It was the biggest home and away crowd Fremantle have played in front of. And it must rank among the most nerve-shredding games in their 30-year history. They took on the kings of the MCG, they were headed and they had no answers for a rampant Nick Daicos. They have turned up their toes in these kinds of games for decades. But the Dockers dug in, found a way, caught the right breaks and registered one of the most significant wins in coach Justin Longmuir’s tenure.
Early in the final term, the Dockers appeared to have fired all their bullets. Collingwood had kicked two early goals and skipped out to a 22-point lead. Daicos was off the leash, the Magpies’ pressure was relentless, the umpiring was a shambles, and Matthew Johnson’s leg was dangling like a ventriloquist’s doll.
Up until about a month ago, theDockers were under no circumstances to be trusted in these scenarios. They tossed away their 2024 season by getting the wobbles in close finishes. The Magpies, conversely, have been the masters of managing their moments, of buying precious seconds, and of sowing doubt and confusion in the opposition.
But the Dockers kept their heads and rattled home. There were a number of moments that will be lodged in the memory for Fremantle supporters – Luke Jackson hurling himself at packs, Nathan O’Driscoll putting his body on the line repeatedly in the final 45 seconds, and Josh Treacy’s goal saving mark.
They also had the unexpected luxury of Patrick Voss turning in the game of his life, on the biggest stage he’s played on. The Pies were down a couple of key defenders and Fremantle exploited it. Early on, Voss was far too sharp for Darcy Moore on the lead, and he didn’t allow the Collingwood captain to sag off and attack.
Voss plays a pretty simple game. He runs in straight lines, plays within his limitations and is an energy injector. He hasn’t always been the most reliable set shot but his six goals came from some very difficult spots. He’d never kicked more than three goals in a match prior to facing the Pies and by the time he’d reached that mark, Moore had been shifted off him. Voss is yet another footballing success story to come at Essendon’s expense.
More than anything, it was Fremantle’s ability to absorb Collingwood’s manic pressure which proved decisive. The Pies play such a different brand to the wild cavalry charges of 2022 and 2023. When the Magpies swarm is in full effect, it gives the opposition no time to think and breathe. They brought extreme pressure to the MCG, especially in their forward half. Every time the Dockers endeavoured to exit by hand, there was a wave of Pies cascading down on them. Once they’d forced the turnover, they’d handball their way out of trouble. And when they’re in sync, and they’re flicking the ball through the middle of the field, they move it like a rugby team.
But the Dockers were clever and patient in the way they worked their way through the press, with their triangular handball chains and their boundary-hugging kicks. They mostly resisted the urge to bomb down the throats of the Magpies’ interceptors.
The last time Fremantle played Collingwood, they beat them in nearly every key stat but had no answers for Jamie Elliott and Bobby Hill. They played high energy but occasionally hare-brained football. The Magpies’ win that night was a victory of quality over quantity. This game was the opposite. The Dockers were smashed in the inside 50s count and Nick Daicos has never had more touches in an AFL game. But the visitors were much smarter with their ball use this time around.
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Elsewhere, the individual performance of the round was undoubtedly Isaac Heeney, who racked up equal career-best stats for goals and clearances against North Melbourne. But the moment of the week was surely Maurice Rioli Jnr, who executed one of the best tackles I’ve ever seen on a footy field. Dermott Brereton once said the late Maurice Rioli Snr was the strongest tackler he saw, or felt, in league football. On Saturday night, Rioli Jnr pinned his ears back, sprinted and lunged like the T-1000 latching onto Arnie’s car in Terminator 2. Richmond were never losing from that moment on.
In early March, nearly every professional and amateur pundit in the country had the Tigers as likely wooden spooners. But Adem Yze has coached the ears off this team. They had a dirty fortnight where Tom Lynch lost his mind against Adelaide and where Geelong toyed with them. But five wins, ahead of North Melbourne, equal with St Kilda and just one behind Melbourne, exceeds the most cock-eyed expectations. Scorched earth rebuilding teams often fall in a heap by the middle of the winter but to see Rioli Jnr in mid-air spoke of a team that is still engaged, that is very much playing for its coach, and capable of taking a few scalps in the run home.
