FREMANTLE’S win over the Western Bulldogs was a weird game where the ground was wet even though the roof was shut.
The Dockers had less possessions, far less inside-50s, only picked up four free kicks and were also beaten in the clearances, but eventually had a regulation 38-point win over the Bulldogs on Sunday at Etihad Stadium.
Fremantle coach Ross Lyon was pleased with the 13.11 (89) to 6.15 (51) win, saying they knew it would be a dour scrap against the fiercely-competitive Bulldogs.
But Lyon was scratching his head over the use of the retractable stadium roof, saying it was open until the morning of the game despite persistent overnight rain.
"It just made it a difficult day," Lyon said.
"It's such a hard surface, it gets really greasy.
"At the end of the day, we still used the ball pretty well.
"It just made it a bit more 'scrimmagy' than it needed to be.
Lyon was clearly unimpressed, saying the use of the roof is "fluid" and "inconsistent".
"I don't know, I would have though it was shut overnight," he added.
Stadium spokesman Bill Lane said the roof was closed around 9am.
"We felt, given the mid-afternoon start, that was sufficient time for the ground to be in appropriate condition," Lane said.
"We were of the view that the ground played well."
The Dockers played their usual way, suffocating the Bulldogs forwards and then swarming down the other end.
The Dogs won the inside-50s count 67-41, but they could never put enough pressure on Fremantle.
They reduced the margin to three goals at three-quarter time before the Dockers killed off the contest with four goals to one.
Asked about the inside-50s disparity, Lyon noted: "there are entries and there are entries."
Too many of the Bulldogs' entries were picked off too easily.
Apart from their manic defence, the other feature of Fremantle's win was their relentless gut-running.
No-one exemplified this better than midfielder Stephen Hill, who was best afield with four goals, and ruckman Zac Clarke.
Tagger Ryan Crowley also impressed with his shut-down role on Bulldogs captain Ryan Griffen.
"It was a unique game of footy, but we'll certainly take it," Lyon said.
"When the game was up for grabs in the last quarter, we did what we needed to do - I thought we were quite dominant and took control."
For the Dogs, Mitch Wallis was superb on Nathan Fyfe and Tom Liberatore had a game-high nine clearances.
"I was pretty proud of their efforts today, I don't mind saying that," said Dogs coach Brendan McCartney.
"If we keep applying that effort, play with a little more thought and belief at crucial times, we'll be pretty competitive and play some good football."
Bulldogs midfielder Matthew Boyd was a late withdrawal with a tight calf.
Dockers forward Hayden Ballantyne, who kicked three goals, will come under video scrutiny after appearing to trip Shaun Higgins by hand.
It was a good fight at Etihad on Sunday but the Bulldogs failed to take their chances. Picture: AFL Media
WESTERN BULLDOGS 1.4 2.8 5.12 6.15 (51)
FREMANTLE 4.2 8.3 9.6 13.11 (89)
GOALS
Western Bulldogs: Stevens 2, Williams, Crameri, Hrovat, Dahlhaus
Fremantle: Hill 4, Ballantyne 3, Pavlich 2, Suban, Duffield, Crowley, Sandilands
BEST
Western Bulldogs: Murphy, Liberatore, Wallis, Minson, Higgins, Macrae, Cooney
Fremantle: Hill, Crowley, Barlow, Ballantyne, Clarke, Duffield, McParlin, Sandilands
INJURIES
Western Bulldogs: Matthew Boyd (tight hamstring) replaced in selected side by Christian Howard,
Fremantle: Nil
SUBSTITUTES
Western Bulldogs: Fletcher Roberts replaced by Daniel Giansiracusa in the third quarter
Fremantle: Tom Sheridan replaced by Garrick Ibbotson in the third quarter
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Chamberlain, Pannell, Mitchell
Official crowd: 14,913 at Etihad Stadium
