Miller's Guide: Freo can get better
Everyone knows premierships are not won in April, but after the opening month of the season Fremantle are rightly leading the race for this year's flag.
The 2015 incarnation of Ross Lyon's team has added a few more strings to its bow outside of a typically stingy defence.
There has been the capacity to move the ball quickly and score in game-breaking bursts.
Against a lethargic West Coast in the first quarter of the round three western derby, that equated to nine goals and an equal-high quarter time score for the club in the first term.
The following week Fremantle showed their potency was no fluke by kicking nine goals to Sydney's one in a half of football.
There has also been a more notable resistance when the tide has turned against the Dockers.
Rather than wilting in the final term in the face of a Swans comeback at Domain Stadium last Saturday night, Nat Fyfe and David Mundy lifted around the stoppages.
Fremantle were able to square the clearances and generate six more inside-50s for the quarter to kick the final two goals of the match and win.
It was a similar story in the last quarter of the club's round one epic against Port Adelaide in Perth.
The Dockers found an extra gear to boot four goals to three in the final stanza. And again, it was Fremantle's leaders who stood up when it mattered most, with captain Matthew Pavlich slotting two crunch goals when the game was on the line late.
Most importantly, the Dockers look both fit and hungry for success.
Fremantle had only six players on the official injury list released yesterday and two of those – Michael Apeness and Tanner Smith – could yet be back in action this weekend.
Compare that to Adelaide who have as many as 15 players out of action.
The loss of Alex Silvagni for 12 weeks with a major hamstring tear is undoubtedly a blow.
But factor in the superb form of Michael Johnson and Luke McPharlin coming off injury-interrupted seasons last year and the imminent playing return of Zac Dawson and Silvagni's injury looks a minor speed hump on a relatively smooth road.
The hunger comes in the form of the club's so-called fringe players.
Consider the likes of Clancee Pearce, Matt de Boer, Chris Mayne and Garrick Ibbotson in 2014.
Pearce looked heavy and battled to stay in shape last season, De Boer was dropped and then injured, Mayne struggled with back issues and a significant form slump, and Ibbotson managed just 12 games as he coped with a dodgy shoulder.
This season the quartet have so far played in all four of Fremantle's games and, while not necessarily starring each week, have made significant contributions to a record-breaking start that has the Dockers undefeated and at the top of the AFL ladder.
Thrown in a rejuvenated Zac Clarke, who is suddenly clunking pack marks in the forward line, and players like Danyle Pearce and Stephen Hill in the form of their careers and the team's prospects look incredibly rosy.
The scary thing is that Fremantle can still get substantially better.
They have only got eight goals out of Hayden Ballantyne and Michael Walters to date, largely due to the former's two-match suspension.
Matt Taberner is still building from an injury interruption late in the pre-season, while Tendai Mzungu, Hayden Crozier and Tom Sheridan are fit but yet to play significant roles this year.
Highly-promising draftees Connor Blakely and Lachie Weller also look more than capable of handling an AFL debut if Lyon is tempted to inject more youth into his side.
After a 4-0 start, the Dockers have an ideal platform to lock away a top-two position that would guarantee the double chance and a first-up home final.
Two of their toughest matches on paper against Essendon and North Melbourne over coming weeks are both in Perth.
They also face Melbourne, the Western Bulldogs and Gold Coast – three young sides that lack the bigger midfield bodies to compare to Fyfe, Mundy and Michael Barlow.
Toppling Adelaide at Adelaide Oval in round nine is a major challenge, but definitely achievable given the topsy-turvy nature of the Crows form in recent years.
It is easily feasible that Fremantle could head into their round 12 bye still unbeaten. Achieve that and the talk of a potential drought-breaking premiership will no longer be premature.
Fantasy Fodder
Reliable point-scoring defenders are thin on the ground. If you are like me and have been let down in recent weeks by St Kilda's Jack Newnes ($437,000) or Melbourne's Heritier Lumumba ($381,000), there is some value on the market.
Cale Hooker has been released regularly up the ground for Essendon and still managed to score 104 Fantasy points in his club's Anzac Day debacle.
I like his value and consistent scores and, at a cost of $473,000, Hooker looks a solid upgrade to a premium backman. Elsewhere Brodie Smith ($477,000) dipped slightly in value on the back of Adelaide's disappointing loss to the Western Bulldogs and looks good value.
His average of 88 is solid at that price. Hawthorn's Taylor Duryea ($400,000) has been on fire in the past fortnight with scores of 109 and 122. He looks a lock now in the Hawks senior line-up and would be well worth considering before his price skyrockets further.
The Heat's On...
Ryan Schoenmakers. Injuries to key Hawthorn defenders James Frawley and Brian Lake have opened the door for the maligned Schoenmakers to reignite his career. It is a golden opportunity, but it also carries plenty of pressure.
The Hawks have slipped to a 2-2 win-loss record and face bogy side North Melbourne at Etihad Stadium this Saturday night. With North's forward line stacked with talls, Schoenmakers will be under the pump from the word go. Watch this space.
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Taylor Walker, @texwalker13
"That port supporter should be the one to get a penalty not Clarko. What does he expect? What an absolute peanut of a bloke!!"
Adelaide's straight talking captain comes to the defence of Alastair Clarkson. The Hawthorn coach was caught on video pushing a drunken fan while walking back to his hotel after his club's loss to Port Adelaide on Saturday night.
