Search the Community

Well the streak has finally ended, but in the worst possible way, when Fremantle absolutely dismantled Melbourne to record an emphatic 38 point win. This ended the 17 game winning streak of the Demons, but worse to report was that Melbourne led the game by nearly 5 goals in the second quarter, before the Dockers banged through 10 straight goals. In fact they kicked 13 goals to 1 from that point just before half time. So what happened? Melbourne aren’t accustomed to losing in this way, given they are a team which in recent times doesn’t do much losing at all. But when a team completely runs over another in such a way, it is surely the structures which have collapsed. Indeed, for the Demons, a team which has built its “Melbourne way” around such structures, when those building blocks are taken away, it exposed a lot more than the Demons supporters were prepared to admit. The dismantling started perhaps at selection table with the loss of Tom McDonald up forward. The team already had lost Ed Langdon from the wing last week. Their replacements in Jake Melksham and Sam Weideman contributed the grand total of 12 possessions combined. Between them their total metres gained for the team was barely 1/3 of what Langdon contributes alone on a weekly basis! To make matters worse, Stephen May was concussed early in the first quarter, taking away a vital foundation of the defence. While Harry Petty was swung into action he took suffered an ankle injury, and although he played out the game, he was severely hampered. In the middle, Christian Petracca was obviously carrying some sort of injury, as he could barely raise a trot, and 10 disposals in total is barely 1/3 of his usual output. Strangely, the coaches left him in there until the final quarter, when he was moved to full forward but by now was probably just filling a spot. It was not surprising the number of clean clearances that Freo had, with only Clayton Oliver and Jack Viney doing their usual best. Oliver with 36 touches and Viney 28 is what we now expect, but Dunstan could only provide 12 touches in ¾ of a game. Equally as baffling was that Tom Sparrow wasn’t used in the middle to any real extent until the last quarter, but the game was over by then. With no impact from Weideman up forward, he was swung firstly to wing, and then to back where he produced a similarly poor output. Charlie Spargo was swung from forward to wing to try to cover the gaps. At least Angus Brayshaw dropped further back in defence and probably single-handedly saved three. goals and further embarrassment to the scoreline. James Jordon was moved to the wing to fill the Melksham gap and performed admirably with 27 touches. Without McDonald up forward and Langdon on one wing, there were no link up players who are so critical to the structures. Trent Rivers was moved to kick-out duties but the upfield targets were well covered, and Freo just chipped the ball around and past Melbourne players at will. Ben Brown was ineffective as he was left on his own to battle the multiple Freo defenders. The whole structure around him was vacant after half time. At least Bayley Fritsch provided some scoreboard pressure in the early stages, and Toby Bedford chipped in for a couple of majors himself, but they too were not to be seen much in the second half. What to do? There were plenty of “learnings” from the game. Not much can be done about injuries, but this game exposed a number of players at the margins, who simply do not work hard enough or whose lack of suitable skills are highlighted when not being covered by those around them. Without May next week, the backs will be forced to re-group and hopefully Petty also can overcome his ills. Equally, the supporters will hope that whatever ails Petracca is not serious, and McDonald, Langdon and Harmes can return as well next week. Perhaps Hibberd and Salem, while these would be a long shot, others holding down places in the side have now proved they are simply not up to the task, and their replacement will help restore those critical structures. If not then the well drilled and well structured Sydney side will repeat the outcome of this game, and remind the Demon supporters of the outcomes we played Freo and Sydney in successive games in Cairns in 2020. NARRM 2.2.14 6.8.44 7.10.52 7.14.56 FREMANTLE 1.6.12 2.7.19 10.9.69 14.10.94 GOALS NARRM Fritsch 3 Bedford 2 Jordon Pickett FREMANTLE Lobb Schultz 3 Frederick Taberner 2 Colyer Darcy Mundy Walters BEST NARRM Oliver Jordon Viney Fritsch Brayshaw FREMANTLE Schultz Brayshaw Lobb Frederick Brodie Ryan Serong INJURIES NARRM Steven May (concussion) FREMANTLE Matt Taberner (back) REPORTS NARRM Nil FREMANTLE Nil SUBSTITUTES NARRM Luke Dunstan (replaced Steven May) FREMANTLE Bailey Banfield (replaced Matt Taberner) UMPIRES Justin Power Hayden Gavine Simon Meredith CROWD 29,812 at The MCG

The Flagmantle dynasty has been in train for less than half a season but on Saturday evening at the MCG its hopes are set to be derailed when it meets the team from Narrm. If you’re still living back in the days before the start of the 2022 AFL season then my opening comment probably makes very little sense. This is because very few people had heard of Narrm at the time and most folk could not then have anticipated the AFL’s early season rise of the Fremantle Dockers whose fans went into raptures after a string of victories across the continent — each one of them achieved without their superstar hero, dual Brownlow Medallist Nat Fyfe. That’s where the Flagmantle tag became a thing. Suddenly however, the Freo wheels have become shaky and loose following consecutive upset losses to Gold Coast (12th) and Collingwood (10th) in wet conditions across the country. Next up is a trip to football’s heartland to play against Narrm which has never lost an AFL match in its entire (albeit very short) existence and therein lies the Dockers’ dilemma. Just when the going is starting to get tough and they need a win to bolster their claims for a top four spot, they run into football’s immovable object coming of a six day break after a game on a rain soaked stadium and having to travel across the country. And not only is Narrmy Army is waiting for them but the Weather Bureau is predicting a 50% chance of rain. I’m tipping that means a 100% chance of defeat at the hands of a team that’s hungry to double the number of its all-time wins in that classy Indigenous guernsey. The thing is that while the time-worn line about not judging books by their covers is very much to the point, underneath those magnificent red and blue colours lie the true hearts of a team with an eye on the big prize at the end of the season. On their way, they have to take care of contenders like Fremantle and a win in this game will return a favour owed to this club for two years since they put paid to the Demons’ finals aspirations in the far north of the country. A far more mature and composed outfit awaits the Dockers this week. They carry the real mantle of football strength with winners on every line beginning with its midfield which, even when not at full strength has decimated all comers this year. When Saint ruckman Paddy Ryder was interviewed this week and asked who were the competition’s best exponents of ruck skills, he didn’t hesitate to name Narrm’s duo of Max Gawn and Luke Jackson ahead of himself. He could easily have mentioned Freo’s Sean Darcy who is very good but, even if he has a big day out, the Demons will be too good at the stoppages for the flagging Dockers. Fremantle has been mentioned as having a defence that’s almost the equal of that of Narrm but the reality is that it’s attack is struggling at the moment and, just when they are lacking form and confidence, they come up against May, Lever, Petty and their hardy team of assistants at ground level. On top of that, while the media seems obsessed with key forwards kicking bags, the Demon attack doesn’t rely on one individual to get it out of trouble — every one of its forwards is dangerous and capable of kicking goals on any given day. All of this spells a train wreck to end Flagmantle’s aspirations for greatness. Narrm by 25 points. THE GAME Melbourne v Fremantle on Saturday 28 May 2022 at 4.35pm. HEAD TO HEAD Overall Melbourne 17 wins Fremantle 23 wins At the MCG Melbourne 9 wins Fremantle 7 wins Last five meetings Melbourne 3 wins Fremantle 2 wins The Coaches Goodwin 1 win Longmuir 1 win MEDIA TV live and on demand on Kayo and live on Foxtel Radio - check your local guides LAST TIME THEY MET Melbourne 11.14.80 defeated Fremantle 8.10.58 at The MCG, Round 1, 2021 The Demons kicked off the 2021 season with a solid victory over the Dockers at the G, leading throughout after a short early arm wrestle. Oliver, McDonald and May were the best. THE TEAMS NARRM B: J.Bowey 17 S.May 1 T.Rivers 24 HB: J.Jordon 23 J.Lever 8 J. Hunt 29 C: A.Brayshaw 10 J.Viney 7 T.Sparrow 32 HF: B.Fritsch 31 L.Jackson 6 C.Spargo 9 F: A.Neal-Bullen 30 B.Brown 50 K.Pickett 36 Foll: M.Gawn 11 C.Oliver 13 C.Petracca 5 I/C: T.Bedford 12 J.Melksham 18 S.Weideman 26 H.Petty 35 Sub: L.Dunstan 27 Emerg: M.Brown 38 B.Laurie 16 A.Tomlinson 20 In: J.Viney S.Weideman Out: T.McDonald (ankle) E.Langdon (ribs) FREMANTLE B: H. Young 26 A. Pearce 25 G.Logue 2 HB: B. Cox 36 L. Ryan 13 J. Aish 11 C: B. Acres 9 A.Brayshaw 8 J.Clark 6 HF: M.Frederick 32 M. Taberner 20 T .Colyer 33 F: M.Walters 10 R.Lobb 37 L. Schultz 28 Foll: S. Darcy 4 W.Brodie 17 C. Serong 3 I/C: H. Chapman 27 D. Mundy 16 D.Tucker 18 B.Walker 31 Sub: B. Banfield 41 Emerg: N.Erasmus 28 E.Hughes 15 S.Sturt 1 In: D.Tucker B.Walker Out: N.Erasmus S.Switkowski (suspended) Injury and Suspension List: Round 11 Michael Hibberd - Calf | Test Ed Langdon - Ribs | Test Jack Viney - Hamstring | Test Kade Chandler - Suspension | 1 Week Christian Salem - Knee | 1 Week James Harmes - Hamstring | 1-2 Weeks Joel Smith - Ankle | 6-7 Weeks Blake Howes - Foot | 7-9 Weeks