 | 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 win the game by a point with a shonky kick in the dying seconds of the match. With 12 wins locked away, Freo supporters were confident of a finals appearance and with a Derby to come, a home final was back on the cards. | Kangaroos v Fremantle
Sunday 10th August 2003
MCG
For the first time in over 100 years, Fremantle took to the field in a red and white jumper to celebrate the AFL's Heritage weekend. It was a rough start to the game, half the Fremantle supporters spent the first ten minutes repeating "we're the red & white ones" over and over in their heads, and the South Fremantle supporters spent the first quarter salivating at the mouth (so a normal Sunday arvo for them). The players weren't having any problems adjusting to the 1880's style jumpers though and when Des Headland ran from the centre circle to unload on goals from inside fifty in the opening minute of the game, the rest of the supporters joined the South Freo ones in struggling to keep the saliva levels under control. Freo were off to a flyer and looked like their cake was going to go for a Sunday stroll. But as the quarter went on the Dockers players seemed to develop a sort of shining to the red and white jumpers and, like the modern day Fremantle based side that wears the colours, they became incredibly stupid. They played with plenty of skill but not much thought. They got plenty of the ball inside fifty but for not much result. They'd were all up for the mark, no one stayed down, they all led to the one spot and the country's Medicare crisis wasn't helped along by the number hospital passes dished out. After controlling much of the play for the first 10 minutes with not much to show for it, Fremantle eventually dropped their guard and Daniel Motlop took an easy mark on the Kangaroos goal line, converting for the 6 points. If there's anyone who could fight the evil powers of the red and white jumper it'd be Shaun McManus. Peter Bell sprayed a shot on goals and put it through for a behind. The kick in by the Kangaroos only made it as far as the hair stack of Paul Medhurst who set himself the task of beating 4 opponents. He beat three of them and tied with the last but was able to squeeze a kick out. Jimmy Walker got involved and dropped it on his boot, producing a 3 metre kick to Shaun McManus. Maths was never his strong point so it's impressive enough that he knew the kick wasn't 15 metres. He was quick to play on, he sold the dummy to a couple of Rooboys before dropping it on his million dollar boot and slotting through for the Dockers second. Freo were fired up, they'd come to play. The worry was that they might have decided that fire and arriving on time were enough to get the job done. They went very quiet. Quiet and stupid aren't great traits on the footy field and some silly turnovers allowed the Roos to pepper their goals. It was again a "not as contested as it should have been" mark to Daniel Motlop that gave the Roos the square up goal. As good as they had looked at times, there were lingering signs of Fremantle's Melbornephobia which has made them look like the proverbial geese on the road, and they handed over the lead when Brent Harvey was left alone at the back of a ruck knock to run into an open goal. Plenty of time on pressure from Fremantle bottle things up though and the Roos could only add one more point to their score before quarter time, going into the first change 5 in front of the Dockers. At quarter time Chris Connolly tore strips off his players, not because he wasn't happy with their effort but so the more literal strips could help them overcome the red and white stupidity hoodoo. As with most of Chris Connolly's tricks it worked an absolute treat. Medhurst took a very clever mark in the opening minutes and some intelligent play saw him centre the ball to Des Headland. Dessy loves a goal and he had the Dockers back in front. The Dockers were back on the attack and playing the brand of footy they tried in the opening minutes of the game. Enchanted by the old faces and style of play, Leigh Brown made the mistake of kicking the ball into the lap of Troy Cook on the wing. Still coming to grips with his footy career winding to a close, Glen Archer clocked Cookie from behind as the courageous Docker stood his ground. The umpire gave him a fifty metre penalty and Troy Cook was lining up for the Dockers second goal on the trot. As maligned as his foot is, Cookie has had the magic boots on lately and the kick was a beauty. A simple nod of the head and he was back in the center, ready to do it all again. With two quick and easy goals, the second half of the first quarter had obviously been a minor lapse in concentration, the cake was putting it's sneakers on ready to go on that walk again. The Roos won the ball of the centre but the Dockers defense was far too strong. Jeff Farmer was lost down in the back line and brought the ball down the ground to Trent Croad. Croad saw Medhurst on the lead and couldn't have delivered the ball better if he'd had a laser guided footy, the only drawback was that Medhurst was just outside his scoring range. It wasn't much of a drawback though and he found Shane Parker in the pocket. Fremantle supporters were out of their seats as Shane Parker ran around his man - he was going to have a snap at the goals - but, true to his keep your mouth shut, your hair brown and always punch in defense attitude, he centred it to the top of the square. Pavlich pounced on it, shook loose the 5 of 6 Kangaroos hanging off him, gave it off to Hasleby who slotted it through for a big team goal. Freo were 13 points up and not looking back. Had a few players taken the time to look back though, they might have seen the ball because that's the half of the ground the ball spent the next 20 minutes in. The Kangaroos put on 4 unanswered goals to regain the lead and stretch it out to 12 points (the umpires had a hand in a couple of them but that's to be expected in Melbourne). Fremantle went back to playing dumb footy and eased up on the pressure allowing the Kangaroos to move the ball quickly and get loose men up forward. It took a bit of magic from Justin Longmuir in the goal square before Fremantle could come up with a reply. It was a timely goal and had the Dockers within a kick at half time. Fremantle flew out of the blocks again at the start of the third quarter but even the combination of the brothers Longmuir wasn't good enough to produce the opening goal. Instead those honors went to Cory Jones who, much to Shaun McManus's disgust, had got 20 metres clear of Dion Woods. Woodsy raised an eyebrow and promised to do better next time but the Roos were back out to a two goal lead. Macca was lucky he didn't go to hard at Dion because as the ball was knocked backwards from the centre bounce, it was the vice captain who nearly cost his side a goal with a very ordinary kick across the ground. Luckily Dion Woods was there to mop things up. He moved it down the ground along the chain of reliability - Hayden to Parker to Pavlich and it ended in the hands of Justin Longmuir's brother Troy. Tlo had had his head ripped off in the forward pocket and the umpired gave him a kick to make up for it. The crowd weren't happy with the result - a Fremantle free in Melbourne is unheard of - but from 45m out, on the boundary line, Tlo leaned back and split the middle of the goals. A shocking centre bounce saw the Roos with an easy clearance from the centre. Former Fremantle favorite son, Leigh Brown was given the ball and he bombed it long to the goal square. The forest like Fremantle defense all went up at the same time but none of them remembered to punch. The ball fell to the ground and Simpson snapped a goal. Needless to say, as the ball was returned to the centre, there were a lot of blokes in red and white jumpers standing around with hands on hips trying to avoid eye contact. Funnily enough, it was this same pose that most of them seemed to have when Corey Jones picked out John Baird 40m out directly in front of goals. There wasn't a Fremantle defender insight other than Matthew Carr who was twenty metres away having a punch up with a Kangaroos player. The coach's head would have exploded s he tried to work out which player to drag first. It was a shambles. Some leadership was needed and the best in the business is Peter Bell. He demanded the ball from Justin Longmuir and set course for the goals. The little legs went into overdrive before he unloaded to the goal square. Tlo almost had the big grab but spilt it on the second effort. The ball hit the deck where The Wiz was waiting. He picked it up, snapped and produced the sort of goal that gets geometers excited as they try and work out just how he was able to get the ball through n that kind of angle. It was the reply that the Dockers needed but then, like Andrew Wills after his retirement from exercise, everything went pear shaped. The Roos put on another two quick goals and Fremantle were looking down the barrel of a morale sapping loss. The margin stretched to 24 points and the Kangaroos were looking like they were going to run all over Fremantle. As bad as it looked, Itsy Bitsy spider will tell you that you never give in. The sunshine didn't come out from the bleak Melbourne sky but the Fremantle stars did start to shine. A grubber from Pavlich into the forward line proved just the ticket for Paul Medhurst, none of this lace out rubbish for him, he picked it up and turned on a 5 cent piece to produce his signature goal - forty metres out, directly in front, facing the wrong way. The defenders shut up shop and wouldn't let the Roos in despite plenty of effort from the blue and whites. Schammer found himself a bit of space in defense and decided to set something up. He went down the wing, this time it was the chain of not as reliable as you like but how do they fit their hearts in the chest - Troy Cook to Shaun McManus. Simmonds caught himself on the end of the chain and bombed long to the forward line. Tlo dropped the mark but everything he touches turns to gold and Peter Bell was there to kick a very heavy football through the goals. A quick kick out of the centre was all there was time for and the three quarter time sound with Fremantle climbing the water spout but still a couple of goals behind. Both teams made their way to their respective huddles, ready for a bit of cordial, a few slices of orange and the rev up of a life time from their coach's. Fremantle had a bit of a surprise though, Con Regan was waiting with a bucket of water and some extra strength soap to try and scrub away the effect the red and white jumpers were having on the player's heads. A win was going to require a full quarter effort and plenty of footy smarts. 44 very tired players broke from the huddle to go to their allocated positions and with a giant playing in both side's rucks, neither of them could rely on the freaks of genetics to help them over the line. Once again the signs were good for Fremantle early. They took the ball out of the middle and put it into the hands of Jlo - forty metres out on a bit of an angle. With his scientifically re-engineered kicking action, it was marked down in the scorers book as a goal but sadly, the liquid paper had to be brought out as the wind nudged the ball ever so slightly though for a point. The Kangaroos went on the attack and Matthew Burton went long down the wing to Jones but off the long run up came Luke McPharlin. He checked his luggage in the overhead compartment and soared over the unsuspecting Roo to bring down a screamer. Without even bothering to watch the replay, McPharlin was off to Shaun McManus. McManus, who nowadays is so full of confidence his hobby is selling the dummy just to make the opposition look silly, did just that. He got around his man but the kick was ordinary. Jeff Farmer had a sniff of the goals though and paddled the ball down the boundary, refusing to let if bounce out. He got himself within kicking distance but Medhurst was in the way. Combining both their cunning, Farmer tapped the ball forward to Medhurst, remembering his pre-season beach volley ball sessions, Medhurst set it up to Pavlich who was standing around just waiting to see what sort of magic these two could produce. When he realised he was part of it, Pav ran onto the ball and gave it his best, small forward, outside of the boot, banana kick for a goal. It was all Dockers, they were running hard, applying pressure and looking like a team primed for September action. But then something unexpected happened, as Troy Longmuir tried to clear the ball from defense a lunge from Baird ricocheted the ball into another Dockers hands -former Docker Jess Sinclair. Most people hadn't realised Jess was playing in this game but that soon changed when he drilled the goal to get the lead back out to 2 goals. Freo were no better off than when they started the quarter but had 10 minutes less with which to score in. They needed some goals. Trent Croad had a bit of the Jess Sinclairs about him (although the new rats tail probably wouldn't go down as well on Jess). Croady stepped up and buried Makepiece into the ground, spilling the ball free and allowing the silky skills of James Walker to get the ball in safe hands. He went short to Troy Cook who gave it off to Justin's brother Troy. Making amends for his earlier indiscretion, Tlo got around a couple of Roos players before firing out a handpass to Paul Medhurst. Medhurst ran into an open goal and gave the construction workers something to do by putting the ball into the scaffolding. Sandilands tap from the middle was a thing of beauty, he gift wrapped and had it delivered first class to the hands of Matty Pavlich. There were 5 players between Pavlich and daylight but he decided to go for it anyway. He swatted a couple of them away, barreled through another couple and the fifth just ran away in fright. He got to the edge of the centre square and let fly to the goal square, Jlo out muscled his opponent and brought in the mark. But, on queue, went the umpires whistle. The umpire wasn't happy with the way things were going and decided that Pavlich had run to far. It was fitting really because the last time the rule was enforced was also the last time Fremantle were playing in red and white jumpers. The Roos took the ball forward but up against the Fremantle forest of defenders all they could manage was a rushed behind. Freo worked the ball back up their end and a penetrating Des Headland kick found the sure hands of Justin's brother Troy. Tlo rarely misses a goal and had no trouble kicking this one to level the scores. The Roos were starting to look flat and with 12 minutes still on the clock, it was time to play for percentage. Fremantle got another quick centre clearance but Dean Laidley had brought out the gum leaves and given the call for the Kangaroos to lift. As both teams went hard the ball moved from ball up to ball up, calculators started to come out to permutate a draw. The Roos finally got a quality possession and Harding marked 60 metres out from goals. Shane Parker had taken charge in defense and locked up every possibly target for Harding. He buggered about with the ball until the umpire told him to get on with it. He took his only option, a long bomb to the goal square. Fremantle had it all covered until, out of nowhere, Daniel Motlop launched himself onto the back of James Walker. He hung there for a few seconds, had a look around to see if he could see his house from up there and came down with the footy. The goal was a formality and the Kangaroos had the lead back. Then disaster. It was all over. Digby "the biggest dog in the world" Morrell got loose in the forward line and kicked another goal. Fremantle were back where they started once again, two goals down but with 7 minutes left on the clock. Things had gone from Fremantle making the 8, jumping above the Eagles on the ladder and having a chance of a home final, to needing to steal an extra win for a chance of extend the season past the end of the month. Woe was Fremantle. The Roos made things worse with a quick kick out of the centre, straight to the hotspot inside 50. McPharlin was caught under the ball and there were two Roos in line to take the mark. But from over the top came two dark tentacles, they reached up and sucked onto the football. As the Kangaroos players fell to the ground the crowd realised that tentacles were attached to the unflinching body of Dion Woods. He mused on the situation for a while before allocating James Walker as his target. Walker wasn't in any hurry either and waited until Robbie Haddrill found some space. Haddrill too took his time before chipping to Troy Cook. Cooky was ready to follow suit but he saw Matthew Pavlich storming towards the goals. He weighted it perfectly but it still needed Pavlich to run head first into Mark Porter. It didn't phase him and he when the ball hit his chest he hung onto it with every ounce of strength in his right arm and cleaned up Porter with the left. If ever there was a time for Pavlich to come good with his set shots for goals it was now. That's what he did and Freo were in back in with an outside chance. The clock was down to 5 minutes and the Kangaroos weren't prepared to start chipping the ball around to milk the clock. The intensity lifted as both sides realised what the stakes were. Pavlich picked up a hurried McManus handpass, he barrelled through another couple of Kangaroos players before putting his foot down and running down the boundary line. He had a bounce and looked towards the goal square. It was a tough shot on goals but then he saw something even better - a gaggle of Longmuirs - Troy's brother Justin at the front and Justin's brother Troy at the back.. Who knows if Pav was playing favourites but he went low and hard to the spot. Justin went up and the two Roos defenders went with him, Troy stayed back and the ball floated over the back and into his well licked hands. Tlo put his tongue back in his mouth, went back and drilled the goal. Scores were level, there was 90 seconds on the clock. It was ferocious stuff. Fear went out the window as players turned to instinct to win the game. Bodies were thrown about with little regard for personal safely or, for that matter, the safety of others. Peter Bell looked to have sold his side into trouble when a late push forced his hurried kick out of bounds on the full. The Roos had the ball on centre wing. They moved it quickly to the cool head of David King but, like a monkey clinging to a tree in a monsoon, Paul Medhurst lunged at King and hung on for dear life. King coughed it up and Medhurst was off. He chased down the ball, dodged and weaved his way around Kangaroos before kicking long and flat to the forward line. Dessy Headland was on the burst from the full forward and gobbled it up. 40 seconds were left on the clock. Any score would give Fremantle the lead. He took his time. He measured the kick. He allowed for the wind. He kicked it. It wasn't the best kick of his career, it floated across the face of goals but he had the distance covered. It sailed through for a point, the best point in Fremantle's history. The siren sounded, the Dockers won and while Chris Connolly tried to hide back a smile, poorly, the players went berserk.  
| Scores |  | | | | | Kangaroos | 3.2 | 7.4 | 12.6 | 15.8 | 98 | | Fremantle | 2.3 | 6.4 | 10.6 | 15.9 | 99 | |
 | Goals | | | | | | 
