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Essendon
16.11.107
Fremantle
14.8.92
Full Time

Match Tracker

Essendon
Fremantle
Q1
4.3.27
3.1.19

    Essendon Events

  • 2 mins - Rushed Behind
  • 3 mins - Goal, A.McDonald-Tipungwuti
  • 4 mins - Goal, J.Stewart
  • 6 mins - Goal, T.Bellchambers
  • 14 mins - Behind, J.Watson
  • 22 mins - Behind, J.Daniher
  • 24 mins - Goal, J.Daniher

    Essendon and Fremantle Events

  • 11 mins - Goal, N.Fyfe
  • 17 mins - Rushed Behind
  • 19 mins - Goal, T.Sheridan
  • 29 mins - Goal, J.Griffin
Q2
8.5.53
5.3.33

    Essendon Events

  • 2 mins - Goal, Z.Merrett
  • 3 mins - Goal, Z.Merrett
  • 15 mins - Behind, J.Daniher
  • 16 mins - Goal, J.Daniher
  • 22 mins - Rushed Behind
  • 26 mins - Goal, J.Begley

    Essendon and Fremantle Events

  • 7 mins - Goal, M.Taberner
  • 9 mins - Goal, J.Griffin
  • 18 mins - Behind, M.Taberner
  • 21 mins - Behind, H.Crozier
Q3
14.8.92
9.6.60

    Essendon Events

  • 2 mins - Behind, J.Daniher
  • 7 mins - Goal, J.Stewart
  • 16 mins - Goal, J.Laverde
  • 17 mins - Goal, Z.Merrett
  • 19 mins - Goal, J.Stewart
  • 20 mins - Goal, Z.Merrett
  • 23 mins - Behind, D.Myers
  • 23 mins - Goal, H.Hocking
  • 30 mins - Behind, D.Heppell

    Essendon and Fremantle Events

  • 4 mins - Goal, N.Fyfe
  • 9 mins - Behind, H.Ballantyne
  • 11 mins - Goal, B.Cox
  • 12 mins - Goal, T.Sheridan
  • 21 mins - Rushed Behind
  • 26 mins - Goal, H.Ballantyne
  • 27 mins - Behind, H.Bennell
Q4
16.11.107
14.8.92

    Essendon Events

  • 14 mins - Behind, J.Begley
  • 14 mins - Behind, Z.Merrett
  • 15 mins - Goal, H.Hocking
  • 20 mins - Goal, J.Stewart
  • 22 mins - Rushed Behind

    Essendon and Fremantle Events

  • 2 mins - Goal, M.Taberner
  • 5 mins - Goal, H.Bennell
  • 8 mins - Goal, H.Crozier
  • 12 mins - Goal, H.Ballantyne
  • 18 mins - Goal, B.Cox
  • 26 mins - Rushed Behind
  • 30 mins - Rushed Behind

Scorers

Essendon
Fremantle
Goal Scorers Essendon Fremantle
Goals and Behinds Merrett (4.1), Stewart (4.0), Daniher (2.3), Hocking (2.0), Begley (1.1), Bellchambers (1.0), Laverde (1.0), McDonald-Tipungwuti (1.0), Heppell (0.1), Myers (0.1), Watson (0.1) Ballantyne (2.1), Taberner (2.1), Cox (2.0), Fyfe (2.0), Griffin (2.0), Sheridan (2.0), Bennell (1.1), Crozier (1.1)

Team Statistics

Essendon
Fremantle

Statistics

 Essendon Fremantle
Goals 16 14
Behinds 11 8
Scoring shots 28 22
Goals/scoring shots 57 64
Disposals 415 325
EssendonGoal Scorers
Players D K M H CP T FF FA HO CL
P.Ambrose 15 11 8 4 6 2 2 0 0 0
M.Baguley 25 17 9 8 9 4 4 2 0 0
J.Begley 6 5 5 1 2 1 0 0 0 0
T.Bellchambers 16 6 10 10 8 1 1 1 38 2
T.Colyer 17 11 6 6 7 2 1 0 0 3
J.Daniher 12 10 5 2 6 2 3 3 2 1
M.Gleeson 23 17 9 6 5 1 1 0 0 0
B.Goddard 32 21 15 11 5 1 1 2 0 1
M.Hartley 12 7 4 5 3 1 1 0 0 0
D.Heppell 30 16 7 14 11 5 3 0 0 5
H.Hocking 9 6 4 3 4 1 0 1 0 0
J.Kelly 23 10 6 13 5 5 0 0 0 2
J.Laverde 8 6 4 2 3 3 0 0 0 0
A.McDonald-Tipungwuti 15 9 2 6 8 4 1 0 0 3
A.McGrath 21 6 3 15 4 0 1 0 0 1
C.McKenna 21 14 3 7 3 2 1 0 0 1
Z.Merrett 31 21 6 10 6 4 2 0 0 4
D.Myers 19 8 4 11 10 2 0 1 0 5
D.Parish 16 7 3 9 10 7 0 1 0 4
J.Stewart 13 9 4 4 6 0 0 1 0 0
J.Watson 26 11 2 15 20 3 5 1 0 8
D.Zaharakis 25 14 6 11 6 6 1 2 0 1
FremantleGoal Scorers
Players D K M H CP T FF FA HO CL
H.Ballantyne 14 10 4 4 5 3 0 2 0 1
H.Bennell 13 10 4 3 6 0 0 1 0 1
S.Collins 10 3 2 7 9 2 1 0 2 2
B.Cox 11 6 6 5 4 1 0 0 6 0
H.Crozier 11 6 2 5 6 2 2 2 0 2
N.Fyfe 24 9 2 15 12 6 1 4 0 6
J.Griffin 8 5 1 3 4 4 1 0 32 0
J.Hamling 13 8 5 5 5 0 3 1 0 0
B.Hill 19 14 5 5 4 3 0 0 0 0
S.Hill 19 13 4 6 10 1 1 4 0 1
E.Hughes 16 6 4 10 6 0 1 0 0 0
M.Johnson 14 10 4 4 3 3 1 0 0 1
S.Kersten 8 5 2 3 1 3 0 3 0 1
D.Mundy 25 9 4 16 12 10 1 1 0 7
L.Neale 24 10 5 14 12 3 1 0 0 7
L.Ryan 17 12 5 5 7 5 1 2 0 1
T.Sheridan 11 7 1 4 5 1 0 1 0 0
N.Suban 12 4 4 8 5 8 1 1 0 1
C.Sutcliffe 15 9 4 6 4 3 0 2 0 1
M.Taberner 14 9 9 5 5 0 0 4 0 0
D.Tucker 11 6 3 5 0 4 0 0 0 0
L.Weller 16 8 1 8 2 2 0 0 0 0

Match Details

Essendon
Fremantle
START TIME
11:10AM
WEATHER
Shower or two
VENUE
Etihad Stadium
Umpires
Ben Ryan, Jacob Mollison, Chris Kamolins
Save
Print
License article

Essendon grind past Fremantle to book finals spot in Jobe Watson's home farewell

Anthony Colangelo

ESSENDON 4.3 8.5 14.8 16.11 (107)
FREMANTLE 3.1 5.3 9.6 14.8 (92)
Goals: Essendon: J Stewart 4 Z Merrett 4 H Hocking 2 J Daniher 2 A McDonald- Tipungwuti J Begley J Laverde T Bellchambers. Fremantle: B Cox 2 H Ballantyne 2 J Griffin 2 M Taberner 2 N Fyfe 2 T Sheridan 2 H Bennell H Crozier.
Best: Essendon: Merrett, Goddard, Watson, Baguely, Kelly, Daniher, Stewart, Bellchambers, Heppell. Fremantle: Fyfe, Mundy, Neale, Sheridan, S Hill, B Hill, Taberner, Cox.
Umpires: Ben Ryan, Chris Kamolins, Jacob Mollison.
Official Crowd: 42,665 at Etihad Stadium.

However you view the trials and tribulations of the Essendon Football Club over the past five years, it's impossible to deny the torment their fans have endured.

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Howe shows Melbourne how it's done, Big Ben Brown sinks Lions with seven, Buddy wins Coleman Medal with 10 against Carlton, Essendon wins but Nat Fyfe rules and the Eagles steal into eighth spot.

But Bombers fans were filled with pride on Sunday, as their team defeated Fremantle by 15 points at Etihad Stadium. Those same fans indulged in an outpouring of emotion for their players, not least retiring champion Jobe Watson, who has most likely played his final game of football in Melbourne.

The win was tough, despite the margin looking somewhat comfortable. Essendon led by 32 points at three-quarter time but allowed the Dockers to get within eight points early in the final term. 

Luckily the Bombers responded in a performance that secured the club their first finals appearance since 2014 and capped a remarkable rise from wooden spoon winners in 2016 to top eight finishers in 2017.

While that was a wonderful achievement the Essendon fans cherished, it seemed Sunday afternoon was more about their former captain and club icon Watson.

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Watson's mother, his sister and his girlfriend were interviewed on the ground before the bounce while thousands of Essendon fans held cardboard cut-outs of his face to turn Etihad Stadium into a "sea of Jobes".

That was the way in the midfield early on too as Watson collected four clearances and 10 disposals by the early stages of the second quarter.

His fifth clearance, brought on by a nicely measured run behind ruckman Tom Bellchambers, led to a Zach Merrett goal in a piece of midfield timing that reminded everyone of how wonderful a presence Watson had been around the contest through his career.

Spurred on by Watson's fast start, Essendon's midfield dominance was the theme of the first half when they won nine more clearances than Fremantle.

The Bombers led by 20 points on three occasions in the first half, including at half-time, but the Dockers managed their own flurry of goals on multiple occasions to ensure Essendon didn't get too far ahead.

Essendon looked much too quick and slick for the Dockers on the outside but their efficiency going inside 50 let them down all afternoon, save for a dominant stretch in the third term.

As quickly as the Dockers again brought the margin back to eight points in the third quarter through Nat Fyfe, Brennan Cox and Tommy Sheridan goals, Essendon kicked five in a row to open up a 38-point lead. It was a volley of majors that ultimately ended the contest.

Two of those five were scored by midfielder Merrett, whose four goals for the afternoon, on top of his dominant midfield performance, will surely secure him three votes in a Brownlow Medal count he is ineligible to win.

John Worsfold's men got the win despite missing a bunch of important players including Michael Hurley, Orazio Fantasia and Cale Hooker, who was injured in the warm up and replaced by Heath Hocking. Hocking had only played one game in 2017 before Sunday (round three against Carlton).

He ended up kicking an important pair of goals in the third and final quarters, the latter to break Fremantle's run of five goals on the trot. 

The Bombers should be concerned about how they continually let the Dockers back into the match. They seemed to stop on numerous occasions throughout the afternoon, the most concerning was their near-capitulation to let Fremantle back within eight points in the final quarter. 

From the outside it appears the demons of their last gasp losses to Brisbane and Sydney are not yet totally banished given the way they jittered at times on Sunday. 

Essendon will also need their injured trio back fit and firing to do any damage in the finals, making the controversial pre-finals bye a blessing.

James Kelly, the other retiring Bomber for whom there was no special face cut-outs, was also important. The former Geelong triple-premiership man was composed along the half back line and helped set Essendon's tempo all afternoon. 

Originally published on theage.com.au as 'Essendon grind past Fremantle to book finals spot in Jobe Watson's home farewell'.