Finals Analysis – South FremantleThursday, September 8, 2022 - 8:59 PM - by Chris Pike

IT has been a season for South Fremantle where they haven’t quite reached top gear but have still been effective enough to book in a seventh consecutive finals appearance and the Bulldogs now can't be taken lightly.

South Fremantle hadn’t played finals between 2012-15 after a tremendous run of success under dual premiership winning coach John Dimmer, but under Todd Curley, they have become a force since.

After a building season when Curley first took over in 2015, he got them into a preliminary final in 2016 and there's been no turning back since. The Bulldogs reached preliminary finals in each of the next two seasons before breaking through for a Grand Final appearance in 2019.

They then won the premiership in 2020 and then played in a third straight Grand Final last year before losing to Subiaco. So it's a South Fremantle team that is no strangers to knowing what to do at the business end of the season.

The Bulldogs might have missed out on a finals double chance in 2022 by ending the season in fourth position to earn a home elimination final this Sunday against Peel Thunder, and should they get through that, the top three teams won't feel comfortable about taking them on.

THE SEASON SO FAR

Coming off playing in the last three Grand Finals and six preliminary finals, there was expectations for South Fremantle to again be a force in 2022 and they started the season well with an eight-point win over Subiaco in a Grand Final rematch and then 76-point hammering of West Coast.

The Bulldogs then suffered their first loss of the season against Claremont in Round 3 before also losing to West Perth by eight points in Round 4.

South Fremantle bounced back to beat Peel by 26 points at home the following week but then they lost to a team they'd enjoyed great recent success against, Swan Districts.

The Bulldogs bounced back to win a WA Day thriller against East Fremantle to make it 13 straight derby wins in front of 6000 people and then built some real momentum following up with wins against East Perth and Perth.

However, the Bulldogs then suffered their shock loss of the season with West Coast winning its only match by 41 points under lights at Lathlain in Round 10.

South Fremantle had the bye after that to regroup and responded in emphatic fashion thrashing Claremont at Revo Fitness Stadium by 34 points in NAIDOC Round.

They backed it up to beat Swans by a point at home before then making it 14 in-a-row against the Sharks with an emphatic 33-point derby win at the WACA Ground.

It was then a draw with West Perth leading into the last bye of the season with South Fremantle then losing to Peel in Mandurah and finishing the season with three strong wins against Subiaco, East Perth and Perth.

That saw South Fremantle finish the season in fourth position on the ladder with 12 wins, five losses and a draw while being the best defensive team in the league conceding just 55.5 points a game.

KEY WINS OF THE YEAR

South Fremantle faced a potentially treacherous run of games against the teams that also occupied top five positions when they returned from a bye in Round 12 following their worst performance of the season in Round 10 in losing to West Coast.

However, the Bulldogs produced their best patch of the season starting with a 34-point NAIDOC Round win on the road to Claremont in wet and wild conditions for a lot of the afternoon.

South Fremantle then won a tough tussle by a point at home to Swan Districts in Round 13 before continuing the momentum with a commanding performance to beat East Fremantle again in wet and difficult conditions by 33 points at the WACA Ground.

While Round 15 wasn’t a win, South Fremantle did a lot right in a draw with minor premiers West Perth as well so to take three wins and a draw from those four matches was what set the Bulldogs up for their finals assault again in 2022.

MATCH UP WITH FELLOW FINALISTS

South Fremantle now hasn’t beaten minor premiers West Perth since Round 1 last year even though the three most recent meetings have been fascinating. 

The Bulldogs lost by eight points back in Round 4 at Joondalup and then the two teams played out a draw in Round 15 at Fremantle Community Bank Oval. However, prior to the draw and two losses in the last three games, South Fremantle had won five straight, and 14 of 15 against West Perth.

South Fremantle has continued its remarkable derby dominance against second ranked East Fremantle this year by winning both encounters in 2022.

The Bulldogs won on WA Day in a thriller by two points and then thrashed the Sharks in Round 14 at the WACA Ground by 33 points to make it 14 wins in-a-row against their old foe.

South Fremantle has a fascinating recent history with Claremont with the Tigers winning by 11 points in Round 3 this year before the Bulldogs hit back winning by 34 points in Round 12.

The two teams met twice in the finals last year with South Fremantle winning the qualifying final by a point before then keeping Claremont goalless for three quarters before winning the preliminary final. The Bulldogs have won four of the last five against the Tigers.

While Peel beat South Fremantle in the most recent meeting in Round 17, the Bulldogs had won the previous six against the Thunder.

The two teams have a finals history too with Peel winning both at Fremantle Community Bank Oval back in 2016 and 2017 on their way to back-to-back premierships.

PLAYERS TO BE EXCITED ABOUT

Haiden Schloithe will celebrate the 200th game of his remarkable career to open the finals on Sunday for South Fremantle against Peel Thunder, and he remains at the peak of his powers. He might be a four-time fairest and best winner and Sandover Medallist, but his back half of the 2022 season has been right up with any of the best and most consistent football he's ever played.

Another milestone man for Sunday's elimination final for South Fremantle is Chad Pearson. He will celebrate his 100th game for the Bulldogs and the premiership player is part of the league's best defence alongside Noah Strom, Blake Schlensog, Toby McQuilkin, Jordan Boullineau and as of the last few weeks, Steve Edwards.

Brendon Ah Chee is another player for the Bulldogs who could be ready to really catch fire during the finals. The former Port Adelaide and West Coast AFL player has returned to South Fremantle in 2022 and is getting the chance to really show what he can do as a midfielder with great attacking flair going forward.

KEYS TO WINNING

South Fremantle has proven themselves mighty hard to score against throughout 2022 conceding just 55.5 points a game while only giving up 70 points or more on five occasions throughout the whole season. That means the back-line can be relied upon to hold their opponents to a manageable score.

The key to how far South Fremantle goes in the finals will then come down to if they can find enough avenues to score. They are only ranked fifth across the competition for scoring but it has been on the improve averaging 91 points a game over the last four weeks.

The Bulldogs will be able to rely on their defence holding firm and then ruckman Hamish Free along with midfielders Tom Blechynden, Haiden Schloithe, Brendon Ah Chee and Steven Verrier standing up in the middle, but where the goals from is going to be key.

Mason Shaw enters the finals in his best patch of form for the season with 13 goals over the last four weeks so it's a different looking South Fremantle team if he's up and about with Brandon Donaldson, Tyson Headland and captain Dylan Main dangerous around him along with Jimmy Miller.

IMPORTANT STATS

7 – This will be the seventh straight final series for South Fremantle, having made six consecutive preliminary finals between and the last three Grand Finals

6 – It's an experienced South Fremantle team with six players with more than 100 games of WAFL experience with Haiden Schloithe on 199, Zac Strom 155, Steve Verrier 134, Mason Shaw 132, Dylan Main 125 and Nick Suban 119. Chad Pearson is also on 99 and Brandon Donaldson 97.

55.5 – The points on average South Fremantle have conceded this season to be the best defensive team in the league

18.8 – The number of possessions more that South Fremantle averages than their opponents each week

42.3 – The amount of hit outs that Hamish Free has averaged this season to have the highest per game in the WAFL

4th – South Fremantle is ranked fourth across every quarter this season, outscoring their opponents by 35 points in first quarters, by 10 in the second, by 92 in the third and 77 in the last