The occasion: Round 6 Len Hall Game on Anzac Day.
The opponent: Geelong - one of the greatest teams to have ever played the game at the peak of their powers.
A Fremantle side that had finished 11th in 2007 and won just one of its opening five games of the 2008 season fronted up to the mighty Geelong Cats, who had taken all before them in the past year.
Mark Thompson’s side had romped home in 2007, winning 24 of 25 matches that began with a 157 point win over Richmond in round 6 and culminated in a 119 point victory over Port Adelaide in the Grand Final.
Geelong started 2008 in similar fashion, winning its first five games by an average of 44 points leading into the Anzac Day Friday night encounter against Fremantle.
The expectation from the experts was a cakewalk for the visitors.
What the Cats got was the fight of their lives from a team brimming with the spirit of the Anzacs.
Freo burst out of the gates, kicking the first three goals of the game to take a 23-point lead at quarter-time.
The margin blew out to 39 points in the second term before the Cats came to life, booting seven quick goals to go into the main break only two points down.
Freo’s resistance was supposed to be shattered and the brilliant Cats, who had rested back all momentum, were meant to continue on their merry way in the second half.
Wrong.
The home side, led by an incredible breakout performance from giant Aaron Sandilands, came out in the third and held Geelong goalless, kicking four themselves to lead by 25 with a quarter to go.
Like the good side they were, the Cats willed themselves back into the contest and a Cameron Mooney goal levelled the scores at 80.
When Matthew Stokes kicked another to make the margin eight points, it seemed Freo’s brave resistance was over.
But, following another goal to the home side, the final act in this amazing game would rest on the boot of the club’s champion forward, Matthew Pavlich.
With his side down by two points with 40 seconds remaining, Pavlich lined up a difficult set-shot from 50m out, near the boundary line for his sixth goal of the game.
The skipper set sail with a booming kick that seemed to take an eternity to reach its target, but never looked like missing, until the very last moment when it veered sharply right and grazed the inside of the goalpost.
The Cats held on for an epic one-point win over Freo, who won a ton of respect for almost knocking off the AFL superpower.
Sandilands’ monster game, composed of 42 hitouts, 24 disposals, six big marks and a goal, came at a time in the ruckman’s career when he hadn’t yet stamped his authority on the competition.
His effort against the Cats put everyone on notice as he achieved All Australian selection in 2008 as well as the following two seasons.
Peter Bell was his usual ball-winning self with 31 touches, while Michael Johnson had 27 disposals and 10 marks.
With Ryan Crowley keeping the brilliant Gary Ablett to just 15 possessions, Joel Corey’s 35 disposals were crucial for the Cats, who went on to win 17 of their next 18 before falling to Hawthorn in the 2008 Grand Final.
Fremantle finished the season on six wins and in 14th position on the ladder.
Subiaco Oval, Friday 25 April, 2008
Attendance: 38,022
Fremantle Dockers 3.6 8.6 12.8 13.10 88
Geelong Cats 1.1 8.4 8.7 13.11 89
Brownlow Votes: 3: J Selwood, 2: A Sandilands, 1: M Johnson
