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Some calming words from Western Bulldogs caretaker coach Paul Williams ensured Barry Hall’s AFL career ended with a flurry of goals, not an eruption of frustration.
The Dogs downed Fremantle 15.17 (107) to 8.13 (61) at Etihad Stadium on Saturday, with Hall kicking four of the last five goals to help himself and fellow retiree Ben Hudson to a winning farewell.
But while the final term encapsulated some of Hall’s best, it also had a hint of the worst.
Until midway through the quarter, he had been held to one goal by Fremantle’s Alex Silvagni and the frustration showed.
Early in the term, he gave away an off-the-ball free kick, then another free kick for grabbing Silvagni around the head and a 50m penalty, which helped set up a Dockers goal to narrow the margin to 10 points.
Silvagni took a spectacular mark over Hall soon after to underline his control of the duel.
Williams, a premiership teammate of Hall with Sydney in 2005, summoned the big forward to the bench.
Hall returned to dominate the game’s last 15 minutes, helped by his teammates’ desire to set him up with goals and Silvagni leaving the field after an awkward fall in a marking contest.
“I just needed to have a conversation with him,” Williams said.
“I’ve obviously got a really good relationship with him and I just wanted him to make sure that he finishes his career on the right note.
“I didn’t think he’d go on and kick four after that, but it was to make sure that he played the game the way that he wanted to play it and the way that he wanted to be remembered.”
Williams said while he did not think the temper troubles that ended Hall’s career at the Swans were about to resurface, he wanted to make sure.
“I just wanted to reiterate that to him, make sure we didn’t have any little incident,” Williams said.
Hall’s five-goal haul took him to 55 for the season – including 40 in his past eight matches – meaning he led the Dogs’ goal-kicking in both his seasons there, having done so seven times with the Swans.
But it was captain Matthew Boyd’s hard-working 35-disposal game which underpinned the win.
Tall defender Michael Johnson was excellent for Fremantle, although he allowed Hall his late burst of goals.
The Dockers had only barely managed to field a team due to injury, not helped when key position player Luke McPharlin (hamstring) was a last-minute withdrawal.
But coach Mark Harvey said their many injuries did not excuse finishing the year with a seven-match losing streak.
“I said to the players today, last year we were heading in the right direction and a lot of you players weren’t involved in that, but you’ve been given the opportunity in the past six or seven weeks for different reasons and have you taken that opportunity?” Harvey said.
“If you don’t win and you turn the ball over more than ever, then perhaps you haven’t.”
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