While footy fans in Western Australia were without a home game for round one last week, for our patience we were rewarded with two homes game in round two.

After a less-than-desirable start to the season for both West Coast and Fremantle, one team was expected to come home and get their season back on track, however, it was the less likely WA team that came away with the win.

Fremantle Dockers vs North Melbourne Kangaroos

Fremantle Dockers 10.12 (72) / North Melbourne Kangaroos 11.7 (73)

It couldn’t happen again… could it? Siren Gate 2.0 is the talk of the town as Fremantle went down by one point against a young and determined North Melbourne team – in what can only be desired as a chaotic finish.

Watch: The last 2 minutes

Apart from the frantic finish, Fremantle yet again provided another below-par effort from a team that was expected to make a push for the flag in 2023.

After struggling to gain control of the game in round one against their old boss and his St Kilda outfit, Fremantle again seemed unable to take control of the game and gain space through the middle, lacking the contested ball-winning and line-breaking capability that North Melbourne showed led by Luke Davies-Uniacke.

For the game, Fremantle was outworked in the clearances losing the contest 30 to 45 – providing a clear indication that the Fremantle engine room wasn’t up for the contest.

The Good

Luke Ryan continues his strong start to the season with another impressive game down back. Ryan not only totaled 30 touches but was also formidable in the air pulling down 10 marks – providing rebounding opportunities for Fremantle all night.

Andrew Brayshaw did everything he could on the night collecting 28 touches and providing his usual pressure on the ball with 7 tackles. 

The Bad

We might only be two games in, but does Fremantle have a forward problem again?

Amiss and Walters came into the side that struggled to make an impact on the scoreboard last week, however, apart from Walters the Fremantle forward line was unable to get going all night.

Most notable for Fremantle is the performance of their key forwards. The one thing that you can say about Taberner is that he is consistent at being inconsistent as he turned in a forgettable performance, especially when he took too long to take his set shot and was forced to rush his kick, which fell short. The highly prized recruit Jackon has also yet to fire for Fremantle and provide the same impact in the forward line that he did with Melbourne when resting from his ruck duties and is yet to kick a goal for his new team. 

Fremantle has now scored only 124 points on the season – placing them as the 3rd lowest-scoring team and what makes it more alarming is that Fremantle is yet to verse a top 8 team – let alone a top 4 team from last season.

West Coast Eagles vs GWS Giants

West Coast Eagles 14.16 (100) / GWS Giants 11.15 (81)

In round one, it seemed like we were in for another season of a West Coast Eagles team that was going to go through the motions.

What a difference a week makes, West Coast came out on Sunday afternoon showing fight and some spirit that has been lacking for the better part of two seasons.

West Coast from the outset played with intent, looking to move the ball quickly and to run with pace – a complete contrast to their stagnant and uninspiring ball movement against North Melbourne a week earlier.

Watch: Eight goal second quarter for West Coast

The Good

While Tim Kelly had a magnet in his pocket collecting 32 touches, Jermain Jones was the most impressive midfielder on the ground for West Coast with his repeated burst through the middle of the ground providing the dare and run they lacked last week.

Jake Waterman since his debut in 2018 hasn’t played a consistent role within the team, however with one less key forward upfront – perhaps Waterman will get a chance to make his stamp in the forward line. Waterman, who missed selection in round one provided an immediate presence up front for West Coast – playing what seemed like a traditional full forward leading strong straight lines from the goal square beating out a quality defender in Nick Haynes numerous times. Waterman finished with 4.2 and grabbed eight marks for the best performance of his career.

The Bad

Without Nic Naitanui, West Coast still has a significant disadvantage in the ruck.

Without the star ruckman, West Coast again lost the hit-out count again this week. In itself this isn’t a bad thing as winning the hit-outs doesn’t guarantee a win – however, they lost the count to a team that also doesn’t have a strong ruck lineup. Which begs the question will West Coast be able to compete as well at stoppages against teams with a stronger ruck while they are without Naitanui? And if West Coast is unable to get their hands on the ball first will they still have the same ball movement that we saw this week against GWS?

Up next: Fremantle Dockers (13) vs West Coast Eagles (9)

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Feature image: Richard Wainwright / AAP Images