The number of Fremantle players with finals experience expanded from nine to 27 following their win against the Western Bulldogs in Saturday’s elimination final.
And the group had to do it the hard way, coming back from 41 points down to win by 13 in the do or die clash.
The win made it clear that Fremantle’s inexperience in finals may not be a detrimental factor in 2022.
Speaking on SEN, both Nathan Buckley and Garry Lyon were full of praise for the young Dockers.
“Fremantle had only five players with more than 100 games experience against the Bulldogs,” Buckley said.
“You’ve got David Mundy, Michael Walters who was brilliant, Aish with 141, Acres at 118 and Luke Ryan who’s played 107.
“Outside of that, that side is as young and inexperienced as any.
“I was struck by how young that side was, to be able to have a 54-point turnaround in actual terms.
“Jye Amiss, two games. Brandon Walker, 29 games. Michael Frederick, 37 games. Heath Chapman, 21 games, Hayden Young who’s a gun with 33 games. Nathan O’Driscoll, 10 games.
“It was a phenomenal effort.”
Lyon said midfielders Caleb Serong and Andrew Brayshaw headlined Freo’s youth movement.
“The emergence of Serong and Brayshaw, they’re going to go hand in hand like (Geelong’s) Patrick Dangerfield and Joel Selwood – that’s them for the next 10 years,” Lyon said.
“You’re blessed as a footy club when you’re able to identify the talent first of all from a drafting point of view. Serong was a pick eight and they get it right.
“That final is the great payoff. You sit back and go ‘we got it right’ we got our first draft picks right and they are going to drive us for 10 years.”
Speaking on 3AW, Senior Coach Justin Longmuir said his young players are already showing maturity beyond their years and credited their hard work behind the scenes.
“Some of these guys are playing big roles for us within the team,” Longmuir said.
“They haven’t played 30 games yet but they’re playing like they’ve played 90 to 100.
“They’re really mature and they’ve done so much work since they’ve come to the Club.
“The result that you’re seeing on the weekend is the result of all the work they’re putting in behind the scenes.
“They’re really professional young players and they’re driving our performances on weekends.”
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