Dockers Shut The Gate On Sydney And Book Their Grand Final Ticket
Well strike me, they only went and did it. The Fremantle Dockers have knocked over the Sydney Swans in the preliminary final at the SCG, booting five unanswered goals in the last quarter while the home side managed precisely nothing, and now they’re off to the granny. Over here in the west we’re allowed a little smile about that one, even if it’s not our boys doing the damage.
Another WA Club Doing It The Hard Way
Look, I’m an Eagles man through and through, always have been, always will be, but you can’t help but tip your cap when a fellow WA club goes over east and does the business in front of a hostile crowd. Fremantle had to travel, had to cop the SCG surface that everyone reckons suits the Swans down to the ground, and had to do it all without a single bit of home comfort. That’s the story of footy for clubs out here, we’re forever getting on a plane while the eastern states outfits sleep in their own beds and roll out of bed to training. So when the Dockers pull off a win like that in enemy territory, it means something extra, even to a bloke who bleeds blue and gold.
It’s the sort of result that shuts up a few of the commentators too, the ones who love banging on about how travel doesn’t matter anymore in the modern game. Tell that to a team that’s crossed three time zones and still finds a way to slam the door shut in the fourth quarter of a prelim. That’s not luck, that’s substance.
The Final Term That Sydney Will Be Sick About
Five goals to nil in the last quarter is about as brutal a scoreline as you’ll see in finals footy, and you could see it happening well before it actually did. Sydney had their chances earlier, they always do at home, that SCG crowd gets right up them and the Swans feed off it like nothing else. But once Fremantle got a sniff in that final term, the belief just seemed to flood through the group. You could see it in the body language, the way they were winning the hard ball at half back and running it out the other end.
Sydney on the other hand looked like a side that had emptied the tank a bit early. They just couldn’t find another avenue forward, the forward line dried up completely, and when your attack goes goalless for a whole quarter in a prelim final, you’re gunna lose nine times out of ten. It happens to the best of them, and Sydney are a very good side, but footy’s a cruel gane sometimes and September has a habit of exposing whoever runs out of legs first.
Pearce And Rampe Setting The Tone Early
Loved seeing the skippers out there doing their thing before the ball even bounced, Alex Pearce and Dane Rampe both taking their sweet time delivering those last-minute messages to the troops. You could tell straight away this wasn’t going to be a game where blokes went missing. Pearce in particular has been an absolute rock down back for the Dockers all year, and it showed again on the big stage. When your captain sets the standard for composure under pressure, the rest of the side tends to follow, and that’s exactly what happened when the game got tight.
Grundy And Jackson Setting The Tempo In The Middle
The opening centre bounce summed up the whole contest in a way, Brodie Grundy and Luke Jackson crashing into each other like a couple of freight trains, and Fremantle nudging the ball back to win first use. That midfield brigade for the Dockers has been the engine room of their whole finals campaign, and it kept humming right through to the final siren. Jackson’s been a revelation down there this year, the way he reads the ruck contests and gets around the ground, it’s the sort of stuff that makes you wonder how many more prelims he’s got in him before some other club starts sniffing round. Not that Fremantle fans will want to hear that talk this week, they’re too busy planning the trip to the MCG.
What It Means For The Big Dance
So now Fremantle get their crack at a second grand final, and fair play to them, it’s been a long road for that club. Anyone who’s followed the Dockers over the years knows they’ve had their share of near misses and heartbreak, so this one will taste sweet regardless of what happens on the last Saturday in September. As a West Coast fan I’ll admit there’s a small, begrudging part of me that wants to see them go all the way, purely because it’s another feather in the cap for footy out here in the west. We might only have the two clubs, but when one of us is standing on the big stage, it reminds the rest of the country that this state punches well above its weight.
Of course there’s also the part of me that remembers what it’s like watching a WA club lift the cup, and I’ll be honest, I wouldn’t mind the Eagles being the next ones to do it rather than watching purple ribbons draped over the trophy. But that’s a conversation for another day, another season, another rebuild. Right now, credit where it’s due.
The Bigger Picture For WA Footy
This result is a nice little reminder to the AFL and the broadcasters that the travel argument isn’t dead and buried just because a WA side wins one on the road. If anything it proves how good these clubs have to be to overcome it. Imagine how good Fremantle would be playing finals week in, week out with a home ground advantage like Sydney gets at the SCG or Geelong gets down at GMHBA. We talk about it a lot over here, the extra kays in the legs, the extra nights in hotel beds, and it never seems to get much sympathy from the folks running the fixture. Maybe a big win like this in front of a national audience will get a few more people thinking about it, though I wouldn’t hold my breath.
Final Word
Whatever happens in the decider, Fremantle have earned their spot the hard way, on the road, against a genuine premiership fancy, in front of a crowd baying for Sydney blood. That’s a gutsy, gritty performance and it deserves plenty of respect from footy fans right around the country, eastern states bias and all. Good luck to the Dockers, they’ll need it, but they’ve shown they’ve got the ticker for the big stage. Now if only we could get the Eagles back up there with them, but one thing at a time, eh.
