Fremantle say they are going to concentrate on profitable the exhausting ball as a substitute of ruffling Rory Lobb’s feathers in Saturday’s AFL conflict with the Western Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium.
Lobb’s messy exit from the Dockers on the finish of final yr meant there was an enormous build-up when the 30-year-old travelled again to Perth in spherical six to face his former workforce.
Fremantle gamers, led by skipper Alex Pearce, tried to bodily intimidate Lobb, however it proved to be a distraction because the Bulldogs soared to a thumping 49-point win.
The Bulldogs received the contested possession battle 154-129, with Fremantle’s makes an attempt to intimidate Lobb broadly panned after the sport.
Dockers defender Hayden Young says his workforce will take a distinct method this time.
“It was funny, last time we didn’t really speak about him too much in the preparation, but we probably got a little bit off-task when we went after him a bit,” Young advised reporters on Monday.
“But this week it will just be preparation as per usual.
“We’ll simply concentrate on what we do rather well, as a result of after we lose sight of that, we lose our manner a bit.
“The last time against the Bulldogs, we got smashed in the contest, and they destroyed us with their balance and their ability to flick the ball around.”
Fremantle’s finals hopes appeared in jeopardy after post-bye defeats to Richmond and GWS earlier this month.
The 70-point loss to GWS, by which Fremantle have been hopelessly outclassed within the clearances and contested possessions, set off big alarm bells.
But Fremantle returned to their ball-winning methods towards Essendon on Saturday night time, scoring eight objectives from stoppages on the way in which to a 32-point win.
“We watched some pretty average footage against GWS,” Young stated.
“Our team D (defence) and team contest wasn’t our brand, and it was a bit of a wake-up call.
“I believed the primary 5 minutes towards Essendon we did not do it effectively, they went end-to-end and we have been like, ‘Oh no, right here we go’.
“But the ability to turn that around and get back to playing our footy and not be shocked by an average first five minutes of the game was really important.
“We have been in a position to play the subsequent three-and-a-half quarters of actually good linked footy.”
Fremantle sit eleventh on the ladder with a 7-7 document, whereas the Bulldogs (8-6) are seventh.
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
