You Can't Tag the Dockers | Craig O'Donoghue, The West Australian (13.07.2026)

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**Mark Duffield** (0:46)
Welcome back to the SENWA studio out here at Optus Stadium. It's a Monday morning in Perth. It's a beautiful sunny day outside at the moment and it's going to be a few beautiful sunny days, I believe, as we work our way into this week. Last Thursday night, in front of a record non-derby crowd at Optus Stadium, Freemantle shored up their Premiership credentials with a come from behind 38 point win over the second placed Sydney Swans. Craig O'Donoghue from The West Australian is our dockers man. He joins us now on the show. Codd, welcome.

**Craig O'Donoghue** (1:20)
They were impressive, weren't they, Duff? They just absolutely ran over the top of the Swans in that second half, and especially in that final quarter.

**Mark Duffield** (1:28)
So did it say something about both teams, Craig? I mean, Freemantle were ultra impressive, and they've been ultra impressive pretty much all year. It's been a lot of fun to watch them play.
But when the second place team concedes 100 points in a half, what do you think it said about Sydney?

**Craig O'Donoghue** (1:48)
They've got a lot of blokes in that team at the moment who are just depth players and guys finding their way. There'd be seven, I reckon, at least in that Sydney team who wouldn't get a game for Freemantle at the moment. I mean, when you look through a lot of the names, just their bench alone, Harry Kyle, Joel Hamling, Tom Hanley, Angus Sheldrick, Caden Cleary. I don't think any of those guys are getting a game for Freo. And then, you know, Will Edwards is at full back for them. Well, he's finding his way nicely, but he's not going to get a game for Freo. And Harry Cunningham is a veteran. He's not getting a game for Freo. And would Jai Sarong or Matt Roberts get a game for Freo? I don't think they would. So I think Freemantle's depth at the moment overall is significantly better than what the Swans have. And when you do that to a team that was second on the ladder, the moment that the Sydney Stars weren't able to control the game, the Dockers just took over.

**Mark Duffield** (2:39)
Speaking of stars, there's no one quicker over the first 10 metres than Chad Warner is there. About three or four times coming out of stoppage, his explosive pace was just breathtaking.

**Craig O'Donoghue** (2:51)
Yeah, and he's having a year, like his last, oh, probably six weeks, he's just really, really upped his game. And when he, as you say, when he comes from stoppage and just takes a couple of steps, he's got that ability to sidestep or the ability to goosestep past people, and then he's gone. And it's a case of all good luck, and he can run as far as he wants. I've got a couple like that. Blakey's similar out of the back line. Poor Sanskrit Kowski was chasing him at one point and thinking, please kick it, please kick it, please kick it. I reckon he was feeling a bit like Kale Hooker chasing Buddy Franklin.
And then Blakey did kick it, and Sanskrit Kowski said, thank you very much.

**Mark Duffield** (3:26)
Yes, just would like to see Nick Blakey defend occasionally. I don't think he does that particularly well. Hey, Mason Cox played his best game for Freo Man. I think there's little question about that. Is he now ahead and perhaps considerably ahead of Sean Darcy in the race to be the ruck support for Luke Jackson?

**Craig O'Donoghue** (3:44)
He's definitely ahead. Yeah, I don't think they can drop him at all this week. As much as Justin Momua said that Sean Darcy definitely would have played if it was a seven-day break. The moment you give someone else an opportunity to perform and then they do perform, you risk losing your spot. Why wicket keepers in cricket play with broken fingers? Because they know that one game out can cost you a career. Now, I wouldn't say that Mason Cox is well and truly in front. He's in front based on that game. But it was only a couple of weeks ago that he had three possessions against North Melbourne and then he had six touches against Geelong as well. So he hasn't been that dominant player in the past. I think he plays better when he's on a bit of edge. So when he knows that his spot is in jeopardy or when there's a bit of competition for his spot, I think that's when he plays his best. And I also think he plays his best during finals because we've seen big games in finals where he's played really well also. So I think it'll be really interesting to see whether he can maintain that sort of edge about his game for the next six weeks to guarantee himself a spot or whether or not he falls away just slightly and then Sean Darcy can put pressure on as well.