Fremantle are set to finish their season this Sunday, at Etihad Stadium, in 14th position on the ladder with a record of 8-14.
It actually makes them look better than they are, having only averaged 10.3 goals a game – the lowest average in the league.
The Lions and Kangaroos may be battling it out to decide who finishes last, but both clubs average three goals more than the Dockers.
In Round 12 this season, the Brisbane Lions smashed the Dockers at the Gabba by 57 points in a match where the Lions had 121 more disposals, 22 more inside 50s, 13 more shots on goals and 18 more clearances.
While the Dockers beat the Kangaroos twice this season, in Round 5 by four points and Round 16 by five points, we all know the Kangaroos outplayed the Dockers for most of both games and it took a little bit of luck for Freo to get the wins.
In Round 5 the Kangaroos lead by as much as 29 points in the third quarter but surprisingly, not only did a heroic snap by Shane Kersten put Freo up with only seconds to go, the Dockers side also had 21 more disposals than the Roos and five more inside 50s. The Dockers also had five more scoring shots and seven more clearances.
In Round 16 the Dockers had outdone the Kangaroos all game until the last quarter, where North hit the lead until debutant Ryan Nyhuis kicked his fourth goal of the game and then veteran ruckman Todd Goldstein missed a set shot.
We’ll get back how important the Kangaroos-Dockers matches are, but as we know this Fremantle side have had four big smashings this season coming from Port Adelaide, Adelaide, Sydney and Richmond.
In the context of where the Dockers were before the Round 12 match against Brisbane, the club was 6-5 and the Freo faithful were talking about finals.
In my opinion, the 57-point loss to the Lions was worse than any of the big four smashings. The Dockers started to believe their own hype and they had what I call ‘false hope’.
A David Mundy goal after siren against the Tigers early in the season, another early win over the Demons with a Cam McCarthy goal, coupled with the two Kangaroos matches had given this false hope to the Fremantle.
The club honestly believed they were better than they were.
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If Fremantle had not won the earlier games against the Kangaroos, Tigers and Demons, they would have gone into the Brisbane match 3-8, placed in the bottom four – a position which actually would have reflected where the club was at that time in the season.
Instead, the Dockers were 6-5 and in the eight.
This season, the Dockers will be the first team to lose three games by 100 points or more in a season since GWS in their inaugural season in 2012.
The only positive comparison of the Giants in 2012 to Freo in 2017 is the Dockers average 1.3 more goals a match.
So are the Dockers so bad that they’re really the same level as the Giants in 2012? We all know how bad they were but look at the Giants now. Are the dockers on the track to be what the Giants are now in 2020?
Who knows?
But while the Kangaroos and Lions battle it out for the wooden spoon on Saturday, they don’t deserve this year because the Dockers have truly been the worst team in the league.
Some will say that they are lucky, but are they?
If it wasn’t for those four goals – against the Kangaroos twice, Richmond and Melbourne – Fremantle could be getting pick one in the draft and getting the best player available. If it goes the way the experts are saying, the Kangaroos will get the spoon and also the pick the Dockers must now be frustrated they’re not getting.
The question for next season is will the Dockers improve?
Considering they should really be finishing with four wins, is five wins next season a pass mark for them? Will Ross Lyon have a job at the end of 2018 season? Fremantle need to answer a lot of questions and the only way they can do that is with results.
Steve
Guest
Every year the experts come out talking crap,and every year they prove themselves wrong,and on and on it goes,
Don Freo
Guest
Agreed. As long as he gets a go somewhere. I still have flashing memories of Shane Yarran's moments of brilliance. I want him back at Freo as a 30yo when he gets out of Wooroloo.
dontknowmuchaboutfootball
Guest
Makes sense, though personally, I think things like "effort" are precisely the things that an AFL-level training environment can hope to improve (it sure ain't skills and game-sense).
Don Freo
Guest
The problem with Ryan is his absence of defensive work. He'll be grabbed but probably by an Eastern States club. Apparently there are at least 4 interested.
dontknowmuchaboutfootball
Guest
Also, I'd be very interested in picking up Liam Ryan in the draft, but would he fall as far down as the late 40s, I wonder (especially given WC would have to be keen)? Then again, he's been overlooked for a couple of years now, so maybe there are fears about discipline, etc....
dontknowmuchaboutfootball
Guest
Not sure how Freo are going to get McGovern and keep their first round pick. Would be delighted if it were to happen, but I just can't see it. Maybe if someone gives a high second rounder for Balic (best case scenario).
johno
Guest
Have out these stats up before 6 Debut players in 2017 - Darcy, Logue, Cox, Ryan, Deluca, Nyhuis 7 players in just their third season of seniors - Weller, Langdon, Blakely, Tucker, Grey, Hughes, Hamling (yep - he debuted in 2015) 3 Players back after significant time off and injury - McCarthy, Fyfe, Bennell 4 players missing significant chunks of season due to injury - Sandi, Alex Pearce, Ballantyne, Clarke With those types of player demo's you are never going to push finals seriously. 2017 was a season made for getting games into kids. When you play as many as 6 debutants in a team then towards the end of the season performances will start to drop significantly (kinda like how the Tigers lost by 113 points in round 23 last year) . Add in players like McCarthy and Bennell who have missed a lot of footy then 2017 was never going to be about finals. Although it almost was. Freo will farewell Dawson, Ibbtoson and possibly Griffen and pay out Pearce's last year of his contract. Other players like Suban and Sheridan will be shopped around (not sure if there'll be any takers, but Suban has the same appeal as a De Boer type) Freo will target McGovern and one more player as a trade and then use pick 5 to grab Naughton. Full pre-seasons and no injuries should see Freo in the 7-10 bracket for 2018 Make no mistake, this is not a team with long term issues such as the Blues, Dees, Lions, Suns have had.
Joseph
Roar Rookie
Forever optimist forever freo
Steve
Guest
What garbage a win is a win.while they have probably played the worst games this year there best has still been better than the roos or lions,they'll beat the bombers on Sunday ,ahhhh forever the optimist
FreoKnight
Guest
In this demolition of the Freo season it is probably also worth pointing out that Freo have the worst percentage of any team in the competition. Having said that if they hadn't lost Sandi, who gives the Freo midfield silver service, then they would probably finished the season with 10 or 11 wins. The problem here is that the big fellow probably only has a season or two left in him, meaning Freo is going to have to find a way of being more competitive without him.
dave
Guest
Really liked Darcy in his debut year.
Macca
Guest
Don Freo - we all know you love making stuff up so could you point to the 4 games the Dockers have lost by less than a goal?
Deir-ba-zor
Guest
poor, poor brainwashed dockers supporter.
Don Freo
Guest
What a silly lot of reasoning. They lost just as many close games. Infact, winning them would have them in the top 4. They are, in reality, a much better team than it seems. You see, teams that get close to GWS must be better than teams that didn't. Teams that beat Richmond are better than teams that didn't. So...Freo which beat Richmond is better than Freo which didn't. Hmmm, should we remove 4 points from them because the author doesn't think they are as good as the bottom side? Perhaps we could just acknowledge that their injury toll made them weaker the second time around.