Better starts the major focus for Bulldogs

THERE is no panic at South Fremantle with the knowledge they are still just two wins from a premiership in 2020, but starting games better is a major focus coming into the preliminary final according to captain Dylan Main.

South Fremantle was the standout team during the nine rounds of the 2020 WAFL season winning its opening seven matches to secure the Bulldogs the minor premiership for the first time since 2009.

The Bulldogs had finished in second spot in each of the last four seasons behind Subiaco ending up in three preliminary final and a Grand Final appearance, so it was a step forward during the home and away season.

However, they suffered a hiccup in last Sunday's second semi-final against Claremont at Fremantle Community Bank Oval going goalless the entire first half and ending up losing by 47 points, but what they now have is a second chance.

The Bulldogs are back at home this Sunday in the preliminary final against West Perth with a chance to get back to the Grand Final for a second straight season and to avoid an upset loss at this stage to the Falcons on their home ground like they suffered back in 2018.

South Fremantle captain Dylan Main isn’t shying away from the fact that his team's form hasn’t been as good in recent week with a come from behind win over East Perth, narrow loss to Perth and then the loss to Claremont, with the poor starts a key reason behind that.

However, he isn’t concerned about the prospect of a straight-sets exit and instead is determined and confident that South Fremantle can regain its best form firstly this Sunday in the preliminary final and then back it up in next week's Grand Final also at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

"We do feel like our form has dropped off a little actually," Main said.

"Our starts haven’t been too good and we seem to run over teams at the end of games quite a bit especially in this last month which is a credit to our fitness, and strength and conditioning crew. But obviously we'd like to start games well and be in it from the start so that's obviously going to be a focus this week.

"I suppose if you finish top and there's a possibility of going out in straight-sets with that loss last weekend, but we don't try and look too much at that. I'm not sure if it got into the boys on the weekend or not or if they got a bit nervous with those expectations, but we're not trying to listen to any of that outside influence. 

"It does come with a bit of an expectation considering we've got the two home finals and Grand Final is on our home ground too, and it would be nice to get there but we've got to get it done this weekend first. We're trying not to take on any added pressure."

The slow starts to games has been an on-going concern for South Fremantle which included them being 32 points down during the third quarter against East Perth back in Round 8 and then not kicking a goal until the 10-minute mark of the third term last week against Claremont.

Over the course of the season, South Fremantle has only outscored its opponents by a total of four points in first quarters and considering they won seven of eight games to be ranked fifth in that department is saying something.

The Bulldogs, though, in contrast have been able to pull themselves out of trouble as far and away the best performing fourth quarter team outscoring their opponents in last terms by 111 points more than the next best team.

That couldn’t save them last week against Claremont or the week before against Perth, but it's held them in good stead the rest of the way and for Main, he thinks it's all above the shoulders.

"We think it's more of a mental game and a few things haven’t gone our way whether it's kicking an early set shot because if you miss some early shots it can hurt the confidence of everyone up the field," Main said. 

"We have put it down to that a little bit and we'll try a few different things this week to try and make sure we are in the contest early on."

There's no question the absence of Kade Stewart and Jake Florenca was felt heavily in South Fremantle's midfield in the second semi-final against Claremont, but it isn’t being used as an excuse by anyone at the Bulldogs.

However, Main is hopeful that both will be available to play against West Perth on Sunday while Zac Dent could be back in the mix and former Demon Cody Ninyette could be in-line for a shock Bulldogs debut.

"We don’t have any fresh injuries from the weekend and we've had Jakey Florenca who hurt his knee in the last round of the season. He's trained this week and has ticked the boxes so far but he'll still need to see how he pulls up and hopefully he'll be up for selection," he said. 

"Kade Stewart as well missed last week and he's in a similar boat, and just has to get through training and tick a few boxes. Then there's Zac Dent who came back in the reserves last week and got through unscathed so he'll be in the mix too."

As for Main himself, he is in his third season as South Fremantle captain having taken over from the longest-serving skipper in Bulldogs history, Ryan Cook.

He has continued to grow impressively into the role and is now a veteran of 101 WAFL games split between the Bulldogs and East Perth when he was on West Coast's AFL list.

He has split his time in 2020 between playing forward and in the midfield, and while he wouldn’t mind spending more time in the middle, he'll play whatever role is deemed best to help the team win two more games and a premiership this year.

"I definitely think I play my best footy in the midfield personally. Whether the coaches think that or not, I'm not sure, but I feel like I can provide that impact and when we need to get those clearances, I can help with that," Main said. 

"But in saying that, I enjoy playing forward too and it's always nice to get on the end of a few. 

"But when we do have Jake Florenca going with 30 touches and kicking a couple of goals, and Drago getting up to those numbers, I'm quite happy to sit out and let them do that because I've never really been a big accumulator of the footy. 

"I just try to be as damaging as possible with the possessions I do win."