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Dockers dominate Dogs 108-54

Cam McCarthy is happy to have made it home. (Photo by Will Russell/AFL Media/Getty Images)
Roar Guru
21st April, 2018
103

Fremantle have proved too fast, too classy and too determined for the visiting Western Bulldogs at Optus Stadium, winning their Saturday night clash by 54 points.

Right from the beginning the Dockers looked switched on. While the midfield contest was even, Freo were much more purposeful with the ball.

In particular they ran hard and moved the ball quickly across half forward, getting themselves into good scoring positions time and again.

As a result, they found it much easier around goal, kicking four goals straight to the Dogs’ one goal two behinds.

The Dogs were keen to respond in the second term, booting the first two goals to bring themselves back within a kick.

But their intensity wasn’t matched by their execution, surrendering the initiative through silly mistakes in the middle of the ground, admittedly often under strong defensive pressure from the home side.

After missing some chances the Dockers got on top once more, and a brief storm created slippery conditions the Western players – perhaps too used to the comfortable confines of the Docklands – struggled even more to hit targets.

Freo extended their lead back to three goals by halftime, but they were just warming for what would be a decisive third quarter.

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Right from the beginning of the second half the Dockers looked even sharper and hungrier, and the Dogs even more listless, than either team had in the first two quarters.

Freo were well on top in every department, winning the ball out of the middle, and setting up good shots at goal through their pace around half forward.

And on the rare occasions when the Dogs had a chance to clear, they would inevitably come unstuck in the middle of the ground where they faced relentless tackling pressure and an empty forward line.

The Dockers piled on the goals, kicking six of them before their opponents troubled the scorers. Some of the stats late in the quarter were scarcely believable; almost 90 per cent of forward half territory and every inside 50 bar one until the last two or three minutes.

When the third quarter siren rang out, the Dockers held a 50 point lead and it was clear the contest was over.

The last stanza was a rather less intense affair, with quite a lot of open play and a fair number of goals at either end.

It did give a few individuals a chance to pad out some already impressive stats, most notably Nat Fyfe and Michael Walters. The Freo captain had 43 touches, and some of them were very classy indeed. Walters for his part kicked five goals, including a couple of beauties.

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The Dockers had virtually no passengers tonight, but Nathan Wilson, Cam McCarthy and young Adam Cerra were some of their other better performers.

One sour note for Freo though was the loss of Matt Taberner to a lower leg injury in the first term, after he’d made a great start to the match.

The Dogs will be bitterly disappointed not to have been more competitive tonight, after a couple of better performances recently.

They did however get good games out of Toby McLean, Caleb Daniel and the impressive young ruckman Tim English. Billy Gowers made a nuisance of himself up forward with two goals.

The story tonight though is Freo’s performance, and their growing dominance at their new home ground. Some of their forward movement tonight, moving the ball laterally, quickly to create chances, will no doubt be heavily studied by their coming opponents. It certainly looked hard to stop this evening.

A perfect tune-up for the Western Derby next week, as well as four valuable points for Freo.

Final score
Fremantle 16.12.108
Western Bulldogs 8.6.54

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