After The Game With Snaps Truly - Rd 22 2016 V Melbourne

Hello readers.

Firstly, apologies for missing the Bulldogs game. It was Mrs Truly who insisted that I be ‘managed.’ We’ve got a big month ahead and she knows how I get.

Jumpy.

Flighty as a filly.

And truth is, I come out in a bit of an eczema rash when I’m wound up this tight. I’ll show it to you next time, if you’re interested.

So instead of being at Optus we decided to have a quiet night in. She turned the lights down low, invited Mr Perry Como over for a Vermouth and a packet of Savoury Shapes and we enjoyed a bit of a soft shoe shuffle and then some Call the Midwife on Britbox.

Magic Moments indeed.

It was a good idea to step back. A distraction. A circuit breaker.

And you might want to consider that too.

There’s plenty of time yet for Freo fans to get all giddy with hope. Plenty of time too for panic to set in and disaster to strike.

Anyway, we need to be ready for the games that really matter – not Round 22 against Melbourne on their home deck, where they have everything to play for and we don’t.

We’ve got two home finals in the bag. What was there to be gained today?

Apart from a win. And the guarantee of top spot.

Doesn’t matter. It was a good old fashioned shoot out and to their credit, the Demons were the ones with a few bullets left in the chamber. They finished us off with four of the last five goals.

True, we led by 15 points at one stage in the final term, but special mention to Harrison Petty, the kid who seems to draw bullies like flies.

The last time we played, Pat Voss got into trouble for tousling his hair. This time Harrison gave himself a comedic rub of the noggin after kicking his first goal and two others late in the game proved crucial. Well played.

Freo’s Three Pillars were effective again today. Five goals to Jye took him past 50 for the season, two to Josh who joined him with a half century of his own, and The Prancing Pony continued his excellent run of form at the G with four.

But today it just wasn’t enough to win us the game.

Unfortunately Melbourne had an equal appetite for playing some excellent freewheeling footy and when Max Gawn and Kozzy Pickett give and get first use of it, the Dees are very hard to stop.

Twenty one goals kicked to half time. Freo three points up at the long break.

The Dockers looked to have the better of much of the second half, but I think they realy missed Alex Pearce,

Like me, Moose was being ‘managed’ – I don’t think it was eczema related but I’ll ask – and in his absence, our back six lacked composure and made lots of mistakes.

I was ready to hack away at my raw rashy bits with a garden rake when the old stager Mason Cox casually kicked across goal into the arms of Bailey Laurie, who waltzed in to punish the error.

But careless Coxy was not alone.

After the game JL expressed his disappointment. ‘Average behind the ball and poor at ground level all day.’

Freo finally coughed up that narrow lead in the dying minutes and were unable to win it back.

Melbourne four point winners and playing exuberant confident footy.

What could you say about us? Our set shot kicking was terrific.

The Dockers have Adelaide at home next week. The coach reckoned there were several players down on form and it showed on the stat sheet. Even Murphy Reid found life pretty difficult under a hard tag.

So presumably, there’s room for improvement. And the opportunity of.

And I also have to offer Matty Johnson an apology. He played a blinder a couple of weeks back and I forgot to even mention his name. And he was among Freo’s best today even if his best went missing in those last crucial minutes.

Nothing to worry about Freo fans.

Indeed, at the risk of offering too much information, I’ve just applied a soothing balm of lanolin to the affected areas, and me and Mrs Truly have invited Perry back to the turntable.

And remember …

‘Don’t let the stars get in your eyes, don’t let the moon break your heart …”

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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