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Fremantle's Paul Hasleby and Sydney co-captain Brett Kirk contest the ball during the AFL ANZAC Day Round 05 match between the Fremantle Dockers and the Sydney Swans at Subicao. Slattery Images
After losing to St Kilda in round four, Fremantle were described as both “inept” and “insipid” by match reports in Melbourne’s daily papers. Some pretty significant heat was put on coach Mark Harvey. Garry Lyon called on the club to trade Matthew Pavlich.
And given what occurred that night – an 83-point thumping – you couldn’t argue with any of those sentiments.
But since then, a different team has emerged.
Fremantle are now a team showing signs of what they can become. Not necessarily by winning, but by their competitiveness and improvement across their list.
The fact that they held Geelong until deep in the fourth quarter last week was just the latest piece of evidence backing this up. Freo’s worst defeat since the St Kilda game was by 24 points.
After losing over a thousand games of experience at the end of last year, Fremantle are doing all that could be asked of them at this stage of their development.
A significant part of that is the plethora of potential stars that have emerged.
Stephen Hill has taken off where Rhys Palmer left off, stamping his claim for the Rising Star award similar to the way his now-injured teammate did last year. He ranks second for goal assists and fourth for inside 50s at Freo.
Last week, surprisingly, it was rookie elevated players causing the Cats headaches. Greg Broughton (29 possessions) and Matthew DeBoer (22) were amongst the standouts in that game. Nick Suban is another impressive draftee who has established his spot in the 22.
A total of seven players have made their debut this season, with two more likely to join that list today against Collingwood – the highly-touted Hayden Ballantyne being one of them.
Then there’s been the change amongst the club’s older crop of players.
Chris Tarrant is obviously the biggest story in this regard. After 11 years as a forward, the former Collingwood star has found his best form since moving to Perth – playing down back. He’s claimed a few scalps in the process, too. Just 16 goals have been scored against him in 12 matches.
A similar story exists with Paul Haselby, who did not play a single game last year because of injury. He returned this season under a cloud of uncertainty, but has responded perfectly. He’s regularly among Freo’s best, and currently leads the club in possessions.
Also proving that improvement is stemming from more than just youth, the likes of Paul Duffield and Byron Schammer are both having the best seasons of their careers to date.
Then there are the stars of the team.
It goes without saying that Matthew Pavlich and Aaron Sandilands are amongst the elite – or just plain are the elite – at Fremantle. But it is worth mentioning the two have played an important role this season.
Pavlich has moved up into the midfield more to better allocate his talents, a move which has been met with success. Sandilands, meanwhile, not only leads the league in hitouts, but has come out with more taps than his opponent on all bar one occasion this year.
Sure, they may not be winning all that often. But rebuilding teams are not supposed to be judged on winning.
To check the pulse of rebuilding teams, one must look for indications that young guns are in fact plugging the holes left by retirements, that there is improvement within the list’s core and, above all, that there are elite players – or players well on their way to that status – to build around.
That describes this Fremantle team right now to a tee.
Which is why calls for Mark Harvey’s head seem so silly now. And why it might be in Matthew Pavlich’s best interests to stick around for a bit.
A genuine rebuild is taking place and for the time being, it’s on track.