By Steve Larkin
Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir reckons it was a triumph for ticker over tactics.
“We probably held on not through system and method, we held on through desperation,” he said after a gritty two-point away win over Adelaide on Friday night.
The Dockers banked a third win from four games in a thriller that Longmuir said evidenced a growing maturity at his club.
Freo were cruising at Adelaide Oval by 34 points some 10 minutes into the third quarter.
But the Crows booted seven consecutive goals to take a seven-point lead midway through the last quarter.
The Dockers responded with the last two goals of the game for an 11.12 (78) to 11.10 (76) win, learning their lesson from a 10-point defeat in Geelong in round one.
“We had a similar situation – an opposition team coming at us, crowd getting involved in the game – and I just thought we played really safe against Geelong,” Longmuir said.
“There were opportunities to really drive the game but we just played too safe and it just plays into the opposition’s hands.
“So I thought we were better at it (against Adelaide).
“It’s not a finished product … but we had some moments were we could have just succumbed and kicked it long but we actually really drove and the game opened up for us.
“It was a step forward in that sense.”
Longmuir said his club’s stellar start of the season was a confidence-booster.
“You try and look for improvements over the off-season, you go to work on a few of those things,” he said.
“And it’s good to get some reward early in the season.
“It gives players confidence that what you have been working on is coming to fruition.
“Players are really clear that we have got some things to work on in our game in terms of consistency.
“But there’s a real strong belief in what we do. And when we get it right, when we get the game on our terms, we’re pretty hard to stop.”
Meanwhile, Carlton coach Michael Voss faces another week under an intense blowtorch as he desperately searches for solutions to the horror run of second-half meltdowns that continue to haunt his AFL side.
In an extension of their torturous start to the season, the Blues coughed up another significant lead as they surrendered the last five goals in a stunning 14.12 (96) to 13.8 (86) loss to North Melbourne on Friday at Marvel Stadium.
Carlton kicked five goals to two in the third term and were up by 21 points at the 14-minute mark of the final quarter, but lacked the composure required to complete the job.
Making matters worse, vice-captain Jacob Weitering was forced off with concussion after an accidental knee to his head early in the final term and will be sidelined for at least one match.
The heat will continue on Voss, who was backed last August to see out at least the final year of his contract in 2026 and has now presided over a 1-3 start to the campaign.
But the 50-year-old wasn’t interested in post-match questions about his coaching future.
“I’m sure people will have that conversation and they can go for it,” he said.
It was the ninth time since the start of last season that Carlton have lost after leading at halftime and came just five days after they wasted a 43-point advantage in a huge flame-out against Melbourne.
“It’s a really hard one to take because six or seven minutes out from the finish you’re still feeling like you’re in a really good position in the game,” Voss said.
The beleaguered coach did not sense his players struggling mentally against North’s final-quarter surge and denied they went into their shell trying to defend a lead.
“I guess if we were starved of opportunity I’d be sitting here in some level of agreeance with you, but I didn’t feel like that’s the way it played out,” Voss said.
“If anything, some moments of composure would’ve helped us to be able to take the sting out of the game or just be able to find where those moments are when the crowd’s going crazy and you have to finish the game.
“There’s lots of gains to be made but the scoreboard says we lost, so there’s a clear level of improvement we need to make.”
North hit the front in a scrappy affair when Harry Sheezel floated through a goal at the 29-minute mark of the last quarter, but weren’t home until Jy Simpkin ran into an open goal with 30 seconds left to play.
It was their second win in nine attempts in their Good Friday marquee fixture, this time in front of 45,919 fans, and marked their best start to a season under coach Alastair Clarkson (3-1).
Sheezel (24 disposals), Luke Davies-Uniacke (22), Finn O’Sullivan (21), George Wardlaw (16) and Luke Parker (20) were all influential for the Kangaroos, with Zane Duursma and Cooper Trembath kicking three goals each.
“It’s so exciting for our group,” Clarkson said.
“We haven’t had a hell of a lot of victories over the last three or four years, or perhaps longer than that, and certainly not inspirational, come-from-behind ones like that.
“We knew Carlton’s best is capable of challenging all sides in the competition and we needed to prepare for their best, and that’s what we did.
“We didn’t worry about anything to do with the narrative out there that was talking about why they’d fallen away in the back half of games.”
George Hewett (22 disposals), Patrick Cripps (21), Elijah Hollands (18) and ruckman Marc Pittonet fought hard for Carlton, while Brodie Kemp kicked three goals.