Anyone who's ever been to a dog track and lost everything knows that you don't let past failures stop from going back (they also know that all the best meals get thrown into the bins behind the food court at Carousel, but that's another story). Likewise, Fremantle were unperturbed when they arrived at the old Brisbane greyhounds, a ground they'd never seen a win on in their 300 games in the AFL.  After all, the venue was the last thing the Dockers could afford to worry about after just setting an obscure record for being in front at three quarter time without winning the game.

They needed to shake things up a bit, find that secret ingredient that has been causing them to fall short against all but the very worst of football clubs.  So, when Matthew Pavlich won the toss, he threw caution to the wind and then decided to kick against caution.

A very sensible, measured Fremantle side started the game. Perhaps a plan to conserve energy, perhaps because they were thinking their way though things but, whatever the reason, the Lions found it unsettling.

Of course, caution was caught in a 17 goal Queensland gale so there were no surprises when the Lions kicked the first couple of goals from long range.

Still unperturbed, Freo stuck to their guns. Unfortunately, the forward line had been out getting spas installed into the back of their sports cars when the 'caution' meeting was been held and Fremantle's efforts to work the ball forward meticulously were undone by some Hollywood goal kicking  - new Indian Jones movie Hollywood, not the good stuff.

But with the ball continually coming in to such a star studded forward line, it was only a matter of time before someone would strike, Chris Tarrant gave it to Pavlich, lace out, on the half forward line and Pav spun around, giving Jeff Farmer the same treatment as The Wiz leapt out of the shadows.

The Brisbane crowds haven’t seen much of Farmer over the years but they seemed to be aware of his reputation ... either that or they'd mistaken him for Ronnie Boourns. Either way, he shut them up when he slotted one through from Akermanis Pocket and gave the Dockers their first goal.

Even with The Wiz getting involved, a disciplined Fremantle outfit could not be broken from their pre-game plan and continued a steady as she goes, quick in defence, careful in attack approach. Jonathan Brown was getting dangerously close to being forced to play centre half back as Dean Solomon gave  him a few pointers on the game while Simon Black was being reacquainted with Josh Carr's blanket (and, one would imagine, his kidneys were being reacquainted with other parts of Josh)

Meanwhile, news hadn't spread to Queensland about Rhys Palmer and his travelling football show. Racking up kicks all over the ground, he joined in the job of seeing how quiet you can get 30,000 Queenslanders to be. When he worked the ball into the forward line in the dying seconds, he soon found out. A long kick went to the top of the square, the ball hit the deck, Jeff Farmer pounced, kicked the goal to put the Dockers in front with a second left on the clock. You could hear a pin drop, two blokes chundering out the back and a little girl with a weird accent yelling “Crikey” in the distance.

The ball returned to the centre and, before Sandilands got a chance to swat it out of the air, the siren sounded and Fremantle went into their huddle feeling pretty confident.

When they returned to the ground to start the second half, it was pretty obvious what Fremantle's strategy was going to be. With the wind at their backs and a lead on the scoreboard, it was the Fremantle tidal wave. Sandilands sent the ball forward and the Dockers players ran through in the style of Brisbane circa 2003.

It was an awesome site to see, unfortunately a very suspicious free kick saw the tide go out very quickly and Travis Johnstone had kicked the opening goal of the quarter inside a couple of minutes.

They kept at it though and the success rate picked up straight away. unfortunately the forwards were still spraying the ball like Brendon Grylls ordering the South West Seafood Platter from Cicerellos and the gap had to be closed in one point increments.

Eventually the oft rave about left foot of Heath Black picked out Josh Carr lurking in the pocket, Carr kicked straight and Fremantle took the lead.

History is a bit of a bastard though and, despite what  those transvestite New Zealanders tried to convince themselves before they went to sleep, it tends to repeat itself.  Once again, a Fremantle lead at the Gabba seemed to become a call to arms to the Brisbane players and they started giving the Dockers the shakes.

Simon Black started showing Fremantle supporters what they can expect from a similarly bred Rhys Palmer, as the centre of the ground opened up and they started using their pace and turtle soup frames to take control.

First the goals trickled through, then the umpires felt sorry for Jonathan Brown and they flooded through. By the end of the quarter, the Lions had doubled Freo's score and the Queenslanders were a lot louder (you could still hear blokes chundering behind the toilets though).

Mark Harvey wasn't happy. He tore strips off his players, then he kicked the strips around the change rooms while he shouted a list of random profanities.  How could they let the game slip so quickly? On the bright side, they had removed the option of choking from the game so, when they returned they could approach the second half without fear or trepidation (other than the fear of getting another lashing from their coach).

In what had become a bit of a tradition, the third quarter began with Troy Johnstone kicking a goal after a Fremantle forward had buggered something up. 

Fremantle's form in front of the sticks wasn't improving, with Brendon Grylls ordering the special sauce to go with his seafood. At the other end, Harding put through the Lions 7th goal in a row to put the Lions 40 points up with sites on the 2001 effort against the Dockers of 13 straight (although it only took them 20 minutes back then).

Back in 2001, however, Matthew Pavlich was just a skinny full back trying to stop Alistair Lynch from cheating. 5 All Australians later, he's the premiere centre half forward in the league.

As Ibbotson unloaded from the centre, Pav stuck his big arms into the air and the ball stuck. He banged through a goal, went back to his position and waited for Josh Carr to kick it his way so he could bang through another one.

Pav's handy work in front of goals didn't straighten his team mates up any and Leuenberger lucked out at the other end when the setting sun caused Scott Thornton to burst into flames but they were back in control of the game now.

A sensational combination of Jeff Farmer and Chris Tarrant saw Taz put through a much deserved goal after a day of running amok up the ground and some slick footwork from Palmer saw him slot through a goal after the siren that he is now claiming was from the queue outside ladies toilets behind the back of the stadium.

There was no dressing down from the coach when they returned to the three quarter time huddle. They'd brought the margin back to 4 goals after staring down the barrel of a thrashing. They had the wind at their back, no opportunity to choke and, for the first time in many weeks, none of their players had died.  All they had to do was stop Travis Johnstone kicking that first goal.

Success! Justin Sherman kicked it instead.

Five goals down now, they couldn't afford to waste their chances.  A quick burst out of the centre had lead the ball into the hands of Chris Mayne, still recovering after the prison rape style treatment he'd received at the start of the quarter. Mayne ducked, weaved, copped his mandatory smack across the head from the opposition and then dished off a handpass to Peter Bell. Bell ran the gauntlet handpassing to Aaron Sandilands in the goal square and, after what seemed like an eternity waiting for the ball to get to his boot, Sandilands kicked the goal.

There was a bit of feeling growing in the side (not Mayne though, he won't be feeling much for a while). They thought they were a chance here.

Pav took a strong grab on the half forward line. Fifty out, on a slight angle. Everyone was thinking the same thing “Don't hit the post. Don't hit the post. Don't hit the post.”

He didn't! The ball sailed straight over the goal umpires head and Fremantle crept within 3 goals of an unlikely win.

Having been behind for most of the game, Fremantle weren't expecting what was coming. Although perhaps they should of.

The Dockers had a sniff, so out came the whistle. First Josh Carr in the centre; then Antoni Grover for allowing his manly stubble to brush against the shoulder of Charman.

Charman kicked the goal and Fremantle were looking far less likely.

Hearts broken, they let the Lions sneak through another one and push it back out to 5 goals and Fremantle weren't looking likely at al - finishing the day 22 points the lesser side with another long flight from Queensland ahead of them.