Fremantle players celebrate another goal in the big win against Melbourne at Optus Stadium last Sunday. Photo: AFL MEDIA

Fremantle’s reputation as an unreliable and unsuccessful team since its admission to the league in 1995 has been well-earned.

With no premierships, only one grand final, and just three preliminary final appearances in their history, the Dockers continue to conjure a credibility gap that will only be eliminated with a sustained period of success and multiple flags.

There is no doubt that clubs carry identities which stretch beyond the evolution of a playing list. Does this persona cloud judgement of the current list and their prospects, even in the short term?

In the Ross Lyon era, and into the early days of the Justin Longmuir era, Fremantle played a stagnant, controlled brand of football that limits the opposition, but traditionally does not get the job done in September.

This characterisation is hard to shake, and in footy, as in life, perception is often 12 months behind the shifting reality. But on current form, the Dockers are top-five in the competition for offensive ball movement.

While this time last year Fremantle was 14th in scoring from turnover, it currently sits sixth in the same metric. That is some turnaround. This ability to punish sides through the middle of the ground, combined with connection going inside 50, is not only helping it win. It’s making the Dockers a fun watch for the first time in years.

Scoring differential from turnover (ie. how much you score as a result of winning the ball back off your opponent, minus how much they score from the same method), is a big indicator for success. Remarkably, all bar one of the last 18 premiers have been top three in this statistic.

At the end of round 19, Fremantle is fourth with a bullet, and holds a significant gap over the next cluster of teams.

There are no needle-moving recruits to pin this stylistic change on, after recruiters walked away from the 2023 trade period empty-handed, having lost one of their best runners in Liam Henry.

What we are witnessing, though, is a totally different side to the one that emerged in 2022 before stumbling last year. A shift from within, gameplan, mindset, and the spinning of a few magnets, have turned one of Fremantle’s weaknesses into a clear strength.

In addition, the Dockers are the number one stoppage team this season, with their clearance differential average of plus 8.5 nearly triple the next best, and placing them on track to break the record since the stat has been counted.

PLEASE HELP US CONTINUE TO THRIVE BY BECOMING AN OFFICIAL FOOTYOLOGY PATRON. JUST CLICK THIS LINK.

Aside from being stodgy, Fremantle sides have also gained notoriety for being bad travellers, and rightfully so. How many times have the Dockers looked a million bucks at Perth Stadium, only to turn up at the MCG seven days later and make it abundantly clear from the opening five minutes that they’re not there to win?

But the reality is that away wins are just really hard to come by. Since the beginning of 2021, the league average for away wins is 42 per cent, or about two-in-every-five attempts. Only Sydney and Melbourne are batting at three-in-five over that time period.

Fremantle’s 2024 away record of 56 per cent is well above average, and ranks equal-fourth (with Geelong) this season, behind only Sydney, Carlton, and the Western Bulldogs.

While in Sydney’s case these are all true away games, Carlton and the Western Bulldogs count victories against other tenants at their home venues among their “away” wins. When accounting for this, Fremantle’s record makes it the second-best team on the road this season.

Whether this can elevate during the finals remains a fair question.

Among its away losses are back-to-back matches in Adelaide against Carlton and the Power, both of which they led for the majority of the second half, before being beaten late by a combined total of 13 points.

Fremantle’s recent performance against Hawthorn at York Park stifled its momentum, but it shouldn’t be forgotten the Hawks have lost just three of 11 matches at the venue in the last three seasons. They are also clearly a much tougher proposition on any oval right now than they have been in the same time period.

At home, the loss to Sydney in round 10 occurred under the most tragic of extenuating circumstances, just 24 hours after the news of Cam McCarthy’s passing landed. The shock defeat to West Coast in the first derby of the season is, of course, much harder to justify.

Clearly, the Dockers’ worst loss for the season was to the Western Bulldogs in round 14, when they were obliterated after quarter time. The performance was fairly rebuked, but nearly every side has dished up at least one absolute shocker this season.

It was also their only truly awful away effort of the year, and on the flipside, they remain one of only two sides this season to have beaten the Swans at the SCG.

While others stumble, Fremantle is hitting its attacking straps at the right time of the year. And the evidence that an AFL ugly duckling is shaking the shackles of its history is stacking up.