Lack of depth leads to lopsided thumpings in TAFL fixtures
FREMANTLE will head into Sunday’s highly anticipated showdown with Hawthorn three games clear of the reigning premier, but as outsiders after the Dockers survived a scare against lowly Brisbane last night.
The Dockers eventually prevailed by 36 points in another wet- weather slog, shrugging off a dogged Lions outfit in the last quarter at Subiaco Oval.
The Hawks and Dockers, the two flag favourites and 2013 Grand Final adversaries, will square off for the only time this season when they meet at Aurora Stadium in Launceston.
Playing for a sixth consecutive game in either rain or very slippery conditions, Fremantle again laboured for PLAYER shortages made their mark on the weekend’s local AFL fixtures, with both senior games having lopsided results.
Reigning premier the Thuringowa Bulldogs thumped an understrength Curra Swans by 119 points, with the Swans unable to kick a single goal. the first three quarters in a match that was a stoppage and tackle fest.
The teams slapped on a remarkable total of 233 tackles.
Leading by just three points at three- quarter time, Fremantle responded by slamming on four goals in the opening eight minutes of the final term to seal the result.
Having kicked just six goals in the first three quarters, the Dockers added seven goals to one in the last quarter to ease clear.
David Mundy was influential with 30 touches, while Nat Fyfe had another quality outing with 27 disposals and nine clearances.
Dayne Beams had 30 possessions, 10 clearances and 11 tackles for the Lions.
The Lions were always going to do it tough against Hermit Park after going without most of their usual first graders, but were still put to the sword as the Tigers scored a 42.27 ( 279) to 1.1 ( 7) win at Harold Phillips Oval.
“There’s been a lot of debate on social media about the results, but it’s not something that can be fixed overnight,” Bulldogs coach and AFL Townsville operations manager Tony Burke said.
“We call it our Origin period and it’s not new to us, and it’s something we have to deal with the best we can. We certainly didn’t expect to get that result, even though we knew Curra were down on numbers, and our boys were ready from the word go because generally our matches with Curra are very competitive.”
The Tigers were equally ruthless against Curra, leading 130- 0 at half- time before doubling their score by full- time.
The Lions and Curra will have a chance to regroup this weekend when they play each other year.
Thuringowa and Hermit Park further cemented their positions at first and second on the AFL Townsville ladder after their points differentials received major top- ups, while University took another step towards finals by getting four points from the bye.
for the
third time
this