Fremantle forward Brandon Matera has praised the unrelenting efforts from his teammates after Freo caused a 24-point upset of the GWS Giants at UNSW Canberra Oval on Sunday.
Matera said he and his Fremantle teammates knew it would take an immense effort from start to finish to roll the Giants and end their nine-game winning streak in Canberra.
After a see-sawing encounter for the opening three quarters, Fremantle kicked six-straight goals to start the final term and topple their highly-rated opponents.
“It’s pretty unreal to win over in Canberra against GWS,” Matera said.
“I was told there were nine straight wins (for GWS) here, so to play the way we’ve been training all pre-season and get the win, it’s pretty surreal and we’ll definitely enjoy it.
“We went in with a plan and I think we were pretty good with that. The boys played unreal, we took away their run.
“We knew it was going to be taken to the end and it did, it took until the final term to run over the top of them but it’s just a great feeling and the boys are pretty happy.”
Matera led an even spread of goal-kickers for Fremantle, contributing four goals to Freo’s 16-goal tally with three each coming from fellow forwards Jesse Hogan, Matt Taberner and Michael Walters.
The 27-year-old said such performances weren't possible without the efforts of the midfield.
Fremantle racked up 20 marks inside 50 – more than double the club’s average in 2018 and 15 more than GWS on the day.
Taberner alone had seven marks inside 50 to his name.
“I think we’re gelling as a group and the ball that was coming in this week, it was excellent,” Matera said.
“The boys are hitting targets and it just makes it easier to work together for us forwards.
“I’m just the lucky one to finish them. All the boys worked hard today.
“I thought the forward line worked really well. There was a good spread of goalkickers, we used it around, everyone took their chance and I was just lucky enough to get four goals.”
Matera said he was hopeful of a big crowd at Optus Stadium next Saturday night for David Mundy’s 300th and the Len Hall ANZAC Tribute Game.
“It’s huge, Dave’s been massive for this club,” Matera said.
“The boys are going to rally around him. It’s a massive game for Dave and another huge opportunity for us to get another win.
“If we can bring this effort and that connection, I’m sure we can go close to getting that.
“We’re really looking forward to getting back out there in front of our home crowd and, hopefully, they’re all there after this week so we hope it will be packed out.”
