Dockers losing respect, fears Mundy
Fremantle are in danger of throwing away the respect they have earnt in the past two years after listless losses to Hawthorn and Sydney, according to star on-baller David Mundy.
The Dockers failed to score a goal during the second quarter against Sydney on Saturday, trailed by 34 points during the last term and while they fought back late to trim the final margin to 17 points, they were always behind the eight ball.
The Swans harassed Fremantle, laying 100 tackles and setting the standard for pressure.
The loss followed a round- three disaster against Hawthorn when the reigning premiers dominated from the opening bounce. Mundy said the Dockers were no longer playing the style of football that had made them successful, which was affecting their reputation.
"It hurts," Mundy said.
"We've played a Fremantle brand and earnt a lot of respect over the last two years and five rounds. To have games like this and the Hawthorn game puts you steps back.
"It takes years to earn respect and one or two weeks to lose it.
"We definitely know how we want to play. It's just our job to get it done.
"I know the Hawthorn game put us on our arse. We had a frank discussion and really open review. Nobody likes playing games like that.
"I remember playing for Fremantle in 2007 and 2008 when we couldn't get within 10 kicks of teams. It's not fun so we don't want to go back there."
The Dockers have a six-day break before playing North Melbourne at Patersons Stadium on Anzac Day.
The club has a big week ahead, with officials set to meet Josh Simpson and his manager after the young midfielder refused to fly to Sydney to be the emergency.
Simpson was dropped for the game after playing his second match against Essendon the previous week.
Hayden Ballantyne will be assessed by the match review panel after clashing with Rhyce Shaw midway through the second term. The only positive for Ballantyne if he is reported is his points from previous offences have expired.
But Mundy said the lack of on-field effort was the biggest thing that needed to be addressed.
"Right from the get-go our desire wasn't there and they really exposed us on the spread and over the ball," Mundy said.
"We couldn't defend and we couldn't attack.
"It took us until the game got really desperate for us to get desperate. We will address it and hopefully we can instigate it right from the start.
"We won't hide away from our performance and we won't just sweep it under the rug. We always have a rigorous review and things will be highlighted that need to improve. All I know is when we don't come switched on and we don't play the way we've been playing for two-and-a-half years, we get exposed."
"It takes years to earn respect and one or two weeks to lose it. We definitely know how we want to play."" *David Mundy *
