After The Game v Collingwood, Rd 11 2024 - With Snaps Truly

A Friday night extravaganza and we start as favourites apparently. Ninth placed Walyalup against the fifth placed and reigning premiers Collingwood.

Really?

I despise betting agencies and the ease with which they insinuate themselves into our great game. Those dumb shouty ads that suggest we are only real fans if we risk our wages on Fyfie bagging the first goal or Sonny getting a free kick.

I love them both, but wouldn’t bet on either scenario occurring, perhaps ever again.

So, favourites, eh? I can’t remember when we last beat Collingwood at Optus. OK. I just checked. It was nearly four years ago.

That night, Dave Mundy put the game beyond doubt on the siren, and we ran out twelve-point winners on the back of some incredibly accurate goal kicking. We kicked 10.1 to 7.7.
10 goals one point.

Fingers crossed Nev Amiss finds his bearings again. Fingers crossed his new nickname is not Something’s.

I’ll let that sit.

Frankly, we got off to an exquisite start.

I don’t think I’ve ever written that sentence before. So let me write it again.

Frankly, we got off to an exquisite start.

Winning the midfield battle, moving the ball quickly by hand and foot and with Alex Pearce marking everything that came his way.

The opening goal from Josh Treacy was a peach. Hard up against the boundary, he drilled it home from a long way out. Amiss soon got his chance – but he kicked it out on the full.

Collingwood replied and then Amiss, this time marking strongly on the lead, had another crack. He kicked a point.

Might be time to get rid of nicknames altogether.

A Jeremy Sharp soccered goal was reward for effort and when Andy Brayshaw steadied on the run, we were out to a handy little lead.

Daicos closed it up and then just before the siren, a ludicrous free kick off the ball – I write this column so I can say anything I want – saw Aish forced to hand it over and the Pies took the lead.

It was a hard tackling affair in the second. Gruelling. And we were fifteen minutes in before Remember The Name Banfield did what he is getting used to doing, he goaled.

Switkowski banged through another and then a sensational O’Meara snap sent us clear. Three goals to none for the quarter and Freo were playing with excellent discipline and intent.

Were we favourites to win from here?

Well no. It went a bit awry in the third to be honest. Collingwood started to apply more pressure and our handball game began to look vulnerable.

Brody Mihocek kicked the first two goals of the term and then some kid called Harvey Harrison – which is not really a footballer’s name – kicked another to take back the lead.

And from there we became static and trapped in our backline.

I should let you know if you did put a bet on Fyfie to kick the first goal you would have done your money, although Sonny very nearly got a free kick fifteen minutes into the third.

But didn’t.

As the Pies dashed away to a five goal to zip advantage, we looked a little overwhelmed.
And as ungracious as it will always sound, two of our finest ever players, looked as if the game had finally caught up and gone past them.

Into the last and the heaving crowd of more than 54 thousand roared their teams on. The Pies lead had blown out to 25 points and the game looked to be theirs.

Special mention to Jordan Clark who refused to accept what seemed likely. His run-down tackles, his brilliant closing speed to send the ball to the boundary, his willingness to take the game on, was fantastic.

I was not expecting Remember The Name to pop up and give us half a chance.

Or kick another goal shortly after and give us five eighths of a chance.

Nor did I expect Sean Darcy to be awarded a free kick in front of goal because the Collingwood player handed the ball to a teammate instead of the umpire.

The boos were furious. It was delightful.

Nor did I expect Hayden Young to bang on the next goal and bugger me, did any of us expect Alex Pearce to drift down in the last couple of minutes and take a mark and then put us within a point?

In a splendid gesture of his splendid nature, he declared the goal belonged to his great friend Cam McCarthy.

The space around me was filled with whispers. Thousands of us desperate to do a deal with the Devil or anyone who could get us a draw.

“I’ll take the draw, please I’ll take the draw.”

“I will too,” said someone else.

“Me too,” said another.

“I’ll sell my first-born grandchild,” said another.

And we all agreed that was a good deal.

If only we could get the ball forward.

And forward it came and Jeremy Sharp, who’d played another great game, straightened up on the angle and got his kick away.

It was a nice kick.

It was a point.

The scores were level.

The siren sounded.

Freo didn’t win, but it was still bloody magnificent. And it is churlish and small minded of me to observe it was also bloody magnificent to see Collingwood’s players and fans slump in disbelief and a small amount of outrage over the Darcy free kick.

What were the odds on this match finishing in a draw?

By our multi-talented and amazingly insightful footy scribe, SNAPS TRULY. Snaps has seen and done it all. He may or may not have been a fringe player at Fremantle. Don’t miss Snaps’ report after each Freo Dockers match here on the Shipping News throughout the 2024 season. Here are Snaps’ other 2024 season reports.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

* If you’d like to COMMENT on this or any of our stories, don’t hesitate to email our Editor.

** WHILE YOU’RE HERE –