Steve Johnson’s suspension stands, so it will be the second time in a row the Geelong champion misses a game against Fremantle. He sat out the club’s elimination final in 2012, which the Cats lost. “He doesn’t like playing us,” joked Freo senior coach Ross Lyon on 6PR. In all seriousness, Lyon knows how important Johnson is to Geelong. “He’s a champion of the game and they respect him and love him down there,” he said.
43 from 45
There is no greater challenge in football than facing the Cats at Simonds Stadium, which has also gone by the names of Kardinia Park, Shell and Skilled Stadium, as well as, more unofficially, Sleepy Hollow and the Cattery. Whatever you call it, the ground has been a graveyard for AFL teams, particularly since 2007 when Geelong won the flag. The Cats have saluted in 43 out of their past 45 games there. Fremantle last played at Simonds in 2009, when it lost by 40-points. Under Ross Lyon, Fremantle does not care for past results and lives by an ‘anywhere, anytime’ mantra, so don’t expect the players wearing purple to shirk at the contest because of geography.
Phone-box footy
Freo knows it can’t bank on past results, but the players will take some confidence from the club’s brilliant elimination final ambush of the then-reigning premiers in 2012. From the very first bounce, the Cats weren’t even afforded time and space to scratch the MCG grass off their bodies, such was Freo’s ferocity.
Will Barlow play?
Mick Barlow has arguably been in All Australian form this season and a driving force of Fremantle’s midfield. If he isn’t right to go on Saturday , a handy replacement could come in the form of David Mundy, who missed the North Melbourne game. Mundy was rated as a 50/50 chance by Lyon, so if he can’t get up, the likes of Cam Sutcliffe, Lachie Neale, Tom Sheridan, and in-form Viv Michie will all put their hands up forselection.
Second-place up for grabs
Ross Lyon will be the first to tell fans that second place after round 14 does not mean much. It’s where you finish after the final game of the home and away season that counts. For those that do care, the club will sit second on the ladder if it defeats Geelong. Hawthorn is clear on top of the ladder, a position Fremantle has never held at the completion of a round in its history.
