AFL: Clark gets rare air in final

Fremantle’s premiership dreams have taken a massive hit, the anxiety of passionate fans will be at an all-time high and players will spend the next week living with extreme doubt after they were blown away by Hawthorn to lose the qualifying final by 32 points at Optus Stadium.

A season of joy and a September of hope quickly turned into a finals nightmare as Fremantle lost 10.12 (72) to 5.10 (40).

The Dockers have set a lot of club records this season. They can now add their lowest ever score in a final and their worst first half in a final too. They kicked just 1.4 (10) during the first half.

We all knew the finals questions that hung over the Dockers and they were all answered in the worst possible way.

One of those was could Fremantle handle the occasion because this is a team that has won only one final under Justin Longmuir’s coaching.

The answer was hell no. The Dockers totally fell apart under the heat of finals.

Starts have been a problem in finals under Longmuir’s coaching. Could they fix that? Nope. They kicked 1.2 in the first term against Gold Coast last year and 0.1 against both the Western Bulldogs and Collingwood during the 2022 finals series.

But the Dockers eventually hit the scoreboard in those games. They had 1.3 at quarter-time and didn’t look like kicking a goal in the second term.

Hawthorn applied relentless pressure and Fremantle couldn’t handle it. When the Dockers managed to find space, they failed to hit targets. Fremantle constantly bombed the ball, their forwards couldn’t get near it, and the crumbers were non-existent.

It was an unmitigated disaster.

Other questions included could they stop Hawthorn’s small forwards? That part of the ground has been a problem in recent weeks and Brandon Walker was selected for just the second time this season so he could play on Nick Watson.

Walker started nervously. He turned over his first kick, got caught in tackles and would have watched in horror when Watson soccered a ball through for a goal from nowhere.

Walker worked his way into the game and had some nice moments but was always under pressure defensively. And when he injured his ankle during the third quarter, his night was over.

Watson kicked two goals and had a game-high nine score involvements. Dylan Moore kicked two goals. Jack Ginnivan had one.

Another big question was whether Fremantle could halt momentum? The Dockers have conceded five goals in one quarter during 12 games. It was a seven-goal second term from Gold Coast that cost the Dockers victory in last year’s elimination final.

Hawthorn kicked six unanswered goals in the first half.

The alarm bells around Fremantle were flashing all night. The Hawks were dominant and emphatically answered every question about playing the Dockers in Perth during a final.

Fremantle were minor premiers and hadn’t lost in Perth all year. They’d won eight of their past 10 games against Hawthorn. The Hawks made a mockery of those stats.

Andrew Brayshaw and Caleb Serong have both had more than 30 possessions in every final they’ve played. They love a big occasion. They were under the pump every time they had the footy. Serong managed only 20 disposals.

Murphy Reid and Shai Bolton can win games off their own boots. But Bolton had just four possessions in the first half.

Reid wasn’t his usual self and a turnover when running inside 50 summed up the mistakes the Dockers were making.

Then there were the power forwards. Josh Treacy, Pat Voss and Jye Amiss battled. Treacy didn’t have a kick until deep in the final term. The trio were well beaten.

Jordan Clark provided the only real positive for Fremantle. He had 38 possessions and took a spectacular mark. But he lacked support.

The Dockers were 33 points down at half-time and needed to produce their biggest ever finals comeback to win.

All the talk during the week was whether we’d see Wharfie Time. Well, they pretty much needed that to happen during the third quarter to even consider pressing the button.

Fremantle looked better during the third term and kicked three goals but couldn’t produce two in a row to generate real buzz. Brayshaw did his best to inspire and Bolton got busy with six possessions.

Despite playing better, the Dockers didn’t make a dent on the deficit. They still trailed by 33 points at the final change and now Luke Ryan had to play on Watson and that instantly looked like a horrible match-up.

When Watson set up a goal for Harry Morrison it looked even worse. And the 38-point deficit broke everyone’s hearts.

This wasn’t part of the dream. This was a Docker shocker.

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