 | Fremantle enter yet another finals campaign, after successfully dispatching the Eagles to the country for the month of March, with a dominant performance to open the season. This week they'll come up against a fresh Kangaroos who fought off a Cloke fueled Collingwood in what was described as the worst pre-season game since the war. | | It's hard to believe that some of Fremantle's most exciting and important wins have come over the Kangaroos. The win over North Melbourne at the WACA went down in Fremantle folklore when a bald headed albino soccered through a goal from the WACA Snax caravan to bring even the coach to his feet. It was the first time Fremantle had ever beaten the Roos and it was 5 years before it would happen again. In 2003, Fremantle kicked, what to that point was, their highest ever score. 25 goals and 17 points, including a 10 goal third quarter. They backed up later that year to take on the Kangaroos at the MCG. A win was needed to get the Dockers into the finals for the first time. Clad in their heritage jumpers, down by 4 goals in the third quarter, Fremantle called on a 120 of history, 9 years of experience and some 21st century sports medicine to overrun the Roos and win the game by a point with a shonky kick in the dying seconds from Dessy Headland. That wobbly kick removed the colony of Gorillas who'd taken up residence on Fremantle's back and set up one of the great sporting moments in Australia history when the Dockers tackled Essendon at Subiaco Oval a few weeks later. | | But, when you look past Dean Laidley and the choc milk stains down his familiar tracksuit, to the bunch of hopefuls and has beens training in front of a dilapidated club house next to a car park of beat up Ford Cortinas and nondescript Datsuns, it's hard to imagine why beating the Kangaroos would be anything more than a well worn routine.
Despite their shortcomings, there's a lot of talk that the Kangaroos are looking hungry at the moment. Of course they're hungry, they don't get paid. Wednesday afternoon training at North Melbourne over the summer has seen the players spread out around the city to do a spot of busking so they can afford to keep the lights on for their Friday night Party Pie night. Jess Sinclair's mime act is a site to behold. One week he even raised enough change that they were able to afford a Party Pie and Movie night. Video rental was a bit of a stretch but luckily Peter Bell had left his video of They Call Me Bruce in his locker when he took his sack of money and headed back to Fremantle, so a good time was had by all.
Of course, one of the key motivating factors for sides in the NAB Cup is that, if they lose, they will be sent for some God forsaken town with a surface bumpier than Perth Taxi drivers bonnet. In the Kangaroos case, if they win they'll be headed up to Carrara - also known as ‘some God forsaken town with a surface bumpier than a Perth Taxi drivers bonnet’. So, aside from the lure of the free meal on the plane, it's hard to see any reason for them to care.
With members just about being turned away at the door, Fremantle's coffers are over flowing at the moment so they don't have any problems feeding their players. They also don't have any problems looking for reasons to win. After fighting their way up from the gutter, the Dockers players need motivation to win like a fish needs a reason to swim, a bird needs a reason to fly or an Eagle needs a reason to pick a fight with a taxi.
Last week they thrashed the former premiers for the fifth time in a row - a team desperate to show that they could still put it together on the field after an off-season that saw humiliating incident after humiliating incident. Fremantle had laughed them off the park by the ten minute mark of the second quarter - and that was just a game Fremantle saw as a light training run to shake out some of the summer cobwebs.
This week Fremantle get slightly more serious. They've brought in former captain and runner up in the Doig Medal, Peter Bell. Bell loves like playing against the Roos since he fleeced them of all their money and he loves playing at the Telstra Dome even more. He's been tethered to the Doig Pavilion for the past three weeks and when they finally let him go on Sunday, he'll go off like a Brownlow runner-up down Thomas Road.
They've also brought in Troy Cook who, rather than getting extra attention to keep him under control, has suffered a summer of being ignored. Usually by March, Cook has had a dozen photos of himself with his shirt off and at least a couple of stories about his tackling and heavy hitting style. This year, Dean Solomon has been given the enforcer tag and Cook has been left out in the cold. There's only one thing Cook can do to alter his plight. Like Daniel Kerr is likely to have to do one day, the first thing Cook will do on Sunday is find the biggest meanest bloke he can find and run straight through him. Then he'll find the second biggest bloke he can find and run through him. Gradually working his way through the side until he gets the respect he's due or puts a skinny 17 year old into a coma - whichever comes first.
Those two will come in to join a team that, at half pace, were better than presumably the best 2006 could offer. A side that had a full fit Matthew Pavlich running amok, Aaron Sandilands swatting the ball about in the centre before dropping back to the goal square to kick goals, Des Headland hammering the ball into the forward line with the precision of an Israeli weapons system, James Walker and Brett Peake shutting down Brownlow medalists, Dean Solomon debuting with a goal and a hospital bill for two of the Eagles chumps, Andrew Browne moving the ball out of packs like a Chinese factory worker and Jeff Farmer enjoying the show before decided to kick one of the best goals kicked in the past 40 years. It was almost too much excitement to handle and it was still summer.
Fremantle should make even shorter work of the Roos this week so, if you're mates with any AFL players, give them a ring and see if they want you to put some money on a good thing for them.
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