Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir accused of ‘missing a trick' with Nat Fyfe warm-up
The Lions were all over the Dockers at Optus Stadium but the home team still had a faint pulse mid-way through the third quarter.
Although they had been badly beaten, only 25 points separated the teams when live images were shown of much-loved champion Nat Fyfe preparing himself to get into the game.
The dual Brownlow medallist — who announced his retirement during the week — started the match as the sub and Longmuir had decided to inject him into the action at three-quarter time.
Fyfe love was everywhere at the ground, too, who (barring a home final) was possibly playing his last game at Optus Stadium.
There was some excitement in the commentary, when they showed live images of 33-year-old stretching and warming up inside the clubrooms.
But for fans at the game, they missed all that build-up, totally unaware of what was happening within the bowels of Optus Stadium.
And star Seven commentator Jason Richardson felt so disappointed by the missed opportunity, he vented on social media.
'Fyfe warming up in change room …. craziness from a psych point of view,' Richardson said.
He also believed the trigger on Fyfe should have been pulled earlier, not at the final break when they were 31 points down.
'Warm him up in front of the crowd. Get the crowd up and into game and then inject him into the game in third quarter when the game was slipping away,' he said.
'Lift the team. Coach missed a trick, I think.
'All over now.'
Some fans suggested the game was already over, with or without the addition of Fyfe.
But Richardson was emphatic.
'Whole thing was bizarre and a missed opportunity,' he said.
Fremantle had the chance to lock away their finals spot and leave the door open to finish in the top four, but now they must beat the Western Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium to make the eight.
The situation is eerily similar to last year when they lost the last four games of the season to drop from third to 10th. When asked how the team would handle that pressure, Longmuir didn't mince his words.
'Win. We'll go over there and give it our best shot,' he said.
The retiring Fyfe did a lap of honour after the match to say farewell to fans in case the Dockers don't play another match in Perth.
But Longmuir insisted it wasn't the end of the club great.
'It didn't go our way tonight, but like I said to them after the game, we will review it the same way, get better, dust ourselves off, and we'll go again,' he said.
'I haven't said farewell to Fyfey yet. We've got plenty of footy left in us.'
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I want to dabble in a few things to see what I like before I finish. I want to see what I enjoy. I need to figure out what I want to do. Pamela Whaley Staff writer Pamela Whaley is a Sydney-based sports journalist with more than a decade of experience in the industry. Starting out as a cadet at The Daily Advertiser in Wagga Wagga, Pamela moved to Sydney in 2014 and began writing features and news for the NRL's magazine, Big League. She has since worked at Fox Sports as a managing editor of digital NRL content and with Australian Associated Press as a sports journalist, covering A-League, cricket and NRL. She grew up playing soccer, touch football and netball but her true passion lies in storytelling, particularly involving rugby league. @pamelawhaley Pamela Whaley
