9

Lachie Neale 42.5

David Mundy 41.7

GOALS

Cam McCarthy 16

Shane Kersten 14

Lachie Neale 11

Nat Fyfe 10

Bradley Hill 10

Source: CHAMPION DATA

Nat Fyfe is expected to commit to Fremantle.

TRADING PLACES

COMING?

Both Perth clubs are watching Mitch McGovern’s contract situation very closely. The WA native is in no hurry to sign a new deal with Adelaide, happy to let a bidding war develop between the Eagles and Dockers. Freo needs another goalkicker and might have to fork out a bit extra to overcome the lure for Mitch of playing with his brother.

GOING?

Nat Fyfe was the hottest free agent in footy at the start of the season but the wind has gone out of those sails a bit as Dustin Martin’s stocks rise and leading suitor St Kilda switched its sights to Giant Josh Kelly. But there are still plenty of clubs that would welcome Fyfe with open arms and Freo fans will breathe a lot easier when he finally puts pen to paper.

FINALS ANALYSIS

Odds for eight: $8

Odds for flag: $101

FREMANTLE doesn’t look like a finals team, but its 6-6 record says it is still alive. The Dockers’ percentage is so bad it’s irrelevant; from here they simply need to find a way to win six of their last 10 and hope this is a season where 12 wins is enough, regardless of percentage.

Originally published as Fremantle Dockers mid-season review: Is Freo coming or going?