Breathtaking transference

If ever proof was needed of the weapons Freo possesses, just have a look at this passage of play from the second quarter of Saturday’s game. It began in defence with a Paul Duffield behind kick-in. ‘Duff’ kicks to himself and then goes long to a contest. Luke McPharlin soars to take a strong mark and hands off to Danyle Pearce. The former Port star then unleashes a booming torpedo punt into an open 50m arc. Matthew Pavlich runs onto the loose ball and handballs to a streaking Stephen Hill who steams into an open goal. Breathtaking end-to-end footy: WATCH CLIP


Speaking of breathtaking…

‘Hilly’ has been involved in a number of highlights in his three seasons of AFL. When he found himself with the football at centre-half-back in traffic that looked more like Perth’s freeways during rush hour, the midfielder decided he’d add another one. Implementing his amazing acceleration, he cut a swathe through the congestion, leaving his Bulldogs’ opponents helpless and the Etihad Stadium crowd in awe: WATCH CLIP


The great wall of Freo

Before Saturday’s game, Fox Footy analyst David King likened Freo to a “brick wall”. When the ball was bounced, the Bulldogs, who had done as they pleased a week earlier against Brisbane, ran right into that purple and white barricade. Freo’s pressure was intense as it constantly forced the red, white and blue into errors to take a convincing early lead it never relinquished.


Erase that one Pav

Matthew Pavlich is as intelligent as footballers come. But on Saturday, Freo’s skipper had a moment he’d rather forget. After marking in the goal square, Pavlich decided to play on and slot through the goal. What he didn’t anticipate was his direct opponent Jordan Roughead throwing himself between Pav’s boot and the goal line to smother the shot. Pav acknowledged his error on Twitter later that night.

“Not sure where the sore hamstring reports came from - both hamstrings were fine!! It was just my goal square brain fade that was wrong!!” WATCH CLIP


Sub CAM-eo

A number of subs have made immediate impacts in recent weeks. Gold Coast’s Brandon Matera had 13 possessions in the final term of his side’s thrilling round 1 win over St Kilda, and Geelong’s Mathew Stokes had 16 possessions in about a quarter and a half of his side’s round 2 win. While his impact wasn’t as crucial to the end result, young Freo midfielder Cam Sutcliffe was everywhere when given his chance in the final term against the Dogs. The hard-running South Australian had 9 disposals and 45 AFL Fantasy Dream Teampoints. He’s now been the sub in his past five appearances for Freo: WATCH CLIP