Mark Duffield - Four Thoughts (08.06.2026)

**Mark Duffield** (0:00)
Let's move on to Four Thoughts on Sport to get us rolling this morning. First thought is on Freemantle. The Dockers ran up 19 goals on the trot. They managed to record, winning 124-point margin against a hapless North Melbourne at Hands Oval. The Dockers are in stunning nick, as is their rugbyman Luke Jackson. But to be honest, I'd rather see them score five-goal wins over tough opponents than absolutely murdering teams who have failed to produce anything even resembling their best or anything even resembling what is required to play at AFL level.
The Dockers, however, do head to the break with 12 wins on the bounce, a four-game buffer over fourth, a well-earned top of the ladder status.
This one was a training run. Not their fault, but it was a training run. Second thought, and on that training run, training runs in AFL games are both a reflection of how good you have been and how poor the opponent was. To North Melbourne, well, I've already heard the rumblings from Over East about whether the Kangaroos should continue to sell home games as they hope to climb the ladder and get back to finals. So here's a thought. How about you honour your obligations as a professional athlete and turn up and compete?
Even with the sold games to Perth and WA, North will still travel interstate once less this year than our teams. Six of their nine travels will be short trips to either Sydney, Canberra, Tasmania or Adelaide. The 2.5 million dollars the Kangaroos will harvest annually from Western Australia, which they did last year, which they will do this year and which they will do again next year at least. It will help them resource their football department fully, and that is vital. But it only works if your players don't down the tools halfway through the second quarter in a game.
Thought is on the Eagles. Tough loss to take against Port Adelaide and a tough injury to absorb, with Reuben Jinby going down with what looks like a serious soft issue problem. But, Eagle fans, keep your focus on the trajectory of the team and the number of big and close games their kids are getting to play in. And there have been four in as many games in the past month. And this is so valuable regardless of win loss. I think West Coast well on the way to marking this down as a season which they made significant gains. And finally, Four Thoughts. Massive respect for Nick Watson's footy ability. But the Wizard got run over by the Karma bus against the Western Bulldogs at the weekend. He gobbled off during a half time interview about Michael Selwood. He said he didn't mind the talk if Selwood walked the walk. That was after a few first half scraps.
Well, Wizard, Selwood's Bulldogs chased down your four and a half goal lead, and you barely touched it after half time. Guess who was doing the walking, and guess who was just talking. 487 736 736 That is the text line. Let's have your thoughts and questions. 13 12 55 is the Barra and O'Day open line. Barra and O'Day, because the little things are everything. After the break, we'll be talking West Coast and Fremantle with former AFL player and coach Scotty Watters. Made in WA, for WA. This is Mornings with Mark Duffield and SCNWA.