Dual premiership Kangaroo David King has called out Fremantle captain Alex Pearce’s “poor” start to the Dockers’ clash with the Western Bulldogs.
It comes as the Fox Footy analyst urged Dockers coach Justin Longmuir to allow his talented list to “express themselves and play with freedom” ahead of a tough run of games.
The Dockers, who reached the semi-finals last year, are 2-4 and could finish the round as low 14th on the AFL ladder.
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Longmuir’s side was considered a chance to defeat the Bulldogs on Friday night, but were ultimately blown away in the final quarter to go down by 49 points at Optus Stadium.
Pearce was in the thick of the scuffles with Bulldogs recruit Rory Lobb – who left the Dockers late last year despite still being contracted – instigating the confrontation before the first bounce. The Dockers have since copped criticism for placing too much focus on trying to put Lobb off his game.
Speaking on Fox Footy’s First Crack on Sunday night, King said Pearce didn’t set a great tone for his side in the first term.
Tempers flare as Dogs thump Freo | 02:34
“All the energy was invested in going after Rory Lobb and all that sort of nonsense – and I want to have a look at Alex Pearce,” King told First Crack. “You’re the man to steer this ship. You need to be everything to this back six. They’re under siege at the moment as a football club and you need your captain to lead the way.
“I thought his start was really poor. Really lacked focus, he lacked concentration, he gave away free kicks, he got caught out of position. Some of it because the Dogs were too good and some of it because he’s just casual in his approach.”
King pointed to vision from several passages of play during the early stages of Fremantle’s loss to the Bulldogs, including Pearce giving away free kicks to Rory Lobb and Aaron Naughton – the latter resulted in a goal – before getting run-down by Anthony Scott in the goalsquare, which led to a goal from a holding the ball free kick.
“He’s played enough football and knows his way around the goalsquare. He’s not normally a panicker down here, but for some reason he looked really jittery,” King said of Pearce.
King also highlighted how a behind kicked by Naughton came about, accusing Pearce of not body-checking the Bulldogs star before he was able to rove a pack and snap at goal.
But King was most concerned by a Dockers kick-in where Pearce ran towards his defensive 50m arc on a half-back flank. Then after Luke Ryan kicked the ball to the opposite flank and the Dogs created a turnover, Pearce was seen trailing direct opponent Jamarra Ugle-Hagan, who took an easy mark on the lead.
“They don’t want to kick the ball to Alex Pearce, so I don’t know why he’s going all the way to the junction of where the 50 hits the boundary line, because as soon as that ball gets kicked out he has to correct and get back,” King said.
“The ball comes back in and there’s four Dockers players there. He doesn’t orchestrate someone else (to hand over to) … There’s enough players there to get this job done. All he has to do is nominate (someone) and organise the cover. I don’t know why he’s going to the 50m mark anyway. That’s not his go. So once you get the wrong pieces in the wrong spots, you’re in all sorts.
“This guy’s the captain. He can’t be making these mistakes. I thought this was really poor and this is why you get the results you get.”
The Dockers have a tough road ahead, with clashes against Brisbane (Gabba), Sydney (SCG), Geelong and Melbourne (MCG) before their Round 12.
Fremantle Dockers Press Conference | 09:08
King has been highly critical of the Dockers’ game plan in the past month, voicing his concerns about the Dockers’ “fake footy” and “yesteryear” style.
The North Melbourne great said Longmuir would be wise to connect with Tigers coach Damien Hardwick, who led the Tigers to a premiership dynasty after changing his approach ahead of the 2017 season.
“I’m not trying to be negative about them and they’ve got a tough stretch coming, but they’re 2-4 and the year is sliding,” King said.
“I think he (Longmuir) is best to ring Damien Hardwick and say: ‘What did you do at the end of 2016 that allowed you to become the force you were 2017 onwards?’ Because they made drastic change. At that stage, the Tigers were playing safe with the footy and they flipped it to this chaotic, ‘let’s embrace imperfection’ (style).
“I think they (the Dockers) have got a really good list and I just don’t think they’ve been able to express themselves and play with the freedom that they probably want to play with. (Caleb) Serong is going to be a star, Sean Darcy is a top-liner in our competition – they’ve got enough players of quality to be doing better than this.
“But something’s got to give, something’s got to change.”
