However, a week later reigning premier Geelong proved comfortably superior, ousting the Dockers from premiership contention with a A disappointing followed, prompting the Fremantle hierarchy to sack coach Mark Harvey and install St.
Kilda's Ross Lyon in a move that shocked the footy world. Under Lyon, Fremantle produced some good football in , winning 14 out of 22 home and away matches to qualify for the finals in seventh place. Elimination final opponents Geelong were widely expected to be too strong for the Dockers, especially in that the match would be played at the MCG.
However, Freo produced a stunning opening term to be 36 points up at the first change. Thereafter the Cats made a semblance of a comeback but the Dockers were never headed and ultimately won by 16 points, The consensus was that the Dockers had made big strides in , laying the foundations for a possibly concerted and legitimate assault on the premiership in And so it proved, with Fremantle going within one win of as breakthrough flag triumph.
Third after the home and away rounds the Dockers met Geelong in a qualifying final at Kardinia Park and repeated their success, easing home by 15 points after a tense, claustrophobic contest. Their triumph meant that they were through to a home preliminary final in which the opposition was provided by Sydney. In a match of great intensity, indeed almost savageness at times, the Dockers proved too tough for the Swans, and by the last change they had the match in their keeping, leading Perhaps forgivably they then took their feet off the accelerator in the last term but although the Swans outscored them there was never any suggestion that they would be overhauled.
Final scores were Fremantle The Dockers were through to their first grand final against arguably the only team in the AFL who could match them for toughness, Hawthorn. Unfortunately for Ross Lyon and his tenacious and talented playing group Freo were inexplicably lack lustre early, and ultimately left themselves with two much to do.
In front of a huge crowd of ,, the Hawks looked good for most of the day before being put under pressure by an inspired third quarter from the Dockers. Fremantle could not reproduce the same early pressure they had used to ground Sydney in the preliminary final. Kicking for goal was a difficult process - in the first half Fremantle had 12 shots but kicked only one goal, with five behinds and five missed efforts.
The Dockers hit back in the third term, booting 5. But a couple of bad final term misses for Fremantle stopped the chance of an upset, and Hawthorn sealed a first premiership win since Having reached their first grand final, and performed with some credit, Fremantle were widely expected to kick on, but in fact the years since have been inordinately disappointing, albeit in contrasting ways.
The Dockers again made the finals in but bowed out of the flag race with straight sets losses to Sydney and Port Adelaide. In they won the AFL minor premiership for the first time and started their finals campaign well with a hard fought 9 point win over Sydney at Subiaco Oval.
This result ensured that the Dockers would have home advantage for their preliminary final, which proved to be against Hawthorn, but the Hawks stunned Fremantle with a gutsy 27 point win.
Midway through the final term, with the Dockers mounting an emotion-charged comeback and trailing by just 9 points, Fremantle defender Tom Sheridan dropped a straightforward mark at centre half back allowing Cyril Rioli to swoop in, collect the loose ball and kick a relatively easy goal. The heads of many of the Freo players visibly dropped, and the Hawks gained a stranglehold on the game.
The hangover from the preliminary final loss arguably lasted for the whole of the ensuing season, with the Dockers managing just four wins to plunge to third from last. In , despite looking likely finalists during the middle part of the season, Freo lost every game between rounds 10 and 15 en route to another depressing return of just eight wins from 22 matches and 14th place on the 18 team ladder.
The season was similarly disappointing with the Dockers again finishing a distant 14th. A year later there was marginal improvement as the Dockers rose one place on the premiership ladder before improving slightly again in , when they came 12th. Whether this five season sequence of poor results proves to be a precursor to a period of decline or a fleeting aberration remains to be seen.
Note: This article was written by John Devaney and subsequently updated with additonal material from australianfootball. Fremantle The history of football in Fremantle is long, colourful, vibrant and fascinating and, despite a disappointing lack of success so far, there seems every reason to expect that the future contributions made to that history by the AFL club which now proudly bears the port city's name will both conform to and enhance those traditions.
The origins of Fremantle footy Hypotheses aside, however, the story of football in Fremantle dates back at least as far as , when a match is recorded as taking place between the Town of Fremantle and the Western Australian Temperance and Recreation Society.
The match was played in Fremantle and, perhaps predictably, the majority of the spectators were far from overjoyed: The game between Rovers and Fremantle at Fremantle Park witnessed one of the most disorderly scenes that have ever occurred on the football field in this colony, and but for the presence of Constable Bonner, who was on mounted duty on the ground, serious injury would have been inflicted on the umpire, Mr. During this period the club gained an Australia-wide reputation for excellence, with Collingwood coach Phonse Kyne declaring, after watching his side lower its colours to the red and whites: "We all know South Fremantle would hold their own in Victorian football.
Meanwhile, East Fremantle's great ruckman Jack 'Stork' Clarke, when reflecting on a career which had seen him not only garner numerous accolades, but also repeatedly resist overtures from VFL clubs, pinpointed a key difference between Western Australian and South Australian football: When visiting South Australia when I was playing, their heroes were South Australian and not the Victorians.
Many felt, with Les Everett: " Neesham though was having none of it: "Graham Cornes is the ideal answer to anybody who believes that a new coach must have AFL coaching experience Despite the employment by visiting coach Kevin Sheedy of some provocatively controversial tactics, Fremantle won with ease, prompting the Western Australian media, with inane predictability, to launch into hyperbole: Flamboyant, dazzling, powerhouse, historic, brilliant, exciting, dynamic and fleet-footed were some of the descriptions used.
The Fremantle tactics were said to be baffling, cat-and-mouse and revolutionary. Despite the defeat, Sydney coach Ron Barassi could not help but be impressed, suggesting that: "Neesham's innovative and exciting brand is the first major change to football style in 20 years", adding, "if the Dockers make this year's finals series, all clubs in the national league would be sure to change and follow Neesham's attacking strategies.
Hawthorn led by two goals at quarter time and by 23 points at the half. Footnotes Note: This article was written by John Devaney and subsequently updated with additonal material from australianfootball.
The Footballers by Geoff Christian, page 6. Ibid, page This is an allegedly contemporary report of the incident. However, the source is unspecified. Behinds had been counted in the score in Western Australia from , one season after the innovation was first introduced in Victoria and South Australia. East Fremantle won six of these matches and South Fremantle four. These included: Jim Sharp of Fitzroy, who was renowned as the finest defender in the VFL; Collingwood's champion full forward, Walter 'Dick' Lee, who had topped the VFL goal kicking list in each of the previous 3 seasons, and would go on to do so in total on 10 occasions including 1 shared ; brilliant Carlton centreman Rod McGregor; and Melbourne's dashing forward Vince Couttie.
Celebrating Years of Tradition by Jack Lee, page Port Adelaide would later defeat Collingwood for the club championship of Australia, highlighting the evenness of standard in the game at the top level at this time.
For example, in its official literature, such as annual yearbooks and so forth, the word 'Adelaide' was consistently and conspicuously missing from the club name; as far as the club was concerned, it was actually the Major Sponsor's name -Crows, a self-image which proclaims much about the organisation's real aspirations and attitudes, not least in relation to the rich football history of the state it was supposedly representing and endeavouring to augment.
Neesham played top grade water polo for nineteen years. Cornes had coached Adelaide to the previous season's preliminary final, while Balme would do the same in with Melbourne. Fremantle Dockers Yearbook , page However, the club decided to carry on and centreman Harry Hodge took over as skipper, but the season was a disaster.
The club won only one game. Something had to be done, and it was. Five members of East Fremantle's premiership eighteen were recruited to the ranks together with several Victorian players and the club surged into the top four in , only to lose the semi-final.
In the Southerners were minor premiers for the first time, but again lost the semi-final. Eight times in nine seasons the club would make the semi-finals, never once advancing further. With Joe Coates settling in to a long term as coach the red-and-whites took the next step in , not only advancing to the final but winning it, only to lose the challenge match. Still the club could claim to have been premiers one week though the Great War cast a shadow over this achievement.
In Frank Collins took over as captain, commencing a four-year term, and immediately led his men to a grand final victory. In with a team barely changed, Collins' men won a second premiership and collected the Green Stripe Whisky Cup now displayed in the social club foyer. In Bonny Campbell switched from defence to attack and become one of the State's greatest full-forwards but the following season the club had again slipped back to last place.
In , with ruckmen Johnny Campbell and Jerry Sunderland carrying all before them, and new full-forward Sol Lawn in superb form, the club won both semi-final and final only to lose the challenge match. In Jack Rocchi won the club's first Sandover Medal, and in and the club again played off in the final without success.
The club hit rock bottom in - a year redeemed by the arrival of the three Hayward brothers, pioneering Aboriginal footballers. Bill Hayward would later be compared to Stephen Michael. Scranno Jenkins won the Sandover Medal in and the club's coming rise to power began in when Bert Chandler was appointed captain-coach, casually moving from full-back to kick a staggering goals in his first year.
The star recruit of was Clive Lewington and the club again reached the finals, played after the outbreak of the World War. Jack Polinelli commenced a record eleven year term as president, Bev Morris was well into a 29 year period as treasurer, and Frank Harrison - the "prince of secretaries" - took office for the first time..
The team again made the grand-final. The the club found a brilliant young full-forward in Bernie Naylor but finished only third. However, with Australia under increasing threat of invasion, the League switched to an under-age competition in which South Fremantle fared badly despite unearthing young footballers in Eric Eriksson, Norm Smith and Frank Treasure who would be key players in the great days to come.
The young red-and-whites went totally without a win. Things changed dramatically in with the resumption of the senior competition. Frank Harrison returned as secretary and immediately set about rebuilding club spirit.
Aided by the almost accidental recruitment of goldfields rover Steve Marsh the Southerners climbed into the grand final but finished runners-up for the fifth time since winning consecutive premierships in Naylor returned in and kicked goals but the team stumbled in the first semi-final. The breakthrough came the following season when Polinelli and Harrison recruited a proven coach. Clive Lewington won the Sandover Medal, Bernie Naylor kicked another goals and he, Steve Marsh and Frank Treasure enjoyed the first of six premiership victories they would share together.
Pre-war veterans Dave Ingraham, Frank Jenkins and Corp Reilly were also part of the club's first premiership in thirty years. The following season Clive Lewington took over as captain, and the new recruits included Charlie Tyson who, that October, enjoyed the first of his five premierships with the club.
A Derby grand final in saw the Southerners make it three in a row, with a record winning margin. Bernie Naylor, having kicked another goals for the season, retired while still at his best and the glory days were almost over.
Perth Now Click to open navigation. Fremantle Dockers. Be like Fyfe? Purple pain! Perry interesting! Dockers burn up the dance floor as Freo star ties knot. Freo women not stressing about fixture uncertainty. Eddie Betts moved a nation with his passionate appeal to unite us all against racism. All 18 clubs have heard the message and are standing with the indigenous great.
After a disappointing month, the Brisbane Lions finally rediscovered their mojo against the Fremantle Dockers on Sunday. Veteran Chris Mayne, who has enjoyed a successful AFL career across two different clubs, has made an important call on his future.
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