Melbourne put fork in Fremantle Dockers’ hopes of sewing up minor premiership with four-point win at MCG

Fremantle’s dream of sewing up the minor premiership at the MCG has fallen apart after an incredible fightback from Melbourne saw the Demons kick four of the last five goals to win by four points on Saturday. The Dockers led by 15 points during the last quarter before Harry Petty led an incredible comeback. Petty was famously mocked in Perth earlier in the season but he had the last laugh as he booted two goals in the last quarter, set up another and finished with three for the day to lead the Dees to a 17.11 (113) to 17.7 (109) victory. Fremantle looked like winners for a large part of the day. Pat Voss, Jye Amiss and Josh Treacy were dominant, combining for 11 goals. Voss is enjoying an incredible love affair with the MCG. He kicked six goals against Collingwood last season and five majors against Essendon earlier this year. The Dockers were also made to feel right at home. They received a welcome message outside Gate 1 at training on Friday and Hells Bells played in the final minute before the game started. The song played constantly throughout the day. Gongs and songs are Freo’s thing. But the Demons showed that they are a genuine contender after standing tall under pressure. Petty was enormous. He rubbed his own head when he kicked his first goal and the crowd went wild when he took a contested mark to boot his third. It was a cracking contest. Freo’s key forwards were brilliant. But they weren’t just kicking goals. They set them up too. Voss shrugged off a tackle and handballed to Isaiah Dudley for Fremantle’s second goal. Treacy saw Sam Switkowski on the opposite side of the ground late in the first term and passed to him for their fifth. So by half-time, Voss had four and had set up one. Treacy had two and had set up one. And Amiss had three. That was all 11 of Fremantle’s goals. They weren’t easy shots either. Treacy was nailing them with set shots from long range. Voss slammed through a goal on the run from inside the centre square and was half way to the crowd to celebrate before it had even gone through. Amiss converted two set shots from the forward pocket when he was on the wrong side for a left footer. Both Treacy and Amiss broke through the 50 goal barrier for the season before half-time. That made them the first Dockers since Matthew Pavlich in 2012 to achieve that. But while the Dockers had key forwards, Melbourne had the combination of Max Gawn and Kossie Pickett. Gawn was doing everything. He’d take the ball out of the air at ruck contests, he’d palm it to his teammates or he’d thump it into space. Melbourne’s ability to kick goals from stoppages was telling. And they repeatedly answered Fremantle’s goals by going back to the middle and nailing a goal straight away. Pickett had 15 possessions and one goal in the first half and also totally destroyed Andrew Brayshaw with a brutal tackle. The Dees were applying plenty of pressure but Fremantle also gave up goals through uncharacteristic mistakes. Mason Cox attempted to chip the ball across goal in the backline and gave it straight to Bailey Laurie. Heath Chapman fumbled the footy and that set up Pickett’s goal. Karl Worner relaxed assuming the ball would go out of bounds at half-forward, Caleb Windsor kept it alive and the Dees kicked another. And when Shai Bolton lost control of the footy as he bounced it in the centre square, Laurie kicked his third. The Dockers led by three points at half-time after kicking 11.2. Melbourne had 10 goals on the board. Fremantle had made some important changes during the second term though. Murphy Reid was barely touching it so he started playing in the midfield and Brayshaw started locking onto Pickett. The Dees increased their pressure in the third term and won multiple free kicks for holding the ball. They kicked the first two goals of the quarter to open up a 10-point lead and put the heat on the Dockers to respond. And respond they did. Shai Bolton kicked a goal and set up another for Amiss. Fremantle denied Melbourne the chance to answer from centre bounces and happily slowed down the game to deny the Demons the ability to counter punch. Reid produced his own bit of magic, found Amiss and he had his fifth. And the backline held up well, winning key contests that stopped Melbourne’s surges. Fremantle led by eight points with one quarter remaining. The gongs went off again. It sounded like a Freo game. The first goal was always going to be telling. The fact Reid contributed to it made it even more interesting. Matthew Johnson kicked the major. Now the Demons had to worry about more than the tall forwards. The Dockers were upping the ante and it was up to Melbourne to find an answer. And boy did they find an answer. They handled Dudley kicking another. They handled all of the pressure. Fremantle will have to wait to lock away top spot. It won’t happen at the MCG.