Analysis: The moments which defined Fremantle’s elimination final loss to Gold Coast

After being behind by 25 points at half-time, Fremantle outscored the Suns 7.5 (47) to 3.5 (23) in the second half and looked on track to win its first final since 2022.

But then the unthinkable happened.

A series of unfortunate events, including some superb individual efforts from Mac Andrew and David Swallow, swung momentum back in favour of the Suns.

After going 1-7 in games decided by less than 12 points since the start of 2024, Fremantle turned the tide after a shock 10-point loss to Melbourne in round six and were 5-1 in thrillers after that, drawing comparisons to Collingwood.

Instead, against a side that had never played a final before, Fremantle botched the dying minutes.

“It’s devastating,” coach Justin Longmuir said post-game. “We were in front with three minutes to go.

“I don’t think it was structure or not executing, it’s you lose two contests, and then (Brennan) Cox goes to lay a good tackle, and the ball gets knocked out, and he holds on too long.

“We’re not that far off either, and it’s disappointing because it felt like we had a lot more to give in this season.”

Here are the late moments that the Dockers will rue after Jackson’s goal.

3:21 remaining:Lockdown mode

Did Fremantle go too defensive too early? There was still only a kick in it at this point and the game was still there to be won. More than three minutes is a long time to hang on. The ball goes back to the middle after after Luke Jackson puts Fremantle ahead. It’s Young, Andrew Brayshaw, Caleb Serong and Sean Darcy up against Matt Rowell, Noah Anderson, Alex Davies and Jarrod Witts. When the ball goes up, Brayshaw and Rowell and Davies and Young tangle up. It leaves Serong and Anderson, the pair sitting off each other, on the fat side of the circle.

Both rucks clearly want to get it down to tap it into the path of their teammate in space and on the move. But they end up neutralising each other. Witts wins the hitout but palms it straight to Serong who’s quickly wrapped up. As the secondary stoppage unfolds, Michael Frederick leaves Fremantle’s attacking 50 and sits on the defensive side of the stoppage as a sweeper. The Dockers also send Josh Treacy back as a spare behind the ball, a lever they’ve pulled several times late in games this year. The two Fremantle spares give the Suns an extra around the ball at the third stoppage in quick succession. It also means that Uwland is without an opponent on the other side of the stoppage. Mac Andrew remains in the backline.

2:46 remaining: Not manning up at stoppage

A big Shai Bolton tackle on Will Powell forces a stoppage inside 50. The Suns have two free players, Davies and Daniel Rioli, around the contest, while Serong and Anderson are again sitting off each other. While this is unfolding, Andrew slides forward to match up on Treacy. Davies, one of the free Suns, collects the footy from the tap down and pops a kick central into the path of Touk Miller.

It’s less than 15m, so not paid, but Miller takes grass and drives it long to the edge of the 50. Brennan Cox takes an intercept mark. This allows the Suns to get set-up behind the ball, the direct result of Fremantle not manning up quick enough and allowing Davies to clear the ball.

2:23 remaining: Not hugging the boundary line exiting defensive 50

With Andrew now equalising Treacy, Cox is forced to kick wide to Luke Ryan, who takes an uncontested mark. The Suns are already set up behind the ball and Ryan chips it laterally to Treacy.

With nowhere to go, Treacy kicks back to Ryan and Swallow presses up, forcing a long kick down the line. Ryan kicks towards the numbers but should’ve gone wider to the boundary in a bid to force the footy out of bounds and play for repeat stoppages. Instead, Uwland takes a towering mark on Voss. He plays on and drives it deep.

1:56 remaining: Letting Andrew do as he pleases

Gold Coast has adopted a ‘bucket’ style forward 50 structure with a big hole for Andrew to lead into. Frederick is still spare on the defensive side of the contest, but with Treacy now accounted for in defence, he needed to sit far deeper. By the time Uwland kicked, he was just outside 50 and there was no chance the Suns were going to try and pick off a short one, leaving Frederick in no man’s land.

Ryan attempts to come in and crash the contest but isn’t physical enough. Treacy, while he has taken a few late intercept marks in defence this year, doesn’t put any body on Andrew and lets him run freely to the drop of the ball. It’s poor defence from a number of Dockers and Andrew levels the scores.

1:12 remaining: The final clearance and free kick against Cox

The ball goes back to the middle and Gold Coast looks like it’s on the verge of a 6-6-6 violation. Damien Hardwick appears to be trying to get Mac Andrew back behind the ball, but he stays forward and the Suns adjust. It’s one-on-ones in the centre circle. But Fremantle’s lack of big-bodied midfielders has been an issue all season and it’s Rowell 180cm), Anderson (192cm) and Davies (191cm) up against Brayshaw (185cm), Serong (180cm) and Young (189cm).

If Fremantle had its time again, should retiring great Nat Fyfe (190cm) been the man to steady the ship and force another stoppage? Or Neil Erasmus? Serong and Brayshaw are blocked out of it but their opponents Davies and Rowell respectively. And guess which pair of Suns combine to win the clearance? The bounce of the footy favours Jarrod Witts and he drops it at his feet. Young dives on it and tries to lock it up, but Davies rips the footy away and feeds it out to Rowell, who’s sitting free as sweeper. It’s a lack of ball security from Fremantle. He tumbles it forward and bodies are flying everywhere. Swallow runs onto the footy, but it slips through his fingers and Cox tackles him without it.

The rest is history.

A point is a better result for Gold Coast than a goal, leaving Fremantle with just nine seconds to go coast-to-coast.