The conversation that sparked Freo's third quarter revival

Fremantle co-vice-captain Caleb Serong has reflected on the conversation that helped spark the Dockers to progress to their first preliminary final in 11 years.

After suffering their first loss at Optus Stadium all year against Hawthorn in last week’s qualifying final, Fremantle responded the following week, defeating Geelong by 14 points.

But despite a hot start by the minor premiers, the Dockers faced plenty of challenges throughout the clash.

During the third quarter, the Cats clawed their way back from a 19-point deficit at half-time to take the lead.

But Jeremy Cameron’s second goal proved a turning point for Justin Longmuir’s men, who then kicked the next five goals to put the match on ice.

Reflecting on their turnaround to make the final four, the star midfielder said a conversation with Longmuir and midfield coach Joel Corey to simplify their centre bounce approach went a long way toward sparking their resurgence.    “Sometimes you feel like you need to be special or do something extraordinary,” Serong said on SEN’s Crunch Time.

“I was on the bench for a bit through the middle of that 3rd quarter, and I didn't get my hands on it at all at the start of the 3rd quarter. I kind of went to the bench and wasn’t having an impact.

“We were starting to struggle a little bit, and they got some stuff going from centre bounce. It was good timing to be on the bench, because I had a good chat with Joel Corey and JL (Justin Longmuir) to talk about what we wanted to do, from a team point of view.

“Joel Corey more so centre bounce, and we kind of went out there and really simplified it.

“If you look at the next two centre bounces, we're able to get it out the front, but it was just getting our hands dirty.

“And then, I was lucky enough to take advantage, and that was the one where we came out the front. But from there, we kind of got a bit of momentum going back the other way.

“We've done a lot of work on momentum. It's like I said, you think you need to do something extraordinary to turn it, but more often than not, it's just screwing your guts up, getting your hands dirty and doing the simple things well to get the ball going your way.”

The Dockers now face the Swans in a preliminary final at the SCG next Friday night.

SEN will have live coverage of the clash from 6pm AEST across our radio network and on the SEN app, with the match beginning at 7:40pm.

The winner of this match will go on to the Grand Final to face either Hawthorn or Brisbane.