Fremantle Tumbangkan Sydney Swans Setelah Cetak Seratus Poin

Klub sepak bola Fremantle berhasil membalikkan keadaan dan mengalahkan Sydney Swans dengan skor meyakinkan dalam lanjutan kompetisi Toyota AFL Premiership Season di Optus Stadium pada Kamis malam.

Fremantle sempat tertinggal dan tidak mencetak satu gol pun di paruh pertama sebelum akhirnya mengamankan kemenangan dengan selisih 38 poin melalui performa dominan 100 poin setelah jeda.

Pelatih Fremantle, Justin Longmuir, menyatakan bahwa dirinya tidak ingin terlalu memikirkan dilema pemilihan pemain rucking untuk pertandingan minggu depan setelah penampilan impresif dari Mason Cox.

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

Longmuir menjelaskan bahwa persaingan sehat di dalam tim sangat bagus untuk menjaga kesiapan para pemain sebelum laga menghadapi Port Adelaide.

"'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.

Tim tuan rumah sempat kesulitan mencetak angka di awal laga, namun pelatih tetap meyakini rencana permainan mereka akan membuahkan hasil seiring berjalannya waktu.

"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.

Fremantle mengamuk di kuarter terakhir dengan mencetak sembilan gol dan memanfaatkan dukungan dari 55.966 penonton yang memadati stadion.

"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." ungkap Justin Longmuir, Pelatih Fremantle.

Meskipun performa pekan lalu sempat dikritik, penampilan kapten Alex Pearce di lini pertahanan mendapat pujian besar dari sang pelatih.

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

Pertandingan ini juga diwarnai oleh sanksi tendangan bebas bagi kedua tim akibat aksi saling mengejek di lapangan.

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

Longmuir mengingatkan para pemainnya untuk menaati aturan yang sudah ditetapkan oleh pihak liga mengenai larangan mengejek lawan.

"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." tegas Justin Longmuir, Pelatih Fremantle.

Di sisi lain, kekalahan ini menjadi sorotan tajam bagi lini pertahanan Sydney Swans yang dinilai rapuh oleh para pengamat Fox Footy.

"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." jabar Justin Longmuir, Pelatih Fremantle.

Pelatih Sydney Swans, Dean Cox, memilih fokus pada evaluasi taktik timnya daripada memikirkan kemungkinan laga ulang di babak final.

"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," sampaikan Justin Longmuir, Pelatih Fremantle.

Sydney Swans sempat memimpin hingga 23 poin namun gagal mempertahankan keunggulan akibat kalah perebutan bola di area tengah.

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

Kembalinya beberapa pemain andalan seperti Tom Papley dan Errol Gulden belum mampu menyelamatkan tim tamu dari kekalahan telak di kuarter keempat.

"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." nilai Justin Longmuir, Pelatih Fremantle.

Sydney Swans kini bersiap untuk menghadapi pertandingan berikutnya melawan Adelaide pada Jumat pekan depan.

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

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

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

"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," jabar Dean Cox, Pelatih Sydney Swans.

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

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

"They started to get to work in what they do really well." terang Dean Cox, Pelatih Sydney Swans.

"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." keluh Dean Cox, Pelatih Sydney Swans.

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

"We've got them Friday week." info Dean Cox, Pelatih Sydney Swans.

"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.

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

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

"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." tutup Dean Cox, Pelatih Sydney Swans.