For a decade, the most arresting sight at Fremantle games has been how unusual but powerful Nat Fyfe and David Mundy look at stoppages.
Midfielders are built in their mould now – tall, athletic types who might have been centre-half forwards in a less imaginative era – but they didn’t used to be, and Fyfe and Mundy were among the first in a wave.
Now the sight of them serves as a warm reminder of how unique they once were.
For the past few years, it’s been a reminder without any edge, a requiem for a midfield that used to be fearsome but was gradually undone and made irrelevant by the lack of competence around it. Fyfe and Mundy were still doing fine work, but it was enveloped by the meaningless that swallowed up their team.
It’s been four years since Fyfe played in a final. He’s too much of a champion to be defined by a lack of team success that one player out of 22 can only have so much impact, but this Freo meaninglessness threatened to be the second paragraph of his football obituary.
For Mundy, it was more dire. Fyfe is 27, he has time. At 33, Mundy’s career was looking like potentially ending with four consecutive years of irrelevant games.
David Mundy (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)
Finally though, their context has given them a canvas again. Now their size, the odd sight of two 190-plus-centimetre rampaging midfield bodies, winning the ball at stoppages above their heads and crashing into and through opposition limbs, is propelling their team towards a real purpose.
The Dockers, suddenly, are just a good team. The defence is strong, with Joel Hamling and Alex Pearce able to stake a straight-faced claim as the best key defender duo in the competition right now. Luke Ryan is the mandatory intercept marker, while Nathan Wilson and Adam Cerra provide the class by foot.
The midfield is balanced, with the brawn of Fyfe and Mundy on the inside complemented by the outside dash of Bradley Hill and Ed Langdon. Rory Lobb is a more mobile ruck than they’ve had, and more of a natural resting forward. Michael Walters is a star.
The forward line is complicated, but ‘complicated’ is a giant step up from what it’s been. Jesse Hogan and Matt Taberner fluctuate from game-to-game, looking like All Australians in tandem against Greater Western Sydney, then call-ups from the reserves against the Bulldogs. It’s a promising sign, though, for Fremantle that they were able to withstand anonymous performances from Taberner, Hogan and Cam McCarthy and still escape with a win against the Dogs.
That escape was largely thanks to Brandon Matera, who is suddenly looking like an elite small forward, with a work-rate to go with his ball-in-hand gifts.
This team makes sense. They’re well-structured and they compete. Their positioning and ball movement has order, and they play as though they have a plan. They will not beat themselves.
With that background, the talent of Fyfe and Mundy can be properly enjoyed again without lament.
They are thriving – Fyfe back in Brownlow form, Mundy revitalised by a shift back to the midfield (the lesson as always – if your best players can play in the middle then they should probably play in the middle).
Every week Fyfe does things that no other player can. Against the Bulldogs he rose airborne on the flank to win a contested ball, smashing immediately into two opponents who wrapped him up in the air, but he somehow snuck a deftly-timed handball between their bodies to a teammate at perfect height.
Mundy is bruising on the inside, smooth on the outside. He plays with force, then with grace. Mundy in stride, like Fyfe in the air, is one of football’s best sights.
Against the Bulldogs Mundy was everywhere in the most important moments, kicking two vital goals in the third quarter – both dead straight flowing kicks from the top of the arc – to redirect and determine the flow of his 300th game, a meaningful game in a season now full of them for the Dockers.
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
You haven't clarified a point at all. One moment you are in 2019 then you pop back to the 2018 team. It's really strange.
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
You have just listed stats that we all have access to but made no comment, no argument, no point. What point do you think you are making?
anon
Roar Pro
When you say the forward line was impotent you are placing blame on the forward line. I would put the blame on the all star midfield that had Neale (3rd fav for Brownlow) and Fyfe (4th fav for the Brownlow).
Liam Salter
Roar Guru
Evidently, there was a substantial disconnect between the midfield and the forward line - you and I both comprehend that, yes? I said Freo's forward line was impotent. You said they weren't getting enough supply. If a forward line isn't getting enough supply ... does that not make them impotent? Unless you're going in a super roundabout way of saying the same thing I am. We're splitting hairs, regardless. 2018 Freo forward line = bad. 2019 Freo forward line = now good. That's the moral of the story.
anon
Roar Pro
My point is other teams kick winning scores with far less forward firepower. No excuses for that team not kicking big scores. You were saying that the forward line was impotent last year. No it wasn't. The midfield was 16th in the league for inside 50's. How do you expect a team to be in the top half of the league for scoring if they are 16th for opportunities presented.
Liam Salter
Roar Guru
How was I wrong? I legit practically said what you just did, except you added the statistics. And what do Richmond and Collingwood have to do with anything?
anon
Roar Pro
It might be a challenge for a dysfunctional team, but it is not a challenge.
anon
Roar Pro
Here is where you are wrong champ. Fremantle were 3rd worst in the league for inside 50s last year. How do you expect that forwards to kick goals if the ball is not getting down there. Right now they are 7th for inside 50s and 6th for points scored. The North game is skewing the numbers, plus they've played bottom 6 teams in 4 of the first 6 rounds (3 of them on their home deck). With Betts over the hill, Walters is the best small forward in the league. Then three 200cm key forwards that would slot into any other side in the league. McCarthy as a backup. Fyfe floating forward. Collingwood have their forward line built around Mason Cox for crying out loud. Richmond won a premiership with Jack Riewoldt and the mosquito fleet.
Jonboy
Roar Rookie
C'mon Don, i did not put anyone down, reread what i said. Ballantyne's injuries opened up a opportunity to Matera and Switkoski to cement there place in the team. They have done that and they are young and the future of the club .Sorry but i don't think H.B. has. IMO
Jonboy
Roar Rookie
Like your comments AD so true, your improving out of sight. I quite often go to interstate matches, but i give up on the Adelaide one's. This is our best chance ever, and i think they can win this one. I will not give up if they don't. Enjoy the game!
Liam Salter
Roar Guru
I don't care who Adelaide has played, or not played: Fremantle's record in my home state is trash, and even when we're performing half-decently we usually can't grasp the challenge. Winning here will be a massive step forward for the club, for mine.
Liam Salter
Roar Guru
To be fair Anon, you do have quite a skill in being obtuse and slyly changing answers when challenged. Regardless of that, it isn't hard to see where Freo's difference is coming from this year. Our forward line last year was impotent - a typical Freo trade mark, and one that took a fair while to rectify after Pavlich's departure. The addition of Hogan and the reemergence of Matera was greatly assisted with reforming what was a diabolically frustrating forward structure, whilst our midfield's continued development has surprised even me. As for your Neale/Fyfe comments, you can have as brilliant a midfield as you can have, but if the forward structure is trash and there are too many underperforming players (or players struggling with injury), then nothing is going to go anywhere. Freo has made strides this year, but the trip to Adelaide this weekend is massive.
Jonboy
Roar Rookie
Right Anon, i agree about 13th he knows the Freo club, good sensible stuff. Also agree on the mudslinging and the childish puppet games!
Jonboy
Roar Rookie
True Steve, love to see Giro in for Colyer, Blakely for Conca and North for Brayshaw (1 week break) then back in for Cerra (one week break )then back for North after two games. Conca and Colyer need to be taught there not walk up starts, they have been pretty average. I doubt the romantic coach will drop Conca as he is in the leadership group, but how can you forgive him for that game changer clanger in the Derby
Steve J
Roar Guru
Giro could get a run to play in front of his folks in SA....but Ross isn't that romantic a coach IN: Blakely, Giro OUT: Colyer, Hughes
Steve J
Roar Guru
Hanneberry, Pittard, Williams, Boyd, Schache, Suckling, Bruce, Austin, Kent, Carlisle, Roberton, Longer, Steele, Brown, Ahern, Anderson, Hall, Higgins, Polec, Tyson, Crozier, Trengrove, Lloyd 23 blokes somehow attracted to the clubs you mentioned. Those poor clubs that no one wants to go to. But under your metrics they are all journey men seeing as they are at their second club now
anon
Roar Pro
It's a bit like Bennell. Has these calf injuries that won't heal, but multiple times caught up in late night incidents while drunk. He doesn't look after himself and give himself every chance of being 100% fit.
Steve J
Roar Guru
Nope again. He was injured when he was dropped from the leadership group, it wasn't in the off season it was around round 4-5 while injured. He broke the clubs no drinking while injured policy and told the police a fake name. He won the clubs time trials so he kinda does look after himself in the off season. Try again for some more mud slinging. Some might stick one day
anon
Roar Pro
You're being civil 13th Man and not slinging mud at me, so I'm happy to discuss this with you. Some people could learn from you mate. Making finals isn't hard. You only have to be in the top 45% of teams. Winning a premiership is an achievement. Making finals is what a middle of the road side should be doing every other year. To not be in the top 45% of teams when you have one of the all time greats in Fyfe at his peak in the middle is an indictment. Last year they had 3rd favourite for the Brownlow Lachie Neale as Fyfe's deputy in the middle. That was like having Dangerfield and Selwood in the middle but getting blasted off the park. Now they have the most potent forward line in the league by a margin.
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
I have a hunch that you didn't understand my comment. You seem more interested in putting Ballas down. That doesn't contribute to this particular conversation.