Fremantle faces a grilling

by JOELENE WATERS

LEADERS of Fremantle Football Club put on a united front at a press conference this week.

The media gathering followed a disappointing weekend loss that shattered the team's hopes of making the finals for the 2004 season.

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Facing the music: Chris Connolly, Rick Hart, Cameron Schwab & Peter Bell. Photo by Les Everett

The club braved heavy media pressure during the hour long grilling.

What began as a volatile attack on the captain Peter Bell set the tone for the pressure Freo will inevitably face between now and the 2005 season.

"Every club in the AFL can improve at different times," said Bell of the group's struggle to end the season positively.

While the group admitted there was some level of disappointment with the tail end of the season, they were adamant that some people were simply expecting too much fom the growing club.

"We were one game away from what we would have accepted as a pretty good finish for the season," said club president Rick Hart.

"We're very much on track for where we wanted to be, we were there until the end ... [and] we were in the eight for 37 of 38 games," said CEO Cameron Schwab.

He admitted though that the players and the administration were hoping for more superior results.

"We aren't happy with 11 wins, in the same way we weren't happy with one finals loss last year."

For now the club is looking at an intense 2004 season review which they admit will be more rigorous than it might have been.

However, fans fearing severe culling from the playing list can be assured that this isn't on the agenda.

Coach Chris Connolly is more concerned about working with the talent already at his disposal.

"The club off the field is now a great club, we've got to become a great club on the field, and there's some great building blocks in the club to do that," he said.

"To develop you need to be challenged and goals need to be continually reset."

From the Fremantle Herald.

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