TimN's View on the Fremantle Dockers

The Fremantle Dockers had their first season in the AFL in 1995. Since that time, the astounding skills of their players have made them a force to be reckoned with, as their record of finishing 13th, 13th, 12th, 15th, 15th, 12th, 16th and 13th clearly shows. Fremantle are a great club. Where else would Shane Parker get a game, let alone become the club record holder for most games played with the club?

2002 was a big improvement on the previous year, with the Dockers managing nine wins, as opposed to just two in 2001.

Coming into 2003, Fremantle's big signing were mostly not so much new signings as re-signings of existing players. Pavlich, Hasleby and Justin Longmuir all agreed long term contracts with the club in the second half of 2002, so coach Damian Drum had a consistent playing list to carry forward in his planning. The one big new signing was Des Headland, who was Brisbane's number one draft choice about 5 years ago. The draft that year was the subject of a doumentary on the ABC, so everyone knew that Dessie was not keen to go to Brisbane in the first place, and this year he was able to return home to WA. Fremantle gained the honour of his services.

Anyway, the list below is a summary of the fixtures and results for the Fremantle Dockers for the year 2003. More in-depth reviews of some of the games are also available. I also have review for some matches from 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002.

If you want to find out more about the Dockers, click here. This site is now managed by the AFL, so don't hold it against the Dockers if it doesn't work. My experience so far is that it works much better when viewed using Internet Explorer.

The Pre-season

• Wizard Cup, Round 1 Vs West Coast, February ??th, at Subiaco. Lost by ?? points.

The Proper Season

• Round 1 Vs Adelaide, at Football Park, March 30. Lost by 56 points.
• Round 2 Vs Sydney, at Subiaco, April 5. Won by 26 points.
• Round 3 Vs Richmond, at the MCG, April 13. Lost by 48 points.
• Round 4 Vs North Melbourne, at Subiaco, April 20. Won by 45 points.
• Round 5 Vs West Coast, at Subiaco, April 28. Lost by 35 points.
• Round 6 Vs Essendon, at Subiaco, May 4. Won by 31 points.
• Round 7 Vs Footscray, at Docklands, May 11. Won by 83 points.
• Round 8 Vs St Kilda, at Subiaco, May 18. Won by 41 points.
• Round 9 Vs Melbourne, at the MCG, May 24. Won by 30 points.
• Round 10 Vs Carlton, at Subiaco, May 31. Won by 28 points.
• Round 11 Vs Port Adelaide, at Football Park, June 8. Lost by 49 points.
• Round 12 Vs Geelong, at Subiaco, June 14. Won by 16 points.
• Round 13 Vs Hawthorn, at York Park (Launceston), June 29. Lost by 30 points.
• Round 14 Vs Brisbane, at Subiaco, July 5. Won by 3 points.
• Round 15 Vs Collingwood, at the MCG, July 12. Lost by 41 points.
• Round 16 Vs Adelaide, at Subiaco, July 20. Won by 1 point.
• Round 17 Vs Sydney, at the SCG, July 27. Lost by 14 points.
• Round 18 Vs Richmond, at Subiaco, August 2. Won by 23 points.
• Round 19 Vs North Melbourne, at the MCG, August 10. Won by 1 point
• Round 20 Vs Footscray, at Subiaco, August 17. Won by 56 points.
• Round 21 Vs Essendon, at Docklands, August 23. Lost by 60 points.
• Round 22 Vs West Coast, at Subiaco, August 30. Won by 14 points.

If you count all the wins in that list, you will see that Freo won 14 games for the season, four more than they have won in any previous season. And so, for the first time ever, Fremantle made it into the AFL finals this year.

Finals

• Elimination Final Vs Essendon, at Subiaco, September 5. Lost by 44 points.
  

  © 2002 timnfromoz timnfromoz@hotmail.com
  

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