Tex Walker Finishes Freo



The Fremantle fairytale is over. Given the lengths to which they pushed the Adelaide Crows last night fans will be expecting a repeat showing next year but can the Dockers back up? The element of surprise will be gone but they have finally adapted to Ross Lyon’s defensive lockdown game plan, they have a hard edged ruthlessness that was missing in previous sides, and they have a youthful squad who will be all the better for the experience so there is no reason why not. After lasts weeks win, probably the greatest finals nod in their history, they won’t be able to help thinking that last night was the one that got away.


The Crows contained Pavlich well. Had he had the chance to break free it may have been a different story.

The Dockers came into the match with a tried and tested game plan and they went out hard from the first bounce with Chris Mane bagging two goals in the first two minutes. While never as dominate as the previous week, the Dockers looked dangerous and it looked like, for the first time in 15 years, the number two seed coming into the finals was going to be bounced out in strait sets. Thanks to strong contributions from Mayne and Michael Walters, The Dockers held a 13 point lead at half time but it was a Taylor Walker and the Crows from there. They did rally back and reclaim the lead in the fourth briefly but it wasn’t enough to turn the tide.


Walker willing his 5th to come around.

Taylor Walker was unstoppable in the second half. The Swans had unsettled him the previous week and made him run a bit more than he would have liked but against the Dockers, Walker overcame some first half sloppiness to wrestle game away from the Dockers finish the game with 5 majors. The battered Adelaide Crows backed up well. While they were still in the contest up into the last quarter against the Swans, they’d been kept at arms length for the entire match, which made the loss appear more emphatic than it probably was. Last night, they dusted themselves off and fought back from a similar position and head into next week’s preliminary final against the Hawks with confidence boost, which will help. With a softer run into the finals, The Crows needed some tough games under their belt. They’re out of the way and now they’ll have to lift again because Hawthorn are at the top of their game.

Images by Ryan Pierse at Getty Images

More Stuff From PEDESTRIAN.TV