Much has been made of Fremantle’s coup in appointing Ross Lyon as coach in September 2011 but in reality, it was some tough decisions at the end of 2008 that were every bit as significant in shaping the club's recent success.
That’s the view of the Dockers’ football operations manager Chris Bond who has been on hand to see the sunshine at the end of a cloudy spell for the club.2008 was a disastrous year on the field for the Dockers as they won just six games under new coach Mark Harvey.
It led to an administration upheaval.
Steve Rosich was appointed as Fremantle's chief executive to replace Cameron Schwab, who had held the position for six seasons.
Bond, a former Dockers captain, was promoted to head of football operations and Brad Lloyd was appointed head of player management.
Jason Weber was also a significant inclusion to the football department as sports science manager.
Thus began the operation to build the team that will run out on the MCG in Fremantle's first-ever Grand Final this Saturday.
"2008 was significant," Bond said. “There certainly was a big change to our list.”
"There's no doubt Ross has had an enormous impact on our footy club recently but it also been the list management (as well), it has been the appointments of head of fitness, the development academy, and the leadership from the board and CEO."
The Dockers made 14 list changes at the end of 2008. Veterans Peter Bell, Heath Black, Matthew Carr, Jeff Farmer, Mark Johnson, Shaun McManus and Luke Webster all retired.
Robert Warnock was traded to Carlton. Josh Carr and rookies Ryley Dunn, Calib Mourish and Chris Smith were all delisted.
The men they drafted that year, either in the national draft or through the rookie draft, were Stephen Hill, Hayden Ballantyne, Nick Suban. Zac Clarke, Matt de Boer and Clancee Pearce.
The Dockers have subsequently picked up Nat Fyfe, Michael Barlow, Alex Silvagni, Tendai Mzungu, Lachie Neale, Zac Dawson, Cameron Sutcliffe, Lee Spurr and Danyle Pearce.
"Back in 2008 there was certainly a list management strategy that was ticked off by everybody," Bond said.
"We had a very strong strategic plan in regards to our list management and we followed that.
"There's no doubt the philosophy has been to recruit players, get them in, get them to a level of fitness, and then teach them a clear and succinct game plan to make sure that we're successful.
"I think the personnel that we've got in, their work rate, their competitiveness, the way they've gone about it and the way they’ve been led by key staff has given us a chance to be successful."
