AFL Round 17 Fremantle v Richmond: Dockers lock in top three spot as Tigers sit bottom for the first time since 2010

The Tigers started fast over in the west, but it didn’t take Fremantle long to seize control. And the result leaves Adem Yze’s side in uncharted territory.

Mark Duffield and Brad Elborough

4 min read

July 6, 2024 - 11:26PM

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In the end it was comfortable for Fremantle against Richmond – even if it had threatened to get a little uncomfortable for the home team for two quarters.

Richmond gave a bit of cheek – getting a fast start and enjoying periods of ascendancy before half time. Shai Bolton nailed four goals and Toby Nankervis applied a fair degree of brute force in the ruck.

But the Dockers bolted clear in the third term, and then eased home 51-point winners in the last. It gives them third spot on the ladder for the time being but they do walk away with injury concerns.

Ruckman Sean Darcy will miss next week’s challenging game against Hawthorn in Launceston after suffering a first half concussion, and promising young defender Josh Draper spent the final term on the bench after labouring through two quarters with a groin issue.

Draper’s injury may actually be the main concern with skipper Alex Pearce expected to still be a week away with a broken forearm suffered against Gold Coast.
The Dockers have a replacement ruckman for Darcy in Luke Jackson – but they are getting light on for tall defenders.

Andrew Brayshaw breaks away from Toby Nankervis. Picture: Will Russell/AFL Photos

The loss leaves Richmond in unfamiliar territory – on the bottom of the AFL ladder.

It’s been a while since the Tigers have been among the cellar dwellers, having enjoyed a golden era that netted them three premierships.

But North Melbourne’s win over Gold Coast earlier in the day sent Adem Yze’s men to the foot of the table. And they were unable to bounce straight back, losing an uninspiring contest.

Richmond has not been in last place on the ladder since round 13, of 2010. Round 0 of this season doesn’t count, where they lost to the Suns by 39 points, because only four games were played.

That 2010 season was Damian Hardwick’s first season as coach, in a 16-team competition.

They were able to win three more games in the run home, to leapfrog West Coast into 15th spot.

The last time Richmond won a wooden spoon was 2007, under Terry Wallace, when it won only three games and drew one.

Jye Amiss and the Fremantle forwards were too good for Richmond. Picture: Daniel Carson/AFL Photos

It was a strange game. In the end, Fremantle controlled it and were driven home by five Josh Treacy goals and stellar midfield games from Andrew Brayshaw, who had 35 disposals and kicked a goal, and his left-footed offsider Hayden Young, who had 24 and kicked two.

Defender Brennan Cox appeared to get through his first game back from a serious hamstring tendon injury and Michael Walters – subbed in for Darcy – kicked two after half time.

But the Dockers, coming off a big win against Sydney, did play in fits and starts for the first half.

They were jumped, then steadied, then did not take full advantage of a clear edge in general play with a 13-6 clearance edge and a 19-11 inside-fifty edge for the term adding up to just four goals.

But it still gave them a handy 15-point buffer at quarter-time.

Richmond, who had kicked the first two goals of the game in the opening six minutes, had not scored after that point, while Fremantle had bombarded the goals with seven shots.

The ruck battle between heavyweights Darcy and Nankervis had been the game’s most fascinating in the opening term.

Nankervis had pushed forward strongly to kick an early goal but Darcy fought back, flexed his muscles around the contest and gathered five first-quarter possessions.

And while the Dockers did not take all of their first quarter chances, Treacy nailed three and Heath Chapman slotted a brilliant set shot from the boundary from 45 metres.

Hayden Young booted two goals for the Dockers. Picture: Paul Kane/Getty Images

The second term had been a non-descript affair and the Tigers had the better of it in the early going. But it was the Dockers who were able to hit the scoreboard to sneak out to a four-goal lead.

The Dockers had been good in the contest but with Nankervis continuing to ruck powerfully the Tigers were more than holding their own in around the stoppage, meaning they had chances to score but were unable to take all but one of them.

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Meanwhile, Fremantle’s midfield, criticised earlier in the season for not hitting the scoreboard, had come to the party, with goals to Young and Brayshaw critical to the buffer the Dockers held at the main break.

Darcy didn’t re-emerge after half time, put into concussion protocols which left Nankervis to flex his muscles against Jackson. It also left Jackson to impose himself athletically on the game as a ruckman and one spectacular centre square takeaway from a leap into Nankervis and clean possession saw the Dockers get a running start on the term with a goal form centre square stoppage.

Jackson finished with 21 disposals and gave the Dockers extra life and run around the ground.

Bolton was giving the Dockers defenders a headache in attack and his two third-quarter goals gave him four for the match.

But the problem for the Tigers is they had headaches – plural – down at the other end.

Treacy had to take a turn in the ruck with Darcy out of the game, but he still found the time to nail his fifth major. And he got help, too.

Fremantle’s six goals for the term blew the three-quarter-time margin to 46 points and the Tigers were too far back to make any serious impression from there.