Freo footy life goes on

by LES EVERETT

EVEN at three quarter time of the WAFL first semi final the South Fremantle illusion was still alive.

ryan webb mark

A strong mark by Ryan Webb in the WAFL first semi final. Photo by Les Everett

The Bulldogs had been jumped early by the Swans but scored 9.7 (61) to 7.3 (45) in the middle two quarters to draw within seven points at the last change.

But there was something wrong with this South team and in the end it just couldn't hide its deficiencies.

While Toby McGrath battled bravely and sometimes recklessly; Jaymie Graham snuffed out West Coast training mate Paul Johnson; Evan Hewitt and Ryan Webb presented as forwards, Daniel Gilmore and Joe McLaren tried hard to create from defence and Brad Bootsma battled while obviously not fully fit, some Bulldogs simply couldn't find the tempo of the game.

Coach John Dimmer signalled his concerns with the selected team somewhat by leaving NT recruit Eddie Darcy on the bench for more than half the game. When given a run Darcy actually provided a bit of spark.

In the last quarter the Bulldog facade collapsed and really no-one should have been surprised. Matthew Capuano, the best ruckman in the competition, wasn't fit to play and rugged midfielder Matthew Clucas was also on the sidelines but it's hard to argue they would have made the Bulldogs a 50 point better team last Sunday.

Six of the Bulldogs disposed of the ball less than 10 times and the quality of some of the disposal wasn't worth the ink on the stats sheet. Coach Dimmer is also likely to take a dim view of the endeavour shown by some of his players when commitment was required.

Dimmer's strength at West Perth was the team culture he and others helped create. It will be interesting to see what he comes up with at Fremantle Oval in readiness for 2005. Meanwhile we hear there's a Kalgoorlie Cup field of candidates for the vacant coaching job at East Fremantle. We know the incumbent Andrew Lockyer wants the job but who could the others be? Michael Broadbridge? Roger Kerr? Frank Fraser? The interesting thing is how much activity a coaching spot in the WAFL generates.

From the Fremantle Herald.

Note: Michael Broadbridge was appointed an assistant coach at Fremantle yesterday.

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