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Duff: The truths that must be addressed at Fremantle
Mark Duffield • September 9th, 2025 9:00 pm
Fremantle’s season is over – so how do we rate it.
I would say they get a pass mark for playing finals. But I wouldn’t go as far as to say the season was a success. The Dockers did well to overcome their slow start to the season, to win 12 of their last 14 matches of the home and away season to get into the eight. That showed not before seen maturity, consistency and resilience from Justin Longmuir’s team.
But that said, when you host home finals you expect to win them. The Dockers came up agonizingly short in an absolute clinker of an elimination final against the Gold Coast Suns and I think they needed that win to claim the season as a success.
And I think the game exposed a few home truths about players at the bottom end of Freo’s best 23 which are going to have to be addressed of they are to climb further next season.
First point: Everyone wants the Dockers to shift the ball quicker but to do that they are going to need at least one better ball user behind the ball. The development of Cooper Simpson who was being earmarked for that role will be critical over summer.
Second point: The reason why we are still able to maintain a sense of optimism about the Dockers is that they are young and likely to improve but likely does not mean will and on that front the two players who have some soul searching to do over summer are Jye Amiss and Michael Frederick.
Amiss kicked 41 goals in 2023, then 36 in 2024, then 32 in 2025 including his one final on Saturday night when he kicked a single goal from two disposals before being subbed out. He is just 22 now so in theory still capable of significant improvement but there is not a single stat in which Amiss has improved over the last three seasons. He finds less of the ball, he is less accurate with shots on goal, he wins fewer contested possessions and he doesn’t take any more contested marks. He was dominated by Sam Collins for much of Saturday’s final and it was a problem for Justin Longmuir.
Frederick had his most productive season in terms of goals kicked but there are so many areas of his game that have need of significant improvement and at 25 further improvement is no guarantee. And any assessment of his game Saturday night has to include that butchered shot on an open goal from point blank range which hit the post. That has to be a ten times out of ten shot for a good AFL small forward and come the end of the night when all scores were tallied it was critical. It was one of several key errors Freddie made.
I think the Dockers final was a reflection of their season. There was a mixture of encouraging things and frustrating things and in the end they were very close but slightly short of the mark. They need to add some midfield depth to lighten the loads on Andy Brayshaw, Caleb Serong and Hayden Young.
Neil Erasmus has progressed and they will be keen to keep him but there is interest from elsewhere. Matt Johnson looks ready to take a step forward and was certainly missed against the Suns.
The Dockers will be a fascinating watch in the trade period – do they try and grab a player that will add to their best 23 in 2026?
