For a fleeting moment there was a cup in the cabinet, an accolade in the armoire, a plaque in the pool room. Time to somehow Restump Podcast the split-second surrendering of the silverware.

Where do you possibly start? And of the many review perspectives that dominate your lens, which one do you look through first?

I'm not sure we've ever experienced a feeling of absolute numbness post-match before and, as a rusted-on Fremantle fan, that's a big call. We know despondency, we’ve felt a sense of hopelessness more often than I care to recall, agony, exasperation... but never a feeling of outright numbness, bordering on paralysis. Who knew there was one more Freo-fuelled emotive feeling they had up their sleeve for us?

It was an amazing grand final and an unforgettable experience, but it was the absurd speed of the feeling that went from ‘the 32-year drought was over’ to ‘hey, look at that, Brissie secured the 3-peat.’ It was a ruthless four-minute period, with no time to catch your breath. It left fans stunned and distraught, unable to immediately comprehend what had just happened.

The purple platoon was good enough, it was tough enough and it handled the occasion well beyond what many of us thought it may. But for whatever reason or reasons, we each deem pivotal, we somehow walk away empty-handed.

Was it selection? Did fatigue play its part? Have we just lost our second grand final due to inaccuracy? Josh Treacy being robbed of a mark or his bamboozling blunder? Did we go into safe mode far too soon? Was it a lack of composure late? The broken rules around the inexplicable use of Wharfie Time?

For mine, every moment plays its part, but the overriding reason for somehow managing to squander the premiership was Alex “the difference” Pearce. The tragedy of his exit from the game early into the third quarter trumped all moments. It not only allowed Logan Morris off the chain to severely damage us; it allowed the Brisbane Lions to play with more flowing freedom.

It’s credible to claim the purple chalice would be courier-bound for Cockburn had the captain continued clear of the calamity.

And that brings us to the question: is our reliance on Alex Pearce ironically our Achilles heel? Admittedly, Brennan Cox’s absence wasn’t ideal, but with the ageing and admirable Luke Ryan and second or third defensive banana Oscar McDonald doing their better work alongside the skipper, have we some issues that need a conversation?

However, the doom and gloom will be temporary, and while we won’t see the silver cup, we can see the silver lining. We’ve had a remarkable year, we’ve been the best team in the competition, we’re a young list and on the cusp of a decade of success. We’ve got some areas needing attention but, hey, who hasn’t? What we will get out of the adversity we overcame during the finals series will be enormously dividend paying beneficial.

The gratitude for the season is slowly but surely beginning to displace the pain of the loss.

In any case, we will regroup, we'll reassemble, we'll suit up, stump up and go around again next year. But we just need a moment, a processing period, to collect and organise our thoughts, to come to terms with what was, and then, in the blink of an eye, what wasn't. We all need some time, just not of the Wharfie variety.

For one final occasion this year, let’s talk through the trauma and process the pain before we pivot to probe the positives, procure perspective and praise the purple posse for their practically perfect 2026 period on the pod.

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It doesn't matter how you get there — the direct path, the scenic route, maybe you escaped from jail — you just have to get there. The Swans lulled us into a false sense of minimum security, but we broke out! Time to Restump Podcast just our second-ever successful preliminary final.

Thirteen years after defeating the Sydney Swans in a preliminary final to partake in our first grand final, we've delivered a repeat of the feat.

We'd be lying if we said we weren't all bewildered at our performance early Friday evening, but we settled and turned it into a breath-holding, blood-pumping, beautiful night!

To be brutally honest, celebrations momentarily aside, we may have been fortunate it was the Pullman five and not the Pullman three or four. We really only just got there in the end. Add a Chad Warner and/or an Isaac Heeney into the mix and things quite possibly may have been devastatingly different. But they went there, things weren’t different and we’re off to Grand Final!

We matched the Swans' pressure, but they handled it far more effectively than us. We continue to be susceptible to high pressure, and it can be the key to our undoing.

Was there a Telstra or Optus outage in the area? It was constant communication breakdown early. Oscar McDonald and Luke Ryan, and Jye Amiss and Josh Treacy, were incommunicado. Connectivity and cohesiveness were replaced with confusion, finger-pointing and second-guessing.

There were some conspicuous absentees within our 50 metre arc and it got to a point where we eventually had to call on the SES to conduct a search party for the missing tall forwards.

But while efficiency wasn't front and centre, we were winning most of the numbers, just not the ones that definitively count.

Thankfully, you don't have to be better than your opponent all night; you just have to be better for longer. You just have to be in front when it matters most and, as we have done way more often than not this year, we were.

Moments of magic can sometimes make the difference, and that's when the magic moment-makers made their moves.

We could almost attribute the remarkable win to Hayden Young's absurd goal after the three-quarter-time siren. Not because it put us within range, but because of the much-needed belief it instilled.

Jye Amiss somehow managed his moment of ridiculousness, Shai Bolton successfully let go from 50, and then Paddy Voss entered with his moment of absolute mastery. Stiff-arming a 14-year almost 300-game stalwart defender and then perfectly executing the banana to goal, will enter the history and histrionics books. It'll be one of those precious moments we'll talk about forever.

We're the Fremantle Dockers! We'll never abandon our inherent unconventionality, but that's what makes us eternally exciting. We don't do boring, regimented monotony! Flawlessness is for the fundamentalists! What is finishing first without flair and heart failure along the way?

We’re now off to the MCG to play on the final Saturday in September for just the second time. But before we all roll into the Melbourne concrete-colosseum jungle to take on the Lions, there’s plenty of time for our usual inconsequential and insignificant nonsense on the pod.

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Hopefully the boys light up the SCG and don’t be so reckless, like they were against the Hawks. We’ll be downhearted if Errol gets a hold of us! We’re in a prelim final! With memory flashbacks to 2013 it’s time to Reyne on Sydney's parade again and Restump Podcast the battle to the big dance.

We’ve done the work, we’ve secured the results and, while we took the scenic route, we deserve our spot in the preliminary final against the Sydney Swans tonight.

We’re going in with an unchanged line up but are Jaegar O’Meara and Chris Scerri along for a little more than the ride? Could there be a late change?

The Swannies have obviously been through the wringer, now losing Callum Mills and Harry Cunningham on top of the Pullman Five! However, that in itself, is a danger for us as there truly can’t be any genuine expectations on them, regardless how hard JL tries to claim underdog status.

Being free of expectation can throw up some unpredictability. They have gotten further than anyone thought they would, so the shackles are off. This is a free hit for the Swans to take and we need to be well aware of it.

Straight away three factors come to front of mind with initial thoughts on the game. Complacency, pressure and Errol.

Our Freo boys are only human and no matter how hard they try and how often they tell themselves otherwise, there has to be some level of thought attributed to the enormous names missing from Sydney’s team. Too many of those thoughts could have us on the back foot and, in a preliminary final, it’s a position we just can’t afford to be in.

Pressure has at times been our kryptonite. We can be susceptible to it, we know it, the players know it and the entire league knows it. Sydney’s only real chance at beating us comes in the form of maniacal pressure and you can bet your knackers it is exactly what they will try to bring. Although Murphy Reid might not be able to stake that bet!

Errol Gulden is Sydney’s key to the grand final car. Their hopes rest so much on his shoulders. Charlie Curnow and Logan McDonald and Hayden McLean don’t get the silver service if we can curtail Errol’s influence. But that is easier said than done. It’ll be a task performed by committee but you’d imagine Matty Johnson might not have gotten too much shuteye the last couple of nights.

It sounds simple but it ever never is. In fact, given what has happened to the Swans, or what they’ve caused themselves, for us it seems too good to be true. And when something seems too good to be true, concerningly more often than not, it is.

We’re two and two against the Swans in finals and we’re one preliminary final each. We’ve only been to the SCG three times since 2019 while the Swannies have had to come to Optus on eight occasions against us.

However, the reality is none of whatever has occurred in the past matters. Our 2026 form against the Swans means didley! We’re going in with a massive advantage and we really should just be winning. There will be no excuses if we don’t and the fallout will be loud! Given the circumstances and the match ups, as scary as it is to say, it is just difficult to contemplate we don’t win tonight.

There is something that feels very uneasy about going into a preliminary final comfortable and confident. So, as we’re just hours away, let’s rekindle the familiar feeling by throwing some nervous logs on the anxiety fire to heat up the tension on the pod.

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It's true, he is built different! Luke Jackson's heroics proved yet another of the unfortunate and unique season challenges Chris and his Cotton On Cats couldn't overcome. Time to Restump Podcast Freo's feat over the Morris Finance Felines.

It was a fork in the road moment for Freo. We could’ve followed a familiar path and folded or we could've said to hell with that, the post season frivolities can wait.

We collectively decided on the latter using the challenge corroded Cats as a steppingstone to the Swans.

And while we magnificently ended Geelong's campaign, we have to acknowledge the season of difficulties they had to endure. The odd injury, the exposing of their secret concussion signatures, the fall in beef and cattle prices, the rise in farm equipment costs and the travel burden.

I mean they only played 10 games in Geelong this year! They had to travel an hour up the road to the MCG or Marvel a further 6 times! Oh, the horror of the hardship!

Back in reality, it was a match of moments and masterful performances delivered by masterminds.

Shai Bolton's early minutes of magic, Andy Brayshaw setting the turning up tone from the first bounce running himself into exhaustion, not just the brawn, but the brains of Paddy Voss and who here amongst us can honestly put up their hand and say they were confident Caleb Serong would make that 55 metre monster?

And then there was Cool Hand Luke! The man who single handedly snatched a grand final 5 years ago! He returned to the scene of salvation and in another individual act of September supremacy, swung momentum, started a surge and secured the semi.

We needed to beat Geelong in a final in 2013 to advance to a preliminary final against the Swans, to make it to a grand final against the Hawks! We've just beaten Geelong in a final to advance to a preliminary final against the Swans where a possible rematch against the Hawks could unfold.

It's Groundhog Day wrapped in some mysterious deja voodoo! Take that "lightning doesn't strike twice" guy!

We're now off to the Milo tin lid sized SCG to slug it out with the short-staffed Swans.

However, we haven't finished scoffing at the sore losing sourpusses, but more we’re not done praising the performances of the purple people, on the pod. So, let's momentarily soak up the occasion. Let's enjoy it and appreciate it before we switch the gratitude to attitude and deliver Sydney their swan song.

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We can't allow tonight to be Sammy's finale. He can't end his hard-fought career with a straight sets exit! Time to rapidly Restump Podcast Freo's do or die ding dong against the Morris Finance Felines.

The ratio of disappearing fingernails to hours before the bounce is out of whack. If it's a close game, many of us will lose finger tips by the end of it!

Not going to lie, we're a little on edge as we get closer to bounce down. I don't know if the frequent nervous whizzing has kicked in or I've got prostate issues!

The Cats are going to be an almighty tough task. They're well drilled, superbly coached and they've played more finals that we've had early mad Mondays!

Tonight we'll get some clarity on whether our formidable Freo folk are September sufficient or really just regular season rock stars!

Can we handle the pressure we collapsed under against the Hawks? Will we see a conspicuous response to last week? Is there any chance of an overcorrection?

Do we put Jeremy Cameron in the gun and go after him? It may deliver the Cats a distraction as they try to protect him. Is Bailey Smith the one we should more than corral from the catwalk?

Can we see some forward defensive pressure? We can't allow the Cats to walk the ball out of the fifty like Hawks did with ease. Freddy, Switta, Dudley all need to bring unconditional defensive effort.

Does Hayden Young pinch hit at half back to help out the defensive unit and provide us run and carry and precise delivery?

We have to expect the Cattery will have cooked up some cracks to our codes. So, we have to be composed, cool calm and collected and ready to become counteracting contortionists!

We can do this! We've beaten the cats when it counts before. If we need to take out their nine lives, then so be it!

Tonight we're at the last chance saloon. Late in the evening when we hear, Time ladies and gentlemen please, last call for drinks, we have to make that final drink count.

We're just minimal movements of the stick on the tick tock away from getting underway. So, if you want to settle your system and calm your nerves, get as far away from us and this pod as you possibly can!

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For a moment there, us twisted, rusted-on supporters thought we may have lost our identity. But we weren’t letting Hawthorn take that away from us! Let’s just say deliberately doing things the difficult way is character-building. Time to Restump Podcast our gut-wrenching game against the hard-nosed Hawks.

Sadly, we know all too well that a sense of inevitability is difficult to misplace. Thursday night, we added another stat to our 30-year history of failures when it matters most.

That one is tough to reconcile. Getting beaten was definitely a possibility, but no one saw us performing like that. We folded like the deckchairs we sat in on the interchange sidelines at Marvel Stadium against the Blues two weeks back!

The thought we’d be outworked, outmuscled and, most of all, out-pressured in that manner and to that extent, never entered the equation. We were overconfident we wouldn’t be overawed or overwhelmed, and overlooking that possibility maybe was, in itself, part of the problem.

We’re not physically or mentally battle-hardened. We don’t have the deep finals experience to deal with that type of finals onslaught and, albeit somewhat justifiably, we got carried away with the home-and-away season. Unfortunately, we just failed to distinguish between it and September.

While it’s no excuse for the way we were brushed aside and pressured out of the game, our old mate Lloyd Meek has played more finals than 20 of the 23 players we rolled out Thursday night.

Let that sink into the noggin! The ruckman who, understandably, couldn’t get a look in at Freo, goes to another team, fights his way into the position of first ruck, puts away more finals than his former teammates and adds another one to his tally against them. One of those football stories, and we actually couldn’t be happier for him.

The reality is we’ve had quite the fortuitous season. We’ve met teams at the right times; we’ve had an absurd injury list, or rather a lack of one, and we’ve faced almost zero adversity. You still have to rack up the wins, and we were impressive doing so, but there were numerous games where we just got over the line thanks to 10 to 15 minutes of burst footy. That isn’t necessarily reliable or replicable in finals football.

A lack of obstacles and misfortune isn’t our fault, and it can be a big tick for process, planning and application. But did we overlook that lack of hardship we faced this year? Was it problematic in our preparation for September?

Hats off to the Hawks. They were ferocious and relentless, and they thoroughly deserved the win. But the disappointing aspect for us was that we couldn’t work our way back into it at any stage. That has been our signature this year, but, again, finals is a different bag.

However, being the best side all year means we earned our finals position and double chance. We were hoping not to need it but, it’s safe to say, it’s better to have and not need than need and not have. So, don’t ‘Weekend at Bernies’ us just yet!

We now face the Morris Finance, Cotton On Cats, the family of farm owners, the secret-signature securers, this coming week, in a do-or-die ding-dong on the home deck.

It’s time to make the inevitable avoidable! The canvas is where comebacks begin! Get out your Chumbawambas and start Tubthumping, because we get knocked down, but we get up again.

However, before then, if you need answers and some trauma-ridding closure to move on from last night, you’re amongst like-minded folk. It’s the Freo Festivus, the airing of grievances. We can’t carry complicated cognitive cargo into the Cats’ clash! Let’s cleanse the conscience and create a clean-slate state. So, pull up a pew and partake in passing around the purple prattle pole on the pod.

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We went in with a healthy level of nonchalance; we injected the appropriate amount of complacency and deliberately ended up lackadaisically horizontal. Time to somehow Restump Podcast that beyond meaningless, going through the motions, self-preservation performance against the Blues.

I can’t remember a more meaningless encounter. In fact, I can’t ever recall contemplating switching off 5 minutes into the first quarter. And we were 3 goals up at the time!

And no doubt the players felt the same. There wasn’t the attention to detail, there wasn’t any defensive vigour and there was just no purple spirit. Even Paddy Voss’ attempt at inserting the energetic vibe fell flat. When Vossy can’t spark the fire, you know there’s more at play.

We had nothing whatsoever to gain and too much to potentially lose. We rested Jye Amiss, Sammy Switkowski and Heath Chapman.

But why did we stop there? It’s been a hell of a long season, so why wouldn’t we rest half to three quarters of the best 23, Rosco Lyon style? A lack of soldiers in the WAFL wasn’t it! Was a 20-day break too risky? Was it fear of the AFL and their idiotic fake optics obsession?

However, we’ve won 19 games in a season, we’ve won the minor premiership, we’ve got the double chance, two home finals and we’re not only favourites for, but we’re in the best position we’ve ever been in to win that debut flag. That says the club has gotten almost everything right this year, so who are we to question their decisions!

Unfair ifs buts and maybes though, possibly Brennan Cox wouldn’t be nursing a torn calf? And given how absolutely vital he is to our chances, you will never convince me there was merit in putting Alex Peearce on a plane to play in an inconsequential formality, especially after the knock to the knee the week before.

Anyway, Brennan Cox aside, we got through seemingly unscathed to close out what has, so far, been a magnificent and successful season. We couldn’t have achieved much more than we have to date and it’s caps off to all involved at the club.

However, rightfully or wrongfully, the season’s success to date inevitably raises the bar and the expectations. What we’ve done the last 23 rounds shouldn’t be understated or glossed over when reviewing the year, but it is now in the rearview mirror and, in the context of the imminent finals campaign, it counts for noting.

We’re at the pointy end, largely healthy and in good shape. We’ve got a little over a week to prepare for what is now a new season. We all start on zero and we’re looking to win three on the bounce.

Is the All-Australian night now being held in the purple palladium? The numerous positions in the team awarded to Fremantle individuals is a reflection of our remarkable season. And it was especially a stellar evening for Murphy Reid who never seems to walk away empty handed from an award ceremony. He took home the Best Emerging Player award, drawing with St Kilda’s Max Hall.

Nothing against Murph or Max, and by all means call me a killjoy, but these unnecessary made-up awards are getting a little monotonous! It’s becoming a bit participatory! What is this… a seven-year-old’s birthday party where everyone goes home with a lolly bag?

Yeah ok, self-indulgent rant over.

It’s pointless probing that purposeless performance, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty of purple to prattle on about. So, don your daggies, deploy your deck chair, decompress and drop in on the docker drivel disguised as deep dialogue on the pod.

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In the pregame team meeting, Paddy misconstrued the collective noun for an instruction! Time to Restump Podcast that polished purple performance.

Let’s start at that magnificent jumper. It took us back to the nostalgic Neesham era, a simpler time in life when we ran around with a bunch of ragtag upstarts from the WAFL. Every member of the team had a license and if you didn’t do something outlandish or you performed without flair, you didn’t belong!

We got around in an unthinkable combination of purple green red and white while we made the unconventional popular. We cared little for the opinions of outsiders, we played recklessly, free from expectations and not for a second was it not entertaining. I feel for the Freo supporters who never got to experience that special time.

If we were to make that last Saturday in September, it’d be a fitting tribute if we were to don that same deep Fremantle heritage representing, kaleidoscopic number on Grand Final day. Imagine winning the club’s first premiership 30+ years later in the same jumper in which it all began.

Was that the most even contributed performance across the board you’ve ever seen?

We out pressured the best pressure team in the competition. But it felt different. It was not only a specific focus and at fever pitch, there was an added component to it, which was to make sure the crows felt it. So, it wasn't just the tackle or the corralling pressure, it felt there was an instruction to hit hard and hurt. A lighter week on the training track would probably wouldn’t go astray.

It’s difficult to argue Alex Pearce isn’t our most important player. His presence, his cover, his support and organisational skills allow other members in the defensive unit to play to their strengths. He simply makes others better.

And what about the Serong and Brayshaw combo quietly stepping back into the fold to pick up the responsibility slack. Their willingness to do the unfashionable work, take somewhat of a back seat, then step in, take the reins and lead by example when required is beyond impressive. Where we are as a team is largely a direct result of their lack of ego, and there is nothing more admirable.

There is some irony in the suggestion it was an even contribution while selecting individuals out for praise. However, a guy that rarely sees the limelight but turns up without fail, is Heath Chapman. In the context of his role, he had an outstanding multifaceted game. Courage personified, he backed into trouble, he was crisp with his ball handling and decision making, he got himself in the right positions and played his role to perfection.

Has Jye Amiss forced the tailors to ask for his jacket measurements? He’s second in the Coleman medal with 58 goals at a rate of 2.6 goals a game, going at 64% accuracy. However, he’s kicked 36 in his last 12 games. At the very least, he has surely entered the chat!

Anyway, we’re all about the collective and not about the individual. So, we continue on as one connected entity and let the individual accolade chips fall where they will.

Minor premiership secured but in the bigger picture, that is small potatoes. We don’t need to celebrate it and risk Paddy Voss damaging numerous eyeballs! Let’s just get through the one remaining inconsequential regular season game.

Meanwhile, join us as we take a deeper look into the classy performance against the Crows, decipher who to rest against the Blues and potentially plot the path the purple pioneers will proceed to possibly procure the premiership on the pod.

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