Lions pulled ‘reverse card’ on Freo’s Wharfie Time
Shayne Hope |
Fremantle star Shai Bolton thought he’d helped deliver a long-awaited premiership when his kick found Patrick Voss and set off “Wharfie Time” in the AFL grand final.
Voss converted his set shot to put the Dockers 17 points up in time-on of the final quarter, and the purple army went wild when the motivational activation rang out.
But it backfired in dramatic fashion as Brisbane stormed home with four late goals in a devastating burst to pinch the flag and break Fremantle hearts.
“It probably kick-started them,” Norm Smith medallist Bolton said.
“We probably should’ve stopped playing it, to be honest, but that’s all part of football.
“They’re the best and credit to them – they deserve it.”
Fremantle had to fight to be allowed to use “Wharfie Time” in the grand final, having only previously done so sparingly at home games in Perth.
It was eventually ticked off by the AFL, with some tighter parameters, and looked like a celebration move when the Dockers skipped clear through Voss’s third goal.
But Brisbane were well prepared. Charlie Cameron hit back with a crucial goal just seconds after the soundtrack of AC/DC’s “Hells Bells” stopped playing, Zac Bailey kicked another, and Logan Morris added the final two to complete the comeback.
Josh Dunkley suggested the Lions “grew another leg” when the button was pushed, while forward Kai Lohman said they pulled the “Uno reverse card” on Fremantle.
Brisbane coach Chris Fagan said he had spoken about “Wharfie Time” with his players the day before the match, and assistant Dale Morris played the audio for the group at a team meeting.
“We hadn’t heard it before, so I wanted the players to sort of hear it first of all, and understand what it meant to Fremantle,” Fagan said.
“Just to say to them, ‘If they do play it, then maybe we can use it as a sign for us to get cracking’.
“It just so happened it turned out that way. That’s a little bit of a fluke.
“It looks fortuitous and it looks genius, all that sort of stuff, (but) we were just lucky I think.
“Try and reverse it on them, in a way. You never know if those things are going to work or not.”
Lions ball-winner Will Ashcroft was a central figure in his team’s late onslaught, dominating out of the middle.
“When the ‘Wharfie Time’ hit and they went up by that much, I found a bit of freedom in myself,” Ashcroft told AAP.
“Like ‘there’s not much to lose now, let’s just go for it and try and win the game’.
“So that’s what I was thinking, I just wanted to go for it, and lucky it paid off.”
It marked the turning point of the match, but Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir dismissed suggestions the playing of “Wharfie Time” was critical to the outcome.
“I don’t think that has any impact,” Longmuir said.
“Did Charlie (Cameron’s) ‘Country Roads’ celebration have any impact on the game? Probably not.
“I don’t think we can put it down to that. I just think we put it down to they’re one of the better teams of all time.
“Backs against the wall, they found something, and we just didn’t have an answer for that.”
Fremantle midfielder Andrew Brayshaw was “devastated” after his side coughed up their lead in the final few minutes.
“You kick the goal there and you probably think you can put yourself in a position,” Brayshaw said.
“If you can control the game and control the ball a little bit and run down the clock – the later it gets the closer you are to winning.
“But they go and kick a centre-bounce goal, they’re right back in it and you just have to play next moment.
“We played out those moments and unfortunately didn’t come up with the choccies.”
AAP