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Sep 22, 2011
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Hackdorn on 6PR just now:

"I can guarantee you that West Coast and Freo will be returning home from the hub after 3 weeks to play a block of games in Perth."
Won’t happen. Guarantee AFL will think Freo and west coast have been at home for that month and resume proper home and away when they return. That’s the AFL to a tee. As if the traditionalists in Victoria would allow that to happen- it’s meant to be fair right ?
 

Superkoops

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Hackdorn on 6PR just now:

"I can guarantee you that West Coast and Freo will be returning home from the hub after 3 weeks to play a block of games in Perth."
Does he realise there will be no hub where players are required to spend 14 days in iso upon arriving.

Most of what he says comes from crack between his rear arse cheeks.
 
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sumavich

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Crumpets is a bellend
McGowan won't open the borders for months, so that means that two or Four teams from vic will have to come to Perth, and isolate for 14 days before playing. Means a bye for those teams automatically
 
Hackdorn on 6PR just now:

"I can guarantee you that West Coast and Freo will be returning home from the hub after 3 weeks to play a block of games in Perth."
Well that’s settled it, we’ll be stuck on the Gold Coast for the season then
 
Aug 16, 2009
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Our match against Port Adelaide last year was on Fox on Friday. I recorded it and watched it Yesterday. Sonny was brilliant of course.

It was less than 12 months ago but it felt like a lifetime. Of course the last 3 months have been strange for all of us, and I think this gives it more distance, but I was amazed how much I have moved on in a football sense. I was kind of surprised to see Brad Hill and Ed Langdon out there, and my emotional reaction was ‘who are these people playing for my football team’.

This is going to be a strange season, but I will be glad to see my team play.
 

wild side

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Langdon saying in the West that the WA & SA teams will be away for a lot longer than 4 weeks.
i think he's right.
Can't see games in Perth or SA with border closures
 
Apr 14, 2018
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Our match against Port Adelaide last year was on Fox on Friday. I recorded it and watched it Yesterday. Sonny was brilliant of course.

It was less than 12 months ago but it felt like a lifetime. Of course the last 3 months have been strange for all of us, and I think this gives it more distance, but I was amazed how much I have moved on in a football sense. I was kind of surprised to see Brad Hill and Ed Langdon out there, and my emotional reaction was ‘who are these people playing for my football team’.

This is going to be a strange season, but I will be glad to see my team play.
Yeah, I recorded our games against Brisbane and Collingwood in 2015, watched the Brisbane games yesterday, wet day at Subiaco, interesting only 9 or so still playing, albeit at different clubs for some, including Aish at Brisbane.
 
Sep 11, 2008
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Langdon saying in the West that the WA & SA teams will be away for a lot longer than 4 weeks.
i think he's right.
Can't see games in Perth or SA with border closures
I can see SA, and WA allowing travel to SA, WA, QLD, NT and ACT.

How ever, I can't see them allowing travel to NSW and Vic until there cases are under control.
 
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Fremantle defender Reece Conca expects both Sean Darcy, Matt Taberner to recover from niggles ahead of Gold Coast flight
The West Australian
Wednesday, 3 June 2020 10:15AM
Fremantle leader Reece Conca believes the Dockers have escaped any significant injuries with duo Matt Taberner and Sean Darcy despite neither training with the main group yesterday.
Darcy came off second best in a contest on Friday, leaving the ground in the hands of trainers after appearing to cop a knock to the head.
Taberner (back) meanwhile was ‘rested’ as a precaution, senior coach Justin Longmuir told 7NEWS last night.
Conca told TABradio he expects both of them to be fine to board next week’s flight to the Gold Coast.
“I think they’re both recovering both really well,” he said.
“We’re still in these small groups in quite a regimented program so I barely got much contact with either of them yesterday.
“Matt was back in and he looked pretty good, I think he’s progressing well.
“Sean from my knowledge I think passed a concussion test, so both will hopefully be very healthy in the next couple of days and it wouldn’t surprise me if they’re both training by the end of the week.”
Conca admitted all clubs face an uphill battle against soft tissue injuries with the limited lead-in time to round two.
“It’s something we’re really going to have to deal with,” he said.
“All the clubs have got excellent medical staff at their fingertips so we just have to utilise them and be as open and transparent with them as possible.
“It is such a weird period and games are only next week so this next week is really important for the program, to get the last couple of really big training sessions in so we can get some recovery before the games come around.”
Fremantle resume their season against the Lions at the Gabba on Saturday June 13, with West Coast to play Gold Coast that night.
 
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Nat Fyfe lifts lid on COVID-19 shutdown, the young Dockers with a point to prove and how Justin Longmuir has slotted in as new coach
Headshot of Mark Duffield

Mark DuffieldThe West Australian
Wednesday, 3 June 2020 5:00PM
Mark Duffield
Mark Duffield asks Fremantle captain Nat Fyfe about the demands of what is surely the most unusual AFL season.

How have things been back at training?

Nat Fyfe has come back fit and firing.


We are starting to get the bags packed for Tuesday for the trip over to the Gold Coast. We will have a fairly significant hit-out on Friday. The ramp-up has been quite rapid. We have gone from hardly being able to high five to full-on scratch match to playing next week. Just trying to keep up with it.

Are you confident you can be ready in time for Brisbane?

There will be some sore bodies after the first couple of rounds but I think we did enough prep previously that we should be in a reasonable position and the older players know how to get themselves ready and get themselves through. It is probably more the first to fourth-year players who don’t have those pre-seasons of muscle conditioning under the belt who are at a bit of a higher risk. But Brisbane are going to be in the same position as us so the playing field is pretty level.

Were you happy with the shape most players came back in?

I was. We saw what we expected. Some guys took the opportunity to get ahead and knuckle down. Guys like Luke Valente, Stefan Giro, Michael Frederick, Brett Bewley. They stayed back in WA. They sacrificed the chance of going home and spending time with their families because they knew that they would be ahead on the restart. For other guys the most important thing was to mentally refresh and not be in a state of flux and uncertainty which can lead to burn-out. The real measurement will reveal itself after we play four, six or eight rounds — which guys have set themselves up for what is going to be the most unusual year ever.

It is hard to ease your way into an AFL season but is there some merit in doing that because of the unique build-up?

You have touched on a critical element of performance there. Publicly no club is going to say we are going to manage players through this first couple of rounds to make sure they are in a good position at the back end of the year. But I can guarantee you that players and more experienced teams will be looking at the season in its entirety and how they can have their best players on the park for the majority of the year. But clubs are going to be preparing themselves as well as they can to do whatever they can to get first-up wins. If we are looking at four weeks on the Gold Coast where we don’t have to get on and off planes, that potentially is a real chance for us to get a couple of early wins.

How much does the shutdown hurt Freo in terms of the ability to bed down a game plan under a new coach?

Justin Longmuir coaches his first AFL game at Fremantle.

Justin Longmuir coaches his first AFL game at Fremantle. Credit: Michael Willson/AFL Photos
I don’t think it hurts. It certainly stalled some progress for a while. At no real loss because we weren’t playing games. It meant guys had to dust off the playbook when they came back and get their head back into tune with structure and terminology. We have had another coach for years previous and so much of this stuff becomes sub-conscious in guys’ brains. World issues have taken over footy so much in our lives so thinking consciously about structure becomes secondary. There has been a pause, but now that we have got clarity around what the season looks like we are seeing all of our players knuckling into the game plan, structure and coming up to speed with all of the language so that when we play we are in a good position.

At the end of this season lists may be down-sized which may require some brutal calls on players. What is your advice to the younger players at the club to make sure they take every opportunity available to them?

There is so much dialogue being spun through the media about the possibilities and what ifs and we have very little control over that. Most players will be focusing on what they can control which is their preparation and once we get into games their performance, and if they take care of that the rest takes care of itself. Some big calls might be made at the end of the year but at the moment we are gearing up for a season and that is where everyone’s minds should be.

There is no official return date from the hub. Do you have a figure in mind that would mentally stretch the players if you were there for longer than a certain period?

A masked up Nat Fyfe at Perth Airport.


Not really. I have wrapped my head around four weeks. I have prepared myself reasonably well for any eventuality. I do have a long-term partner. I am in a position and I think the majority of our players are in a position where we will do what is required. Hopefully it is only four weeks. If we do have to extend, hopefully we are mentally in a position to do that.

You, Michael Walters and David Mundy are probably going to be surrounded by a lot of young players in the midfield. Who strikes you as ready to go to a new level?

It is a tough question because it pumps someone up and mounts an expectation on them. I try not to do that. I like guys that prepare obsessively because they are the guys that give themselves the best chance. Brayshaw, Cerra, Valente, Bewley, Giro ... those guys can’t do any more in terms of preparation so it should come as no surprise if any one of those has a big year. We are excited about what Caleb Serong brings to our midfield. He looks like he sees the game at AFL level pretty well and he will have to be managed through the first half of the year to get his body ready to go but at some stage he will slot into our midfield and play a big role.

Youngster Jarvis Pina tries to spin away from Nat Fyfe.


You have mentioned Valente a couple of times. We have barely seen him because of injuries. What have you seen in him?

Luke was a highly touted state-level, underage player and school footballer and has had no opportunity because his body has let him down in the first part of his career but he is in a position where he has been able to stack training. He is a bigger midfielder, he kicks both sides of his body and he reads the game well. He has all the attributes to be a high-quality player and his body is now allowing him to show some signs. Without putting any pressure on him, if he gets some minutes at AFL level he should come up to speed pretty quickly.

Would he come into contention for round two or later in the season?

Hard to make calls on selection although it is only next week. I wouldn’t be discounting him from the mix at this point.

How has Justin Longmuir handled himself in these unique circumstances?

Full of praise for the way Justin has handled the shutdown period and the return to training. He wants to get his hands on the playing group and start shaping them the way he sees fit as a senior coach and what the last eight weeks has meant is everyone had downed tools and you can’t get access. He has built access through other mediums as best he can. He has made sure we are in a position culturally and with our game plan that we could wind up pretty quickly once we resumed training. The next four weeks will be an opportunity for him to really build relationships with the players. I can’t fault the way he has gone about it.

Has it changed the way you have led as a captain?

It has challenged the way I relate. Communicating via Zoom, Skype, text message and phone call is not my preferred way to communicate. Some players like Alex Pearce really flourished during the break when that was the only access we had to each other. I learned to adapt and continue to build relationships, just to make sure everyone was comfortable and they could feel like they were connected to what we were doing as a club. I really enjoyed the challenges and some of the challenges over the next four weeks will require us as leaders to be at our most aware.

How is your body?

I am a lot better now than when I stepped out of the truck two weeks ago. I had a couple of much-needed weeks of dialling back into preparation but I am pretty good. I consider myself pretty lucky that I was able to step straight out of the city, down to Lake Grace, get into a truck and have some purpose during the shutdown. The family business genuinely needed a driver and I was able to do a role for the company. It gave me purpose to jump out of bed every day as well as being outdoors and moving when a lot of people were stagnant. Having done 10 years of footy, the most important thing is maintaining mindset and motivation when things get challenging. Being able to step out and do something different and then wind up when we had clarity will be the best preparation mentally I could have asked for.
 

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Nat Fyfe lifts lid on COVID-19 shutdown, the young Dockers with a point to prove and how Justin Longmuir has slotted in as new coach
Headshot of Mark Duffield

Mark DuffieldThe West Australian
Wednesday, 3 June 2020 5:00PM
Mark Duffield
Mark Duffield asks Fremantle captain Nat Fyfe about the demands of what is surely the most unusual AFL season.

How have things been back at training?

Nat Fyfe has come back fit and firing.


We are starting to get the bags packed for Tuesday for the trip over to the Gold Coast. We will have a fairly significant hit-out on Friday. The ramp-up has been quite rapid. We have gone from hardly being able to high five to full-on scratch match to playing next week. Just trying to keep up with it.

Are you confident you can be ready in time for Brisbane?

There will be some sore bodies after the first couple of rounds but I think we did enough prep previously that we should be in a reasonable position and the older players know how to get themselves ready and get themselves through. It is probably more the first to fourth-year players who don’t have those pre-seasons of muscle conditioning under the belt who are at a bit of a higher risk. But Brisbane are going to be in the same position as us so the playing field is pretty level.

Were you happy with the shape most players came back in?

I was. We saw what we expected. Some guys took the opportunity to get ahead and knuckle down. Guys like Luke Valente, Stefan Giro, Michael Frederick, Brett Bewley. They stayed back in WA. They sacrificed the chance of going home and spending time with their families because they knew that they would be ahead on the restart. For other guys the most important thing was to mentally refresh and not be in a state of flux and uncertainty which can lead to burn-out. The real measurement will reveal itself after we play four, six or eight rounds — which guys have set themselves up for what is going to be the most unusual year ever.

It is hard to ease your way into an AFL season but is there some merit in doing that because of the unique build-up?

You have touched on a critical element of performance there. Publicly no club is going to say we are going to manage players through this first couple of rounds to make sure they are in a good position at the back end of the year. But I can guarantee you that players and more experienced teams will be looking at the season in its entirety and how they can have their best players on the park for the majority of the year. But clubs are going to be preparing themselves as well as they can to do whatever they can to get first-up wins. If we are looking at four weeks on the Gold Coast where we don’t have to get on and off planes, that potentially is a real chance for us to get a couple of early wins.

How much does the shutdown hurt Freo in terms of the ability to bed down a game plan under a new coach?

Justin Longmuir coaches his first AFL game at Fremantle.

Justin Longmuir coaches his first AFL game at Fremantle. Credit: Michael Willson/AFL Photos
I don’t think it hurts. It certainly stalled some progress for a while. At no real loss because we weren’t playing games. It meant guys had to dust off the playbook when they came back and get their head back into tune with structure and terminology. We have had another coach for years previous and so much of this stuff becomes sub-conscious in guys’ brains. World issues have taken over footy so much in our lives so thinking consciously about structure becomes secondary. There has been a pause, but now that we have got clarity around what the season looks like we are seeing all of our players knuckling into the game plan, structure and coming up to speed with all of the language so that when we play we are in a good position.

At the end of this season lists may be down-sized which may require some brutal calls on players. What is your advice to the younger players at the club to make sure they take every opportunity available to them?

There is so much dialogue being spun through the media about the possibilities and what ifs and we have very little control over that. Most players will be focusing on what they can control which is their preparation and once we get into games their performance, and if they take care of that the rest takes care of itself. Some big calls might be made at the end of the year but at the moment we are gearing up for a season and that is where everyone’s minds should be.

There is no official return date from the hub. Do you have a figure in mind that would mentally stretch the players if you were there for longer than a certain period?

A masked up Nat Fyfe at Perth Airport.


Not really. I have wrapped my head around four weeks. I have prepared myself reasonably well for any eventuality. I do have a long-term partner. I am in a position and I think the majority of our players are in a position where we will do what is required. Hopefully it is only four weeks. If we do have to extend, hopefully we are mentally in a position to do that.

You, Michael Walters and David Mundy are probably going to be surrounded by a lot of young players in the midfield. Who strikes you as ready to go to a new level?

It is a tough question because it pumps someone up and mounts an expectation on them. I try not to do that. I like guys that prepare obsessively because they are the guys that give themselves the best chance. Brayshaw, Cerra, Valente, Bewley, Giro ... those guys can’t do any more in terms of preparation so it should come as no surprise if any one of those has a big year. We are excited about what Caleb Serong brings to our midfield. He looks like he sees the game at AFL level pretty well and he will have to be managed through the first half of the year to get his body ready to go but at some stage he will slot into our midfield and play a big role.

Youngster Jarvis Pina tries to spin away from Nat Fyfe.


You have mentioned Valente a couple of times. We have barely seen him because of injuries. What have you seen in him?

Luke was a highly touted state-level, underage player and school footballer and has had no opportunity because his body has let him down in the first part of his career but he is in a position where he has been able to stack training. He is a bigger midfielder, he kicks both sides of his body and he reads the game well. He has all the attributes to be a high-quality player and his body is now allowing him to show some signs. Without putting any pressure on him, if he gets some minutes at AFL level he should come up to speed pretty quickly.

Would he come into contention for round two or later in the season?

Hard to make calls on selection although it is only next week. I wouldn’t be discounting him from the mix at this point.

How has Justin Longmuir handled himself in these unique circumstances?

Full of praise for the way Justin has handled the shutdown period and the return to training. He wants to get his hands on the playing group and start shaping them the way he sees fit as a senior coach and what the last eight weeks has meant is everyone had downed tools and you can’t get access. He has built access through other mediums as best he can. He has made sure we are in a position culturally and with our game plan that we could wind up pretty quickly once we resumed training. The next four weeks will be an opportunity for him to really build relationships with the players. I can’t fault the way he has gone about it.

Has it changed the way you have led as a captain?

It has challenged the way I relate. Communicating via Zoom, Skype, text message and phone call is not my preferred way to communicate. Some players like Alex Pearce really flourished during the break when that was the only access we had to each other. I learned to adapt and continue to build relationships, just to make sure everyone was comfortable and they could feel like they were connected to what we were doing as a club. I really enjoyed the challenges and some of the challenges over the next four weeks will require us as leaders to be at our most aware.

How is your body?

I am a lot better now than when I stepped out of the truck two weeks ago. I had a couple of much-needed weeks of dialling back into preparation but I am pretty good. I consider myself pretty lucky that I was able to step straight out of the city, down to Lake Grace, get into a truck and have some purpose during the shutdown. The family business genuinely needed a driver and I was able to do a role for the company. It gave me purpose to jump out of bed every day as well as being outdoors and moving when a lot of people were stagnant. Having done 10 years of footy, the most important thing is maintaining mindset and motivation when things get challenging. Being able to step out and do something different and then wind up when we had clarity will be the best preparation mentally I could have asked for.

Fantastic interview. I am amazed at how thoughtful and polished Fyfe is getting. He’s got coach/commentator written all over him when he retires. Thanks for posting as always, Dale.


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Fremantle Dockers recruit Blake Acres says he’s good to go for round two against Brisbane after completing ‘different’ hamstring rehabilitation
Headshot of Jordan McArdle

Jordan McArdleThe West Australian
Thursday, 4 June 2020 9:37AM

Blake Acres is completely over the hamstring setback which hampered the start of his season as he closes in on a long-awaited Fremantle debut against Brisbane at the Gabba on June 13.
The former Saint was one of the stand-outs on the track during his first pre-season as a Docker before sustaining a serious hamstring tendon injury at training in early March.
He was set to miss a significant chunk of the season, but the AFL’s two-month coronavirus shutdown period has likely shrunk that to just one game.
The 24-year-old, who made 75 appearance in six seasons at St Kilda before moving back home to WA during last year’s trade period, said doing his rehabilitation remotely was “a bit tougher”.
But he has since been back to full training for nearly three weeks and felt in good nick heading into the season resumption in south-east Queensland.
His initial seven-man training group consisted of dual Brownlow medallist Nat Fyfe and fellow midfielders David Mundy, Darcy Tucker, Brett Bewley, Connor Blakely and Michael Walters.
Mundy (leg), Nathan Wilson (turf toe), Stephen Hill (quad) and Jesse Hogan (foot/mental health) are among the other Dockers pushing for a round two return against the Lions.

Brett Bewley tackles Blake Acres during a contact training session at Cockburn.


“The hammy is going well, I’ve been back to full training now for three weeks,” Acres told 6PR.
“Obviously it’s been a bit different with my rehab, not being at the club to do all my rehab there.
“I was just FaceTiming and Skyping and making sure I was with the physios and making sure I was getting everything right by myself.
“It was a bit tougher but I got through fine and I’ve been training with the main group for two or three weeks now.”
Acres also gave an update on teammate Cam McCarthy, who spent the night in hospital after suffering a seizure and collapsing at training yesterday morning.
“I’ve sent him a text, but obviously he’s probably had a lot of messages come to him. I think he’s up and talking,” he said.
“He was back training and training really well as a winger and as a forward and was doing all the right things, so it was a bit of a shock for everyone.”
 

beelzebob

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Cam McCarthy will need further testing before he is declared fit for Fremantle’s Gold Coast hub when the coronavirus-hit season resumes next week.

The forward-turned-wingman was all smiles when he returned home this morning after spending the night at St John of God Hospital in Murdoch following a scary incident at training yesterday.

McCarthy was at the back of a line of Fremantle players during a non-contact drill at Cockburn around 9am when he collapsed, causing alarmed teammates and club medicos to rush to his aid.



He was able to walk to an ambulance which had been called, with football manager Peter Bell travelling with him to hospital.

He appeared in good spirits this morning after returning home from hospital, stopping for a quick interview with 7NEWS about his crazy 24 hours.

McCarthy is set to return to hospital this afternoon.
McCarthy is set to return to hospital this afternoon. Credit: Michael Wilson/The West Australian
WATCH THE FULL VISION ON 7NEWS TONIGHT

McCarthy is expected to return to hospital this afternoon.

The Dockers’ round two clash is against Brisbane at the Gabba on June 13, with the team flying out four days prior.
 
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