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Dockers lose Demons on youth dilemma

Mr Dandalooa

Fremantle Football Club has recruited 23 new players in the past 2 years, about half of its playing squad.

Yet the club has morphed into a winning purple machine poised to possibly play in its first grand final of any kind should it win this weekend’s semi-final NAB pre-season cup game.

Dockers head honcho Steve Rosich said in a media statement that regardless of the result of Saturday’s NAB Cup semi- final against St Kilda at Etihad Stadium, Fremantle had sought an assurance from the AFL that the club’s round four game can be played at Subiaco Oval.

After Sunday’s 4-point victory over North Melbourne, the Dockers were scheduled to travel to Etihad again on consecutive weekends to take on the 2009 AFL grand finalists in round 3 of the pre-season competition.

Rosich said on the Dockers’ website that in the event of a win over St Kilda on Saturday the club’s preliminary discussions with the AFL have indicated that “we are a strong possibility of hosting the NAB Cup Grand Final at Subiaco Oval”.

“We believe this prospect is only fair given the travel burden our young team will have undertaken in round two and round three of the NAB Cup,” Rosich said.

“If it eventuates, Fremantle members and supporters, and the WA football public would turn out in force and strongly support a NAB Cup Grand Final played in Perth.

“If we were to lose to St Kilda on Saturday night, we also anticipate playing our final pre-season game in Perth, possibly at Fremantle Oval”.

Rosich also said that because Subiaco Oval was not available for Fremantle’s round 3 NAB Cup fixture, the club had requested that last Sunday’s game against North Melbourne be played in Perth to mitigate the possibility of the team having to travel to Melbourne on consecutive weekends.

“With Subiaco Oval’s ground manager, the WA Football Commission, having booked out the venue for two AC/DC concerts, late last year we raised with the AFL the possibility of playing our round two NAB Cup fixture against North Melbourne at Subiaco Oval instead of Etihad Stadium,” he said.

But while Fremantle have potential grand final dilemmas – for the first time ever – last year’s AFL wooden spooners Melbourne admit they cannot keep using youth as an excuse for poor performances.

This has much a point of contention with Freo fans for some time.

Melbourne skipper James McDonald acknowledged the Demons large batch of inexperienced footballing youngsters need time to improve.

But McDonald conceded playing the youth card would no longer wash after a period where Melbourne won 12 of their past 66 games over 3 seasons.

The Dockers have half of their squad as football young inexperienced players and have gone further than ever before.

“We can’t keep using that tag that we’re young as an excuse,” McDonald said this week.

“But on the weekend against Essendon (in a practice game) we had one player who’d played over 100 games and 16 or 18 under 20 games of AFL experience.

“You have to be understanding, but we’re still striving to get the most out of them as soon as possible.”

McDonald said he was impressed by Tom Scully and Jack Trengove, midfielders the club drafted with the first 2 picks in the 2009 national draft, and tipped the duo for early debuts.

But without making any excuses the Dockers have rightly called for an end to their travel nightmare and called for an assurance from the AFL they will not have to travel next week regardless of the result against St Kilda in Saturday’s NAB Cup semi-final.

With the Dockers facing six games at Etihad this season Rosich said the club would use the experience to give its youngsters the experience of travelling, while resting more senior players.