- Aug 20, 2010
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The stage could not have been set better for this Gather Round clash at Adelaide, with both Fremantle and Carlton entering the game undefeated. You wouldn't know it if you paid any attention to the AFL media however, with Carlton being backed to hilt by the Vic centric media, while Fremantle remain largely ignored, despite having beaten 2 of the same opponents. But, Fremantle just love shoving it up the Victorians right when they're being disrespected the most. Think back to our relegation to Alphabet Stadium in Geelong when every other team would have played at the MCG as a fine example.
Carlton are a certainty to win, just ask a Carlton supporter. This time last year they were spitting on their own players, now they act as if they're the inexorable 2024 premiership team. It really is all quite absurd and nauseating.
We Freo fans have a strong sense of injustice having been robbed of victory thanks to diabolical umpiring in the final minute of our game in Round 11 2020. Watch it again here,
or better yet stick needles into your eyes.
Carlton supporters will tell you they really just don't care about Fremantle, we're meaningless, nothing to them, equivalent to the scum they scrapped off the bottom of their shoes. This is all for show, a fancy type of gas lighting. Deep down they're terrified that their team is just a McKay or Curnow injury away from being irrelevant again. Carlton supporters are so toxic because they are literally equivalent to Fremantle in terms of success over the last 30 years, i.e., none. They have achieved nothing since Fremantle entered the competition, with their last premiership coming in 1995. They haven't even been close since.
Last time they met
Round 17 2023, Carlton defeated Fremantle by 53 points at Optus stadium. A horrible night for Fremantle, possibly the lowest point of 2023.
What's different this time around?
Everything. The previous game can be written off. Confidence and belief is incredibly important in elite sport and the Dockers currently have it. Last season they were bullied around the ball with an undersized midfield battling it out. The return of Nat Fyfe and the emergence of Hayden Young as a mid has completely changed the way Fremantle are playing the game in 2024. Add to that the in-form backline of the competition headlined by Alex Pearce, Luke Ryan, and Jordan Clark, plus Caleb Serong and Luke Jackson competing for Brownlow medal votes, and it becomes clear that Fremantle now have the tools to dismantle Carlton. What has changed most is the effort brought to the contest. Fremantle have been able to apply intense pressure to their opposition so far in 2024, while simultaneously playing in a way that prevents pressure being applied to them.
In my opinion, and in all seriousness now, I think the key reason that the media personalities are staying quiet on Fremantle is they do not trust us yet due to 2023, but also our approach has been to take away what our opponents want more so than play our own identifiable brand. This is becoming JLo's signature move. Spend the first quarter figuring out how to beat the opposition, then implement the necessary changes at quarter time to dominate the rest of the game. While the average and less engaged punter may have watched our game vs. Adelaide and concluded that it was a bunch of useless hacks kicking a ball around, the more observant realised that Fremantle had just followed the protocol titled "How to beat the Adelaide Crows" - drag them into a contested low scoring scrap of a game. Under no circumstances engage in a shootout. The exact same applies to Carlton who have the best key position forwards in the game.
The thing about gun forwards is they can be stopped if you restrict their supply. The classic 100 goal a year forward has almost gone extinct because of modern day team defence.
Carlton are certainly the hunted in this game. They will first try to play their style and Fremantle will try to take that away from them. There are strong similarities between Carlton and Adelaide, it's just that Carlton are much better at executing the same game plan because they have better personnel. Fremantle will bring the pressure and focus on not allowing Carlton to move the ball through the corridor. Fremantle are not one-dimensional though, when the game is on their terms, they are looking to put the hammer down, having chained together 8 and 9 goals consecutively in Rounds 1 and 2.
There's been a few Carlton supporters leaving their laughing emotes on our board the last few days. It will be great to wipe that grin off their faces with a win on Saturday.
Prediction
This is a real tough one to predict and the data suggests an even contest. Squiggle has Fremantle getting up by 2 points and so I too will back in Fremantle to scrap out a win. I will add though, that if the combined score of the two teams is >160 then Carlton are probably winning. If it's <160 then Fremantle have likely succeeded in restricting Carlton and won the game.
Enjoy everyone! A win here and the lid is well and truly off.
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