Fyfe fights on: Why Dockers veteran still has a role to play
Nat Fyfe's return to the Dockers line-up as substitute has not only enabled the dual-Brownlow Medallist a pathway back into the side, but also a new and different way to impact.
On Saturday night against North Melbourne, the 33-year-old was injected into the contest late in the third term.
Fyfe quickly got down to work, setting up a foray forward with a beautifully weighted handpass to Josh Treacy on the wing.
As others tired in the wet and heavy conditions, Fyfe's impact on the game grew, collecting eight final quarter touches, his work in traffic and use of hands a feature ending with 100 per cent disposal efficiency from nine disposals.
It was a similar story a fortnight earlier when Fyfe was pivotal in the dying stages of the crucial road victory against the Suns, again in the wet, again influencing when the sting had gone out of the contest and the game had opened up.
In 2025, Fyfe's 16th and most likely last year, the former captain had the potential to peter out. Knee and hamstring injuries wiped out his first half of the season.
His absence allowed increased opportunity and responsibility for youngsters Matthew Johnson, and more recently, Neil Erasmus.
His inclusion adds valuable experience in the run to finals to a side which was 18th for average age and experience in the open 12 rounds.
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