This was one of the games that I didn't get to see, Obviously, it was played in Perth, and as there were games involving Carlton and Collingwood on in parallel, the Melbourne media saw no reason to pay any attention whatsoever to this game. The best I could do were occasional updates on the radio during their coverage of other games.
By all reports, though, Freo began well, taking a one point lead in at quarter time. Early in the second quarter, when I caught a score update, they were up by two goals, but scores were level at half time. According to my parents, who I rang for a score update in the final quarter, the rain started to fall in the second half, and (perhaps coincidentally) the Dockers ran out of puff late in the third quarter, and the Eagles were able to add 5 unanswered goals from then on.
Tim Atkinson's report in The Age sums up why its easy to both love and hate the Dockers:
For almost three quarters, Gerard Neesham's squad dominated the midfield and were much harder at the ball. ... As the Dockers so often do, however, they failed to put the result on the scoreboard after a blistering start.
Final Score : Fremantle 7.7-49 lost to West Coast 13.4-82
timnfromoz
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