Fremantle were made to pay for their ‘stagnant’ ball movement in a 29-point loss to Essendon on Saturday at Etihad Stadium, according to midfielder David Mundy.
With Nat Fyfe out due to injury, Mundy was once again acting captain and felt that on the day, the Bombers were able to read Freo’s plays too easily.
While Essendon turned the ball over 81 times to Fremantle’s 72, the Bombers were able to pounce more readily when winning back the ball.
It was particularly evident in transition out of defence, with Fremantle often opting to kick long in hope of finding a forward, only to see Essendon take possession.
“I think throughout the entire game we really hurt ourselves with our ball movement,” Mundy said.
“We were very stagnant and predictable I think, meaning Essendon were able to turn it over fairly easily and score on the back of that.”
In the end Fremantle’s inexperience was telling, with Freo fielding a significantly less experienced team.
Essendon fielded one player under 30 games experience compared to eight for Fremantle.
To Mundy, it’s all a lesson as Freo look to bounce back against Hawthorn next Sunday at Optus Stadium.
“It was obviously a pretty frustrating game and clearly Essendon were the better team on the night,” Mundy said.
“They’re pushing for finals. We know where we went wrong and aim to rectify that next week.
“At times we were too helter skelter and turning it over really easy and at other times we were a bit cautious and not really taking the game on.
“I think that’s our biggest learning from tonight. When we did take our chances with ball movement, we started winning the ball a bit better around the contest and had a bit more flow on offence as the game opened up.
“I thought we controlled the ball a bit better as the game went on. Ultimately, we fell short."
