Australian Football

Match Report

This should have been a day of at least some celebration for Fremantle. While the Dockers were always at long odds to defeat the powerful third-placed Sydney Swans, fans at Subiaco would have been hoping and expecting at least a reasonable effort from the home side to mark the 350th game of their greatest player Matthew Pavlich. Instead, the Dockers put in an insipid performance, even by their rather low standards of 2016, to get thrashed by 90 points, the biggest losing margin of Ross Lyon's coaching career.

The signs were there earl in the match, with Sydney dominating the first 15 minutes, with only inaccuracy preventing the Swans from establishing a big lead in that period. After a goal to Gary Rohan inside the first minute of the match, Sydney proceeded to miss six consecutive shots at goal, with Lance Franklin (twice), Luke Parker, Dan Hannebery, Jarrad McVeigh and Rohan all guilty. Hannebery managed to kick straight at the 12-minute mark, giving the Swans an 18-point lead, before Matt Taberner finally got the Dockers on the board with a goal at the 15-minute mark. Franklin marked and goaled at the 17-minute mark but there was only one other score for the quarter, a rushed behind to Sydney which saw the Swans take a 19-point lead into the first break.

With Dean Towers kicking his first goal two minutes into the second quarter, the Swans looked like going right on with the job but the Dockers, to their credit, fought out the rest of the first half, kicking two of the next four goals, one each to David Mundy and Hayden Crozier, before a major to Josh Kennedy just before the half-time siren saw Sydney take a comfortable 29-point lead into the long break.

The first 20 minutes of the third quarter told a sorry tale for Fremantle. The Dockers could conjure nothing more than a rushed behind at the 18-minute mark while the Swans had shots at goal almost at will. Sam Naismith, Xavier Richards, Towers and Kennedy all kicked majors and then Tom Mitchell kicked two in a row as Sydney powered to a 61-point lead. The Dockers finally found the mark with a goal to Shane Yarran at the 21-minute mark but a third goal to Mitchell followed by Rohan's second saw the Swans 12 goals ahead at the last end-change.

There was no let-up to the Sydney Swans onslaught for the 15 minutes of the final term, with Xavier Richards and Kennedy kicking majors in the first 10 minutes, and Isaac Heeney kicking a brace of goals after that and by midway through the term, the Swans were ahead by 98 points. The Dockers finally had a something to rejoice about at the 17-minute mark when Pavlich marked and kicked his first goal of the match. The Swans kicked two in a row after that to take the lead beyond 100 but the Dockers finished off with the last two goals of the match, with latter going appropriately to Pavlich to give him something to take away from his milestone match. In the end, Sydney finished 90 points clear to consolidate third place on the ladder.

In a very high possession match, Kennedy led the way with 45 disposals and three goals, while David Mundy stood out for the Dockers with 44 touches and four tackles.

Next up for the Swans is a home match against ninth-placed Port Adelaide, while Fremantle will take on West Coast (sixth) in the year's second Western Derby.

GOALS
Fremantle: Pavlich 2; Taberner, Mundy, Crozier, Yarran, Weller
Sydney: Heeney 4; Mitchell, Kennedy 3; Towers, Rohan, Richards, Franklin 2; Hannebery, Parker, Naismith

BEST - AFL.COM.AU
Fremantle: Mundy, Neale, Langdon, Silvagni, Collins
Sydney: Kennedy, Hannebery, Mitchell, Towers, Rampe, Aliir

BEST - WATODAY.COM.AU
Fremantle: L Neale, D Mundy, E Langdon, H Crozier, S Hill, M Pavlich
Sydney: J Kennedy, D Hannebery, L Parker, T Mitchell, I Heeney, S Naismith

INJURIES
Fremantle: Nil
Sydney: Jake Lloyd (concussion)

REPORTS: Zac Dawson reported for rough conduct on Jake Lloyd in the final quarter.

UMPIRES: Dalgleish, Ryan, Wallace

TELEVISION BROADCAST: Seven Network