AFL legend Buddy Franklin has written off the Fremantle Dockers, claiming they won’t feature in September after Friday night’s 57-point drubbing at the hands of Brisbane.
The loss to the Lions leaves the Dockers with just one final chance to make finals, as they take on the Western Bulldogs in round 24. If Freo fail to either win or draw on Sunday afternoon, then they will likely forfeit their spot in the top eight to the Dogs, assuming the Gold Coast Suns win one of their final two games against Port Adelaide or Essendon.
While the implications are straightforward, defeating the Dogs will be anything but, with Luke Beveridge’s side having won their last four games, and owning an impressive 10-2 record at Marvel Stadium this year.
With the odds stacked against them, Franklin doesn’t have faith in the Dockers to book their spot in September.
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“Fremantle, disappointing. Disappointing. I don’t think they play finals now,” he said on The Buddy & Shane Show.
“They’re not coming over and beating Bont (Western Bulldogs captain Marcus Bontempelli). No way.
“They’ll put up a fight, but there’s no way. They don’t travel well, they don’t travel well to Melbourne.
“Bulldogs at that stadium are very, very hard to beat. I reckon Bulldogs will just put them away.”
The previous meeting between the two sides came all the way back in round four at Optus Stadium, where Freo edged out the Bulldogs by 16 points, who were without superstar Marcus Bontempelli.
The Dockers have played at Marvel Stadium just once this season, a round eight game against St Kilda in which they were defeated heavily by 61 points, and only registered a score of 33 - their lowest of the season.
But since that performance they have rebounded to win 11 of their last 14, including a one-point win at the MCG against Collingwood in round 19.
If the Dockers miss finals they will become the first team to ever miss the eight with 15 wins, making it the second year in a row they will be denied September action in heartbreaking fashion.
In 2024 the Dockers lost each of their final four games to miss the eight by two points.