Clarke after final fling
Ruckman Zac Clarke says Fremantle is still aiming for September action, despite the hefty loss to North Melbourne
EMERGING ruckman Zac Clarke says Fremantle's players are refusing to give up on their dream of playing in the finals, despite the 98-point loss to North Melbourne at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night.
The poor performance resulted in Freo falling to 10th on the ladder, while the Kangaroos climbed above them into ninth place.
Both sides are two points behind the eighth-placed Sydney Swans, although the Swans have the chance to make that six points when they play St Kilda at ANZ Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Making matters more difficult for Fremantle is that fact it must take on Collingwood at Patersons Stadium next Friday night.
Freo's last home and away match is against the Western Bulldogs at Etihad Stadium.
"Mathematically we can still make it, although we're relying on other results now," Clarke said.
"We've got two games to go and we're going to put our all into both of them.
"We're going to try and do the best we can."
Clarke and fellow ruckman Aaron Sandilands battled hard against North Melbourne's much-improved big man Todd Goldstein.
They both got their hands on the ball plenty of times, with Sandilands winning 29 hit-outs and Clarke 13, and that helped Fremantle compete at the stoppages (the final clearances tally was 40-32 in the Kangaroos' favour).
But Goldstein, who kicked two goals, took the honours in the end.
"Goldstein's had a really good year, so credit to him for that," Clarke said. "But me and 'Spider' battled well, it just didn’t make a difference on the scoreboard."
The final inside-50 statistic, which was 66-41 in North Melbourne's favour, told the tale of the game.
"Obviously, we're very disappointed," Clarke said. "We came in here knowing it was a big game, and we needed to win, so it was very disappointing."
Fremantle's horror run with injuries seemed to take its toll as the margin blew out in the second half.
In contrast, the Roos were full of running after having the bye last weekend.
"They did look fresh, and they're obviously a quick side, and I don't think we handled that well," Clarke said.
