How Fremantle became a force

• EXPERT TIPS: Winner and Norm Smith medallist

'Manic' is the word that best describes the way Fremantle pressured Sydney in last week's preliminary final. So fierce and ferocious was the Dockers' attack on the ball and the opposition, the proud Swans had to admit later that the intensity broke their backs and spirit.

They had never before experienced what the Dockers hit them with. The question is, can Fremantle reproduce that effort on Saturday against Hawthorn? If it can, it will be heartbreak for the Hawks.

Fremantle coach Ross Lyon.Credit: Getty Images

After 19 seasons in the AFL wilderness, Fremantle is on the cusp of greatness. How did the tsunami we witnessed last week evolve? How was it unleashed? Truth is, it takes a lot longer than just the two years that Ross Lyon has been senior coach.

The attitude of the present group of Fremantle's players is way different to the group that I encountered some 14 years ago when Damian Drum was coach. Damian had invited me to speak to the playing group. Just 10 minutes into my talk, I knew I was wasting their time and mine.

Perhaps they didn't have the most motivational and interesting speaker, but their manners, attention and body language left a lot to be desired.

The room was full of players in their second, third or fourth stints at an AFL club. There were a lot of lost souls and nomads. Some, such as Chris Bond, Adrian Fletcher and, later, Peter Bell, gave their all and set high, professional standards. But plenty didn't. Most saw Fremantle as their last football port of call, so they took what they could and gave little back.

The recycling of players and the constant trading of valuable, early draft picks had hurt the Dockers. In 2008, after wallowing for 14 years in the AFL, the club took a stand. Mark Harvey had replaced Chris Connolly as coach and, at the urging of football manager Chris Bond, they decided to stop trading early draft picks, go for talented youth and develop their own.

Since 2008, the earliest draft pick that they have traded was No.61 in 2010 for Jonathon Griffin.

The 2008 draft was a beauty for Fremantle. It got Stephen Hill at No.3, Hayden Ballantyne at 21, Nick Suban at 24, Zac Clarke at 37 and Michael Walters at 53. All five will run out on Saturday.

The next year, the Dockers took Anthony Morabito at No.4 and Nathan Fyfe at 20. But for injury, Morabito would have been there on Saturday too.

Fremantle has also done well with rookie-listed players - Michael Barlow, Lee Spurr, Aaron Sandilands, Paul Duffield, Matt de Boer and Ryan Crowley all came through this way.

Harvey should be thanked for committing to youth. He gave a start to and continued to play the likes of Chris Mayne, Barlow, Clarke, de Boer, Fyfe, Hill, Ballantyne, Tendai Mzungu, Alex Silvagni, Suban and Walters.

Bond also stepped up and with chief executive Steve Rosich, pulled off the coaching coup of the decade at the end of the 2011 season. While Harvey was good, Lyon had proved in his five years at StKilda that he was an exceptional coach.

So Fremantle acted - quickly, silently, ruthlessly and aggressively. Bond and Rosich got their man. There was immediate fallout. Lyon was targeted left, right and centre. Many in the media, many at St Kilda and many at Fremantle, went for him. But Lyon is tough, smart, courageous and resilient. He handled a difficult situation with aplomb. Those who felt for Harvey forget that years earlier he was prepared to step up and take the place of the sacked Connolly. And those who were dirty on Lyon would probably be baying for his blood now, had he stayed for a sixth and seventh season at the Saints that saw them drop out of the eight.

It's a tough business. Lyon has ambitions - to be a premiership coach is one, to provide well for a wife and three kids is another. He made the right call, as did Fremantle.

For Lyon to have his methods adopted quickly by the playing group, there had to be immediate buy-in from the senior players. The three most senior players did this. Matthew Pavlich, Luke McPharlin and Sandilands know they are near the end and they were quick to embrace a new coach who could take them to the top.

Pavlich has been a big fish in a small pond for some 14 years. Six best-and-fairests and six All-Australian honours are nice, but his standing in football will double on Saturday if he becomes a premiership captain. Then he can rightfully be compared with Wayne Carey, Jonathan Brown, Stephen Kernahan and Dermott Brereton.

Sandilands has all the individual honours too. Plagued by injury during the last couple of seasons, he is just hitting his peak. His two finals have been extremely good. Against Geelong and Sydney, with the support of Clarke, they have dominated the hitouts which, in turn, has helped David Mundy, Fyfe, Hill, Barlow and Danyle Pearce win the clearances. Importantly, the opposition gets few breakaway clearances, as its ruckmen can't outreach Sandilands to set up perfect hitouts.

McPharlin is crucial to the Dockers' hopes. He is fast for a tall defender, has safe hands and sets up plenty of defensive rebounds. While all of that is important, his main job will be, along with Zac Dawson and Michael Johnson, to contain the Hawks' three tall forwards.

If Lance Franklin, Jarryd Roughead and David Hale are restricted to ordinary games, the Dockers will be a real chance.

It will be an intriguing contest. The best attacking team, Hawthorn averages 114 points a game. But Fremantle is the best defensive team, conceding on average just 69 points a game. The best field-kicking team (Hawthorn) against the best tacklers (Dockers). Both coaches will be quietly confident.

Alastair Clarkson's men have recent grand final experience. They will be spurred by last year's loss. And Lyon knows that his bottom six players are far better than the bottom six he had at St Kilda, which just failed on two occasions.

FOOTNOTE: After 16 years writing for The Age, this will be my last column. To all the fans I have annoyed, upset, humoured or pleased, I say thank you. It's been fun. We are indeed fortunate to have the greatest game in the world.