2015 Fremantle Football Club season

Fremantle Football Club
2015 season
Coach Ross Lyon
Captain(s) Matthew Pavlich
Home ground Domain Stadium (Capacity: 43,500)
Main article: 2015 AFL season

The Fremantle Football Club's 2015 season will be its 21st season in the Australian Football League (AFL).

Playing list changes

Between the conclusion of the 2014 season and the commencement of the 2015 season, Fremantle did not complete any trades or recruit any free agents in the AFL trade period, despite being reported to have attempted to recruit key position players James Frawley[1] and Aaron Black.[2]

Key defender Luke McPharlin signed a one year contract extension during the trade period.[3]

Recruits

At the national draft, Fremantle was expected to recruit a tall player, but instead drafted four smaller midfield or forward line players. Two of the drafted players, Lachie Weller and Ed Langdon are younger brothers of current AFL players, St Kilda's Mav Weller and Collingwood's Tom Langdon.[4] In the rookie draft, Fremantle selected Ethan Hughes, a half-back flanker originally from Bunbury, before redrafting Tanner Smith. With their final selection they selected Irishman Sean Hurley, their first ever international recruit.[5]

Player Previous Club League Recruited via
Lachie Weller Southport/Broadbeach NEAFL #13, National draft
Connor Blakely Swan Districts WAFL #34, National draft
Ed Langdon Sandringham Dragons WAFL #54, National draft
Josh Deluca Subiaco WAFL #68, National draft
Ethan Hughes Swan Districts WAFL #13, Rookie draft
Tanner Smith Fremantle AFL #31, Rookie draft (redrafted)
Sean Hurley Kildare GAA GAA #48, Rookie draft

Departures

Player Reason
Kepler Bradley[6] Retirement
Scott Gumbleton[7] Retirement
Josh Simpson[8] Delisted
Tanner Smith[9] Delisted (redrafted in the rookie draft)
Sam Menegola[10] Delisted (from rookie list)
Michael Wood[10] Delisted (from rookie list)

Ryan Crowley positive drugs test

In March 2015, Crowley was not chosen to play in any of Fremantle's pre-season games. After being left out of the team that would travel to Sydney for the second game, it was announced that he was unavailable for selection due to undisclosed personal issues.[11] Three days later it was revealed that Crowley had tested position to a banned substance during the 2014 AFL season and had been serving a provisional suspension since September 2014. The sample was take after Fremantle's Round 17 win over Greater Western Sydney and the commencement of the provisional suspension commenced after the confirmation tests (also known as B-sample) was completed in mid September. The banned substance has not been named, but is thought to be from a painkiller that was not prescribed by the club doctor. He will appear before the AFL Tribunal in the coming weeks.[12]

Season summary

Pre-season matches

Rd Day Date Local time Opponent Fremantle's
score		 Opponent's
score		 Margin Venue Attendance Match report
1 Thursday 5 March 2015 4:10 pm Melbourne 0.9.7 (61) 0.6.7 (43) +18 Fremantle Oval 8000 (approx) Report
2 Sunday 15 March 2015 4:10 pm Sydney 1.6.11 (56) 1.7.14 (65) -9 Drummoyne Oval, Sydney 4,343 Report
3 Sunday 22 March 2015 4:10 pm West Coast 1.13.17 (104) 1.11.10 (85) +19 Domain Stadium 16,032 Report
Source

Premiership Season

When the 2015 AFL season fixtures were released in October 2014, Fremantle were drawn to play Port Adelaide in the opening round, a repeat of the semi-final that ended their 2014 season. The opening month was considered very difficult, with an away game against Geelong, an away Western Derby and a home game on Anzac Day against the other team that beat Fremantle in last year's finals, Sydney. Fremantle's game against Hawthorn was again to be played at Aurora Stadium in Launceston, Tasmania.[13]

Home and away season

Rd Day Date Local time Opponent Fremantle's
score		 Opponent's
score		 Margin Venue Attendance Ladder
position
1 Sunday 5 April 2015 5:40 pm Port Adelaide 11.9 (75) 10.8 (68) +7[14] Domain Stadium 34,099 9
2 Sunday 12 April 2015 1:10 pm Geelong 15.14 (104) 9.6 (60) +44[15] Simonds Stadium 23,723 4
3 Sunday 19 April 2015 2:40 pm West Coast 17.9 (111) 12.9 (81) +30[16] Domain Stadium (A) 39,138 3
4 Saturday 25 April 2015 6:40 pm Sydney 11.8 (74) 8.12 (60) +14[17] Domain Stadium 39,009
5 Sunday 3 May 2015 1:10 pm Melbourne MCG
6 Saturday 9 May 2015 6:10 pm Essendon Domain Stadium
7 Sunday 17 May 2015 1:10 pm Western Bulldogs Etihad Stadium
8 Saturday 23 May 2015 5:40 pm North Melbourne Domain Stadium
9 Saturday 30 May 2015 7:10 pm Adelaide Adelaide Oval
10 Friday 5 June 2015 6:10 pm Richmond Domain Stadium
11 Saturday 13 June 2015 1:40 pm Gold Coast Metricon Stadium
12 Bye
13 Thursday 25 June 2015 6:10 pm Collingwood Domain Stadium
14 Sunday 5 July 2015 2:40 pm Brisbane Lions Domain Stadium
15 Sunday 12 July 2015 3:20 pm Hawthorn Aurora Stadium
16 Saturday 18 July 2015 5:40 pm Carlton Domain Stadium
17 Saturday 25 July 2015 4:35 pm Richmond MCG
18 Sunday 2 August 2015 2:40 pm Greater Western Sydney Domain Stadium
19 Sunday 9 August 2015 4:40 pm St Kilda Etihad Stadium
20 Sunday 16 August 2015 2:40 pm West Coast Domain Stadium
21 Sunday 23 August 2015 1:10 pm North Melbourne Etihad Stadium
22 Sunday 30 August 2015 2:40 pm Melbourne Domain Stadium
23 TBD 4–6 September 2015 TBD Port Adelaide Adelaide Oval
All games at Domain Stadium are Fremantle home games except for the one game marked (A). That game, and all others, are away games. Source

Ladder

2015 AFL Ladder
Team P W L D PF PA % Pts
1 Collingwood 5 4 1 0 478 324 147.5 16
2 Fremantle 4 4 0 0 364 269 135.3 16
3 Greater Western Sydney 4 3 1 0 397 298 133.2 12
4 Sydney 4 3 1 0 335 268 125.0 12
5 Adelaide 4 3 1 0 378 306 123.5 12
6 Western Bulldogs 4 3 1 0 364 348 104.6 12
7 Hawthorn 4 2 2 0 417 295 141.4 8
8 West Coast 4 2 2 0 417 335 124.5 8
9 Richmond 4 2 2 0 359 304 118.1 8
10 North Melbourne 4 2 2 0 384 371 103.5 8
11 Essendon 4 2 2 0 292 301 97.0 8
12 Melbourne 4 2 2 0 309 321 96.3 8
13 Port Adelaide 4 2 2 0 324 363 89.3 8
14 St Kilda 4 1 3 0 329 424 77.6 4
15 Geelong 4 1 3 0 293 406 72.2 4
16 Carlton 5 1 4 0 390 542 72.0 4
17 Gold Coast 4 0 4 0 314 443 70.9 0
18 Brisbane Lions 4 0 4 0 248 474 52.3 0
Key: P = Played, W = Won, L = Lost, D = Drawn, PF = Points for, PA = Points against

Milestones


Match Review Panel charges

Updated as of Round 2, 2015 season
Match Review Panel (MRP) and AFL Tribunal cases involving Fremantle players during the 2015 AFL season
Round Player Charge category Victim (club) Verdict Fine (A$) Suspension Source
Sanction
NC3
 Walters, MichaelMichael Walters Rough conduct Bird, CraigCraig Bird (Sydney) Dismissed N/A N/A [18]
1
 Clarke, ZacZac Clarke Tripping Polec, JaredJared Polec (Port Adelaide) Guilty (early plea) $1,000 N/A [19]
2
 Ballantyne, HaydenHayden Ballantyne Rough conduct Taylor, HarryHarry Taylor (Geelong) Guilty (early plea) N/A 2 matches [20]

Notes

    References

    1. ↑ O'Donoghue, Craig (17 October 2014). "Dockers back list to push for flag". The West Australian.
    2. ↑ Hagdorn, Kim (4 October 2014). "Fremantle Dockers keep North Melbourne forward Aaron Black in trading sights".
    3. ↑ "Luke McPharlin signs one-year contract to continue career at Fremantle in 2015". AAP. 14 October 2014.
    4. ↑ Quartermaine, Braden (27 November 2014). "Fremantle Dockers spring draft surprise by taking Lachie Weller, while West Coast Eagles snare Liam Duggan". PerthNow.
    5. ↑ "AFL Rookie Draft summary". 3 December 2014.
    6. ↑ Kastanis, Costa. "Kepler to bow out". Retrieved 21 August 2014.
    7. ↑ Kastanis, Costa. "Gumbleton gives the game away". Retrieved 1 September 2014.
    8. ↑ Robinson, Chris (21 October 2014). "Fremantle Dockers axe troubled youngster Josh Simpson after two seasons at the club". Perth Now. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
    9. ↑ Lewis, Ross (13 November 2014). "Tanner gets Freo lifeline".
    10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Conway, Mark. "Fremantle cuts two rookies from its list". Retrieved 1 October 2014.
    11. ↑ Elborough, Brad (13 March 2015). "Fremantle Dockers star Ryan Crowley not playing due to 'issues'".
    12. ↑ "Dockers' Ryan Crowley provisionally suspended after testing positive to banned substance". ABC News. 16 March 2013.
    13. ↑ Hagdorn, Kim; Robinson, Chris (30 October 2014). "What the 2015 AFL fixture means for Fremantle Dockers and West Coast Eagles".
    14. ↑ Malcolm, Alex (5 April 2015). "Dockers prevail over Power in epic battle".
    15. ↑ Ryan, Peter (12 April 2015). "Cats creamed as Dockers dominate".
    16. ↑ Chadwick, Justin (19 April 2015). "First-quarter blitz powers Dockers to comfortable Derby win".
    17. ↑ Malcolm, Alex (25 April 2015). "Dockers cling on for historic win as surging Swans fall just short".
    18. ↑ "MRP full statement: NAB Challenge, week three". afl.com.au. Australian Football League. 6 April 2015. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
    19. ↑ "MRP full statement: round one, part one". afl.com.au. Australian Football League. 6 April 2015. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
    20. ↑ "MRP full statement: round two". afl.com.au. Australian Football League. 13 April 2015. Retrieved 17 April 2015.