Having easily accounted for Port in the first round of the Ansett Cup, Fremantle moved on to encounter Carlton at Arctic Park. But prior to the game came the midweek announcement that BenAllan's knees were just not going to last another full season of football, and that therefore he would be stepping down as captain this season, and retiring at the end of the year. The true tragedy of this situation was revealed when it was announced that Peter Mann would be the one to take his place as captain.
Nevertheless, despite my fears, the first game of the Mann Era got off to a good start, when he was able to win the toss. Sadly it was to be just about the only contest that Mann was able to win all night. But that was in the future. With Greg Williams out of the Carlton line-up, leaving the Dockers with only the regulation three umpires to contend with, and both Parkers once again in the team, Freo were able to start the game full of confidence.
That confidence was a little dented when Carlton added the first two goals of the game. Daniel Parker, lining up at full forward as Hunter was out of the team, had an opportunity to score the first Freo goal of the game for the second time running, but missed to the left. As the quarter wore on Fremantle's extra pace began to tell, and by quarter time they had added four goals, to go in with a 13 point lead.
Carlton went into the game without Madden, McGuane or Williams, but still looked too old and too slow for much of the first half. The Dockers goals came from the run of Callaghan, and from the trickery of Winnie Abraham. And above all, Fremantle were a lot more direct. In one farcical passage of play, it took Carlton three possessions inside the goal square before they were eventually able to goal.
The second quarter was full of controversy, with both the Dockers' goals for the term resulting from what seemed to be fairly soft 50m penalties. Not surprisingly, the Carlton fans were incensed, having never seen their side treated this way before. Another heartening aspect of the game was the encouragement that the more senior players on the Carlton side offered to their younger Docker counterparts. Ang Christou was particularly generous in his advice to Bandy as the latter lined up for a set shot for goal. And the advice certainly seemed to have helped, as the shot sailed through for a major. Despite the apparently biased umpiring, Carlton made some good ground in the second quarter, and by half time, the margin was just one point in favour of the Dockers.
The Dockers probably lost the game in the third term, when they added three goals at what seemed to be the scoring end of the ground, but allowed Carlton to add four at the other end. At one stage early in the third quarter Carlton had snuck away to a 19 point lead, and it looked like it was hand on hips time for the Dockers' defense. However a Parker lead recovery was initiated, and the Dockers were back in it at three-quarter time.
The less said about the last quarter, the better. Neesham moved Shane Parker off the half-back line, and onto a wing, and as a result Carlton added an extra 5 goals in the quarter. At the other end, Fremantle were directing the ball to their big men, but Mann wasn't dominating like they needed hime to, and Daniel Parker lacked a bit in experience, and failed to hold a couple of marks. In the end Freo didn't add a goal in the final quarter, and Carlton won by just over six goals.
Final score: Carlton 15.13-103 defeated Fremantle 9.11-65
timnfromoz
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