A Six-Pack Of IPA (Interesting Points, Allegedly): The stat that’s a flag omen for gutsy Fremantle Dockers

Real steel a flag omen Fremantle’s incredible elimination-final win from 34 points down at the first change marked their biggest-ever rally from a quarter-time deficit in any of their 339 games in WA. But although the deficit was significant, the response after being outpointed in the first quarter is something we’ve seen from Justin Longmuir’s crew all year long. The Dockers now boast a whopping nine victories – and a draw against Richmond – from the 11 games where they’ve trailed at the opening break. There’s only three other sides across the past two decades to have put together that amount of gutsy responses in overcoming first-term deficits to win: West Coast (10 wins) in 2006, Geelong (9) in 2011, and Richmond (9) in 2017. All walked away with that year’s premiership cup. MOST WINS IN A SEASON WHEN TRAILING AT QUARTER-TIME Past 20 years Sonny side up Michael Walters booting three goals in a finals match… where have we heard that before? In six different finals campaigns, that’s where. Walters underlined his status as a big-game performer with 3.3 amid his 18 touches, representing the sixth September where he’s had at least one game with three or more goals. It’s the most ever by a Docker, surpassing Matthew Pavlich’s five, and it’s bettered by just two other players across the competition this century: Lance Franklin, who’s booted three-plus in eight different finals stints and is looking for a ninth in the coming weeks, and retiring Eagle Josh Kennedy (seven). MOST SEASONS WITH A 3+ GOAL FINALS GAME – SINCE 2000 Turning it around Once the Dockers steadied midway through the second term against the Bulldogs, there was no looking back. From the start of time-on in the second quarter, Freo kicked a goal in 27 per cent of their forward-50 entries – saluting at better than once in every four trips inside the arc. They got on top at the coalface to register 31 points from stoppages on their way to outscoring the Dogs by 52 points in little more than a half of finals footy, with Caleb Serong tying David Mundy’s Dockers finals record of 10 clearances. No experience? No worries It’s been extremely rare to see first or second-gamers in finals in recent years – but they’ve proved to be lucky charms when deployed. Jye Amiss played just his second AFL game in Fremantle’s elimination final victory, joining debutants Darcy Wilmot (Brisbane, last Thursday) and Marlion Pickett (Richmond, 2019 grand final) as the only men with such little experience to feature in a final in the past seven seasons. The common denominator? All booted a goal – in Amiss’ case, two – and all got to sing the song as winners at game’s end. 55 and feeling alive The Dockers set a new mark for their biggest home crowd with 58,982 in the house at Optus Stadium. It was also the most people to have watched a Freo win in their history, with the club having previously lost all six of their matches featuring a crowd in excess of 55,000. The next challenge is a triumph against Collingwood at the MCG, where the Dockers have dropped all of their five most-attended matches – including three against the Pies. The full set? Collingwood will chase a slice of AFL history when they face the Dockers on Saturday. A triumph over Fremantle – who they are yet to play in a final – would see the Magpies become the first club to boast finals wins against 16 current clubs, which represents every team bar a Gold Coast outfit yet to taste September action. The Pies will join Geelong and Sydney as clubs to have played 16 other active clubs in finals, with the Cats yet to beat Adelaide and the Swans yet to defeat Brisbane or GWS.