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.
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.
johno
Guest
Freo get a chance to exact revenge on the Tigers this weekend. Win that and they are 2 games clear of possibly the rest of the top 4. If WC lose to the Swannies. If WC win then they are 1 clear of WC, 2 clear of Hawks, 3 clear of the Swans, pretty much make it a 3 horse race for the top 2 ... and WC have Freo and the Hawks to come. If WC win both of those Freo is still 2 games clear of the Hawks. If WC lose to the Hawks then Freo will be 1 game clear of WC and Hawthorn (assuming Freo wins against their opponents) Leaving Freo to drop another 1 or 2 games against 1 of GWS, Saints, Port, Roos and Dee in order to miss the double chance. So basically Freo will be looking at the Tigers this weekend as the first step to locking up the double chance. Don't think that will not be lost on Ross as he prepares for the game.
johno
Guest
And by chickens we mean budgies
13th Man
Guest
don't count your chickens yet mate.
Adam Daunt
Roar Guru
Ross has the experience to get Freo up at the right times and with their experience in finals and guys like McPharlin and Sandilands in good form you'd expect they can go deep. They won't drop out of the top four which always means your a chance to take the flag, the worry lies with Pavlich, Ballantyne or Mayne not producing their regular output and when your facing the Hawks who feature an incredible spread of goal kickers and even Sydney and West Coast, Fremantle is going to struggle to overcome that. So its a possibility but as its stands its unlikely.
Freo As
Guest
What are you, an insider? Have you got access to crackers' hotline?
LoveFreo
Guest
Let the naysayers have their say. Ross is a smart operator.
damien
Roar Rookie
freo should comfortably finish top 4, and hopefully top 2 with a few close wins. From then its all down to finals form where anythings possible so i wouldn't read too much into freo's current form. Its been a good time to be out of form, having had mostly pretty weak oppositions.
Don Freo
Guest
They're not tapering. A few players have dropped off that 1 or 2% and therefore Freo is only winning games with 160% to 170% margins (175% last night). When Duffield, Mzungu, Sunny, Ballas, Barlow, Clancy, Crozier, Tabs, Clackers et al...get their 101% back, instead of 99%, Freo will get back to winning by more. Their margins have still been comfortable in the wet. There's no tapering. Perhaps the only taper was the backing off in Tassie last week. That certainly wasn't a contest between 2 teams playing their best. Freo's dominant season allowed that.
BigAl
Guest
Tapering, leading to humiliation, will never achieve anything
joe b
Guest
Yeah... that's what I am hoping as well. I think Ross is quite astute, and cunning, and this is part of his plan for Septembe/October success.
Malahka
Guest
True but would rather have form at the end of the season than the start.
conchie
Roar Rookie
I think Lyon has deliberately tapered the Dockers off mid season and they should start to once again to play better, very hard to keep up all year.
Don Freo
Guest
Yeah but look at who has beaten them. You can't possibly win a premiership in you lose to Essendon. That's the thinking of many an argument this year. GWS beat Hawthorn, WC beat GWS by 80 odd points so by the logic of those declaring Hawks unbeatable (despite 4 games to the contrary, GWS is better than Hawthorn so WC is better than Hawthorn and because they beat Sydney must be 190 points better than Sydney. Freo beat WC so they are obviously the best. That's how pointless it is to say one team is best because of one or two games. Surely the best team is the one that loses the least after a full round of 17 games. Freo is just as likely to win a final as Hawthorn. Both are more likely than Essendon...although Hawthorn haven't proved that.
Malahka
Guest
Agree freo will finish top 2. From there only need to win 3 games obviously. However can't go past hawks atm. Wce v freo would be an interesting final.
Don Freo
Guest
A strange use of the word, "we." Only the end sounded like a fan. The review before that was like an eastern states reading with no reality. Freo's season has been dominant. Freo has become very competent in the wet and give them a dry day...which they haven't had for 8 games now...and they'll fly. Absolutely no probs for Freo.
Dinney
Guest
Eagles will trounce Freo next derby imo.
Greg
Guest
Freo will exit before the Big Day. The Great Pretenders is a more appropriate tag. Only true Fremantle fans would believe otherwise and they are delusional. See you in 2016.
Neil from Warrandyte
Guest
Freo look shot. Must be the worst looking top of the ladder team (at round 16) for many years. A big test against the tigers next Saturday.
jax
Guest
Hawks are irresistible ATM.
joe b
Guest
Hawks clearly flag favorites given the results of past 2 weeks. West Coast play all 3 contenders over the next 4 weeks...will be interesting to see if they fair better than Sydney and Freo.