Fremantle were brilliant, they were magnificent with Pavlich running amok up forward, Nick Lower toughening up the midfield and giving all the Peel youngsters hope of one day escaping Peel, Chris Mayne kicking goals with gay abandon, Luke McPharlin showing no signs of slowing down as he heads for game 300 and Matt deBoer showcasing all the skills of Australian Rules Football. Then three quarter time came around and they presumably found out the club had been screwing them over with superannuation payments. A week after nearly pulling off the comeback of the century, Essendon's strong finishing combined with Fremantle's three quarter time finishing to produce a bit of an embarrassing loss.

There had been a lot of friction at Fremantle in the preceding few weeks, well months, well years. A new coach, a controversial style, a president missing...presumed skiiing, and some selections decisions that would even embarrass the ACB but a good win at the MCG and a week off to miss footy had everyone in good spirits. All was forgiven, the slate was wiped clean - Fremantle were ready to start their late run to the flag. 

They couldn't had started said run better. Crowley out of the middle and into the hands of Matthew Pavlich standing in the spot he should be tethered to, centre half forward (obviously they'd have to have some sort of system where they were able to move the tether between quarters [not to say that Pav couldn't kick a goal from centre half back if he wanted to]). The crowd went mad, Pavlich kicked the goal, they went slightly madder. The pigeon on the half back flank shed a tear. This was it. It was all coming together. Fremantle were back to being awesome again. 

And then Essendon kicked the next three goals. ...Read More