AFL Fremantle v Richmond: Dockers hang on for thrilling four-point win
Damien Hardwick is frustrated his side continues to struggle with basic fundamentals. But he hasn’t given up hope of rising to the challenge in a dramatic finish to the year.
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A four-point loss to West Coast at Optus Stadium in Round 13 started a poor run of form for Richmond that it hasn’t yet recovered from.
A four-point loss to Fremantle at the same venue on Sunday, in Round 20, may have finally put the final dagger into the reigning premiers season.
The Dockers kicked the last two goals of the game to claim a low-scoring 7.13 (55) to 6.15 (51) victory.
In doing so, they have kept their own chances of playing finals alive.
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Goals were tough to come by all game, so when the Dockers led by 18 points midway through the third term, the looked home.
Richmond had 1.10 on the board up to then.
But as champion sides do, the Tigers rallied. Mid-season draftee Matthew Parker kicked goals either side of the three-quarter-time siren to give him side a sniff.
Then Kane Lambert jumped onto a loose ball 50m out and kicked the Tigers fifth goal to give them the lead for the first time in the game, early in the final term.
Lachie Schultz took a screaming mark 14 minutes into the quarter to get the Dockers back to within a kick and Caleb Serong gave them the lead with a snap goal with just eight minutes remaining.
In the dying minute of the game, Richmond still had several chances to score, but each time was thwarted by young Dockers star Andrew Brayshaw.
Richmond coach Damien Hardwick believes the game of AFL has evolved this year and that his side is one of many that needs to change with it.
The three-time premiership coach also predicts “one hell of a finish” to the season and hasn’t yet given up on his Tigers being a part of it – despite Sunday’s four-point loss to Fremantle, their sixth defeat in seven rounds.
Richmond sits 11th on the ladder, but with three rounds remaining are only one win from the eight-placed Dockers.
With eight wins however, they probably need to win all three of those remaining games, against North Melbourne, Greater Western Sydney and Hawthorn.
Hardwick admits that his team, which has become so used to winning, is frustrating that they aren’t getting the results.
“It’s challenging, there is no doubt,” he said.
“The frustrating thing for us and the playing group is that there are things we are doing well. Things, like skill execution, missed tackles, fundamentals of the game, that we’re just not quite getting to the Richmond level we expect.
“It’s things we can control we have been incredibly disappointed about.
“We need to continually challenge each other to get better over the remaining three rounds.”
Helping the Tigers cause is that sides above or around them on the ladder - West Coast, Essendon, St Kilda and the Giants – also lost on the weekend.
If you ignore last season’s Covid-shortened season, 11 wins could be enough to get a team into finals this year for the first time since 2011.
Teams have had their chances, as the Tigers have had over the past seven weeks, and not made the most of them.
Richmond has won only once game since they beat Essendon in the Dreamtime clash at Optus Stadium in Round 12 – beating Brisbane in Round 18.
“It sums up the year of footy. It has been a weird year,” he said.
“It’s challenging; it’s different.
“The game has changed, it’s evolved and we have to change with it.
“Probably there are sides who have been on the road and sides who have travelled back-and-fourth. “It’s a been a fatiguing year. The challenge from club land and the AFL to get where we are at the moment is an incredible achievement.
“Sides are right on the edge; it’s hard and fatiguing. We’ve seen a lot of uncontested marks.
“We have to dig in. Like everyone else, we can see the finish line, we just have to keep pushing up that mountain and get where we need to go.
“It’s going to be one hell of a finish, but it has been a long season.”
Helping The Tigers cause to keep their finals run alive is the return of Dion Prestia, who played just his seventh game for the season, on Sunday.
He was one of Richmond’s best, with 31 possessions (10 of those contested) and five tackles.
Hardwick said Prestia just hasn’t been available enough this season.
“It’s reflective of our season. He helps us, there is no doubt about that,” he said.
“Those transitional mids are damaging. On the other side, (Andrew) Brayshaw, (Adam) Cerra and David Mundy, who is 45 years of age, keep getting the job done.
“They move from contest to contest. Those players are hard to find and when you get good ones, they make an incredible difference.
“We have Dion, who has been available at stages throughout the year, but it hasn’t been enough for us.”
Evergreen stars perform
Like almost every club, injuries have hit both these teams in the latter half of this season.
With Dustin Martin sidelined for the Tigers for the remaining games and Nat Fyfe and Michael Walters for Fremantle, someone needed to step up in this contest.
For both teams, veterans did just that – Trent Cotchin and Dion Prestia for the Tigers and David Mundy for the Dockers.
It wasn’t their fault the goalkicking was so poor, but they all made sure their respective forward got plenty of looks.
Prestia returned from a hamstring injury to play his seventh game for the season and his first since Round 15. He took a quarter to get into the content, picking up just six touches in the first term, but finished with 31 touches.
Cotchin took control of the contest after halftime. He had 15 possessions in the third term to try to lift his side over the line and finished with 32 touches, 11 of them contested.
But as Cotchin lifted, so did Mundy. The Dockers star had 12 possessions in that third quarter and was pivotal in stopping the Tigers from taking the lead before the start of the final term.
Brayshaw was the difference, though – early in the game and as it came to an end.
His clearance out of the Tigers scoring area with seven seconds remaining was his 39th possession. Add eight clearances and it was a pretty handy day out.
Spots up for grabs
With the exception of last season’s shortened schedule, 11 wins looks likely to be enough to play finals this season. It’ll be the first time since 2011 that 11 wins will see a side finish in the top eight.
For Richmond to be in that mix, it needs to win all three remaining games, against North Melbourne, Greater Western Sydney and Hawthorn, to get to that number.
For Fremantle to get to 11, it will need two more victories, with games to come against Brisbane, West Coast and St Kilda.
The Tigers have no one else to blame, having lost six of their past seven games, a run which started with that loss to the Eagles.
They are the worst performing side in the competition – as far as wins and losses go – since Round 12.
A behind fest
Fremantle will need to lift in attack if it wants to make finals and impact in them.
The half-time scores were 2.10 to 1.8, with the Dockers leading by eight points. The Tigers won the second quarter, 0.7 to 0.4.
Matt Taberner (three goals) had kicked the first goal of the game after just two minutes. It was a great way to start his 100th AFL game.
It also took him to 30 goals for the season, the first time he reached that figure in one season since debuting in 2013.
He had a chance to kick his second just three minutes later, and missed the set shot. That set the tone for goal scoring.
For the Tigers both Tom Lynch and Matt Parker missed set shots from within 20m.
But poor goal scoring has been Fremantle’s Achilles heel all season.
They have now finished 14 games in 2021 with more behinds than goals – winning only five of them.
SCOREBOARD
DOCKERS 2.6, 2.10, 5.12, 7.13 (55)
TIGERS 1.1, 1.8, 3.14, 6.15 (51)
ELBOROUGH’S BEST
Dockers: Brayshaw, Mundy, Cerra, Ryan, Darcy, Serong.
Tigers: Cotchin, Prestia, Baker, Stack, Rioli, Short.
GOALS
Dockers: Taberner 3; Schultz 2; Colyer, Serong.
Tigers: Parker 2; Lambert, Riewoldt, Lynch, Mansell.
INJURIES
Dockers: Banfield (concussion, replaced by Blakely). Tigers: Nil.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
BRAD ELBOROUGH’S VOTES
3. Andrew Brayshaw
2. David Mundy
1. Trent Cotchin
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