Brad Hardie: why the Fremantle Dockers can kill off the GWS Giants hysteria

The Dockers get a prime opportunity to put a pin in the GWS hype balloon on Saturday night. Photo: Getty Images

The GWS hype is running out-of-control and the best thing that could happen is for Freo to put a spike in it on Saturday night.

The Dockers are 0-6 and ordinarily would be given no hope against a side that just beat Hawthorn by more than 12 goals.

But there are several factors at play here.

Fremantle was improved against Adelaide (although never a chance of winning) and is a five goals better team at home. The Giants, I reckon, are five goals worse on the road.

Don't read too much into Hawthorn's loss to GWS last week. Plenty have stuck the knife into the Hawks but they've earned the right to clock off occasionally when a game is slipping away from them. They'll get back on the horse and if the Giants are playing Hawthorn in the finals, I know who I'll be having.

Meanwhile, GWS is winless in six visits to Domain Stadium. The Giants' average losing margin in Perth is more than 85 points and they've given up more than 100 points in five games, without passing that mark themselves even once.

If Freo can shut the game down, keep things tight and get a scoring run on for just one quarter, the Dockers can buck the odds and put a lid on the GWS-mania.

It's one thing to have the potential to win a flag (which GWS has in the future but not this year). It's quite another to actually do it...and then go on with the job from there like Hawthorn has.

Talk of a dynasty is way premature and the fear factor being peddled about the Giants is bordering on hysteria.

It's all well and good to point out how many first round draft picks they have on their books but the question begs how they are going to keep them all.

Already they traded away Tom Boyd, Adam Treloar, Dom Tyson, Josh Bruce, Lachie Plowman, Andrew Phillips, Liam Sumner and Jed Lamb. The Giants have another six first-round draft picks who played in the NEAFL on the weekend (and, by the way, lost to the Northern Territory).

GWS might have an allowance but it's still subject to a salary cap and has to find a way to pay experienced stars like Callan Ward, Ryan Griffen, Tom Scully, Shane Mumford, Heath Shaw, Phil Davis and Jeremy Cameron, plus the emerging guys like Dylan Shiel, Toby Greene and now Rory Lobb (how did both WA clubs miss him in their own backyard?). Cam McCarthy would be part of that equation too without his off-field issues.

You can't pay everybody, not unless some of them are willing to take salary cut for the benefit of the team.

If other clubs were smart, they would be sniffing around the fringe Giants (and even some established ones) and seeing what they can pilfer - because there is talent there that will need a home.

The Dockers, for instance, are likely to eat up $2 million of their salary cap with a new contract for Nat Fyfe and deal for Jesse Hogan.

But the jungle drums also keep beating that Lachie Neale is headed back to Adelaide and Fremantle will need some young midfield quality to fill the void.

With Michael Johnson, Aaron Sandilands and Matthew Pavlich coming to the end and not a great bunch being returned from their own draft choices, the Dockers might as well zero in on the Giants'.

But first they can derail the GWS hype bandwagon with an upset this weekend.

Me thinks the coach doth protest too much. Photo: Getty Images

Things that make you go hmmmmm
​Seems to me the Eagles have become a bit precious about this "soft track bullies" tag. Is Adam Simpson so preoccupied with it that he has to bring it up in press conferences of his own volition? Statistics (and a lack of away victories) don't lie and the best way for West Coast to put the theory to bed would be by going and winning in Geelong this weekend.

Heroes of the week:
Leicester City winning the English Premier League might be as good a sport story as has happened in the past 100 years - and it's hard to imagine there will be another better one in the next 100 years either.

Goats of the week:
Anybody and everybody who wants to shift the blame on Richmond's form on to the assistant coaches, development staff and recruiters. What happened to the buck stopping with the senior coach? If I was Damien Hardwick I would want to have a say in everything that happens in my club and accept responsibility accordingly.

Also, the Paramatta Eels are wearing fines, loss of points and likely departure for players for salary cap breaches. What didn't they learn from the fate of the Melbourne Storm (and numerous others)?

Brad Hardie will pen his weekly AFL column for WAtoday each Tuesday morning. You can also hear him on Radio 6PR Sports Today with Karl Langdon on weeknights from 6pm to 8pm