The Dockers have made a habit of winning from behind, but is it sustainable in finals?

Karl Worner after the Elimination Final between Fremantle and Gold Coast at Optus Stadium, September 6, 2025. Picture: AFL Photos

FREMANTLE’S belief that it could outlast anyone had been tested time and again this season, to the point where Saturday night’s surge against Gold Coast had an air of inevitability about it. 

The Dockers had run down contenders Hawthorn and Collingwood among five come-from-behind wins in the run home, and they had the Suns in their sights after falling 21 points down early in the final quarter. 

DOCKERS v SUNS Full match coverage and stats

But special things can happen in September, and despite successfully reeling in a game-high 26-point deficit and hitting the lead late, Fremantle will be left to rue some late stumbles that ended its season. 

It was a devastating way for a club to finish its campaign, let alone a club that was fighting to extend the career of its greatest champion as long as possible. 

In the end, the Dockers exit 2025 at the elimination final stage, and dual Brownlow medallist Nat Fyfe finishes on 248 games after being chaired from the ground by Alex Pearce and Luke Ryan. 

The loss will probably hurt even more for Fremantle knowing that they had produced a brilliant final quarter and got one hand on a semifinal spot after going toe-to-toe with the Suns in a classic, high-pressure final. 

But the lessons to come out of the season will have to include the fact that lapses earlier in games are the reason the team has so often found itself needing to mount late fightbacks. 

On Saturday night it was a second-quarter slump that left the backline exposed and saw Gold Coast kick seven goals, including four unanswered in the run to half-time. 

They were exposed by the Suns’ ability to surge the ball forward quickly and pump it in deep, with their small forwards keeping their feet and getting out the back to kick crucial goals. 

Powerful midfielder Bailey Humphrey was the spark the visitors needed, kicking three goals for the quarter and driving the team to a 24-point lead at the main break. 

While Humphrey snaffled half chances, the Dockers were not as composed as they needed to be and didn’t stand up in crucial moments, hesitating with the ball or making poor decisions. 

The third quarter was a chaotic armwrestle as 20 minutes passed without a goal being kicked and both teams threw everything at the contest. 

Noah Anderson might have sealed the result when he burst from the centre square late in the term and launched from long range, but a desperate effort on the goalline from Luke Ryan kept his team in it. 

From there, Isaiah Dudley and Andrew Brayshaw combined twice in three minutes to cut the margin to 15 points at the final change and the game was alive.

The Dockers leaders were enormous in the final quarter. Captain Alex Pearce was a wall, Hayden Young repeatedly got free in the corridor, Josh Treacy and Luke Jackson kicked clutch goals. 

Caleb Serong has played three finals for the Dockers and been his team’s best in every one of them, finishing on Saturday night with a game-high 35 disposals, 13 clearances, and 11 inside 50s. 

He would have been the hero of the fightback if it was not for Mac Andrew’s late goal after an uncontested mark, and David Swallow’s ultimate behind, which proved the difference in the game. 

Heroic as it would have been, the Dockers will need to move beyond the fightbacks in 2026.Â