Joe Brierty | Fremantle Executive GM of Football (09.09.2026)

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Joe Brierty (0:40)

Unbelievable.

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Mark Duffield (0:56)

Welcome back to the ESPN WA studio out here at Optus Stadium.

Wednesday morning in Perth, 16.2 degrees outside, building to a top of 23 degrees later in the day. The Fremantle Dockers take on Geelong. Friday night here at Optus Stadium, sold out crowd. It is a must-win game if the Dockers want to keep the Premiership Dream alive in 2026 Their executive general manager of footy, Joe Brierty, joins us on the show. Joe, welcome.

Joe Brierty (1:25)

G'day, Duff. Thanks for having me, mate.

Mark Duffield (1:27)

Mate, you've had the chance to do the post-mortem on the game against Hawthorne. What do you think happened?

Joe Brierty (1:34)

Oh, look, yeah, a fair bit of detail going through the game and the things that we, I guess, didn't manage in game the way we would have liked to. I think there's obviously been a fair bit talked about the game, but look at our work in and around the contest is something that we were beating around the ball and at times overused the ball and look at our mid-forward connection was something that really didn't play out the way we would have liked on the night and all credit to Hawthorne. Obviously, they were really impressive in the contest and their backs did a good job. And then there's a little bit of work that we think that even in our back half, just at times, turning the ball over in areas of the ground where you can't defend behind. So a lot of work that's been done and really thorough review.

Really some honest conversations around what did go wrong and a lot of ownership as a playing group and a coaching group. And then ultimately we moved forward and start planning for Geelong. We'll have another opportunity in the finals, which was set up on the back of a strong performance across the year. So ready to go.

Mark Duffield (2:39)

So how would you describe the mood around the club this week, Joe? Has there been any anger, sort of inward anger, I guess, the group being a little bit angry with themselves about the way they played?

Joe Brierty (2:51)

Oh, look, 100% Duff, I think. No, I'll probably not use the word anger. I think when you come in from a game like that, there's frustration and disappointment in performances across the board. And that's not on any one individual. We all put our hands up and own that performance as a group in our football program and lean into reviewing it really well. And that's something we've done really consistently across the entire year. So we definitely feel it as a playing group that are really driven and invested in where we want to go and what we want to achieve. And obviously that didn't play out on on Thursday night, but we get another chance on Friday night and really looking forward to that.

Mark Duffield (3:32)

The one I guess we didn't see coming in terms of performances. I mean, you had a number of your big gun players who probably would be disappointed with their games, but Josh Tracy's game, the fact that he was just a complete non-factor in the game, that was one we didn't see coming. How has Josh been this week?

Joe Brierty (3:52)

Yeah, he's a really proud person, really proud footballer. And I'm sure that from his perspective, he obviously set himself up to have a strong performance. And as you said, a number of players and his factors that play into that in terms of, I guess, those key forwards at times before coming in.

And that can have an impact. But like many players and the way that Josh goes about it, from a professionalism perspective, he reviews that in detail with Jamie Graham. Look what went right and what went wrong and sets himself up for a really strong performance this weekend. So again, as I said, it's not solely on one individual, but I'm sure that all the players have been really meticulous in looking at what aspects of their game that they need to focus in on on this fire night. And it's a body of work, like weeks along time. In footy Duff, and there's a body of work across the entire season. There's a real belief and confidence in our playing group and individual players that play our best brand of footy that stacks up.