AFL: Bolton gives Freo hot start
Shai Bolton had just two kicks in the entire first term last week.
Against Geelong, he had two kicks in the opening 70 seconds – and both were goals.
Fremantle’s All-Australian star made the perfect start to erase any Dockers nerves in the early stages of their semifinal clash at Optus Stadium, igniting the crowd and helping give the club its highest-ever first-quarter total in finals history.
After converting a set shot straight out of the opening stoppage, Bolton rose to his best for his second major.
Having extracted the clearance himself, Bolton received a follow-up handball on the edge of the centre square and assessed his options.
He darted past one opponent, sold some candy to another, and then kicked truly from beyond 50m to send the crowd of almost 60,000 into a frenzy.
Pat Voss added two of his own later in the term – coupled with his usual animated celebrations – and by the time the first change came around, Fremantle had secured the early ascendancy.
Having entered the game on an unwanted streak of trailing at quarter time in five consecutive finals, the Dockers rattled off their biggest-ever tally in an opening term in finals matches.
Fremantle’s 6.2 (38) surpassed their 5.7 (37) from the night where Matthew Pavlich torched Geelong at the MCG in the 2012 elimination final.
More importantly, the Dockers held the Cats to just 2.1 (13) to set up an early buffer in their quest to book a preliminary final match-up against Sydney at the SCG.
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