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AFL mid-year report card: Fremantle Dockers – they can win the close ones but also get hammered

Ronny Lerner

As AFL clubs enjoy their mid-season bye and list managers turn their attention towards 2018, we take a daily look at one club, how it has performed so far and what to expect from here.

FREMANTLE

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Pre-season expectations: After a horrendous 2016 campaign – the second-worst in their 23-year history – which saw them win a paltry four games, Fremantle were seen as a bit of an enigma heading into 2017. They would regain a host of A-graders, who missed most of last year due to injury, and top up their playing stocks with players from other clubs – Brad Hill, Cam McCarthy, Joel Hamling and Shane Kersten. And after all, they won the minor premiership in 2015, so were they really as bad as their 2016 win-loss record suggested? The general consensus was that finals was probably just beyond them this year.

Record: 6-6

What's gone right: Fremantle can perhaps consider themselves a bit lucky to have a 6-6 win-loss record and be just outside the top eight on percentage. But as they say in the classics – you make your own luck. And the Dockers certainly did that in matches against North Melbourne, Melbourne and Richmond. With almost the last kick in each of those games, Fremantle scored a goal that landed them three wins by less than a kick – the most memorable one being David Mundy's after-the-siren shot on goal against Richmond at the MCG in round eight. Those victories showed that this young Freo team is already capable of consistently displaying a never-say-die attitude that is priceless so early into its development. The Dockers' win against reigning premiers Western Bulldogs was as surprising as it was impressive. Hill has proved to be the pick of the recruits as he finds himself in the top 10 in the league for both kicks and marks and has provided blistering speed all over the ground. Lachie Neale has been very good again this year and is in the top 10 in the AFL for both clearances and contested possessions. David Mundy, Nat Fyfe, Stephen Hill and Lachie Weller have been dependable. Youngsters Connor Blakely, Brady Grey, Ed Langdon, Darcy Tucker, Ethan Hughes, Harley Balic and Griffin Logue have shown very promising signs this year which suggests the club's future is bright.

What's gone wrong: When Fremantle lose, they get hammered. The manner in which the Dockers have lost their six games indicates their six victories have inflated their standing in the competition. Freo might be sitting in 10th spot, but they have the third-worst percentage (78.5). Their average losing margin is 58 points and defeats to Adelaide (100 points), Port Adelaide (89) and the Brisbane Lions (57) have been particularly disappointing. Those performances have shown that when a side gets a run on, the Dockers find it almost impossible to stop the haemorrhaging – a far cry from what we've come to expect from Lyon-coached sides over the years. The loss to the Lions probably took the cake. To be bossed around by the bottom-placed team that had lost its previous nine games was nothing short of insipid. Only Brisbane and Carlton have scored fewer points than Fremantle and it comes as no surprise, then, that the Dockers are also ranked 16th for marks inside 50. They really have struggled to cover the gaping hole Matthew Pavlich has left. McCarthy and Kersten are definitely having a crack, but the lack of a genuine focal point up forward is hurting Freo badly. The Dockers are also ranked 16th for tackles and 13th for goalkicking accuracy.

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Standout star: Neale has shown again why he is a genuine star of the league and Fremantle would be rapt that they signed him up until the end of 2019. The reigning club champion is ranked No.1 at the club this year for disposals, handballs, tackles and clearances and only Nat Fyfe has registered more contested possessions than him. Neale also sits third on the club's goalkicking with 11 majors and is well on track for a personal best tally.

Players under the pump: Zac Dawson's papers appear to be stamped. The out-of-contract veteran defender was dropped after Freo's horrible loss to Port Adelaide in round two and hasn't been sighted in the senior team since. Danyle Pearce is on shaky ground too, having been dropped twice this year already. Hayden Ballantyne's body is failing him badly this year and the goalsneak, who has failed to play a game in 2017, could find himself out the door at the end of the season. Harley Bennell continues to be dogged by injuries and off-field dramas and the gifted but ill-disciplined forward might be running out of time to repay the huge faith the club has shown in him. A knee issue has kept ruckman Zac Clarke sidelined for the whole season so far as well. The injury couldn't have come at a worse time given he too is out of contract at year's end.

The run home: With matches against Geelong (away), St Kilda, West Coast, GWS (away), Sydney (away), Richmond and Essendon (away) still to come, the Dockers have a huge task ahead of them if they are to qualify for the finals.

Grading: B-