There’s a bit happening in the football media on Monday as the AFL world prepares for Saturday’s Grand Final between Fremantle and Hawthorn.
The Age reported on the reaction to Freo’s big win over Sydney in the preliminary final on Saturday night.
St Kilda captain Nick Riewoldt was backing his old coach, Ross Lyon, to guide Freo to victory at the MCG.
"I don't think any team can cope with what Freo dished up . . . there was no time, there was no space," he said on Channel Seven's AFL Game Day.
Former Richmond star Nathan Brown said he had "never seen pressure like it”, while Matthew Lloyd was also impressed, declaring he had "never seen the Swans midfielders dominated like they were".
Rohan Connolly wrote that picking the winner of the Grand Final was going to be very tough, but he, too, couldn’t help but like what he saw from Freo.
“…while the odds rightly have Hawthorn a clear favourite, there's more reason than usual to seriously consider the underdog,” Connolly wrote in The Age.
He was also full of praise for the Freo crowd, which he wrote had become “an incredibly vocal fan base at home, every bit as intimidating as the old Collingwood crowds”.
The Melbourne papers are predicting a tight tussle to replace the injured Brendan Whitecross in the Hawthorn line-up on Saturday, with VFL Grand Final best-on-ground Jonathon Simpkin and young speedster Jed Anderson the front-runners at this stage.
The Herald Sun’s Mark Robinson wrote in his weekly column ‘The Tackle’ that Freo captain Matthew Pavlich deserves a premiership.
“…if Fremantle skipper Matthew Pavlich is able to hoist the premiership cup about 5.30pm on Saturday, there will be a collective nod of heads,” ‘Robbo’ said.
“Pavlich doesn’t deserve it any more than Luke Hodge does, or Max Bailey, or Brian Lake, yet his journey is one of resilience, respect and crazy loyalty.”
Expect there to be no problems hearing the siren at the MCG on Saturday after The Age reported that the Melbourne Cricket Club was doing everything it could to ensure no repeat of the Hawthorn-Geelong prelim, when players did not hear the final siren because of the loud crowd noise.
