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Opinion
Watching the Dockers get pantsed by GWS on the weekend was a depressing afternoon for a nailed-on Freo fan such as myself, but what was most alarming was the manner in which it happened, and the unwillingness of either coach or captain to veer away from plan A and stem the bleeding.
The ease in which a pretty average Giants side walked the ball from coast to coast on a number of occasions was greatly concerning, and the lack of effort shown by the players to stop the rot was downright disgraceful.
A trend we’ve seen this year from Freo is one that when they have been underdogs – such as against Melbourne, Geelong and Sydney away, they’ve been successful but when expected to do the business such as against North Melbourne at home, Richmond and GWS they’ve been downright woeful.
They have won one first quarter all season, against a Hawthorn side on the road, and the slow starts are catching up with them. The great escape against the Western Bulldogs in last year’s elimination final papered over the cracks.
The reality is this side is currently a team full of front-runners, who perform well when conditions suit them, but the minute they are challenged, and faced with adversity they don’t stand up.
What really stands up is the lack of leadership – the talent is there, but the fight, will to win and pressure only turns up periodically.
Freo fans grimace every time the heavens open because they know that this team simply won’t stand up and guts it out in tough conditions. Last week Richmond simply outfought them in tough conditions.
This is a team of front-runners, and when faced with grizlled sides with foot soldiers that are prepared to be tougher in wet or slippery conditions, as we’ve seen at Optus last week and in Sydney this weekend, Freo falter.
This speaks a lot to the leadership, or lack thereof at the club currently. For everything I disliked about the Ross Lyon era, he was a hard man, took no prisoners and made no excuses. The run to the 2013 Grand Final was built upon an ‘anywhere, anytime’ mantra that saw them go down to Geelong and win against the odds.
This 2023 era side is vastly more talented, full of top-end draft pick talent, but you just know that under the same scenario they would fail badly. The excuses are already coming – ‘we missed Sean Darcy’ being a major one. Two weeks ago certain ‘pundits’ were telling Freo to trade Darcy!
I like Justin Longmuir, I want him to succeed. He’s a mild-mannered, analytical coach who has shown good tactical nous, but my big concern is his man-management, or lack of it. He isn’t a great orator, nor is he particularly inspiring and this is where the captain has to come into it.
Alex Pearce seems like a great bloke, but he just doesn’t have a presence on or off the field, like the great captains do (see Scott Pendlebury or Joel Selwood).
He isn’t a guy who is going to dish out a spray or put his team on his back and lead by example. I hate to say this as I think he’s a great defender, and is obviously very well liked by his teammates, but I don’t think he’s tough enough.
Alex Pearce of the Dockers questions a call with the umpires after the siren. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)
From top to bottom, Freo are a bunch of ‘nice guys’ now with a soft underbelly. I think they’ve tried so hard to completely be rid of the Lyon era that we’ve become a bit like the England cricket team under Joe Root: an underwhelming side led by a great player, well-liked, but simply doesn’t have the presence that other leaders have to demand something extra.
The contract extensions for Nat Fyfe and Michael Walters also smack of conservatism. I love them both, they are absolute champions of the club, but it’s dangerous to carry these blokes into the future for too long. I would’ve offered both one-year, performance-based contracts on less money, and as much as it would’ve hurt if they went elsewhere, so be it.
So, where to now? The loss to GWS probably just about boomerangs their finals hopes, yes they could potentially still sneak into eighth, but what does that achieve? It just papers over more cracks.
This is a talented team, but it’s a team lacking the mongrel to get down and dirty and fight. It lacks a strong, hard-man leader who will demand more out of his teammates.
Nathan Buckley, in his assessment of the Dockers, suggested they were a team full of introverts, from coach down. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but without a few strong, extroverted types it’s easy to get a bit insular and worry more about themselves and their positions than the overall team values.
I’d look to Caleb Serong as the future captain of the side. He has that presence, that mongrel and drive and although young is probably the most inspiring of the newer brigade – more so than Andrew Brayshaw, who, despite being a great footballer, also falls into the introvert category.
It’s easy to forget that this is still a very young side, the youngest side to walk out in this round, and the future is still very bright, but the lack of leadership is looming as a major concern for this side moving forward.
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