Since it was played at Subi, this was one game that I had no chance of getting to. However, I did have the house to myself, and Channel 7 had a full match coverage, so I settled in to watch the game in the comfort and warmth of home. At the start of the game Freo were without a win from six outings this season (plus their last five of last season) and had won only one game from their last 13, and that was the one point victory over Adelaide last season. Geelong, on the other hand, had won their first five games this season, then received a wake up call the previous week, going down to Hawthorn by a couple of points at Shell Stadium. Add to that the fact that Freo had lost Bondy and Callaghan to injury, while the Cats got Hocking back from suspension, and it was difficult to see how Freo were going to manage a win. In the 7 commentary box Den and Woosher were saying as much.
The first quarter pretty much reinforced the pre-match comments, and my own pre-match fears. Whether Geelong were very good, or the Dockers were very bad was pretty irrelevant, but it was certainly true that the Cats were far and away the better team on the field. At times it seemed like they were playing with 20 men, to the Dockers' 10. One reason for that perception was the umpiring, which was pretty diabolical in the first quarter. If the Dockers had been close to the ball more often, I probably would haqve had even more to whinge about, but here are a few samples:
Even if the umpiring had been up to scratch Fremantle would still have been well behind at quarter time. As it was, they were 31 points down, and it probably could have been more. It was looking like this would be another game like the Brisbane game in round 5 which the Dockers never even looked like winning. The only possible glimmer of hope was that Geelong had had the breeze in that first quarter, and maybe there was a gale blowing. Didn't look like it though.
In the second quarter it was a whole different ball game, and just as well too. Waterhouse and McManus came on, and Clem Michael took over from Bandy in the ruck. I still think that Spider and Clem are the ideal ruck combination - one huge but with no leap, the other smaller but with a huge leap, thats gotta be hard for an opposing ruck man to deal with - but it did look like Michael and Bandy were doing the job. Fremantle began to win the ball out of the centre, and Waterhouse and young gun Shipp took a few marks on the half forward line. Of course Clive was at his frustrating best, taking great marks, but kicking 1.3 and one out on the full for the quarter. Shipp seemed to be much more relaxed, but not quite so capable of getting the ball. When it got down to him, Modra slotted goals through from all sorts of angles. Fremantle kicked 5.8 to 3 goals straight for the quarter to narrow the margin to 11 points by half time.
Since it looks like the breeze is a factor, or at least that its harder to score at one end, the third quarter was going to be vital. Another blow out like the first, and Freo would be dead and buried. As it was, Fremantle were able to keep the pressure up, and more or less went goal for goal with Geelong. It was beginning to look like the Dockers selection gamble would pay off - Geelong have a bag of tall forwards, a fact which Freo chose to more or less ignore, and instead they picked a team full of pace. The longer the game went on, the less run Geelong was getting out of their half backs, and the more run Freo were getting from half back. This was illustrated by the highlight of the quarter, which strangely enough came from Geelong having the ball and pacey midfielder Bamford bouncing towards goals. After his first bounce there was a murmur from the crowd. The camera pulls out from him a bit to show Jame Clement charging after him. Bamford bounces again. Den mentions that Clement was a junior sprint champion. Bamford steadies to kick and ... Clement gets him! Ba-a-all! He-YEAH!
At three-quarter time the Dockers were still 17 points down, but kicking to the scoring end. Another one of their all-too-familiar "brave defeats" looked to be on the cards. Freo nabbed the first goal of the quarter, but Hocking set up Geelong for a quick reply. Then the game got bogged down for a bit. Hocking broke Wira's nose in what looked like a pretty dodgy challenge to me. He didn't get reported for it though, not even off the video, so maybe it looked worse than it was. From there on it was pretty much all Freo. They had plenty of run through the centre. They chipped it around a bit. Dale was excellent turning Geelong attacks around, and his mini-clone Garth Taylor even helped him out a bit. Clement was running into attack from half back, as was the whole centre line. Shipp, Waterhouse and Tone all goaled, but the sealer wound up coming from Prescott who had come back from the dead to return to the ground in the sceond quarter.
All in all, a very satisfying viewing event. Freo played the way they always should - keeping possession of the ball. Bombing the ball forward the way Drum seems to have taught them to was at least kept to a minimum. Modra kicked six, and if the delivery had been a bit better would have got more I'd say. And of course, there is the fact they won. The players were all pretty happy about it, having a group cuddle like they had just won a grand final. Its that attitude that makes me think they will lose to wooden spoon favourites Collingwood next week - they think one win is enough and its not.
Final Score : Fremantle 16.20-116 Finally beat someone! The other guys were Geelong 15.9-99
© 1999 timnfromoz timnfromoz@hotmail.com
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