Mark Duffield - The Editorial (13.07.2026)

**Mark Duffield** (0:00)
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Hello, everybody. Welcome to the SENWA Radio Studio. We're out here at Optus Stadium on this Monday morning in Perth. And we are here thanks to Beaumont Homes' award-winning design, built to be loved forever. It's going to be mostly sunny in our fair city today, atop of 19 degrees. Made in WA for WA, this is Mornings with Mark Duffield on SENWA.
So the task for the Fremantle Dockers is coming firmly into focus after their barnstorming second half against Sydney on Thursday night. They need to win three of their last six games. That makes absolutely sure of a top-two finish. And then they can get locked and loaded for the first week of the finals. That's the collective aim. Individually, the more some things change, the more they stay the same. The major selection talking point for Fremantle is the same major selection talking point that has been in place for much of the season. And that is, should Mason Cox or Sean Darcy provide the ruck back up for Luke Jackson. And there's no doubt that the Big American played his best game for the Dockers against the Swans. There is also no doubt that those who believe he is the bloke to play alongside Jackson are up and about at the moment. And the chants of USA, USA, ringing around Optus Stadium on Thursday night, a testament to that.
Just a word of caution. We heard Justin Longmere talk about the importance of form in the battle post-match, and Cox has form on his side now. He also said the decision on who plays will be a bit about horses for courses, which means factors other than form might come into it. And I suspect that one of the key factors is going to be what sort of workload they want Luke Jackson to carry in the run into finals. And if they want to reduce their ruck star's load a little, it makes sense that Darcy will be the one who plays in support of him. Why?
Because Darcy is a lead ruckman by trade, and is used to the workload of being a number one big man. Cox is a forward ruck by trade, and so is used to providing ruck support in shorter bursts. There might even be two different answers to the questions depending on whether the Dockers are playing in a final or one of their remaining home and away games. If it's a final, the best 23 play, and right now you would have Cox ahead of Darcy in that race. But in the lead in, Jackson's ruck minutes will be one of the things occupying Justin Longmure's mind, and that means that sometimes at least he may lean back towards Darcy. If you're a Freo fan trying to put yourself in Justin Longmure's shoes, as he puts the final pieces of the puzzle together in the run into September, which way would you be leaning at this point? Across town at West Coast, it might have been a case of close, but no cigar for the Eagles against the Western Bulldogs in Melbourne. But Andrew McWalder's team continues to tick a lot of boxes this year, and there was more evidence of that in the 16 point loss to the Bulldogs. As much as anything, a lack of poise rather than a lack of method was the factor that cost the Eagles in this game. So Job Shanahan's drop mark in the square, one he would take 29 out of 30 Tom Cole's missed shot on the run. We don't have a massive body of work to rate how likely the kick that one Tommy Cole is, but you would hope it's a minimum four out of five. Then there were just a couple of overambitious or missed kicks trying to set up attacks that either hurt back the other way or denied the Eagles scoring chances. What there was though to like about the match was the continued development of Harley Reid as an elite midfielder in this competition.
He kicked a truly great goal. He was able to give West Coast momentum from stoppage. He won 16 of 27 disposals in the contest. He won nine clearances and he had eight score involvements. In a matchup with one of the AFL's gun midfields, and arguably it's gun midfielder in Marcus Bontempelli, the Eagles might have been shaded, but only just. Willem Dersma continues to give glimpses of his class, and Oliver Franco looks okay in a midfield role too. There's lots to build on here. It was execution, not method, that's occasionally letting the Eagles down now. 487 736 736, that is the text line. Let's have your thoughts and questions. 13 12 55 is the Bower and O'Day open line. Bower and O'Day, because little things are everything.