Some post-match comments from Fremantle captain Nat Fyfe have revealed his coach Ross Lyon has indeed made wholesale changes to his dour game plan built on defence for season 2019.
The Dockers, who have finished 16th, 14th and 14th and welcomed 31 new players since 2016, now have only 11 players on their 44-man list older than 25 and some firepower up forward and it showed in Sunday's rampaging 82-point win over the Kangaroos at Optus Stadium.
Nat Fyfe salutes the crowd at Optus Stadium after the Dockers unveiled a new game style against the Roos.Credit:AAP
Fans have often bemoaned an apparent lack of pace at Fremantle but when you move the ball from half-back to half-forward as direct as the Dockers did on Sunday, you will always look quick.
'"We've adjusted our style and I think it really showed," captain Fyfe said after the match.
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"They had more possession than us but we were scoring more.
"Full credit to Ross Lyon and the coaching staff, for adjusting to the modern game."
Those comments drew some raised eyebrows from the Talking Footy panel on Monday night.
"It sounds like a real slap but there's always been this knock on Fremantle and Ross' coaching about the defensive mechanisms that they put in place and how that stops them from scoring … it's great defensively but it limits their own ability to attack," Essendon legend Tim Watson said.
"They still did all the defensive things around the ball, they were great, they put pressure on North Melbourne but it was when they went from half back, they were prepared to go so quick, and hard and decisively … that's not something that we really associate with the Ross Lyon type teams."
North Melbourne champion Wayne Carey said the fast-moving Fremantle players "clearly caught the Kangaroos off guard".
"They had no answers for it … but he [Lyon] still went to his 1 wood … it was built on the back of extreme pressure, they were as good as any team on the weekend of applying pressure," Carey said.
An analysis of some key data from the match shows Fremantle were at their defensive best against the Roos but also, in the words of their captain, scoring more from less.
The Dockers 21.15 (144) was their highest score since 2013 yet they still executed in areas the coach has always been strong in; contested possessions (174-147) and clearances (40-27).
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