ADELAIDE — Fremantle has put their season back on track after a 10-point come-from-behind win over the Gold Coast Suns on Friday.
The Dockers overturned a 23-point deficit in the second half to overrun the Suns in the final quarter, ending their extended South Australian sojourn with something to show for their stay.
Following their loss to the Crows by 39 points last week, Fremantle was again criticised for the ball movement with dual North Melbourne Premiership player David King doubling down on his concerns on First Crack that the Dockers were in danger of missing the finals with a “fake footy” and “yesteryear” style of play.
After a slow and steady first half, the Dockers sparked to life after halftime and started to inject some run and flow into their game.
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Sean Darcy (18 disposals, 48 hit-outs, two contested marks) began to assert himself in the ruck over the second-game Sun Ned Moyl providing the silver service to star midfielder Caleb Serong who finished with a career-high 37 disposals.
Speaking to foxfooty.com.au post-game, Serong spoke of the “tough few weeks” the club had endured and the “great feeling” to be back on the winners list heading back home to Perth.
“It’s been a tough few weeks,” he said. “It hasn’t been easy. We had a few performances we weren’t happy with… we really embraced a bit of chaos, stopped worrying about fixing mistakes, and went about it the way we wanted to.”
The Dockers opted to spend the week in Adelaide ahead of the AFL’s inaugural Gather Round in what was a throwback to the 2020 hub season for Serong and his Dockers teammates.
The 22-year-old said that it was a time to “throw our arms around each other and get back to work”, giving the tight-knit group time to assess a tough start to the season together in a bubble type environment.
“There were things that crept into our game that we weren’t happy with, that were non-negotiables,” he said.
“A lot of it centred around the contest… that was our main focus coming into tonight. Be tougher.
“… we spoke about it pretty bluntly earlier in the week. It wasn’t easy to hear and some of the actions that weren’t easy to see that we watched over… That was a real focus tonight, the guys really embraced that and got to work in that area”
When quizzed on the Dockers’ ball movement in the early part of the season, Serong said that he thought that his side was still getting “some good looks” with a methodical and balanced approach, lamenting poor execution in past weeks to not properly take the game on.
“You can’t go fast every time,” he said. “We feel like we’ve got a balanced style of ball movement. At times we’re going to have to back ourselves to take those kicks. In the last couple of weeks, we haven’t at times but a lot of it is coming down to execution going inside 50.
“We feel like we’ve had some good looks up the ground, a kick through the corridor, a handball receive and the last kick is what’s missing.
“… Tonight there were a few more kicks to advantage and gave the forwards a better opportunity.
“It’s a work in progress but we feel like we’re still getting some really good looks”
The Dockers return to Perth to get set for their clash against the Western Bulldogs on Friday night at Optus Stadium.
