Could Fremantle’s premiership drought finally end almost 30 years after joining the AFL’s ranks?
Dockers star Hayden Young admits it’s a “really big motivating factor” as the club currently sits third – and only half a win behind second-placed Carlton after Saturday’s 51-point victory over Richmond.
In a victory coach Justin Longmuir rated only “a seven out of 10”, Fremantle still found a way to pile on 16 goals with an attack end growing in confidence off the back of rookie big man Josh Treacy.
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Young himself is proving his versatility with two goals to his name, to go with his 24 disposals and 10 score involvements.
Speaking to Fox Footy post-match, the young gun said breaking the club’s premiership drought was driving the current squad.
“We haven’t been to the pinnacle so a lot of people don’t put respect on our name,” he said.
“We’ve got a lot of belief internally that we’ve got a group that can play finals footy and compete.
“We don’t mind flying under the radar.
“We’ve done a lot of work over the last few years of connecting to our history and being proud of it. I’m a Melbourne boy so I didn’t really know a lot about Fremantle’s history (when arriving at the club).
“We got a little taste of it in 2013 and fell short. Speaking to past players, they feel so connected to our group still. When we run out there and play, we are not just playing for ourselves – we are representing everyone who has worn the jumper at Freo.
“We feel that responsibility and it drives us every day.
“We want to be the first 23 players to hold up the cup. It’s a really big motivating factor.”
With seven games to go, Fremantle still have a run home that includes their final four matches against current top eight sides.
“We know every game is really important now – the ladder is super tight,” Young said.
“You can’t go into games expecting to win and expecting it to be super easy.
“With the ladder being so tight, you can’t afford to have lapses in games and really poor weeks.”
Coach Justin Longmuir said he’d “like to say no” to feeling any extra pressure to become the first coach to win a premiership for the Dockers.
“We want to make sure that outside noise doesn’t creep in, but it does,” he said, after celebrating his 100th match in charge with a win.
“That was probably a bit of the worry last week. We were getting pumped up after a really good away win (over ladder leaders Sydney). To come back and play a lowly ranked team and a team we’ve beaten away from home not that long ago was whether we’d get comfortable.
“Just got to keep reinforcing who we take our feedback from and keep trying to build.
“To win by 51 points, you don’t want to be Debbie Downer. I just think we’ve got so much improvement left in us.”
Fremantle club great Matthew Pavlich praised the side’s ability to bank tough wins on the road ahead of the run to finals.
“I think if you’re going to challenge, if you’re going to contend you need those moments in a year where you stand up under the heat of really good pressure from opposition teams,” he said.
“This is one of the youngest lists in the AFL.
“It bodes well for not only this year but for many years to come.”
Source Agencies
