Craig O'Donoghue is part of The West Australian's sports writing team. He joined The West Australian in 2000 and spent 2013-14 working in the Melbourne bureau. He now focuses on AFL and basketball.
Fremantle Dockers lost to Melbourne on Saturday and now face the in-form Adelaide and Carlton in the last two games, but coach Justin Longmuir believes that is perfect finals preparation.
Craig O'Donoghue
Elliot Yeo has witnessed a lot of courageous acts throughout his AFL career, and he said Harley Reid’s efforts while clearly injured against Collingwood will make him admired throughout the country.
Fremantle star Murphy Reid copped a hard tag all day against Melbourne on Saturday and Kane Cornes is confident that tactic will now continue, declaring he was ripe for the picking against the Demons.
West Coast players and fans threw their support behind cancer survivor Matilda Pitts on Sunday in a day she will never forget, as an emotional Elliot Yeo paid tribute to the teenager for her courage.
Fremantle captain Alex Pearce didn’t play against Melbourne on Saturday and the backline looked all at sea without him, prompting coach Justin Longmuir to concede that decision may have cost his team victory.
Fremantle’s dreams of sewing up the minor premiership at the MCG have been dashed by a rampant Demons who powered home for a four-point win on their home deck.
Players want to win. Their careers are short. If they have the choice between staying at a struggling club or moving to chase success, most will do the latter. That means time is of the essence for West Coast.
West Coast star Harley Reid has experienced plenty of losses since joining the Eagles as the number one pick and he’s made it extremely clear that he wants to see a fast turnaround in those results.
Alex Pearce won’t play against Melbourne on Saturday and Fremantle’s assistant coach believes one of the things the Dockers have done in his absence is a reason why they’re playing so well.
It’s just 50 days until the AFL grand final and Fremantle received a warm welcome from the MCG when they trained at the venue on Friday with the scoreboard and gates all recognising their presence.
Harley Reid made the decision to avoid making contact with opponents at times on Sunday, and he was best on ground while constantly gaining free kicks. That decision should have other clubs feeling worried.
West Coast star Harley Reid barely gave away a free kick against Richmond and received six of his own, and the brilliant midfielder has revealed he made one massive change to his game so that could occur.