After The Game With Snaps Truly - Second Preliminary Final 2026 v Sydney

I avoided just about all the talk in the build up. And then on Thursday night I couldn’t help meself. There he was, that big spud with raisins for eyes, David King, staring down the camera like the tinpot dictator of Idiotland, declaring …

‘This would be one of the great fumbles of all time if Freo don’t get this right.’

When did he forget this is sport? Or that the result could be determined by a wayward bounce of the ball or a sudden gust of wind. Luck. Chance. Possibility.

Isn’t that why we love it?

I decided to watch the Prelim at The Local. Used to be the Seaview and was once owned by Pav and Paul Hasleby. Had a bit of a reputation before they took it over. A hard pub filled with blokes you wouldn’t want your daughter to marry.

I used to sell a bit of octopus in there back in the lean years, tucked inside an old woollen army coat so as not to arouse any interest from management. The pong was a bit of a give away I spose, but maybe that’s a story for another day.

Me and Mrs Truly were there early, and so were Freo at the bounce. Just like last week.

Only it was Erasmus who popped up as the unlikely first goalkicker. It was a beauty, hoisted high into the night sky from a tight angle in the right forward pocket. Did you see in the news that South Africans are the ones most likely to vote One Nation? Not this kid I reckon.

Treacy marked and delivered to Dogga, who put one over Grundy early and then over the umpire’s hat. Freo appeared to be up for the contest.

And what a challenge it would be. Fair play to Sydney. Putting aside the pot of stink that little band of miscreants placed the club in, their teammates had shown brilliant character in thrashing Brisbane and they continued it in front of their home fans tonight.

Precise use of the footy. Incredible tackling pressure and a defensive wall the Spud called ‘inpenetrable.’ He was right for a change.

The home side responded immediately to the Freo fast start. A nice effort on his left from Campbell and then a Papley snap. You know what I think of him. Bloody annoying. A bit like Ballantyne used to be, all ‘Yap yap yap’. Drive ya nuts. But that’s why he’s so dangerous and that’s why you wish he was on your team.

A Dudley goal was overturned after Amiss pushed Hamling out of the contest and, frankly, Freo looked a bit overwhelmed.

Sydney had kicked four in a row and were 16 points to the good at the break.

It didn’t get much better. While The Dockers misfired through Amiss and Freddy, down the other end Logan McDonald won a free in the square to kick his second.

Fortunately, Freddy won the argument over the fairness of a ‘Don’t argue’ and his goal calmed the nerves a little, but Sydney were 19 points up at the long break and seemingly in control.

Remember the last time they met? Similar story on the scoreboard but Freo then kicked fifteen goals to nothing in the second half. Couldn’t see it happening tonight. The big blokes were having little influence. No, less than that. Dogga was taunting Grundy and coming off second best and the boys just looked to be succumbing to Sydney’s superior pressure.

But Freo began brightly in the third.

Jye kicked a sensational opener. Brought to the ground in a tackle, the ball bobbed into his lap and his snap on the left was a beauty.

Papley limped off injured. Dogga marked a rare panicked dump kick and kicked the goal and in a blink, the margin was back to 9.

The pub began to rumble and roar, but was immediately silenced when Young, Clark and Chappie collectively turned the ball over and Sydney scored again.

McDonald kicked his third, and the lead was back out to 21 points.

Was that it? Were we done?

It looked like it when Charlie Curnow crashed the pack and goaled. Sydney 27 points up now.

All I could do was stare at the big screen, feel the collective weight of the disappointment around me, ignore the beer turning warm and sour and just let my pen hover over my notebook. Freo and I were, it seemed, out of ideas.

I then wrote …

‘Brodie Grundy has Jug ears.’

And laughed for the first time in an hour.

And then it happened. The moment that turned the match.

And it was all thanks to 2027 Brownlow Medallist Hayden Young, who took a strong contested mark against two defenders, tight on the boundary line.

The siren sounded. He then trotted in and kicked what will surely be remembered as one of Freo’s greatest ever goals. It was a brilliant booming, momentum seizing moment he would later shrug off as a fluke.

Nah.

He’s that good this kid.

The margin cut to 21.

And so …

Into the final quarter and with their season and reputation very much on the line, Freo did what they have done all year. They got to work. They found a way.

Brayshaw and Serong were irresistible, winning the ball out of the middle through sheer will. Bolton, as he always does, when it matters most, then won a free kick and unloaded superbly. The chants began all around me.

Young, buzzing with possibility now, threaded the ball to the barely sighted Voss, who charged in, fended off and screwed home another. Freo had three in a row and were just 9 points behind.

Sydney had stopped. They looked exhausted. Having run on so much emotion in the last few weeks, they were now running on fumes. Treacy and Voss suddenly loomed large.

When Mason Cox took a strong mark and wobbled home the kick, Freo had reclaimed the lead.

And just like last week, it never really looked as though they would give it up.The Swans could not hold onto the footy or win it back. Freo surged inside fifty again and again. Dudley missed what might have been the sealer, but then grabbed a Murphy Reid handball and absolutely guaranteed it.

His grin lit up the world.

Freo were winners by 12 points and into their second ever Grand Final.

The pub was fair roaring now. Strangers hugging. Blokes shouting nonsense into the ears of other blokes shouting nonsense. I was shaking so hard there was no point trying to find the words, so I just looked over the table at Mrs Truly, who as you’ve probably guessed by now, is and has always been my place of safe harbour and saw that her grin was even bigger than Dudley’s.

Dear readers, we still have one more game to play.

One more game for Switta.

A first premiership to win.

And a great weight to be lifted.

Anchors away.

Heave Bloody Ho.

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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