Mentality of a doormat

One of the bigger stories in the AFL this year has been Fremantle's seeming inability to actually win a game of football. You've heard all the stats - a 1-9 record, 7 losses in a row, 5 consecutive losses having led at 3/4 time (3 of which were at home, the other 2 were against Melbourne and Carlton) and a shockingly respectable percentage of 85.14% despite the one win. On top of that, you've heard all the possible reasons for the failure - a list too old, too many recycled players, lack of fitness, Chris Tarrant, bad luck (supporters of this one have died down recently), and simple choking. The real reason for Fremantle's failure this year, and every other year of their existence, is simple - they don't know how to win, and no one has ever taught them how.

Fremantle have five players on their entire list that have played in premiership sides. Two of them (Dean Solomon and Mark Johnson) are very possibly washed up, one of them (Des Headland) is mentally unstable, another can't keep a cool head or make the most of his talent (Josh Carr), and the other (Peter Bell) despite his inspirational qualities, doesn't even train with the team. A successful team generally needs either a transcendent leader or a very solid veteran core. Having both (Essendon 2000, Brisbane 01-04, West Coast 06) will more often than not will culminate in a premiership. Fremantle have never had a bona fide superstar or leader. Ever. (More on Matthew Pavlich later). You know your not in good shape when your club can realistically say that Shaun McManus is one of its 5 greatest players of all time.

The veteran core doesn't lighten matters. Josh Carr, Jeff Farmer, Shaun McManus, Luke McPharlin, Heath Black, Antoni Grover and the injured Paul Haselby. Take out Carr and you've got a bunch of guys that have stuck with Fremantle over the years out of loyalty and comfort. The problem is that over the years Fremantle have done nothing but lose, and therefore losing is really the only thing these guys have experienced. Farmer and Black have both spent time at other clubs. Farmer never won a premiership with Melbourne and Black played with St. Kilda during a re-building phase. The only guy on this team that knows how to win is Peter Bell, and his priorities seemingly lie elsewhere at this stage.

With a veteran core comprised of losers, hotheads and disinterested players, how are the next wave of players supposed to learn how to win? Watching the early-mid 20s guys, this team's immediate future, guys like Byron Schammer, Ryan Crowley, Daniel Gilmore, Aaron Sandilands, Roger Hayden, Steven Dodd and Michael Johnson is mildly depressing. Unless something changes these guys will become the second coming of Shaun McManus or Matthew Carr - decent players, but surrounded by losing. To borrow the saying, unless Fremantle learn from history they will be doomed to repeat it.

OK, so... no great leader, a weak losing-oriented veteran core, an old team, and a history of years of losing. That's what we've established. Surprisingly enough there is a way to bypass this
quickly. A coach that makes you play hard. People underestimate the importance of a coach. A great coach can take a great team to even greater heights (Leigh Matthews with Brisbane), get the best out of his team (Paul Roos with Sydney) or make a team overachieve (Mick Malthouse with Collingwood in 2002, again in 2006 and 2007). Look at the list of recent premiership coaches - Mark Thompson, John Worsfold, Paul Roos, Mark Williams, Leigh Matthews, Kevin Sheedy, Dennis Pagan, Malcolm Blight, David Parkin, Mick Malthouse. All those guys are fantastic coaches. The two exceptions perhaps are John Worsfold (who won simply because of the unbelievable sheer talent on his list) and Mark Williams (whose team won out of desperation).

Fremantle's coaches? Gerard Neesham, Damien Drum, Ben Allan, Chris Connolly and Mark Harvey. Not exactly an elite list. I thought Connolly was unfairly treated last year. He did provide Fremantle with their only passage on any semblance of success in 2006. The poor play of 2007 was as much the result of the players. His successor Mark Harvey came highly touted and delivered improved play in his time in charge at the end of last year. What I don't understand is how he has completely avoided any sort of blame for the failure this year. Maybe it's the bias of the Victoria for one of its own, but Mark Harvey is one of the chief culprits for Fremantle's failure. A coach should inspire hard-work and winning. Mark Harvey inspires apathy. Through the interviews I've seen with Harvey he seems like a bland and boring bloke. Not the kind of the guy that's going to reverse a losing culture that has dominated a team for over a decade. Not even close.

One last thing needs to be touched on, and it's probably the most tragic element of the trainwreck. This of course is Matthew Pavlich. Since he was drafted 4th in the 1999 draft Pavlich has basically become Fremantle's saviour. He's hands down the best player ever to play for Fremantle. 5 time All-Australian, 4 time best and fairest and 312 career goals. He's a presence on the field, a superb mark, a usually reliable kick, and is generally regarded as one of the 10 best players in the league. Aside from the youth, Pavlich is the only reason to watch Fremantle right now. But he has to go.

In the past five weeks he has had three very makable shots on goal which would either win the match (against Geelong), seal the match (against Carlton), or give his team hope (last week against Port). On all three occasions he has hit the post. A captain, a leader, makes all three of those shots. Sure, he hit the post but it doesn't matter whether you miss by a metre or a mile, a miss is a miss. And Matthew Pavlich missed. Three times. In five matches. That's bad enough, but there's something worse - the look on his face after each miss. When Brad Johnson tensed up and missed after the siren a fortnight ago he was absolutely furious. Uncontrollably. He had a look of anger on his face walking off the field, then broke down when he got into the room. Johnson was plain disgusted with himself for letting his team down like that. That's the reaction of a leader. What was Pavlich's reaction to each of his three misses? A sigh, shake of the head, and then... acceptance. He accepts that he's the leader of his team and he just cost them the match. You don't accept things like that. You hate yourself, then you do whatever you can to improve yourself and make sure something like that never happens again. You go to that same spot you missed and practice until you make the shot 100 times in a row. Ultimately that's the difference between Brad Johnson and Matthew Pavlich - one is a leader, the other is not.

That's why I think Matthew Pavlich has to go. Trade him to Adelaide or Port and get back known youthful commodities and draft picks. On the surface you might think that the idea is stupid. Trade away the best player on your team, an elite player at that, who happens to be in his prime, young, and a virtual lock to kick 60 goals a year? OK so maybe it does sound stupid. But still, it has to happen. Barring any radical move, Matthew Pavlich will be the captain of Fremantle until retirement (or close to it), and it's simply not something that he's a) good at, or b) can handle. It impedes his game. He not indifferent to leadership like Josh Fraser, he does seem to genuinely try to lead, it's just not in his make-up.

I sympathise with Fremantle's situation, I really do. I see what they were doing by trying to bring in experienced players and 'win now' (kind of funny in retrospect considering they've won a wopping 1 game through 10 matches) but not everything is bleak. This ploy has worked in the past. Sydney have used it to great effect, and the arrival of Damien Hardwick and Byron Pickett at Port Adelaide contributed more to the 2004 premiership than people realise. The plan was brave, but it backfired. Horribly. But alas, not all is bleak. The youth in the team is filled with potential. Chris Mayne and Garrick Ibbotson could turn into very good players. And I guarantee, GUARANTEE, that Rhys Palmer will be a multiple All-Australian. He's that good. Then again on the flipside Fremantle have a list backloaded with old players who now can be found aspiring to the 'decline phase' of their career, the new wave of core players is unremarkable, their captain and star player is unhappy and could move elsewhere (which wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing though) and Chris Tarrant calls Fremantle home. Add to the fact that they've won 1 final in their entire existence, coincidentally the same number of wins they have this year, a year they were expected to contend for a premiership. Wow, maybe things are that bleak.