Former Collingwood senior coach Nathan Buckley has labelled Fremantle as the team flying under the radar so far in 2022, highlighting the team’s effectiveness as a transition team.
He praised the game plan set up by Justin Longmuir, Buckley’s former assistant at Collingwood, highlighting how Freo are the number one ranked team in points scored from turnovers.
It comes as Fremantle have looked to be more daring on the rebound, led by the likes of a young and talented group of half backs in Heath Chapman, Hayden Young and new recruit Jordan Clark.
| POINTS SCORED ON TURNOVER |
FOR |
AGAINST |
DIFFERENTIAL |
|
Fremantle |
239 |
90 |
149 |
|
Melbourne |
224 |
115 |
109 |
|
Brisbane |
238 |
158 |
80 |
|
St Kilda |
243 |
172 |
71 |
|
Geelong |
232 |
208 |
24 |
|
Richmond |
207 |
186 |
21 |
|
Hawthorn |
212 |
194 |
18 |
|
Collingwood |
202 |
189 |
13 |
|
Sydney |
220 |
209 |
11 |
|
Gold Coast |
177 |
175 |
2 |
|
Carlton |
185 |
200 |
-15 |
|
Adelaide |
160 |
220 |
-60 |
|
Bulldogs |
145 |
206 |
-61 |
|
North |
183 |
245 |
-62 |
|
Essendon |
187 |
251 |
-64 |
|
West Coast |
148 |
221 |
-73 |
|
GWS |
140 |
215 |
-75 |
|
Port Adelaide |
114 |
202 |
-88 |
“I reckon they could be the most balanced transition team in the competition,” Buckley said on SEN.
“The offence and defence are really closely aligned and effectively coached and executed.
“Fremantle have only given 90 points up from turnover in their first four games. The next closest side is 25 points away and that’s Melbourne. The next closest team after that is another 30 points away and that’s the Brisbane Lions.
“Fremantle have (only) given up 12 goals from turnover in the first four weeks. On the flipside, there’s only three teams who have kicked 35 goals or more from turnover. St Kilda have kicked 36, most of them yesterday (against Hawthorn) which was more than what they had in the first three weeks. Brisbane have kicked 36 goals from turnover and Fremantle have kicked 35.
“Fremantle have kicked 23 more goals on the turnover, which is nearly double the next team.
“The top teams in transition are Fremantle, Melbourne, St Kilda, Brisbane and Geelong and all are in the eight at the moment. This stat stacks up because it’s two-thirds of your scores, if you stack up there you will always be in the game.”
While Fremantle have been dominant on the turnover, the team has struggled at stoppages with a -68 point differential – ranking 18th out of all AFL clubs.
|
POINTS SCORED FROM STOPPAGES |
FOR |
AGAINST |
DIFFERENTIAL |
|
Geelong |
160 |
112 |
48 |
|
Brisbane |
141 |
102 |
39 |
|
Carlton |
138 |
110 |
28 |
|
Collingwood |
158 |
132 |
26 |
|
Sydney |
126 |
106 |
20 |
|
Bulldogs |
140 |
120 |
20 |
|
St Kilda |
148 |
129 |
19 |
|
Adelaide |
167 |
151 |
16 |
|
Gold Coast |
130 |
122 |
8 |
|
West Coast |
119 |
118 |
1 |
|
GWS |
136 |
137 |
-1 |
|
Melbourne |
122 |
124 |
-2 |
|
Port Adelaide |
125 |
129 |
-4 |
|
Richmond |
133 |
151 |
-18 |
|
Hawthorn |
95 |
123 |
-28 |
|
Essendon |
120 |
168 |
-48 |
|
North |
59 |
115 |
-56 |
|
Fremantle |
77 |
145 |
-68 |
Buckley expects Fremantle to improve significantly in that area as they get more game time from their A-grade players.
“Their stoppage game will improve,” Buckley said.
“Sean Darcy has only played two of the four, Nat Fyfe hasn’t played any yet. David Mundy, Caleb Serong and Matt Taberner have only played two of the four games. There’s a lot of upside there for Freo.”
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