The Fremantle Dockers collected one of the best wins in club history, defeating Geelong by 15 points in the second AFL preliminary final at Simmons Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The Dockers used five straight goals in the second quarter to fight back from a 20-point deficit to take a four-point lead into halftime before running out the game on the back of their high intensity brand of defence in one of the games of the season.
Fremantle brought back all of their gun players rested in last weekend’s low stakes game against St Kilda and the extra week of rest seemed to add another level to the Docker’s normally tireless defensive pressure.
Critical second half goals to Chris Mayne and standout Michael Barlow helped the Dockers get over the line, but a number of individual efforts across the ground carried Fremantle to the win.
A fourth quarter intercept mark by Lee Spurr, running against the flow of play saved a would-be Geelong attack and a late game spoil by forward Matthew Pavlich deep in defence were two examples of the Docker’s win at all costs mentality.
Aaron Sandilands rucked brilliantly all day, but took a number of vital marks down the stretch of the contest, enabling Fremantle to keep possession during key runs, while Zac Dawson, reported before the first ball had been bounced, atoned for a couple of mental fades by playing outstandingly in defence.
Fremantle will face either Sydney, Richmond or Carlton in the preliminary final, but may be without a couple of key faces.
Nick Suban suffered an ankle injury while Dawson was booked for a hit on James Podsiadly and could come under scrutiny for an accidental high hit on a well-kept Joel Selwood attempting to soil the ball.
A number of players from both sides are in danger of being cited by the Match Review Panel, however Geelong’s preparation for next weekend’s semi-final against Port is likely to suffer another setback after Tom Hawkins and Taylor Hunt were a late withdrawals and Corey Enright suffered a serious knee injury.
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