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Why Freo might have to say heave ho to their premiership chances
Nicholas Quinlan • May 3rd, 2025 2:23 pm
Dermott Brereton has put a line through Fremantle’s chances of winning their first AFL premiership.
The Dockers were comprehensively beaten at the hands of St Kilda, losing by 61 points at Marvel Stadium on Friday night.
Their score of 33 points is the second lowest that the Dockers have kicked at the ground.
This was enough for the Hawthorn legend to believe they do not have what it takes to win the premiership.
“I’ll put it on record, let’s bookmark this; Round 8 is the round that we learned that the Fremantle Dockers cannot win the premiership,” Brereton said definitively on SEN’s Crunch Time.
“If you can’t win on the road against middle-ish teams who bring the heat. You are not going to beat good teams at the end of the year on the road either.
“It’s the day that we recognise, they're not in the hunt for ultimate glory this year.”
2018 Premiership coach Adam Simpson was in some agreement with Brereton’s assessment but believes the home ground advantage that the Dockers have should help them.
“Unfortunately, this has happened too many times this year and we (West Coast) were labelled flat-track bullies back in the day,” Simpson said.
“But when you play at home, you are a different side and I think Fremantle are working through that situation at the moment albeit that was a really poor performance last night.”
Fremantle does have a strong advantage at home as they sit on a 57.74% win rate at Optus Stadium.
However, historically their issues have lied when they play interstate.
In particular, their win rate in Victoria sits at 33.33% between Marvel Stadium, the MCG and Kardinia Park.
They have also been struck down with an injury blow in their loss to St Kilda.
Hayden Young has suffered a hamstring injury with Sam Edmund providing an update on his situation.
“This is his third hamstring tear this year alone,” Edmund said.
“This was his fourth game back after a significant layoff to get it right. The same one has gone again on the right leg.
“Conservatively speaking you think he’s out for the next five or six and this is a hammer blow.”
