Fremantle and Geelong, What to Expect

Mark Harvey has always has his critics. He has certainly made plenty of enemies on and off the football field over the years and he certainly didn’t endear himself to the football community with his tantrums over not getting a head coaching job earlier. Harvey’s time eventually came but the general feeling was that he wasn’t going to get the time that other new head coaches had been granted in the past. This year was always going to be crunch time for Harvey so with the Dockers’ recently demonstrated improvement; his legions of knockers have already started to get a little nervous.

Beating Adelaide at home in the first game was one thing but traveling to Melbourne and winning has always been the problem for the Western Australian teams, especially Freemantle. The Dockers were too strong for Essendon last weekend and their ability to work a game for four quarters was very impressive. This weekend will be the real test as they try to knock off the premiers who will know they are in for a tough game. The Cats have lost a couple of key players in Mooney and Scarlet to suspension and are coming off a very draining game against the Hawks. If the Cats were ever ripe for the picking then this is the weekend but Freo has to hold their nerve and go and do the job.

The other key match-up will be between the Hawks and the Bulldogs. The Doggies should be too strong against a side they have dominated in their last few meetings. The Hawks have looked a far improved side from last year but they may find that their bodies start to ache late in the game after a short 6-day turnaround from a bruising encounter with the Cats on Easter Monday. The Saints v Pies will be the other enthralling match-up in a game that will be too hard to call.