There was a night and day difference between Fremantle’s 70-point loss to GWS in round 14 and 32-point win against Essendon in round 15, as Freo got their season back on track through a significantly improved effort in the contest and midfield.
Midfielder Caleb Serong called the GWS loss the worst he had been a part of, while post-game, Essendon Senior Coach Brad Scott said there had been no benefit from reviewing Fremantle’s loss to the Giants.
Fremantle’s tackle and pressure numbers were similar against GWS and Essendon however the stark difference comes when digging into the clearance numbers.
Fremantle had 34 clearances compared to 29 against GWS, but 32 of those clearances against Essendon were effective compared to just 19 against GWS.
In fact, Fremantle’s effective clearance percentage of 94.1 per cent was the best of any team in any game this year.
In contrast, it was 65.5 per cent against GWS.
The difference on the scoreboard was significant, scoring just three points from stoppages against the Giants compared to 53 points from stoppage against Essendon.
Scott highlighted scores from stoppages when analysing the Freo and the Bombers game.
“The difference between the two sides was scores from stoppage,” Scott said.
“They scored 30 per cent of their scores directly from centre bounces. For Fremantle, it was the opposite last week for them (as their) centre bounces were a problem.
“I found the game really hard to analyse because it was like watching a different team against GWS last week.
“One thing we knew was analysing that game, it wasn’t going to look like that, so it was quite difficult to work out exactly what was coming.”
Serong, who earned 10 coaches votes against Essendon, said Fremantle had a focus of doing the basics right when preparing for the clash.
“(The Giants loss) was a tough one to take it was, it was probably the toughest and worst game I've been a part of with the Dockers,” Serong told Channel 9’s Sunday Footy Show.
“It's sometimes not even the amount you lose by it's the way you lose. We didn't value the right things, we didn't do the things that we value as a team and make us the team we are.
“You can kind of drive yourself crazy trying to find a singular fix. For us it was just about getting back to the process and having a real mindset to get better, and the guys really embraced that during the week which was great.”
Collingwood lead the league for effective clearances with an average of 81 per cent, while Fremantle are third at 78.1 per cent.
Freo v Dogs: Delayed on free to air
Already a star, where could Jackson be at 25?
Injury update: Round 16
