Fremantle Tumbangkan Sydney Swans Melalui Kebangkitan Besar di Babak Kedua

Fremantle Dockers berhasil mengalahkan Sydney Swans dengan selisih 38 poin pada pertandingan pekan ke-18 kompetisi AFL di Stadion Optus, Kamis malam, setelah sempat tidak mencetak gol sama sekali di babak pertama.

Klub tuan rumah bangkit dari ketertinggalan hingga 23 poin di babak kedua dengan mencetak 100 poin setelah turun minum, termasuk sembilan gol pada kuarter terakhir di hadapan 55.966 penonton.

Pelatih Fremantle, Justin Longmuir, memutuskan untuk mengistirahatkan Sean Darcy demi menjaga kondisi lututnya dan memberikan kesempatan kepada pemain jangkung Mason Cox yang tampil gemilang dalam kemenangan tersebut.

"I thought it was the best he's marked the footy, and I thought his ruck work was strong," ujar Justin Longmuir, Pelatih Fremantle.

Justin Longmuir menambahkan bahwa penampilan Mason Cox memberikan dampak besar saat masuk ke lapangan di tengah persaingan sengit antara Luke Jackson dan Brodie Grundy.

"'Jacko' (Luke Jackson) and (Brodie) Grundy were having a real good battle and he came on and had a real impact when he came on. It was probably his best game for the club," kata Justin Longmuir, Pelatih Fremantle.

Mengenai persaingan posisi menjelang laga berikutnya melawan Port Adelaide, sang pelatih menegaskan bahwa setiap pemain harus berjuang untuk mempertahankan tempat mereka di tim.

"Everyone really needs to earn their spot in the side, don't they? So we've got competition for spots, not just in the ruck, we've got competition for spots all over the ground," tutur Justin Longmuir, Pelatih Fremantle.

Justin Longmuir menilai persaingan internal ini sangat sehat karena membuat seluruh pemain tetap bersiap dengan maksimal.

"He got his opportunity tonight and came on and performed his role. So it's healthy competition for spots. It keeps everyone on edge and preparing really well," ucap Justin Longmuir, Pelatih Fremantle.

Menurut sang pelatih, situasi ini juga berlaku bagi para pemain di posisi ruck mereka.

"Our rucks are probably a bit the same," ujar Justin Longmuir, Pelatih Fremantle.

Fremantle sempat mencatat hasil buruk 0.11 di paruh pertama, namun strategi tim tetap dipertahankan hingga keran gol akhirnya terbuka lebar di paruh kedua.

"I thought our second quarter in particular was strong without hitting the scoreboard as much as we like, but it's about process," kata Justin Longmuir, Pelatih Fremantle.

Pelatih berusia 45 tahun tersebut meyakini bahwa efisiensi tendangan akan membaik jika tim tetap percaya pada rencana permainan.

"Law of averages will say that you're not going to kick 0.22 for the game, so you've just got to keep maintaining faith in the process and the plan that we went in with, and eventually the scoreboard will look after itself," ucap Justin Longmuir, Pelatih Fremantle.

Kondisi stadion yang riuh oleh suporter tuan rumah diakui memberikan tekanan tersendiri bagi tim lawan saat Fremantle mulai mendominasi posisi lapangan.

"Once we got the crowd into it, it becomes quite daunting I would imagine for the opposition, and the floodgates open with the amount of field position we were getting," tutur Justin Longmuir, Pelatih Fremantle.

Kapten Alex Pearce mendapatkan pujian khusus atas kepemimpinannya di lini belakang, termasuk sebuah tanda tangkapan krusial yang menggagalkan peluang gol Sydney Swans pada kuarter terakhir.

"He doesn't second guess himself, does he? There's no situation he doesn't want to be in, so he's led by example all year and he just continues to do it," kata Justin Longmuir, Pelatih Fremantle.

Justin Longmuir menyatakan kepuasannya terhadap pola pikir dan performa yang ditunjukkan oleh sang kapten sejak awal pertandingan.

"I thought he was terrific. He played with the right mindset … and led from the front," ujar Justin Longmuir, Pelatih Fremantle.

Ia menambahkan bahwa kesiapan dan reaksi cepat Alex Pearce dalam membaca pergerakan lawan menjadi kunci ketangguhannya.

"Whenever you see a back leading his man to the ball, you know they've got good positioning, and they're reacting quicker than their opponent, and I thought he did that from the outset," ucap Justin Longmuir, Pelatih Fremantle.

Pertandingan ini juga diwarnai sanksi tendangan bebas bagi kedua tim akibat aksi mengejek lawan, seperti yang dilakukan Luke Ryan kepada Chad Warner dan Dane Rampe kepada Jye Amiss.

"It's clear. The AFL said it's clear. Maybe we could have educated our players a little bit better on that," tutur Justin Longmuir, Pelatih Fremantle.

Justin Longmuir mengaku heran karena pelanggaran semacam ini terjadi dua kali dalam satu malam, padahal sudah jarang terlihat selama beberapa bulan terakhir.

"I haven't seen it in the game for months, so for two to happen in one night is a bit odd," kata Justin Longmuir, Pelatih Fremantle.

Ia pun mengingatkan para pemainnya untuk mematuhi aturan tegas yang telah ditetapkan oleh pihak penyelenggara liga.

"But the AFL has made it really clear that you can't do it. So why do it?" ucap Justin Longmuir, Pelatih Fremantle.

Di sisi lain, kekalahan ini memicu kekhawatiran terkait rapuhnya pertahanan Sydney Swans saat menghadapi tim dengan produktivitas gol tinggi, seperti yang disampaikan oleh pengamat Fox Footy, David King dan Leigh Montagna.

Pelatih Sydney Swans, Dean Cox, memilih fokus pada evaluasi area clearance dan stoppage yang menjadi titik kelemahan timnya di paruh kedua.

"I think probably throughout the second quarter they started to get some ascendancy with where the game was being played, and then they did it again in the third quarter," ujar Dean Cox, Pelatih Sydney Swans.

Dean Cox menyoroti efektivitas serangan Fremantle yang berakar dari keunggulan perebutan bola tersebut.

"It was a lot from clearance," kata Dean Cox, Pelatih Sydney Swans.

Fremantle tercatat unggul dalam jarak pergerakan bola dan mampu mengonversi peluang tersebut menjadi gol penting.

"They were plus 300 meters; they kicked four goals, three from clearance," ucap Dean Cox, Pelatih Sydney Swans.

Menurutnya, kuarter keempat menjadi momentum yang mengecewakan karena timnya gagal mempertahankan keunggulan tiga poin di luar kandang.

"They started to get to work in what they do really well. The last quarter was just a perfect opportunity away from home to take on the best team, three points in front. And that's the disappointing thing, to allow them to kick nine goals in the last quarter is something we have to look at," tutur Dean Cox, Pelatih Sydney Swans.

Dean Cox menyatakan bahwa fokus utama timnya saat ini adalah memetik pelajaran dari kekalahan ini untuk menghadapi Adelaide pada hari Jumat pekan depan.

"I think we've got to, first of all, worry about what we learn from Fremantle to take into Adelaide," ujar Dean Cox, Pelatih Sydney Swans.

Pertandingan tersebut dinilai krusial karena Adelaide juga memiliki kekuatan utama dalam perebutan bola di lini tengah.

"We've got them Friday week. We need to make sure that we can control that because that's where their strengths lie as well, usually around the contest and clearance. So, we need to make sure that we can get to work on that area of our game that we're really consistent in," kata Dean Cox, Pelatih Sydney Swans.

Laga ini juga menandai kembalinya Tom Papley setelah absen enam minggu, serta Errol Gulden yang mencatatkan 30 disposals dalam pertandingan ketiganya pasca-operasi bahu.

"At times, (Errol's) playing a little bit of a different role for us," ucap Dean Cox, Pelatih Sydney Swans.

Dean Cox melihat konsistensi permainan Errol Gulden sudah mulai kembali dan sangat dibutuhkan oleh tim.

"But yeah, the consistency is starting to get back into his game," tutur Dean Cox, Pelatih Sydney Swans.

Sang pelatih meyakini bahwa sang gelandang akan berupaya keras untuk memperbaiki performa tim pada pertandingan berikutnya.

"We need it to happen, and he'll do everything he possibly can to make amends and to turn it as quickly as he can," kata Dean Cox, Pelatih Sydney Swans.