Mark Duffield - The Editorial (08.09.2026)

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Mark Duffield (0:54)

Hello, everybody. Welcome to the SENWA radio studio out here at Optus Stadium. Tuesday morning in Perth, we are here. Thanks to Beaumont Homes, award-winning design built to be loved forever. It's going to be sunny in our city today, a top of 22 degrees, made in WA for WA. This is Mornings with Mark Duffield on SENWA.

Now, if you're a team that finished fifth or below on the AFL ladder, the feeling of finals hits you from week one of September. Whether your team plays in a wild card match or an elimination final, the final really is final. You lose, you're out. Things are a little different for the teams in the top four. A qualifying final loss may change your path to the big dance. It might make it significantly more difficult to get to the big dance, but the path still exists. The following week, if you find yourself in a semi-final, the reality hits hard. And that reality has hit Fremantle, that they could win 19 games in a home and away season and still exit before we are down to the last four. That has hit hard this week. This is a win the Dockers just have to have. And to get it, there are performances from their best players that the Dockers simply have to have.

There were several narratives to last week's qualifying final loss to Hawthorn. There was the dominance of hawk defender, James Cicely, in defence, with Tom Barris and Josh Battle alongside him. There was the plan that the hawks came with to bring their half forwards up to create density and traffic around the contest and inside the corridor, in effect to make Fremantle's ball movement tougher. And there was the brilliance of small forward Nick Watson, who might have only kicked the two goals, but he electrified his team with the danger he represented to the Fremantle defense whenever he was around the ball.

But from a Fremantle perspective, the overwhelming narrative about this game was the failure of their best players, with the exception of a few, to bring anything resembling their best footy to this contest. Jordan Clarke produced a prolific game off half back. Luke Jackson and Andy Brayshaw worked hard in the midfield. Alex Pearce stood up in defense. But the output of Murphy Reid, who had 24, Shay Bolton, who had 21, and Caleb Sarong, who had 20, was moderate at best. The output of Hayden Young, who had 15 disposals, was below what the Dockers would expect of him.

The three-headed monster deep forward, Josh Tracy, Jai Amis, and Patrick Voss, turned into the Bermuda Triangle. Every time the ball went in there, it just disappeared back up the other end. Tracy and Amis had nine disposals between them, and kicked just two goals between them. Voss had 11 disposals, but his opponent, James Sicily, dominated and controlled the game from the Hawthorn back half, and Voss was goalless. If we look at where finals are won and lost, yes, the role players have to play their roles, but the stars have to stand up and play big.

Who were the best two players on the ground when the Bulldogs beat Collingwood in a wild card final?

Ed Richards, Marcus Bontempelli, and if you want to add a third, Aaron Norton. Carlton versus Melbourne, Jagger Smith, and Sam Walsh, not to mention Jacob Weidring. Sydney versus Brisbane, Charlie Kerneau kicks five, Errol Goulden has 34 disposals and gains almost a kilometre in metres, and he kicks one of the goals of the year. Brody Grundy dominates the ruck. Tom Papley kicks five. Logan MacDonald, not only stymies Harris-Andrews, but he kicks six of his own. When the stars are on fire, the players brought in to replace the Pullman Five absolutely coped. Without the stars, they wouldn't have. Geelong versus Carlton. Bailey Smith, best midfielder on the ground. Patty Dangerfield kicks five goals. And then Adelaide versus the Bulldogs. Josh Worrell dominates the defence. Isaac Rankin dominates midfield. Raleigh Philthorpe and Tex Walker and Darcy Fogarty don't dominate, but they all pop up with critical goals when it matters. We judge teams and their capability by the capabilities and the numbers of their stars. Fremantle dominated the home and away round because they have as many, if not more, stars than any other team. Those people need to stand up this week. This is a win the Dockers have to have. They have to have their stars at their best to get it.