After The Game With Snaps Truly - Rd 17 2026 V Greater Western Sydney

The prospect: The inconsistent but talented GWS Giants in Canberra. To be watched presumably from the couch, mid morning on Saturday in South Fremantle.

Not exactly a heart racing proposition.

No, I rather fancied something more immersive today. Maybe some gonzo journalism. Some fear and loathing in Fremantle and to quote Hunter S, the promise of ‘madness in any direction, at any hour.’

And so I headed to a much talked about Fremantle hostelry that has earned a dangerous reputation recently as the place Freo fans go to be whipped into a frothing frenzy. I wondered if it would require me to take large amounts of drugs or get kidnapped or fire an elephant gun.

The place was already packed by the time I arrived. Bookings essential these days. I stood in the TAB area and watched race three at Murray Bridge get underway while Rick Astley vowed not to give you up or let you down or run around and desert you.

Chase the Ace was up to 3100 dollars and at table 37 a thirsty collection of seniors had all but emptied their first jug of Swanny D.

I was momentarily distracted by the poster boasting of ‘The Best Sunday Roast in Town’ and among its juicy deliciousness was the strangely specific promise that your plate would arrive ‘featuring 12 items.’

I wondered if people counted. And what would happen if the caramelised pumpkin was missing or, worse still, the confit of garlic.

There could be a bloodbath.

Anyway, off in the distance a motorcycle engine roared and the siren sounded and …

Oh look, I can’t really be bothered to be honest.

There was nothing going on here. Truth was, they were just a big group of friendly people about to have a mildly disappointing few hours watching Freo’s fourteen win streak finally come to an end.

I walked out at the very moment Jake Stringer kicked the first of many. And I went home. And I sat on the couch and pretended none of it really mattered.

Because it doesn’t.

Not yet.

Maybe not at all.

GWS has had a pretty horrid season so far, cruelled by injury and a failure to fire. Today Adam Kingsley finally got them humming and they were simply too fast for a Freo side that frankly lacked intent. Karl Worner was the one very clear exception. He played the best game of his fast improving career.

The Package rarely is, but today he absolutely was and his seven goals was match winning. The other star turn came from that nasty little urchin Toby Greene, who yes we all hate and yes who surely as a child pulled the wings of flies just for something to do, but today he played a blinder.

I won’t take you through the game goal by goal, because frankly I didn’t watch it that closely. I just sensed the vibe was off. Sure there was a period late in the first quarter where Freo rattled on four goals in quick succession to take the lead but let’s be honest, GWS held it for the other 117 minutes and three seconds of the match.

No-one wants to hear about that.

It didn’t help that future Brownlow Medallist Hayden Young suffered a groin injury and didn’t return for the final quarter. We hope he’s back in action soon or we will be crying into our own soft tissues.

Of more interest to me, after the final siren sounded and the home team had run out 21 point winners, was how you would respond to only our second defeat of the season.

What impact might this defeat have on you attitudinally?

Well I scoured social media in the hours after and apart from a few West Coast Eagles numpties gurgling with delight from the drip tray of despair in which they soak these days, the mood seemed pretty good.

Oh sure there was the usual calls to get rid of Darcy and reinstate Cox for next week and I imagine someone auto posted something about Will Brody needing to come in even though he now doesn’t even play for Port Adelaide … but no, you lot seem pretty sanguine about it.

Donald reckoned that ‘Freo needed a loss.’ Alysha declared ‘We can’t win them all.’ And Kim suggested ‘They’ll learn from this.’

And they will or should.

Given our dominant top of the table position, for the next few days at least, we fans do indeed have the luxury of saying things like ‘Better now than in September’ or ‘It wasn’t realistic to think we could just keep winning.’

All of which will keep us comfortably reassured until next Thursday when the top of the table clash with Sydney may indeed bring reality into sharper focus.

But for now. No shame in a rare defeat.

So with thanks to Hunter S.

‘Let us toast to animal pleasures, to escapism, to rain on the roof and instant coffee, to unemployment insurance and library cards, to absinthe and good-hearted landlords, to music and warm bodies and contraceptives… and to the good life, whatever it is and wherever it happens to be.’

Yours truly,

Snaps Truly.

*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 2026 season.

~ You’ll find more Snaps Truly right here.

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