Jimmy Webster’s sickening clash with Walyalup’s Michael Frederick, which left Frederick concussed and subbed out of Saturday night’s game, was a football act according to the Dockers’ coach Justin Longmuir.
Frederick was flattened after Saints defender Jimmy Webster collected him across the head with his hip during a marking contest in the first quarter. Frederick was sitting under the ball when Webster closed in quickly from the side.
As the Saints defender arrived at the contest, he jumped high to spoil the mark, but in the process slammed into the Fremantle forward.
Frederick barely moved as he lay on his back and trainers called for the medical cart so that he could be stretchered from the ground. But just as the cart arrived at his side, he climbed to his feet and jogged to the interchange bench, taking no further part in the game.
Jimmy Webster and Michael Frederick collide.Credit: AFL Photos
Webster, who was banned for seven games for a late bump on North Melbourne’s Jy Simpkin during pre-season, is expected to come under scrutiny from the Match Review Officer over the incident, but both Longmuir and Euro-Yroke coach Ross Lyon said he had eyes for the ball.
“I haven’t really trawled back through the vision and slow-moed it, but it felt like it was a footy act when I saw it,” Longmuir said in his post-match press conference.
The Fremantle coach said Frederick, who will miss next week under concussion protocols, was in good spirits after the game.
When asked for his interpretation of the collision, Lyon backed his player.
“What I saw was Jimmy had eyes for the ball and was going for the ball,” Lyon said.
“It’s a come-forward-to-defend game. I have confidence in the process and the system.”
Lyon might not share the same confidence in the way the St Kilda players are following his own system.
The Saints won the inside-50 count 28 to 21 in the first half against the Dockers, but could only manage five goals and trailed by three points at the main break.
The Saints then struggled to combat Fremantle’s clearance and territory game and if not for the Dockers’ inaccurate kicking at goal would have lost by more than the 22-point final result.
“The first half, we were actually quite pleased – 28 entries to 21. But it felt like in a lot of ways, we left a little bit on the table,” Lyon said.
“And then they got well on top, around the ground stoppages, they got ground position, and we just couldn’t wrestle it back from our back half.
“At the end of the day, the game swung on – and we had control of [Caleb] Serong all the way until the last quarter – the game swung on midfield dominance.
“Our ball winners in there just dried up. We threw a few in there, moved a few, but it didn’t change.”
Mitch Owens kicked three of St Kilda’s five goals in the first half, and Anthony Caminiti kicked two in the third quarter, but Max King failed to boot a major all night and the Saints could only manage eight goals for the game.
Lyon said the issue was more about Fremantle’s midfield dominance than a lack of effort from his forwards.
“I thought Max King was pretty positive, he looked a lot better tonight, he attacked the ball really well,” Lyon said.
“But, yeah, we’ve got a lot of work to do.”
King might also come under MRO scrutiny for the way he slung Fremantle captain Alex Pearce in a tackle late in the last quarter.
Pearce bounced straight back to his feet after hitting the turf, but King’s action was one that has been frowned upon by the MRO this year.
Dockers defender Jordan Clark had 29 disposals in a standout game from half-back, while Rowan Marshall had another big possession game (31 disposals) during a ding-dong battle with Fremantle ruckman Luke Jackson.
“I thought when ‘Jacko’ didn’t quite get his jump right at centre bounce or his positioning right there, Marshall was able to grab it out of the ruck and win clearances,” Longmuir said.
“But I thought Jacko’s follow-up after he was able to compete in the ruck was excellent.
“I’d have to watch it again to see who actually won it [the contest], but I thought it was pretty even.”
Longmuir said he felt like his side was dominant after half-time even though they were let down by poor kicking in front of goal.
“We took a lot of territory, created a lot of opportunities, defended our front half really well and I thought our contest lifted, especially post clearance [after half-time],” Longmuir said.
“So, they gave us a bit of a touch-up in that area of the game in the first half – we were minus 18 – and both behind the ball and in front of the ball, we were losing contests.
“We were able to tidy that up, which gave us field position, and then we’re able to defend that field position. And, yeah, I mean, the obvious thing is we didn’t finish our work.”
St Kilda have now lost five of their past six and continue to slide down the ladder.
Lyon said they would look to make further changes to the side in coming weeks.
Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country. Sign up for the Real Footy newsletter.
