Fast start paves the way

Freo’s victory was built on a pulsating opening term in which it completely dominated its opponents. The Dogs had made a fast start in their big round 1 win, but on Saturday at Etihad Stadium, Freo’s pressure bottled the ball up in one half of the ground. From there, the Doggies were swimming against the tide. Here’s a breakdown of the territorial monopoly Freo had in the first term:

Freo time in attacking half in 1st qtr:14 minutes 8 seconds.

WB time in attacking half in 1st qtr: 9 minutes 49 seconds.

Differential: +4 minutes 19 seconds Freo

Freo used its uncompromising closing pressure to achieve this territorial advantage. In the first term alone, Ross Lyon’s men had 22 closing pressure acts to their opponent’s nine. Nine of these closing pressure acts in the opening quarter occurred in Freo’s forward zone. The team in purple and white had a total closing pressure advantage of 89-46 over the entire match.

When the two sides went inside their attacking 50m arcs in the opening term, it was clear who the more efficient side was in attack, and who had the stingier backline. It was Freo on both counts. The below statistics highlight how Freo methodically scored almost half the time it went into attack, while keeping their opponent’s offensive forays under control.

Freo in the 1st qtr
Inside 50s: 14
Possession retains inside 50: 7
Goals from inside 50s: 5
Score success %: 42.9%


Western Bulldogs in the 1st qtr
Inside 50s: 10
Possession retains inside 50: 2
Goals from inside 50s: 0
Score success %: 0%


The match-ups - Midfield

Nat Fyfe (25 disposals, 16 contested, 6 clearances, 1 goal, 6 inside 50s ) v Tom Liberatore  (28 disposals, 18 contested, 12 clearances, 11 tackles)

The two young guns went head-to-head and were both very prominent for their sides. Fyfe was particularly damaging early, including a huge contested mark and goal in the first term.

David Mundy (17 disposals, 3 goal assists) v Nick Lower

Lower limited the amount of ball Mundy saw, but the champion Freo midfielder still had an impact, particularly after half-time with three goal assists.

Ryan Crowley v Ryan Griffen (17 disposals)

Griffen was near best-on-ground in round 1, but he ran into the glove on Saturday. Two from two in 2013 for Crowley.

Jon Griffin (13 disposals, 23 hitouts) v Will Minson (16 disposals, 48 hitouts)

Minson had far more hitouts, but Griffin competed well enough to render many ineffective. Freo’s midfielders did the rest.


Match-ups – Defence

Zac Dawson v Ayce Cordy (7 disposals, 1 goal)

Luke McPharlin v Liam Jones  (10 disposals, 0 goals)


Interesting stat

The Western Bulldogs had a kicking efficiency of 71 per cent in round 1 against the Brisbane Lions. On Saturday, the Dogs could only generate a kicking efficiency of 61.8 per cent against Freo.