Dockers v Cats: Freo’s Big Test After That Hawks Wobble
G’day footy heads, Bluey here. Now I’ll admit it straight up – I’m an Eagles man through and through, so watching our WA cousins across town cop a hiding off the Hawks in that qualifying final gave me a small chuckle, but also a bit of a wince, because over here in the west we need one of our clubs going deep in September to shut the east coast doubters up for good.
The minor premiers with something to prove
Freo won a club record 19 games this year and everyone reckoned this was finally the year. Then the Hawks turned up to Optus Stadium and the Dockers hardly laid a glove on ’em. Straight sets now looms and that’s a brutal spot for a team that spent five months being the benchmark. The pressure’s flipped completely – Fremantle aren’t the hunted anymore, they’re the wounded animal, and Geelong have made an art form outta hunting wounded animals in September for about fifteen years now.
This is the bit that worries me if I’m a Freo supporter. Minor premiers who get bundled out in straight sets don’t often find their groove again in a hurry. The belief takes a hit, the midfield brigade start second-guessing themselves, and suddenly a home final feels less like a fortress and more like a pressure cooker with the whole state watching on.
Geelong know exactly how this works
Say what you want about the Cats – and plenty of us do, especially when they’re flogging West Coast by ten goals – but they are the most battle-hardened outfit going around in finals footy. They’ve been in this exact situation more times than any club in the comp, playing the away semi-final after a straight-sets style scenario or a tricky qually loss, and they just know how to grind a game out when the crowd’s against ’em.
Their experience through the midfield and defence is the story here. Fremantle have got the class and the run, but Geelong have got blokes who’ve literally won flags together and know what finals footy demands when the ball gets slow and scrappy in that last quarter. That’s the sorta thing you can’t coach in two weeks between finals.
Where Freo have to fix it
The Dockers’ issue against Hawthorn wasn’t a talent problem, it was an intensity and system problem. They got beaten to the contest all night and their forward line looked toothless once the game got congested. If that happens again against a Geelong side that thrives on structure and patience, it’s game over pretty quick.
- Freo need their midfield stars winning first use of the ball, not just second and third efforts – that was the difference against Hawthorn.
- The forward 50 entries have gotta improve. Kicking it long to a crowded goalsquare against Geelong’s defensive setup is a low percentage play.
- Whoever’s job it is to nullify Geelong’s most dangerous ball users through the midfield needs to actually stick to it for four quarters, not just the first one.
If the Dockers can win that contested footy battle back, home ground advantage actually starts to mean something again. If they can’t, doesn’t matter how many locals are in the stands.
The travel factor – and yeah, I’m bringing this up again
Look, I know I bang on about this every single week, but it’s relevant here too. Geelong get to fly in, do their thing, and fly home regardless of result. Fremantle have carried the travel burden all bloody season like every WA club does, and now they’re expected to somehow find another gear in a knockout final off the back of a demoralising loss. It’s not an excuse for the Hawks result, that was more about system and pressure, but it is part of the bigger picture when you’re talking about WA clubs trying to go all the way.
Over here in the west we watch this stuff closely because it’s our reality every finals series. The travel schedule never gets easier just because it’s September, and the fixture makers rarely seem to care how many time zones our clubs have crossed compared to the Victorian outfits who get to sleep in their own beds. Doesn’t mean Freo can’t win this, it just means the margin for error is even smaller than it already is.
Key head-to-head battles
The ruck contest is gonna be fascinating – if Freo’s big man can dominate around the ground like he has most of the year, it gives their midfield first use and that changes everything. Geelong will likely try and nuetralise that battle early with their tagging structures, because they know exactly how important it is.
Then there’s the small forward exchanges. Both sides have got livewire types who can turn a quiet quarter into a three-goal blitz out of nothing. Whoever’s small forwards win the ball-use battle in tight, especially at ground level, could well decide the entire arvo.
And don’t sleep on the intercept defenders either. Geelong have made a habit of picking off entries and turning defence straight into attack, and if Freo keep bombing it long without any craft, they’ll be feeding the Cats all day.
My tip
Honestly this one’s harder to split than it looks on paper. Freo have got the talent, the crowd, and genuinely nothing to lose now that the pressure of being minor premiers has already sorta evaporated with that Hawks result. Sometimes a team plays looser and better once the weight of expectation gets lifted a bit, even if it came off the back of a loss.
But Geelong’s finals pedigree is the sorta thing that wins you close ones in September, and I reckon they’ll find a way to grind this out if it’s tight in the last quarter. I’m tipping the Cats by under two goals, in a match that’s gonna be way tighter and scrappier than the ladder position suggests.
Whatever happens, if it’s not an Eagles finals campaign – and let’s be honest, it wasn’t gonna be this year – I’d love to see a WA club go deep just to shut a few of my east coast mates up down the pub. Come on Freo, do us proud, even if I’ll still be sledging you again come round one next year.
