Fremantle Dockers

AFL boss Gil McLachlan has been in consultation with all state governments, premiers, and medical officers about a return date, which could be as early as mid-June with 16 rounds and the Grand Final at the end of October. The league wants to do everything possible to conclude the season before the horseracing season which commences soon after the Grand Final under normal circumstances.

The prospect of hubs in their full capacity is looking more unlikely. The season could resemble the traditional format with a few exceptions. Fremantle and West Coast, both of whom oppose hubs as an option, ironically could be forced to play "home" games in other states due to West Australia's strict border restrictions. So far, the clubs have not had success convincing the WA state government to ease those restrictions.

With so many sports competitions suspended, former AFL player Pat McAfee, who now has his own podcast, was looking for something to watch. He tripped across the opening round AFL match between Essendon and Fremantle and is now a diehard convert. Unfortunately, just after he discovered the game, the AFL announced the suspension of the season until the pandemic is over. While he couldn't quite figure out all the rules, he says he will keep watching when the game resumes and even has a dream of becoming an AFL player. Below are links to his stories and even a link to an "audition" video he posted.

3/21
https://www.espn.com.au/afl/story/_/id/28936855/americans-label-afl-incredible-vow-continue-watching

3/28
https://www.themercury.com.au/sport/afl/former-nfl-star-pat-mcafee-keeps-raving-about-onenight-stand-with-afl/news-story/d709108df44a1caa7e002e53ac7cb1cf

Former NFL player Pat McAfee's AFL audition video has received an endorsement from Hawthorn legend Dermott Brereton. Brereton believes he has potential. Below is the link to the full story with a video of McAfee kicking a Sherrin and a link to a related article:

https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-2020-pat-mcafee-interest-in-afl-dermott-brereton-reviews-former-nfl-players-footy-audition-video/news-story/0723707e9a2b110c319d37f9ab8f039f

https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-2020-pat-mcafees-footy-audition-nfl-punter-loves-aussie-rules-video-americans-loving-afl/news-story/e52400d044b3425809e298962f038625

Sources: espn.com.au, themercury.com.au, foxsports.com.au

Fremantle has appointed Justin Longmuir for the next three seasons as the senior coach. Longmuir has spent the past two seasons as Collingwood's defensive coach. Longmuir, 38, is the first West Australian to be appointed to the position at the Dockers. He has spent the past 10 years in the coaching ranks as a senior assistant, assistant and development coach at Fremantle (2010), West Coast (2011-2017) and Collingwood. Longmuir was drafted by the Dockers and played 139 games 1999 to 2007 with a degenerative knee injury cutting short his career at the age of 26.

Longmuir said he was honored by the appointment, especially with the  club where his career started, “It means everything to me to coach Fremantle.

Fremantle has sacked Coach Ross Lyon. the departure was immediate and he did not coach Round 23. Also departing is CEO Steven Rosich after he and the board came to a mutual agreement. Docker president Dale Adcock said that the process of renewal was needed, as was new leadership. He continued by saying the club not making finals for the past four years was unacceptable. Assistant coach David Hale coached the team for the final round of the year. Chief Operating Officer Graeme Parker will act as interim CEO until a permanent CEO is brought in. Internal and external candidates will be assessed for both roles.

Carlton's Dale Thomas and Fremantle's Hayden Ballantyne were both informed by their respective clubs that they would not be offered contracts for 2020. Thomas, 32, announced his retirement at the time. However, after Carlton's win over the Saints, he said he would consider offers from other clubs. He played game 100 as a Blue in Round 22 after crossing from Collingwood where he played 156 games including the 2010 premiership. He was named All-Australian in 2011.  

Thomas said he was content with his decision, “While this is something I didn’t want to hear, I was realistic that it was a chance ... I also understand the direction the club is going ... I have experienced so much in my career since walking in as a blond-haired kid ... in 2005. The opportunity to live out my boyhood dream ... I am proud of everything I’ve been able to achieve."

Just ahead or Round 22, giant Docker ruckman Aaron Sandilands, 36, announced that 2019 would be his final season. His farewell game to fans will be Round 22 against Essendon. He was drafted in 2002 and holds the record for hitouts with 8,466 in 270 games, averaging 28 per game. Sandilands has battled calf injuries this year and has played just five games ahead of Round 22. He will place third on the Dockers' games list behind Matthew Pavlich (353), and David Mundy (314 through Round 21).

A member of the club's leadership group for the past 10 years, he has also been a key driver behind the club's Starlight Foundation, which raises money for seriously ill children and their families. He has been an ambassador for Starlight Purple Haze Game since 2007. In that time, he has helped raise over $1.5 million for the foundation.

Sydney stalwart Jarrad McVeigh has announced he would retire at the end of the season. McVeigh, 34, has played just five games this season due to quad, hamstring, and calf injuries. His last AFL game was Round 12. He was on the comeback trail through the NEAFL but strained a calf. He is still hopeful of a final farewell game in Round 23. McVeigh also thought of playing on in 2020, but the latest setback told him otherwise.

McVeigh was drafted in 2002 and has been a key to the team's recent success of 15 finals series and five Grand Finals. His 324 games is just one shy of former teammate Jude Bolton (323) and he is just one of four Swans to play 300 games, the others being Adam Goodes (372) and Michael O'Loughlin (303). And he will go down as one of the most decorated and influential players in the club's history.

The Fremantle Dockers produced one of the shocks of the season by knocking over the competition's top team, the Geelong Cats. The Cats' quest for a home final is on shaky ground. For the Dockers, it keeps alive their slim chance of making the finals. The undermanned Dockers went into the game without a recognized tall forward, and instead gambled on pace and pressure around the ball. Perhaps this was a lesson learned from a hammering they received from the Western Bulldogs in their last game.

The game began as expected with the Cats getting straight down to business with Joel Selwood kicking to Tom Hawkins who took a contested mark (catch) at the top of the goal square, to open the Cat's account after just two minutes of play.

The Fremantle Dockers defeated the Sydney Swans by the smallest of margins to keep Fremantle's slim chance of making the finals alive. The Swans bowed out of the finals race last week, a rare event for the Swans. It is even rarer for it to happen with six matches to play. The Dockers' season was hanging on by the thread of statistical possibility, but it was the Swans who played as if they were desperate to make the finals. The Dockers played like a team that finally got desperate.

In Western Derby Number 50, the West Coast Eagles annihilated the inaccurate Fremantle Dockers to move to second on the AFL ladder and place a huge question mark over the Fremantle Dockers' finals hopes. After a slow start to the season the Eagles have hit their straps in their quest for back-to-back Premierships, with perhaps Geelong as the only team that can stand in their way.

The first quarter had the hallmarks of a tough ‘Derby’. It was a tight struggle, with defenses on top and forwards under pressure and missing "gettable" goals. It took eight minutes for the first goal to be scored. Jamie Cripps slotted a major (goal worth 6 points) for West Coast after marking (catching) a centering kick from Liam Ryan. It took another eight minutes for the next goal, which was a skudding 30-meter soccered goal by the Eagles' forward, Willie Rioli. The warning signs were there for the Dockers in the second half of the quarter.