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Fremantle now hold the grim record of the worst season start, by a mile, of a previous season’s minor premier.
Richmond’s 0-5 stood for 33 years for good reason. The idea a side that finishes atop the ladder could collapse more spectacularly the following year is perplexing.
The Tigers had finished 18-4 in ’82. The following season, they didn’t just go 0-5. In addition to getting flogged by the reigning premiers Carlton, three of the five losses were to sides that had missed the finals in ’82, including the wooden spooners Footscray.
It was a shocking start from a previously dominant side, but perhaps the writing had been on the wall. A few legends were gone or on the way out. In 1983, 36-year-old Kevin Barlett managed 37 goals from 19 games in his final season, and was well down on possessions too.
Richmond ended up 10th in a 12-side league in 1983, and would not play finals again until 1995.
How does Fremantle’s horror start compare?
In Round 1 they were away from home and flayed by the Bulldogs. The Dogs were at full strength and have continued to look good since, but being held to 38 points must have set off the alarm bells somewhere in Fremantle’s think tank.
Round 2 saw a 26-point loss at home to Gold Coast. It looked bad at the time, given Gold Coast won just four games in 2015. With the benefit of hindsight it looks even worse – the Suns are awful. The 33-point loss to the Eagles next round was flattering, with West Coast kicking 12.20.
Round 4 was bright for Fremantle with a strong effort against North which collapsed under the Waite – yes I am making that pun – of North’s impressive last quarter. After such a performance away from home against the undefeated league-leader, the next game at Subiaco against Carlton looked like a dead certainty.
Instead it was a catastrophe. Both sides played like second-tier WAFL teams. Fremantle’s performance was, in the context of the match against North, as inexplicable as it was dismal.
An improved showing against the Crows didn’t prevent the foregone conclusions of losses to GWS and the Hawks. In short, the start is significantly worse than Richmond’s in ’83.
Fremantle has been savaged by injuries to key players such as Sandilands and Fyfe, both long-vital players. The Dockers have also been hamstrung by the fading power of Matthew Pavlich. The heart is there, but the leg speed and the sure hands are gone.
In an increasingly even, hotly contested competition – the slightest slide can be profoundly costly. And any lapse in concentration – deadly. The Dockers threw the kitchen sink at North, but could barely get out of bed against the Blues.
Against Hawthorn, Adelaide and North the intensity and endeavour was present – but skills ran hot and cold. It’s difficult to say the Dockers’ game plan no longer works, because at times there doesn’t appear to be a plan anymore. Perhaps the plan was predicated on a level of quality among the personnel which is just not there anymore.
Ross Lyon loves an honest trier. Players like Tendai Mzungu and Garrick Ibbotson, who starred at WAFL level and plug away in the big league. These blokes are unspectacular but solid, performing a role without setting the world on fire.
These sort of players can slot into a very good side and hold their own as part of a unit, which is what they’ve done at the Dockers… until now. Sandilands, Fyfe and Pavlich are like the most important straws in the game of KerPlunk. Pull them out and the whole thing collapses.
Fremantle almost certainly won’t emulate the Richmond of 1983-1994. They’ll get it together eventually and win a few home games this year, then start the rebuild they didn’t expect to need.
Perhaps Fremantle’s fall isn’t as surprising as it looks, as bad as home losses to Gold Coast and Carlton (at the time) look. Towards the end of 2015, the Dockers ship started to list alarmingly…
In Round 20, the Eagles comfortably beat the Dockers, who lost their next game to North. Freo beat the then dismal Melbourne in Round 22, before copping a 69-point hiding from Port. Resting players or not, this was hardly the best preparation for the finals. Fremantle were then extremely lucky to beat Sydney at Subiaco, 10.9 to 7.18, before the Hawks bundled them out two weeks later without much fuss.
Rather than staging the most dramatic collapse from one season to the next, it may be that Fremantle were just one of the weaker sides to ever hold aloft the McClelland Trophy.
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