IT HAS been a tough start to the season for Fremantle. Yet to win a game and recently recording the lowest score in AFLW history, the side has fallen a long way from the Dockers who challenged Adelaide in a preliminary final mere months ago. 

On the surface it is simply the impact of player availabilities. Gemma Houghton and Steph Cain have both moved to new clubs, Kara and Ebony Antonio suffered long-term injuries during the preseason and both Hayley Miller and Kiara Bowers, while playing both games so far, are still working their way back from preseason interruptions. A broken nose to key defender Janelle Cuthbertson, concussion for Jess Low and now a hamstring injury to Gabby O'Sullivan has only added to the pain. 

When delving deeper, it is not just player availability, but more specifically which players have been unavailable that has hurt Fremantle the most. Each of the aforementioned players is key to the structure and game style that saw the Dockers push deep into finals recently. It's the run and carry of Houghton, Cain, and Ebony Antonio. It's the intelligence of Kara Antonio setting up the forward line. It's the power of Miller, Bowers, and O'Sullivan in the middle. And the reliable intercepting of Cuthbertson and Low down back. They have been hit on all lines. 

Kiara Bowers gets a kick away under pressure during round two, season seven, 2022. Picture: AFL Photos

Finding control 

Last season, for the first time Fremantle won more uncontested ball than it did contested and used the ball at a club-best 59.4 per cent disposal efficiency. The Dockers moved the ball around the ground with an average of 45.6 marks each week and transitioned into attack with ease.  

This season that has been taken from them. They're winning an average of just 169.5 disposals per game and using the ball at just 48.7 per cent efficiency - both club lows - while also giving up more ball than they ever have before. 

Georgie Prespakis takes a mark against three Fremantle players during round two, season seven, 2022. Picture: AFL Photos

Fremantle's poor start

Ebony Antonio is the biggest loss in this respect, averaging 13.6 disposals at 61.5 per cent efficiency last season, while also laying four tackles per game.  

Because of this newfound lack of control, the Dockers are finding themselves trying to clear danger by throwing the ball on the boot, rather than methodically work themselves out of trouble as they have so often done in the past. 

Kick v handball ratio

An attacking game 

In recent seasons the Dockers have been a forward half team, overwhelming their opponents’ defensive units while starving them of opportunities to attack. This was most evident in their round four win over Collingwood where they conceded just ten inside 50s while piling on 41 of their own.  

This season it has been a totally different story. They are averaging just 18.5 inside 50s across the start of season seven while conceding 38 to their opponents. Despite the ball being in their defensive half so consistently, they are intercepting the ball just 50.5 times per game - a club low. 

 

Fremantle's positive game style was built around metres gained and taking ground with each disposal, thereby trapping the ball in attack, and creating repeat opportunities to score. Logic dictating that the longer they have the ball in the forward half, the less time the opponent has to create a score. 

They registered less than 20 per cent of time in their forward 50 only four times last season, and just once did they win despite limited time in attack - their qualifying final against the Kangaroos. This season they have enjoyed just 11.7 and 15.9 per cent of game time in attack over rounds one and two respectively. Unsurprisingly, the disparity between their average metres gained in wins and losses since 2019 is significant. 

 

Gaining ground: Fremantle since 2019 

This is where the outside run of Cain, Houghton and Ebony Antonio is missing, while the power duo of Miller and Bowers have fallen away in this respect as well. Just six Dockers are averaging 10 or more metres gained per effective disposal this season - none of whom are midfielders - compared to nine last season, where both Ebony Antonio and Cain were highly ranked. 

Last season Hayley Miller led from the front, regularly breaking away from stoppages and driving the ball forward, even hitting the scoreboard herself for 10 goals. This season is a bit of a different story for the star. Despite now being fully fit, she was restricted to just one full training session in the preseason as she battled a recurring calf concern, and that interrupted preparation has limited her output early in the season. 

 

Hayley Miller's tough start 

Essentially, the Dockers are winning less of the ball, able to take less ground when they do win it, and then unable to win it back once it is in the opposition's hands.