Uncanny rivals Fremantle and Geelong are at the ready to bolster their top four hopes with a win this Saturday evening, with way more than just four points on the line.
The Dockers (12-1-7, 116.7%) were pulled back a peg last weekend with an away loss to Essendon, throwing them back into the whirlpool that is the bottom half of the top eight.
Meanwhile, the travelling Cats (13-7, 108.9%) have won five of their last six – only slipping up to the Bulldogs in boggy conditions three weeks ago.
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In a big blow for the home side, emerging star Josh Treacy has been sidelined with a knee injury from last weekend, with Tom Emmett (suspension), James Aish (omitted) and Neil Erasmus (omitted) also out of the side.
In the quartet’s place comes dual Brownlow medallist Nat Fyfe, Matthew Johnson, Patrick Voss and Karl Worner.
Geelong have welcomed back veterans Mitch Duncan and Gary Rohan, in place of the injured Sam De Koning and Jed Bews.
The match gets underway at 4:35pm AEST at Optus Stadium.
Watch it live on Fox Footy, streaming on Kayo and via Hubbl from 4:30pm AEST.
FREMANTLE vs. GEELONG — LIVE UPDATES
Despite being named to return on Thursday, Gary Rohan was a late out. For Fremantle, Sean Darcy (injured) was a very late out, replaced by forgotten key forward Matt Taberner.
The Cats jumped out to a fast start at Optus Stadium, kicking the first four goals to stun the hosts.
A Gryan Miers goal was initially called touched on the line by Jeremy as the soft call, while a review appeared to show Sharp didn’t get a hand on it.
“The Cats might’ve been robbed of one there,” Fox Footy caller Adam Papalia said.
The Dockers steadied later in the term including Jordan Clark kicking a goal against his old side, followed by a unique celebration, to bring it back to 13 points.
Geelong led 4.2 (26) to 2.1 (13) at the first change.
Justin Longmuir’s side kept fighting back into the game in the second quarter, with Michael Frdderick nailing a set shot to make it a six-point game — the Dockers’ third-straight goal.
Caleb Serong was influential in that Fremantle fightback in an inspired showing.
In one of the highlights of the game, Miers threaded the needle with an incredible snap goal on the right side from a right footer.
“You should not be able to snap the ball that way,” Papalia said.
Hayden Young instantly responded with a running goal from distance from the next centre bounce.
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Source Agencies
