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The Fremantle Dockers were, for so much of the middle part of the year, considered probables – if not certainties – for the top four.
Despite their momentum being marred by a bottom placed St Kilda that put on a clinic to the tune of 10 goals, they were still considered preliminary final possibles.
Following a strong showing against the minor premiers Sydney in the 1 versus 4 qualifying final, they were all the more favourites to beat Port Adelaide at home after doing so two weeks earlier.
They dominated the first half, but couldn’t put them away. Unfortunately for the Purple Haze, they paid.
2015 becomes an extremely interesting prospect because Fremantle, as we know, are an established and successful side. They have stars Michael Barlow, Steven Hill, and Nathan Fyfe, who is widely tipped to take out a Brownlow medal before his career is out.
They have a general in Zac Dawson who controls the back half with Garrick Ibbotson, Alex Silvagni and Paul Duffield to complement him in a backline most teams would be happy to have.
However it is Fremantle’s series of second tier players who, in a testament to drafting and trading management, can all step-up at any time to get the team over the line without been widely known or outstanding.
This makes it very difficult for the opposition to try and shut them down as they have so many avenues through their long list of talent. It is underrated players such as Matt de Boer, Michael Walters and Nick Suban who create fantastic depth in most areas to complement their stars.
Eliminated from the finals in straight sets, we are now left to ponder where the Dockers go next. There is no doubt that they are a good team, but they are old. In fact, they’re the third oldest team in the competition and star players Matthew Pavlich, Aaron Sandilands, Luke McPharlin and Michael Johnson all over 30 and showing signs of slowing down.
At this stage, the Dockers are not quite ready for the transition that they will have to go through very shortly
Fremantle need to make sure they build and regenerate their current list to account for player losses and maintain performance. This is not as easy as it sounds and requires some of the experience they will be losing to help nurture the younger players.
If this experience is lost, Fremantle may be left stranded with players been forced to fast track their development to plug the holes.
Dockers fans must be hoping that their veteran players are able to hang around for the next few years, so that when they inevitably leave there will be a fresh batch of champions to step-up and make their next premiership tilt. However, should these experienced influences be lost from match day due to their restricted durability in 2015, Fremantle may have to go back before they can go forward.
The next two years will be telling for the long term, but in the meantime Fremantle will be forced to plan for life after the players they know so well.
And who knows where that could lead them in 2015?
Prediction: seventh
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