Champion Data reveals the Fremantle players that fail to deliver in 2024 losses

An analysis of the 25 Dockers who have played at least 10 games this season has uncovered that 19 players fail to produce the same numbers in losses as wins. Judged by player ratings in wins compared to losses, the most culpable stars’ outputs dropped off by more than 30 per cent when Fremantle has been defeated in 2024.

Veteran forward Michael Walters is the biggest offender, suffering a 39 per cent decline in his impact between wins and losses. James Aish (-34 per cent) and Jaeger O’Meara (-31 per cent) aren’t far behind.

But there’s a long list of Fremantle players in the same boat with 76 per cent of the Dockers’ regulars failing to produce consistent football.

Star ruckmen Sean Darcy (-23 per cent) and Luke Jackson (-13 per cent) are both on lucrative, long-term contracts but the pair underperform in defeats.

Co-vice-captains Andrew Brayshaw (-12 per cent) and Caleb Serong (-19 per cent) are often subject to opposition attention. While fellow leaders Hayden Young (-10 per cent) and Sam Switkowski (-23 per cent) are also guilty of dropping off.

Just four Fremantle players perform better in losses than in wins, led by defender Brandon Walker whose lockdown prowess contributes to a 23 per cent uptick in form.

“Going into each week knowing that you’re coming up against quality teams, it’s all about preparation,” Walker told this masthead.

“I’m hungry knowing that we have a chance to do a once-in-a-lifetime thing. It’s motivating me to play and perform at that level.

“Everyone does (have a bit of white line fever) bit to be honest. There’s a little switch that gets flicked. Everyone wants to win.”

Wingman Jeremey Sharp and Josh Draper perform the same in losses as they do in wins. While Heath Chapman (-4 per cent), Nat Fyfe (-7 per cent) and Luke Ryan (-8 per cent) drop off marginally in defeats.

The average age of Fremantle’s bottom 10 underperformers is 25.6 years. Walker, 21, said that the Dockers’ core group of rising stars, led by Brayshaw, Serong and Young, wanted to be the reason for Fremantle’s rise.

“At the start of the year, Alex (Pearce) was talking about how some were saying we’re too young to make finals, too inexperienced for anything,” he said. “He really motivated everyone by saying that we’re young and it’s a reason for us to go better.

“Since the start of the year, we’ve had full motivation and belief to get better. There’s a lot of integrity at the club.

“We’re classified as young players but personally I feel like after playing more games and adapting to AFL level, having those guys around you shows you how you can be a professional. They drag you along.”

Walker also said it was important to Fremantle’s younger players to help deliver success to the veterans who have remained loyal to the club like Fyfe and Walters.

“They’ve been playing the game for so long it’s insane,” he said. “To get reward would be amazing for them and us as well.

“It’s a bit of motivation that the guys who’ve played before us have had a taste of it and now we have a chance to do it with them.”

Walker doesn’t believe that individual players are to blame for Fremantle’s last three losses, instead lamenting the Dockers’ inability to seize the moment.

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“We’ve just been losing a few critical moments in games,” he said. “In the Essendon game, we didn’t put it away early when we could’ve.

“We’re not taking our chances and there’s a few errors within games that can cost you games. We keep building and we’re confident that a four quarter performance can get it done.

“We’ve been playing finals-like games against top teams. There’s been a lot of pressure. We’ll be prepared for Port Adelaide.”