After incremental improvements in the first two seasons under Coach Justin Longmuir, Fremantle made the quantum leap in 2022 by playing finals football for the first time since 2015. And they disappoint.
In a season filled with successes, the Dockers made tremendous strides finishing with 15 wins, six losses, and a draw. More than the actual win-loss record, the continual growth of its upcoming young players and middle to lower-tier players made the difference in becoming one of the more formidable sides to play against.
With an array of confidence under the belt, Fremantle made important moves during last season's trade period despite losing Rory Lobb (Western Bulldogs), Blake Acres (Carlton), Griffin Logue and Darcy Tucker (North Melbourne).
Bringing home Jaeger O'Meara and Luke Jackson is going to shore up its midfield and ruck stocks respectively, whilst Josh Corbett has potential for more opportunities, having fallen out of favour at the Gold Coast Suns.
As the side's first match of the home and away Season is only days against St Kilda at Marvel Stadium, these are the five burning questions hovering over the Dockers.
5. Can they generate winning scores?
Restricting opposition scoring wasn't an issue for a staunch Dockers defence, conceding only 67.5 points per contest (second only behind Melbourne). The next task is to generate winning scores regularly.
Last season, Fremantle ranked 12th for points (1739 - averaging 79 per game). Although scoring at times was hard to come by, it still had success. Four times Fremantle reached the three-figure mark and six times kicked 90 points, coming in victories over Melbourne, Brisbane, Hawthorn, Port Adelaide, and the Western Bulldogs.
With Matthew Taberner enjoying a clean bill of health for the first time in years, coupled with the recruitment of former Gold Coast Sun Josh Corbett, Luke Jackson, and Nat Fyfe to play mainly in attacking 50, Fremantle has a bevy of options to lace the ball out to. Not forgetting promising talls Josh Treacy and Jye Amiss who will both get game time this season.
Its pack of pressure smalls are going to be pivotal at ground level. Lachie Schultz, Sam Switkowski, Michael Frederick, and veteran Michael Walters are all known for their tremendous pressure. If Fremantle can get 20 to 25 goals from each then it's a bonus.ย
Speaking to 6PR last November about becoming a better scoring side, Longmuir said it is about getting the balance right.ย
โIn those few wet games, we weren't able to score, but when the pressure went right up and the game became a little bit more intense we weren't able to score either. We want to maintain a really strong defensive profile. You look at the Premiers Geelong - they were good at both offence and defence and we want to be that sort of team," he said.ย
As they displayed in 2022, Fremantle has the capability of kicking winning scores even against Premiership contenders.
