Craig O'Donoghue is part of The West Australian's sports writing team. He joined The West Australian in 2000 and spent 2013-14 working in the Melbourne bureau. He now focuses on AFL and basketball.
Fremantle are in seventh heaven after a come from behind victory over the Western Bulldogs sent them to the top of the ladder and again showed they know how to lift when it matters.
Craig O'Donoghue
Fremantle are going to extraordinary lengths to maximise their recovery as they battle a run of shortened breaks between games.
Assistant coach Jaymie Graham admits Freo can’t take credit for some of the extraordinary things Murphy Reid does during games, saying the Rising Star arrived in WA with party tricks already packed in his bag.
Fremantle are in Melbourne preparing for a Friday night blockbuster at the same time as teammate Nathan O’Driscoll has made his mental health battle public, but they are still doing everything to support him.
Fremantle star Hayden Young has missed two full seasons of footy due to injury throughout his career, but he’s now worked out how to ignore the fear of breaking down again as he mounts another comeback.
Perth Wildcats star Elijah Pepper has committed to another two years with the club and he’s got his eyes on a new role which would see him become even more valuable into the future.
The Dockers trained on Tuesday morning as they prepare to face the Western Bulldogs and all eyes were on Murphy Reid, Josh Treacy, Pat Voss, Brennan Cox and Hayden Young.
Fremantle have three six-day breaks in a row as part of a tough fixture in the coming weeks and must decide whether to stick with the same players or give some guys a rest. Justin Longmuir has made that call.
Fremantle ruckman Sean Darcy is recovering from a calf injury, and coach Justin Longmuir says the star big man may need to return to action through the WAFL.
Fremantle will head to Victoria for Friday’s game against the Western Bulldogs as the best team in the AFL across the last 12 months, and it all began when they collapsed to St Kilda in this round last year.
West Coast spend a lot of time talking about the future and a lot of time celebrating the past, but right now the only thing that really matters is fixing the present, writes Craig O’Donoghue.
Perth Lynx co-captain Anneli Maley just made a splash in a WNBA pre-season game against Caitlin Clark’s Indiana Fever and soaked up every moment of playing in front of more than 14,000 fans in New York.