AFL Rankings: Round 13 2024

The Fremantle Dockers were widely considered to be a slight disappointment last season. They jumped from eleventh to fifth in the 2022 season with a young team, and were expected to again play finals in 2023, but instead they fell back to ten wins and fourteenth spot.

By the rankings this change was more marginal – the Dockers finished a few spots higher in 2022 than they were ranked, and dropped just over a goal’s worth in ranking points in 2023. In 2024 up to about the season’s halfway point, it looked like they had moved back a bit closer to their 2022 form again, although given the closeness of teams in the middle of the ladder, not necessarily with the same lofty result.

That was until their 92 point demolition of Melbourne in Round 12. That has vaulted the Dockers up to the league’s second highest percentage and third on the rankings. Suddenly Fremantle are looking as good as any team not named the Sydney Swans.

The Dockers play a very noticeable high possession, uncontested game style. They lead the league in average handballs per game, and in disposal and kicking efficiency. Much of this happens in their backline, with Luke Ryan and Jordan Clark being in the top ten for disposals and marks per game for defenders. This seems to have been quite successful in preventing opposition scores, with the Dockers having the second best rebound 50 to opposition inside 50 ratio, and conceding the fewest points on average this season.

Fremantle is not just relying on retaining possession to get things done though, as they also have the third best contested possession differential in the league – including a massive +42 differential in their most recent win against Melbourne. In particular, the Dockers have been dominant at the stoppages, with an average clearance differential of +9. Amazingly, they almost doubled the clearances of a Demons midfield that included Max Gawn, Clayton Oliver, Christian Petracca, and Jack Viney. Caleb Serong leads the league in average clearances per game this season of players who have played more than seven games, even ahead of noted clearance ‘beasts’ Matt Rowell, Nick Daicos, Marcus Bontempelli, and Patrick Cripps.

That does however mean their ‘post-clearance’ contested possessions are slightly down, and there might be a question of how much they can rely on their ball retention under the ‘pressure cooker’ of finals. Further, the Dockers have beaten no team in the top eight – although they came close to winning three of those matches. Good signs are there for Fremantle though, and a performance like their most recent one more often than not is indicative of a team headed towards the upper end.