Fremantle veteran Luke McPharlin ruled out of preliminary final against Hawthorn with calf injury
PerthNow
FREMANTLE defender Luke McPharlin has been all but ruled out of Friday night’s preliminary final with Hawthorn.
In what would be a sensational Grand Final gamble on October 3, coach Ross Lyon has forecast playing McPharlin as a forward should the Dockers advance to the decider.
McPharlin would need to pass a fitness test in Grand Final week to play the 257th and final game of his distinguished career on the big MCG stage.
The 33-year-old, who has aggravated a calf problem, would not have played for five weeks leading into the Grand Final and is expected to retire.
Fremantle Dockers fans line up for preliminary final tickets against Hawthorn
Sydney Morning Herald
Dockers diehards braved the cold on Sunday night with one goal in mind - getting their hands on tickets to Friday night's preliminary final between Fremantle and Hawthorn.
As temperatures dropped to 12 degrees overnight, a sea of purple had already gathered at Domain Stadium early on Monday morning.
The Fremantle Dockers are only one win away from playing in the 2015 grand final in what's only the third time the harbour side will play in a preliminary final.
Will Ross Lyon select Ryan Crowley to play on Sam Mitchell?
Herald Sun
Footy games are won by men — flesh, blood and spirit — not Champion Data people sitting in the back room.”
That was Ross Lyon on September 7, the same day his opposition analysis men bombarded Champion Data “people” for a host of numbers leading into the first final against Sydney.
He’s a curious coach, Lyon, because there’s not a coach who looks at numbers as much as him, but that comment almost intimated they were an afterthought in the bigger picture.
Still, it’s a tantalising lead-up to the one question which will be asked more than any other this week: Will Ryan Crowley be selected to play on Sam Mitchell?
Aaron Sandilands a big problem for Hawthorn, says Ben McEvoy
The Age
Hawthorn would at best moderate the impact of Fremantle ruckman Aaron Sandilands, Ben McEvoy said.
Premiers Hawks will play the Dockers in Perth next weekend for the right to contest this year's grand final.
Hawthorn ruckman McEvoy said Sandilands posed a big problem for the Hawks, because size meant he had the potential to dominate stoppages.
Sandilands is 211cm, more than 10cm taller than McEvoy, and is about 15kg heavier.
"He's going to win hit-outs, we know that," McEvoy said.
If we can try to have a little bit of influence on how effective [the hit-outs] are, then that gives our guys at ground level a chance to try to read the play a little bit, and give us a 50/50 chance."
Fremantle Dockers midfielder David Mundy scoffs at All-Australian chances
PerthNow
FREMANTLE playmaker David Mundy is thankful he is not a selector ahead of All-Australian and Dockers team announcements this week.
Mundy is a frontline contender to finally win All-Australian selection on the back of his finest AFL season and will be a key component to Dockers’ plans of winning the preliminary final and advance to a second grand final in three years.
Dockers coach Ross Lyon must settle a starting line-up with ruck back-up Jon Griffin returning from injury as well as selection claims from young key forward Matt Taberner.
Ryan Crowley declares he’s ready to take on Sam Mitchell
Herald Sun
FREMANTLE tagger Ryan Crowley believes he can do a job on Hawthorn star Sam Mitchell in Friday night’s preliminary final — in what would be his first game in 12 months.
Crowley has not played since last year’s semi-final loss to Port Adelaide — a year and eight days ago.
He was banned for 12 months for taking the banned drug methadone, but has been training since late July.
Fremantle captain Matthew Pavlich said on Sunday: “If you ask Ryan, he says he’s in.”
“(Coach Ross Lyon) has been on record as saying it’s highly unlikely but it’s a prelim and things can change.
“He is conditioned, he is fit, he is ready. Whether he gets picked we will wait and see later in the week,’’ he told the Seven network.
A soupiness of truth: Freo skipper Matthew Pavlich blasts retirement reports
AFL.com.au
FREMANTLE captain Matthew Pavlich has categorically denied suggestions that he has already made plans to retire at the end of the season.
Reports on Sunday claimed the 33-year-old was certain to hang up the boots when the Dockers' season ends.
But Pavlich took to social media to dispel the claims and said he was yet to decide whether he would extend his career into a 17th season.
"(I) haven't read it [the article], but contrary to reports no decision has been made on my playing future. We have more important things to focus on!" Pavlich tweeted on Sunday.
"Some operate in a 'soupiness of truth' reporting facts that they wish to be true as opposed to facts that are categorically known to be true."
Pavlich, Fyfe fit for Hawks
The West Australian
Matthew Pavlich and Nat Fyfe will be ready to play Hawthorn in Friday night’s preliminary final at Domain Stadium, but Luke McPharlin remains in doubt and Ryan Crowley is highly unlikely.
That was the assessment of Fremantle skipper Pavlich yesterday, also telling Channel 7’s AFL Game Day that the decision to rest players leading into the finals was a calculated risk by the club, given that some players had had interrupted preparations anyway.
“The coaches and the conditioners make sure they get the right amount of condition into us,” he said. “Friday was a really solid session, tomorrow will be as well. It is a calculated risk the club has taken in terms of making sure we are fresh and ready to go and get rid of some of the small injuries, but at the same time we need to be rock-hard fit because a preliminary final is going to go to the wire.
Fremantle target? Minimum 14 goals
The West Australian
If we want WA teams to survive the AFL’s preliminary final weekend, we are going to need Fremantle to overcome Hawthorn’s all-round brilliance and West Coast to keep three tall North Melbourne forwards out of the game.
The weekend’s winners were predictable, even if the result in the North Melbourne-Sydney game did not follow ladder positions. Hawthorn were always likely to bounce back after being clubbed by West Coast.
Dockers will consider McPharlin, Crowley
The Australian
The line ups for Friday night’s preliminary final between Fremantle and Hawthorn in Perth will almost certainly not be known until at least Wednesday.
Both clubs have big decisions ahead of them, particularly the Dockers with regard to their best defender Luke McPharlin and tagger Ryan Crowley who could make a surprise return despite not playing all year.
The Hawks are more settled, with the exception of their leading goalkicker Jack Gunston, who must pass a medical examination midweek after missing Friday night’s 74-point blitz of Adelaide with an ankle injury.
Hawthorn yesterday declared they would not select Gunston if he required painkillers to play.
The latest word from Fremantle is that back-up ruckman Jonathon Griffin has already been ruled out with a hamstring injury, McPharlin was unlikely to play and Crowley remained a possibility.
Dockers not fazed by their inability to score
AAP
Fremantle midfielder Lachie Neale admits there’s no quick fix to the club’s scoring woes, but he’s confident they can do enough to ensure they taste success during the finals.
The Dockers are just one win away from reaching their first grand final after beating Sydney by nine points in last week’s qualifying final in Perth.
Although Fremantle are the best defensive side in the competition, their inability to match the scoring potency of the other premiership contenders remains a big concern.
The Dockers ranked 12th in attack during the home-and-away season, averaging 84.4 points per game. And that figure drops to 77 points per game if you take away Fremantle’s opening eight rounds when they were in white-hot form.
In contrast, Hawthorn (111.5 points per game) and West Coast (105.9) have had no such scoring troubles this season.
Fremantle more experienced, more confident than in 2013
The Age
Fremantle have bridged the gap in experience compared with Hawthorn since the two teams played in the 2013 grand final.
The Hawks beat the Dockers, who were playing in their first premiership play-off, by 15 points, with a combined 513 games more experience (2528 to 3041).
Both sides had 22 scoring shots, but the young Dockers wasted their opportunities, losing 8.14 to 11.11.
Fremantle had 10 players who had reached the 100-game milestone to Hawthorn's 13, but five of those Hawks had more than 200 games' next to their names, and Jordan Lewis (193) and David Hale (197) were closing in. The Dockers had just Luke McPharlin (225) and Matthew Pavlich (291) who had been around in the system that long.
Forward to 2015 and the two sides will meet in the preliminary final at Domain Stadium on Friday night.
