Geelong great Joel Selwood says it’s now or never for Fremantle Dockers in flag push

Geelong great Joel Selwood said it was now or never for the Fremantle Dockers and that the team needed to be “much harder” if they were to be real flag contenders in 2025.

The Channel 7 AFL expert believes the Dockers have all the right pieces to contend for a flag but need to put in the hard work to fulfill their Flagmantle potential.

That hard work for Fremantle starts against his old side in Geelong on Saturday where the Dockers have played well in the their previous fixtures at the Cattery.

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“They are in a pretty good state the Dockers and they know it, it’s not the time to be patient,” the Channel 7 analyst said.

“They’ve actually just got to get their wheels going and win each week, build their confidence and become much harder because they should be playing off against the best sides (in September).

“The Dockers were sitting in the top four with three games to go and fell out of the finals (last year). They should be a finals side come the end of this year.”

Fremantle handled the hot temperatures much better than Melbourne during their trial match in Manduarh last month but Selwood said the high temperatures above 35 degrees expected on Saturday would not put the visitors in a better position than Geelong.

“I think both sides are going to struggle here, it doesn’t matter how much work you’ve done when it comes to that first day of the year, rotations are on the clock,” he said.

“The boys are at their fittest, they’re not bruised up as much as they are when they’re five, six games in, they’re just trying to work each other out.

“They’re trying to learn how to dance with each other again. So sure both sides will get some good momentum but it will be about who will be able to control it the most.”

While a lot of focus would be on the side’s midfield stars Selwood believed the game would be won or lost in the half forward line for the Cats.

“The Geelong half forwards is always an interesting one, they make such a big impact. So vice versa, the Freo half backs are so dangerous,” he said.

“So it’s probably whoever wins that battle.”

Caleb Serong was rated WA’s best player in The West Australian and came fourth in the Brownlow count last year. Selwood said Serong had the potential to rival Patrick Cripps and Nick Daicos for the highest honour in the AFL this year.

“Serong is not far off, he plays at a very high level so that would not surprise me (winning the Brownlow),” he said.