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The last laugh or another early whimper for the Dockers in 2015?

Roar Pro
18th July, 2015
20

No longer are we white-knuckled and ready to punch the air in disdain. The modern Fremantle Dockers fan can now sit back in an armchair with a drink and a grin.

Although the once laughable club are finding their lungs are now fit to chuckle, are they good enough to win the flag?

Being knocked off the mountain by Hawthorn in the 2013 grand final, and again sent tumbling a year later at the hands of Port Adelaide, will this year’s Dockers have the last laugh – or will they exit with an early whimper?

The season so far has been more or less exactly what the fans could have hoped for: top of the ladder with 12 wins and 2 hard losses to Richmond and Hawthorn.

We’ve played patches of beautiful footy, and swamps of cringe-ridden, disgusting footy. We’ve had some good wins, and some bad wins. The match against the Gold Coast showed the fans that their boys will not play perfectly forever, a throwback to earlier frustrations when our hair was thicker.

Freo’s match against the Gold Coast was like watching a desperate and crazed badger fighting off its predators with tired legs and uncoordinated scratches; the badger being lucky the opposition sat on the bottom of the ladder at the time.

Our two losses, and the means by which they occurred, can easily be explained and understood. For a long time, Fremantle have had significant trouble facing Richmond.

The Tigers wanted more than a win. They wanted to etch a statement, to brand every club’s buttocks with the words, “Don’t write us off”. Since then, Richmond has pole-vaulted up the ladder with some strong wins, including the scalping of the Sydney Swans.

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Hawthorn, well, how easily their fans must sleep. How bright their mornings must look, seemingly until the first week of October. Perhaps the Hawks’ most impressive win happened in Launceston against Fremantle, which will most likely give them dangerous momentum leading into the finals, while hopefully kicking us into a much desired gear.

A switched-on opposition is a weak excuse for losing, and so is a slump in form.

We are in a slump, that is evident enough, but to those concerned about Freo’s chances, remember our first half of the season.

That kind of form can be found again, but it will obviously take hard work.

As we limp towards the end of the season, all our hope lies in the hard work of the Fremantle Dockers’ coaching cohort, and of course the players. The Last Sprint is indeed coming up fast, and we seem to be fading with every stride.

Yeah, we could sit back with white knuckles, an ugly scowl and expect the ball to fall through our hands at every lead or hit the post at every set shot. It’s easier to be negative – but bugger that, we’ll win and go all the way.

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