Fremantle overcame the loss of ruckman Jon Griffin and saw off a fierce Collingwood fightback to post a 27-point victory in Saturday night’s AFL clash at Patersons Stadium.
Fremantle delivered a stunning counter-punch after a spirited Magpies comeback to kick the final five goals of the match and secure the 15.10 (100) to 10.13 (73) win in front of 37,214 fans.
Griffin’s season could be over after the former Adelaide ruckman injured his right knee in innocuous fashion during a ruck contest 11 minutes into the match.
Collingwood looked gone for all money after falling 44 points behind eight minutes into the second quarter.
But with Darren Jolly giving Collingwood a massive edge at the clearances, the Magpies clawed their way back and even hit the lead early in the final term when sub Caolan Mooney dribbled a clever goal.
The stage was set for Collingwood to run away with their sixth win of the year.
Instead, small forward Michael Walters was crucial with four goals, while Garrick Ibbotson also played a key role to snap Fremantle’s four-match losing streak to Collingwood.
Magpies midfielder Dane Swan (27 possessions and two goals) and Sam Dwyer (25 disposals, two goals) helped spark the fightback, but key forward Travis Cloke had an off night with just 0.4.
Fremantle improved their record to 5-2, but will be sweating on the severity of Griffin’s injury.
The Dockers have already lost Kepler Bradley for the season, while fellow key position players Matthew Pavlich (plantaris), Aaron Sandilands (hamstring) and Zac Clarke (leg) are still absent through injury.
The Magpies also face a nervous wait after defender Heath Shaw struck Fremantle goalsneak Hayden Ballantyne in the groin.
“He punched me in the nuts,” Ballantyne cried out to the umpire, before kicking a goal from the subsequent free kick in the second quarter.
Fremantle were unstoppable in the opening term, with their relentless running and tackling forcing Collingwood to commit a glut of errors.
The Dockers booted the opening five goals of the match, and entered the quarter-time break with a commanding 32-point lead.
Collingwood dominated play in the second quarter, but they were unable to capitalise on a glut of chances as Fremantle kept their rivals at bay.
The Magpies finally made the most of their dominance in the third quarter, but were stopped dead in their tracks during the final term as Walters again weaved his magic up forward.
The Dockers were dealt a blow before the game when star midfielder Stephen Hill was forced to withdraw after failing to overcome a quad injury.
Fremantle coach Ross Lyon said it was highly likely Griffin had ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament.
“We have grave concerns. But those grave concerns need to be legitimised with scans and orthopedic surgeons who are really accurate in their assessments,” Lyon said.
“Our heart goes out to our players when they get injured.”
Collingwood dominated the stoppages 37-22, but coach Nathan Buckley rued his team’s horrible start.
“Yeah terrible. Really disappointing. I’ve got no idea where it came from, and the players are having a chat at the moment to work out why,” Buckley said.
“We played OK through the second and third quarters, but you’ve got to play four quarters to win a game of footy. We only played a half.”
Floreat Pica
Guest
http://www.collingwoodfc.com.au/video/2013-05-12/buckley-speaks-postmatch As seen above from 1:50 he was speaking with no malice towards Fremantle, nor Perth or the stadium. He is using 'their own dungheap' with lamentation regarding having let them get out to such a commanding lead at their homeground, but no bitterness at all towards Fremantle. Its perhaps not so common these days, but I have heard the term 'our', 'your' or 'their dungheap' used many times in reference to a 'homeground', especially in country footy. Any media reporting beating this up as Buckley being a sore-loser would have been semantically correct (if they only reported three words) but factually wrong. See for yourself.
Nathan of Perth
Guest
Devastating loss for Collingwood and Buckley.
13th Man
Roar Rookie
Listened to the interview, Buckley did say that freo can win on there dungheap. What a win by the dockers, with no Sandilands, Pavlich, Fyfe, Hill, Kepler and then to lose Griffo early, nobody wouldve thought they could do it. For a period i was feeling deja vu from the Essendon game but it pleased me that Freo were challenged but this time didnt surrender meekly like against the Bombers. Micheal Walters is an absolute star and is by far the best small forward in the competition. Only downside is the injury to Griffo who has been superb for us so far this season. Should be interesting to see whether Zac Clarke is available for next week, if not looks like itll be Zac Dawson doing the rucking with Hannath.
Hamish
Guest
The strange thing is that last night there was mention of some comments by Nathan Buckley but nothing out there this morning. On the way home from the magnificent Hawks game, radio commentators were saying that Bucks had been quoted after the game as saying something about Freo being welcome to the win there on their own dungheap. Reading all the reports today we are just getting some more measured comments about playing four quarters of footie, blah, blah. Were the radio reports plucked out of thin air or is there a protective bubble around Collingwood's Golden Child? Given the talent at his disposal and the training set up The Pies have they should be going at the same pace as the Geelong Express. Instead they are puttering around in the style of Richmond and may not trouble the final eight. I will be waiting for next week's post match comments after The Cats have mauled them with some anticipation. That's if they get reported.