Freo the closers
At Domain stadium on Saturday night, Fremantle delivered North Melbourne’s third loss by less than a goal this season, while Freo won their second straight by less than a goal.
Fremantle may have an inferior percentage at 78.4 compared to 81.7 for to the winless Kangaroos, but Freo’s three wins illustrate an important ability grind out a close contest.
Domain’s belief
Trailing by 29 points with just 11 minutes remaining in the third term, Griffin Logue stepped up to kick his first AFL goal. It was Fremantle’s first in more than an hour of football, and it brought the crowd into the game as the “FRE-O” chant erupted.
As the crowd lifted, so did the side, kicking seven of the last nine goals to scrape across the line.
But it wasn’t pretty…
Fremantle prevailed with a kicking efficiency of 59.9 per cent, the lowest of the eight teams who have played so far this round.
Freo kicked just two goals from 23 forward entries up to half time with a 33.3 per cent kicking efficiency in their forward half.
In the second half, the kicking efficiency in attack increased to 50 per cent, as Freo piled on seven goals from 26 forward entries.
Leaders step up when it counts
It’s a simple formula: Aaron Sandilands taps down to Nat Fyfe hands to Lachie Neale for the clearance - and it worked to perfection twice in the dying minutes.
With 2 mins and 10 secs on the clock, Sandilands, Fyfe and Neale combined from a boundary throw-in to deliver to Michael Johnson who brought Freo within a point.
One minute later - from another boundary throw-in in North’s attacking half - Fyfe read Sandilands’ tap the best, and dodged three opponents to give perfect hands to Neale who set the game-winning play in motion.
Fyfe racked up seven contested possessions and five clearances in the final term, while fellow leader David Mundy tallied 12 disposals in a huge fourth quarter effort.
Brady’s big moments
As far as a 10-disposal performance goes, Brady Grey’s was as decisive as they come. Grey played an important hand in two final quarter goals, with one off his own boot and another from a blistering run through the midfield that set up Bradley Hill.
Grey also played an important role in standing up to a very physical North Melbourne side while racking up six tackles for the night.
