Lyon tells Dockers to stay focused
Fremantle coach Ross Lyon has urged his side not to get seduced by its ladder position, saying vast improvement is required if the league leaders are to maintain their grip on top spot.
Lyon questioned his players’ decision making and their choice of footwear after they survived a major scare against Collingwood at Domain Stadium last night, grinding out a seven-point win.
Fremantle were plagued by a rash of turnovers and slipped repeatedly in greasy conditions.
“We had some shocking turnovers early when we had opportunities to go to one-on-ones in forward 50,” Lyon said.
“At the end of the day that starts and finishes with me, so clearly our football program needs to improve because they should be able to do it instinctively under pressure.”
Lyon said he was relieved his side dug in and prevailed in a match where the Magpies laid 90 tackles.
“You don’t want to just get seduced by ladder position,” he said. “We know we need to improve, but I thought our desire to win in the last quarter was really strong ... AFL games are pretty hard to win.
“I don’t think we can be too critical. Collingwood had won five in a row. They’re a pretty good team.”
Despite coming off last weekend’s bye, the Dockers trailed at the first two breaks as a slick Magpies outfit threatened to become the second team in succession to conquer them at their Subiaco fortress.
Danyle Pearce of the Dockers hits the deck as Collingwood's Jamie Elliott attempts to gather. Pic: Sharon Smith/WA News
But four goals from Michael Walters rallied a shaky Fremantle, with the hosts hanging on to triumph 12.8 (80) to 11.7 (73) in a thriller where no side led by more than 14 points.
It maintained the Dockers’ two-win buffer ahead of West Coast and Sydney in the hunt for a top-two berth.
Walters showed exactly what Fremantle missed for much of last season after standing up as a match winner in a ferocious battle while many of his teammates fumbled.
He kicked goals in the final 10 seconds of both the second and third quarters before nailing a 30m set shot from a dubious free kick with six minutes left in the final quarter.
Matthew Pavlich addresses the Dockers huddle before play. Pic: Getty Images
Jesse White had a chance to keep the Magpies in the hunt, but he missed a simple set shot from 25m out directly in front with less than three minutes to go.
Fremantle’s attack malfunctioned on the back of some poor ball delivery, but multiple goals from Nat Fyfe and Stephen Hill helped drag them over the line.
Captain Matthew Pavlich went goalless for the third successive match after the Dockers had gone into the game with a shorter forward line after dropping Matt Taberner on Wednesday.
Fyfe was repeatedly thrown forward early in a bid to kick-start a sluggish Fremantle.
His two goals — the second from a spectacular contested mark taken over the head of teammate Jack Hannath — came with the Dockers trailing.
Collingwood successfully copied Richmond’s blueprint from three weeks ago by retaining possession and moving the ball with precision off half-back to expose the Dockers early.
