Eagles break drought; Walyalup undefeated during Indigenous round
Baker crossed from Richmond in the off-season after winning premierships at the Tigers but has never questioned the move despite losing the first nine games.
'I haven't had any regrets coming back here… I've felt the last four or five weeks we've had a real shift in the way we are training and the way we've engaged in meetings, the way we are playing, so this win was coming.'
Baker joked there are still some things to work on
'I think we need to practice singing the song…not many of us knew the words'
Walyalup undefeated
The switch to the name of Walyalup seems to work well for the Dockers. They are undefeated since they adopted the Indigenous name for Fremantle across the Sir Doug Nicholls rounds in recent seasons.
The win against the Giants at the Sydney Showgrounds was a dominant performance which has the ability to shift the story of their season.
Four unexpected points claimed on the road has Freo fans daring to hope again.
They have been burnt before contemplating the potential of the team, but it is a platform to launch towards the top eight and has them back in the finals conversation if they can continue to play at that level.
Shai Bolton is showing every bit of the recruit Fremantle needed and Cooper Simpsons injection to the halfback line looks a great fit.
One of the biggest questions is how to make the partnership of Luke Jackson and Sean Darcy work in the same team. Darcy missed on the weekend and gave Jackson another opportunity to shine with more time on the ball.
Speaking to 6PR Football post match after another big week of speculation around his future he was pretty clear ruck is his preferred position.
'I've played that position through juniors and state level and got drafted in that position,' he said.
'So I feel like that's where I play my most natural game. And I feel like as a player, it really brings out my strengths.
'And, yeah, footy is a long game. So you have a lot of chances to get ahead of your opponent. And I really pride my endurance and my follow-up work.
'I do have a lot of fun playing the position. I had fun out there today.'
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Slater said he had not had a chance to sense how remorseful Mam was, having only spoken to the 22-year-old on Sunday night to inform him of his selection. "He's the right person for that position right now," Slater said. "I am sure people will have their speculation around all the people selected. That is OK, everyone is entitled to their opinion. "He has been doing a great job since he returned. We feel the squad will benefit from him being here." Mam has played three NRL games since his return to the playing arena and was booed repeatedly by the Brookvale Oval crowd in the recent 34-6 loss to Manly. But Slater said there was no question over whether the Indigenous star had done enough to prove his worth to the Maroons squad. "Have you watched the couple of games back? He has been pretty good, I don't think he has skipped a beat," Slater said. "By all reports he has been doing a lot of training through the first half of the year while he was sitting out. 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