There’s so much about him that compares favourably with, say, a 2007-era Lance Franklin. And yet he kicked four goals from six shots at goal. He didn’t clunk the ball like he usually does, his leading wasn’t always spot on, and he was up against the best defence going around. Griffin Logue copped some criticism, particularly from Fox Footy’s Jonathan Brown, for not sticking close enough to him, but to my eye he didn’t do a whole lot wrong. Up forward, Charlie Curnow is one of those rare talents that can still kick four goals from, for all intents and purposes, a quiet day. Zooming from the back of a stoppage, trusting his teammates to win it and then breaking away has become a trait of Fisher’s, and with 29 disposals, this was his most complete performance yet.
Walsh aside, none of the inside bulls possess genuine leg speed, which Fisher does in abundance. Even the dual Brownlow Medallist simply couldn’t get near him.Īn underrated trick of Michael Voss’ this year has been the insertion of Zac Fisher around the ball whenever the Blues need a spark. But even when the great Fyfe was sent to directly quell Walsh’s influence after half time – a greater compliment surely can’t be paid – it had no impact. No Docker had a hope of running with him around the ground, and Justin Longmuir had seemingly made his bed with the close checking of Cripps.
Even if he can’t, another ten years of exactly this makes him an undisputed modern great. If he can take it to another level – perhaps having more of a scoreboard impact is his last hurdle – then he’ll be an all-timer by the time he finishes. Not since Chris Judd, a very different player in a very different era, has a midfielder been this dominant this early in his career. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images) He’d still manage eight clearances, but lacked his usual brute strength in tight. It didn’t matter one iota that Patrick Cripps was, by and large, restricted by a tag team of Caleb Serong and Will Brodie. Yet again – if you don’t have the ball, you don’t have control.Įven more impressive for the Blues is the plethora of options they have as part of their midfield rotation. This time, though, the Blues were able to shut down any of Freo’s usually damaging rebound from defence – just 82 marks on Saturday is substantially lower than the 111 they managed at Optus Stadium two months ago. When these two teams met in Round 6, the Dockers broke even at the coalface, with the Blues only shading the clearance count 36-33, and able to dominate the inside 50 count 38-56 as a result.
? MATCH CENTRE: /jVYc1hnWER- Fox Footy June 25, 2022 ? Watch #AFLBluesFreo on Ch.504 or stream on KAYO: Not even Freo’s miserly defence is built to cope with that weight of chances. With the Blues as aggressive as any team in the game in moving forward with the ball in their keeping, that meant a staggering 62-39 inside 50 differential. 41 clearances to 30 is actually better than it felt, with the margin 13-5 from the centre bounce. The Blues didn’t just have control at the contest – they ripped the game to shreds from the source. Control territory, and provided your defence isn’t wafer-thin (hello, Western Bulldogs and Essendon) and your forwards competitive (hello, Port Adelaide), you’ll win more often than not. Under the roof, they were glorified witches hats.Ĭontrol the stoppages in modern footy, and you control territory. The Dockers’ midfield, while not normally a major strength, has been solid as a rock, and good enough to conquer the Demons’ famous on-ball brigade. The Blues’ performance in the midfield against Fremantle was surely the most dominant of an already outstanding season. But get to that last Saturday in September at the MCG – and that’s still a massive if – and the Blues have the weapons that spell trouble for the reigning premiers. That doesn’t mean that they should be higher up in terms of flag favouritism: the Blues have chinks in their armour that can be exposed by another team, on another day.
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