Opinion
Sometimes it’s hard being a suspect top four team for so many years. You’re eventually going to get shafted by scheduling and other things.
That’s what has happened to the Fremantle Dockers AFLW side this season. After finishing in the finals in all of the last three seasons, in addition to a dominant 2020 season, when COVID stopped an almost certain first premiership for the club, they currently find themselves in 17th position after Round 7 and many have only looked at that.
But if anyone has watched Fremantle from Round 2 onwards, they’ll know that the ladder doesn’t tell you much.
Experts may not have rated Fremantle as high as they would’ve in their pre-season predictions. Season-ending injuries to both Kara and Ebony Antonio were predicted to damage the midfield and forward line, as was the departure of Gemma Houghton to Port Adelaide, even though every team has had to deal with player departures to the four expansion clubs.
The forward line has without a doubt been the biggest issue for Trent Cooper’s side, only scoring an average of 24.7 points a game, compared to 38.3 points in season 6. If you look at the top goal-scorers for the Dockers earlier this year, it’s Hayley Miller with 10, Ebony Antonio with 10, Gemma Houghton with nine, Kara Antonio with six, and Mikayla Hyde with six as well.
Ebony Antonio of Fremantle celebrates a goal. (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)
Those three names I mentioned earlier are in there, which is a tallied total of 25 goals at two per game. Could’ve swung the result in the games against the Bulldogs, Carlton, Melbourne, and Adelaide when you consider momentum.
One thing I find interesting in those stats is you wouldn’t consider three of those players forwards. Miller had an outstanding season, dominating through the midfield, and defence whilst still managing to score goals, Kara Antonio wasn’t the monster Miller was, but she still played a similar role, whilst Ebony Antonio has been described as a “coach’s dream” who can play anywhere as well.
It feels like Miller needs the Antonios with her, they form the team’s spine. I relate this to rugby for example, where two halves play different roles, but both have a similar skill set.
So, with the different structure of the team, the start of the season was always going to be difficult, and that showed with a 49-point defeat to Brisbane, and a 26-point defeat to Geelong on a wet day at Fremantle Oval, with the home side only scoring one behind. But in the five matches since then, they’ve been playing like a top team.
In their last three losses and the draw against Carlton, they led at three quarter time in three of those matches. Not being able to finish off in the last quarter has been a problem, which is certainly a far cry from the dominant 2020 season, where the last quarters were the strong point of the side.
On Saturday against Adelaide, they lead by 11 points at three quarter time but only having one player on the bench hurt them. Combining that with Aine Tighe’s miss from close range with seconds on the clock against Carlton, we could’ve seen a Fremantle side with a record of 3-4, with thre games they have a real chance in remaining.
It would be rude not to mention Kiara Bowers here. I don’t want to use the word “carrying” to describe an elite competition, but that’s what it has been like.
Along with almost 20 touches a game (20 per cent shorter quarters compared to the AFL), she also has 93 tackles, 20 more than any other player. This includes 12 tackles in one half against Carlton, madness.
(Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)
It also looks like she’ll get the three best and fairest votes against Adelaide, despite competing with two superstars of the game on the Adelaide side, Ebony Marinoff and Anne Hatchard.
So, where does it go from here? After a tough fixture to start, they play Collingwood at home, Sydney at Henson Park, and back to Freo Oval against Hawthorn for Round 10.
Collingwood are 6-1 this season but have only defeated one side currently in the top 8, so it’s a real chance for an upset. Sydney is almost a guaranteed win, they just haven’t been up to it this year as an expansion side, and Hawthorn have been good but you’d expect the Dockers to get the job done in the Port City.
The 1-1-5 record for Fremantle this season is very misleading as I’ve mentioned, and with the Antonio’s coming back into the side next season, along with a high-rated draft pick which will no doubt have a higher impact in their first year than in the men’s competition, I expect Fremantle to be right up there next season with an anticipated easier fixture.
But they’ve got to finish this year off well first if they want to give their fans some hope.
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