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Fremantle doubled their win tally from 2016’s annus horribilis, but a truly awful second half of the season makes them a very difficult team to read heading into next season.
Are the Dockers trending in the right direction? Or do they have another year of misery ahead of them?
What I predicted
“While Fremantle had a strong trade period, most of the players they’ve brought in still have something to prove.
“They could rise a lot higher, but for now they look like a team just on the outer.”
Prediction: 11th
What actually happened
After a poor first fortnight of the season, Fremantle looked very much like a team capable of rising up the ladder after a youth-driven purple patch saw them claim six wins from their next seven matches.
A 100-point loss to Adelaide brought them back to earth with a thud, and the season was flipped on it’s head for Freo from there.
The Dockers ended up losing ten of the following twelve matches, with a thumping at the hands of Brisbane and consecutive 104-point losses toward the end of the season particularly woeful.
In the end, Fremantle finished 14th, well off from the top eight, with a percentage just 0.1 points greater than last-placed Brisbane.
As bad as their end of the season was, there is some important perspective to be taken when analysing Freo’s 2017 campaign.
The club doubled their win tally from a season ago while blooding seven debutants. Suggestions the Dockers went backwards this season are therefore laughable.
Fremantle were inconsistent with their competitiveness, sometimes lacking it completely, towards the end of the season, but at the end of the day those are the hallmarks of a young team in need of some more pre-seasons.
On the other hand, the Dockers weren’t simply just too young an inexperienced to compete properly in 2017, with their general level of effort in several games this season below AFL standard.
Ross Lyon’s side finished the season ranked 17th in disposals per game and 14th in tackles per game. The only other club to finish in the bottom six in both categories was the Lions.
Best win
Round 3: Fremantle 13.11 (89) def. Western Bulldogs 10.13 (73)
Ross Lyon swung the axe on his underperforming veterans after two disastrous losses to start the season.
The result paid immediate dividends, with a new-look Dockers team bringing a ferocious pressure and energy to the contest that the then-undefeated reigning premiers simply couldn’t handle.
Fremantle’s ability to ambush their opponents in the first quarter was impressive, but what was remarkable was the young side recovering from a poor third quarter to reel in a 14-point deficit in the final term.
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Worst loss
Round 22: Fremantle 7.9 (51) def. by Richmond 25.5 (155)
After an insipid 104-point loss to Sydney, the Freo faithful, while not expecting a win against the top four Tigers, were hoping for a bit of a statement in their last game at Domain Stadium.
Instead, the Dockers served up a carbon copy of the putrid performance from a week prior.
Richmond toyed with their hapless hosts after quarter time, with their final score of 25.5 not necessarily indicative of freak accuracy but more so the easy shots Fremantle continually afforded them.
What needs to happen next year?
It was the transition to youth that sparked Freo’s early season revival in 2017 and, while the youngsters eventually ran out of steam, Lyon must give them the keys again in 2018.
The club already has younger replacements for uncontracted veterans Hayden Ballantyne, Zac Clarke and Jon Griffin, so it’s probably time for that trio to be moved on.
Michael Johnson and David Mundy still have something to offer, although in Johnson’s case you’d hope Alex Pearce or Griffin Logue have pushed him out of the best 22 by this time next season.
While their output can partly be blamed on lack of service, one of Cam McCarthy or Shane Kersten needs to start putting more goals on the board next year too.
Early prediction
Fremantle’s finish to the season was unacceptable, but they proved earlier in the year for an extended period they have what it takes be a force again.
Finals are probably just beyond them in 2018, but expect to see more of the Freo from this season’s first half.
Prediction: 9th-12th