Although Round 7’s stirring Len Hall Tribute Game win was the bounce-back the playing and coaching group were after, defender Jordan Clark said the work is not done and the team would not get ahead of themselves.
Speaking at his Monday afternoon media conference, Clark said seeing himself feature in one of the review clips following the Melbourne loss was something he hoped he would never have to experience again.
“We showed a few clips last week of controllable things… a little bit of lack of effort, a little bit of a lack of care at times, and to be honest I was in one of those clips, and I never want to see myself in one of those ever again,” Clark said.
“I don’t think I need to look past any more than that to have the motivation to repeat what we did on the weekend (against the Crows).”
Clark’s response was highlighted on the weekend when the dashing defender sprinted over 100 metres from the centre square to track back and apply pressure to Adelaide’s Alex Neal-Bullen, who was running into an open goal.
“Hopefully it’s the norm now,” Clark said.
“We’ve been a little bit inconsistent with that this year.”
Responding with a much grittier and tougher performance against the Crows — which saw Fremantle record +4 inside 50s, +12 contested possessions, +7 tackles, +4 tackles inside 50, and +11 one-percenters compared to the previous week's numbers against Melbourne — and becoming the first team to lead Adelaide at halftime this season, Clark said finding consistency in the team’s performances going forward was still key.
“We are in an industry where one week is not the same as another week,” Clark said.
“We don’t want to overplay our performance on the weekend and give everyone a pat on the back and say it was perfect, because the reality is we weren’t.
“It’s footy — no two games are the same.
"Out of the weekend there was a clip that as a group we weren't happy with, so we walked through it and talked about it in the team meeting just then, and said that this isn't acceptable."
“I think that’s the growth left in this group, and I think that’s the maturity we are starting to get to, where we are able to address those things and hold each other accountable.”
Fremantle will now face St Kilda on Friday 2 May at Marvel Stadium, providing the Club with the opportunity to string consecutive wins together and move into the top eight.
