Back to Fremantle Part 1
Scott Chisholm gets up high in the first Western Derby of 1997 against the Eagles.
The formation of the West Coast Eagles in 1986 was heralded in certain quarters as being tantamount to a coming of age for Western Australian football. This attitude derived from the theory that the VFL was Australian football's only genuinely 'big time' competition, and thus the West Coast Eagles, as a VFL club, would be bringing 'big time' football to a Western Australian audience for the first time.
Leaving aside the fact that the term 'big time' is so difficult to define as to be almost meaningless, it is perhaps worth taking a moment to examine why such an attitude should be so prevalent in Western Australia, thousands of kilometres from Melbourne, when in South Australia, which was geographically much closer to 'football's Mecca', it manifestly was not.
In the first place, it may be a somewhat facile observation, but one containing an element of truth nonetheless, to note that proximity often breeds disdain. Moreover, the converse of this - that distance generates allure - is also frequently the case. Dick Whittington's image of London was exaggeratedly enticing because all he had to go on was hearsay, and hearsay mingled with ambition and desire can be extraordinarily intoxicating. However, a state of intoxication is probably not the best condition in which to arrive at assessments which are objective and informed.
Neither, it must be admitted, does proximity automatically lend itself to accuracy of judgement. The inhabitants of Watford would doubtless have had a very different view of London to Dick Whittington, one in which noises, smells and faintly seen images featured strongly, but this too would have been a distortion or, at very least, would have represented only a partial view of the whole; and to have a partial view of something is half way to being prejudiced.
| Some of the above perhaps
partly explains why, over the years, at least until the 1980s, proportionately
many more Western Australian than South Australian players opted to try their
luck in the VFL, although the lure of the dollar should also not be
underestimated. (The wage differential between VFL and WA(N)FL remained,
for many years, much wider than that between the VFL and SANFL.)
This analysis of causes and origins is purely speculative, of course, but what is difficult to deny is that, for many years, there was a prevailing attitude towards Victorian football in Western Australia in which feelings of inferiority and awe featured strongly. As long ago as 1955, former Geelong player John Hyde, who had been lured over to Perth to coach Claremont, deplored "excessive WA interest in Victorian football to the neglect of the game in the west" (see footnote 30). Moreover, he found himself "constantly chiding West Australians, particularly WA's state players, for investing the Victorians with super powers" when there was "no reason for WA having an inferiority complex about meeting Victoria" (see footnote 31). |
Shaun McManus in full flight against the Western Bulldogs - click to enlarge. |
Meanwhile, East Fremantle's great ruckman Jack 'Stork' Clarke, when reflecting on a career which had seen him not only garner numerous accolades, but also repeatedly resist overtures from VFL clubs, pinpointed a key difference between Western Australian and South Australian football:
When visiting South Australia when I was playing, their heroes were South Australian and not the Victorians. It was the opposite in WA. The media in this state pandered to the Victorians too much. In a similar manner we were induced into joining the VFL - they (South Australians) hung on for as long as they could. The Victorians had great players, but we had great players here too. And the South Australians had some wonderful players also. (See footnote 32)
When the West Coast Eagles were launched with Hollywood style glitz the acclaim was considerable but by no means universal. Many felt, with Les Everett, "that those in charge of the new VFL club believed they were the product of some sort of immaculate conception - as if football hadn't existed in WA before the Eagles came along" (see footnote 33).
While it would be churlish to deny that the Eagles have done a certain amount of good in attracting a number people to football (or, at any rate, to some of the razzmatazz surrounding football), the club has arguably done little to enmesh itself in the rich fabric of the code's local traditions, history and heritage. Indeed, if anything, it has at times actively striven, as a willing agent of the AFL, to undermine and discredit those traditions, from the misguided perspective that in so doing it is somehow augmenting its own position, identity and importance.
The thousands of Western Australian football supporters who found such an attitude anathema were desperately hoping for salvation through the agency of the state's second V/AFL club, the arrival of which was tacitly acknowledged as inevitable almost from the moment of West Coast's conception, immaculate or otherwise. However, would a second club be any more likely than the Eagles to identify itself with the state's true footballing heritage? The emergence of the first South Australian AFL club, an essentially soulless corporate entertainment machine, the Adelaide Crows, would have done little to encourage optimism (see footnote 34). Why should Western Australia's new club be any different?
The first good news came with the announcement that, the misgivings of some of the Perth-based WAFL clubs notwithstanding, the second club would be based in Fremantle, which had been a major hotbed of the code for over a century. Moreover, there was an intense historic rivalry between the football teams of Fremantle and those of Perth, a rivalry of a type that football - indeed, any kind of sport - at every level thrives on.
Eventually, it was decided that 1995 would be the year of the new Fremantle team's induction into the 'big time'. Traditional football supporters were given further heart when, from a shortlist of three candidates - Robert Shaw, Ken Sheldon and Gerard Neesham - for the club's coaching position Fremantle ignored pressure from the AFL to appoint a man with previous AFL experience and went for the only one of the trio without it. As coach of Claremont Gerard Neesham had built up an impressive portfolio of achievement - 11 wins in 14 finals matches, four premierships from six grand finals, and an overall success rate of 70.4% - and had developed an innovative 'chip and draw' style of play which featured similar counter attacking principles to sports like soccer, hockey, basketball and, more particularly in Neesham's case, water polo (see footnote 35). He also defiantly ignored some of the major tactical trends that had emerged in football in recent years, such as tagging. However, Neesham's theories and style remained untested outside Western Australia, a fact which, in the view of some, automatically discredited them. Neesham though was having none of it:
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Fremantle's inaugural coach, Gerard Neesham, who coached the Dockers to an ostensibly paltry success rate of 36.4% over 4 seasons, but who was seriously handicapped by a lack of recruiting concessions from the AFL . |
"Graham Cornes is the ideal
answer to anybody who believes that a new coach must have AFL coaching
experience.....Balme's another. The bloke played a lot of AFL football
(sic.), but his coaching background and strategies are all based on football in
South Australia." (See
footnote 36)
Initially, however, the club was faced with a much more urgent problem than who to appoint as its first coach - what emblem to choose? Suggestions ranged from the bizarre (Doctors, Seals, Sea Lions), through the predictably Americanised (Dolphins, Mariners, Marines), to names which were intended to evoke something of Fremantle's heritage (Wharfies and Dockers). In the end, it was the name 'Dockers' which got the nod - not that any Fremantle wharfie worth his salt ever used such a term, but somehow the resonance seemed just right. With purple, red, green and white announced as their official colours, all the Fremantle Dockers needed was a team. As mentioned earlier, Fremantle, unlike West Coast, was not accorded any significant draft concessions by the AFL, and its recruiting task was made even more difficult by virtue of the fact that its most logical source of talent, the WAFL, was, in terms of playing resources, at its lowest ebb in living memory, indeed arguably ever. |
In Gerard Neesham, however, a man with unrivalled knowledge of local playing stocks, the club arguably had the ideal person to spearhead its recruiting initiatives. Of the 41 players who comprised the Dockers' initial squad, the overwhelming majority - 29 - hailed directly from the WAFL, while even the 11-strong 'ready made' AFL contingent possessed minimal league experience. Of this latter group, the most noteworthy catches included Hawthorn's 1991 best and fairest winner Ben Allan, who would skipper the Dockers in their debut season, strong running midfielder Andrew Wills and powerful defender Stephen O'Reilly, both from Geelong, the versatile Peter Mann from North Melbourne, and prolific possession winner Scott Watters from Sydney. In keeping with the overall tenor of the squad, all bar Wills hailed originally from Western Australia, as did 6 of the other 8 recruits with previous AFL experience.
The first official outing for the new team took place in Darwin, one of Gerard Neesham's favourite close season haunts, where the Dockers lost to the Northern Territory by a point. Several weeks later, the purple, red, green and white colours were unveiled to an adoring public at East Fremantle Oval, with a full scale practice match against Essendon. Despite the employment by visiting coach Kevin Sheedy of some provocatively controversial tactics, Fremantle won with ease, prompting the Western Australian media, with inane predictability, to launch into hyperbole:
Flamboyant, dazzling, powerhouse, historic, brilliant, exciting, dynamic and fleet-footed were some of the descriptions used.
The (Fremantle) tactics were said to be baffling, cat-and-mouse and revolutionary. (See footnote 37)
Fully aware that, when all was said and done, the encounter had merely been a practice match, played at a fraction of the intensity of the 'real thing', and with absolutely nothing hinging on the result, Gerard Neesham's assessment was somewhat more realistic:
"We did well but we know the opposition was undermanned. We physically have a long way to go and we really dropped off in the last half of the game." (See footnote 38)
| By the time the season got underway a month
and a half later some of the Dockers' stamina and staying power deficiencies had
clearly been addressed. In round 1, the team was drawn to play Richmond at
the MCG, and at three quarter time looked down and out, trailing 7.9 (51) to
10.15 (75). However, in the closing stanza the whole side lifted to
outscore the Tigers 5.4 to 2.3, and fall short by just 5 points. With the
Fremantle players seemingly still full of running it would appear that only lack
of time prevented what would have been an historic triumph.
The club's inaugural home match the next week followed a similar pattern. In front of a crowd of 24,398 at the WACA the Dockers rounded off the game with 4 final quarter goals to 2, ultimately finishing just 9 points adrift of an Essendon combination that, unlike on its pre-season visit, was at full strength, and acknowledged as one of the powers of the competition. Fremantle's first win arrived the following week, as a desperately poor Fitzroy team was comprehensively swept aside to the tune of 43 points at the Western Oval. The Dockers were playing with a verve and a panache that were capturing the imagination of football supporters throughout the land. Ultimately, of course, when evaluated in terms of finals appearances and premierships, Neesham's methods were unsuccessful, but that they were revolutionary is hard to deny. Moreover, it is intriguing to speculate on what the Fremantle Football Club might have achieved, using Neesham's methods, had its list been stronger. Neesham's success using 'chip and draw' tactics with Claremont in the WAFL was arguably based more on the fact that the players he had at his disposal were among the finest in the competition than on any inherent superiority in the tactics themselves. |
Craig Callaghan manages to off load despite the strenuous attentions of North Melbourne's Mick Martyn. (Click on the image to see an enlarged version.) |
The Dockers' first home win, which once again derived largely from a powerful last quarter, came in round 4 against Geelong, and already it was clear that the side would not be jostling with Fitzroy for the wooden spoon, as had widely been predicted prior to the start of the season.
In round 7, Fremantle produced a superb performance to overwhelm and thoroughly bamboozle Sydney at the WACA. The Dockers' final tally of 25.13 (163) would remain a club record score for eight years. Despite the defeat, Sydney coach Ron Barassi could not help but be impressed, suggesting that:
"Neesham's innovative and exciting brand is the first major change to football style in 20 years", adding, if the Dockers make this year's finals series, all clubs in the national league would be sure to change and follow Neesham's attacking strategies.
"They work the ball up from their backline and they are very patient with the ball," Barassi said. "They are well drilled to create space and to run, not all of them run though. They play through their quick runners.
"Their running players are their targets and they are very quick guys. It will take a while to work it out, and if there is a counter to it then we'll all be doing it." (See footnote 39)
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Fremantle's 1996 club champion, Stephen O'Reilly. (Click to enlarge.) |
The Freo style was also, in its way, quintessentially Western Australian - which, if anything, was the factor that ultimately became its Achilles heel, for accepted football 'wisdom' had long ago decreed that there was only one way to achieve success in the modern game, and that was by adhering to the tried and tested Victorian principles of power, pressure and, above all, physicality. Within this context, occasional flamboyance on an individual basis could be allowed, and even admired, but in the increasingly homogenous and hermetically sealed world of the AFL it was unthinkable that a whole team should endeavour to transcend accepted norms and expect to accomplish anything of any significance. Fremantle ultimately won 8 of its 22 matches in 1995 to finish 13th. Peter Mann achieved a noteworthy 'double' by winning the inaugural best and fairest award, and topping the club goal kicking. In 1996, the side finished 13th again, albeit with 1 fewer win, but in 1997 it came within the proverbial ace of making the finals, only to be ultimately de-railed by injuries to key players during the vital closing phase of the season. The Dockers went into the final match of the year, away to the league's bottom side Melbourne, knowing that, if other results went their way, a victory would secure a place in the eight. As it was, all the other results did go Freo's way, but the Demons were in uncompromising mood, and after a close 1st half they raced away to score a convincing 40 point win. "We just had too many people who played badly today, some through injury, some through a lack of focus and belief," observed Neesham. Nevertheless, he was far from disconsolate. "This year has been quite heartening. The fact that we won 10 games with the amount of injuries we've had, well, it was a promising year." (See footnote 40) |
Sadly, however, that promise remained unfulfilled. In 1998, Neesham's last year as coach, the Dockers plummeted to second from last on the ladder, a result which, despite 71 goals from the new idol of the Fremantle fans, Tony Modra, was repeated under Damian Drum the following year. Season 2000 saw the side playing a steelier, and ultimately somewhat more effective brand of football to move up the ladder to 12th place with 8 wins. A nucleus of extremely promising youngsters, notably the Norwich Rising Star winner of 2000, Paul Hasleby, rebounding defender James Walker, the Longmuir brothers, Justin and Troy, and the highly skilled and versatile Matthew Pavlich, gave everyone connected with the club much apparent cause for optimism. However, in 2001, Fremantle began the season with an unprecedented sequence of 9 straight losses, precipitating coach Damian Drum's unceremonious and somewhat distasteful sacking; former club captain Ben Allan took over the coaching reins on a caretaker basis, but was unable to prevent the team sliding to its first ever wooden spoon.
The 2002 season brought a fair measure of improvement under new coach Chris Connelly, with Fremantle rising to 13th on the ladder with 9 wins, before qualifying for the finals for the first ever time in 2003, and ultimately finishing 7th. After a highly promising start to the 2004 season, however, during which the unprecedented luxury of a top four place looked to be well within reach, the Dockers somehow conspired to lose their way, and in the end suffered the agony of missing finals participation altogether after a last round loss to St Kilda. The 2005 season saw the side finish 10th, effectively marking time. Nevertheless, the feeling persisted that the team had still to scrape the surface of its considerable potential, a feeling that was borne out in 2006 when the Dockers finished the home and away season in irrepressible fashion to qualify for the finals in 3rd place with a 15-7 record. A convincing home semi final win over Melbourne was arguably the single greatest moment in the club's history to date, but the fact that it was sandwiched between away losses to Adelaide in a qualifying final and Sydney in a preliminary final meant that that elusive first premiership remained frustratingly just out of reach.
Fremantle entered the 2007 season as one of four or five teams popularly regarded as having a realistic chance of claiming the flag. However, an upset opening round loss at home to Port Adelaide was a prelude to a year of immense frustration during which the side managed just 10 wins, which was not even good enough to secure a place in the finals. Even worse followed in 2008 as the Dockers slumped to third from last after managing just half a dozen victories for the year.
The history of football in Fremantle is long, colourful, vibrant and fascinating and, despite a disappointing lack of success so far, there seems every reason to expect that the future contributions made to that history by the AFL club which now proudly bears the port city's name will both conform to and enhance those traditions. Assuming they do, then genuine footballer supporters everywhere will have good reason to rejoice, although it will take a considerable amount of time before the exploits of the 'new kids on the block' come anywhere near matching those of the clubs which, for the better part of a century, flew the football flag for Fremantle.
Where now?
or
30. 'Sporting Life', October 1955, page 39. Return to Main Text
31. Ibid, page 39. Return to Main Text
32. Quoted in Football Greats of Western Australia: Volume One by Anthony James, page 21. Return to Main Text
33. The Clubs edited by John Ross and Garrie Hutchinson, page 164. Return to Main Text
34. For example, in its official literature, such as annual yearbooks and so forth, the word 'Adelaide' was consistently and conspicuously missing from the club name; as far as the club was concerned, it was actually the (Major Sponsor's name)-Crows, a self-image which proclaims much about the organisation's real aspirations and attitudes, not least in relation to the rich football history of the state it was supposedly representing and endeavouring to augment. Return to Main Text
35. Neesham played top grade water polo for 19 years. Return to Main Text
36. 'Inside Football', volume 24 number 7, 8/4/94, page 26. Cornes had coached Adelaide to the previous season's preliminary final, while Balme would do the same in 1994 with Melbourne. Return to Main Text
37. From a story by Jack Lee in the 'Fremantle Gazette' of 17 February 1995, under the heading 'Little General' Gerard Truly Realistic. Return to Main Text
38. Ibid. Return to Main Text
39. 'Football Plus', volume 1 number 15, 10/5/95, page 15. Return to Main Text
40. Fremantle Dockers 1997 Yearbook, page 55. Return to Main Text
