{"id":888292,"date":"2026-09-11T15:40:19","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T15:40:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/888292\/"},"modified":"2026-09-11T15:40:19","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T15:40:19","slug":"wharfie-time-two-wins-from-immortality-as-freo-claim-hollywood-afl-finals-epic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/888292\/","title":{"rendered":"WHARFIE TIME! Two wins from immortality as Freo claim \u2018Hollywood\u2019 AFL finals epic"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fremantle is through to a preliminary final after holding on to claim one of the most remarkable semi-finals in recent AFL history.<\/p>\n

The Dockers on Friday night delivered a pulsating 14-point win, 18.12 (120) to 16.10 (106), over a gallant Geelong at Optus Stadium \u2013 set up off the back of star Luke Jackson\u2019s heroics.<\/p>\n

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Despite opening up a five-goal lead in the second term, the Cats came charging in the third term to steal the lead.<\/p>\n

But when the Dockers needed a hero, it was Jackson who stepped up with arguably the greatest 10-minute patch ever played by a Docker.<\/p>\n

In the dying stages of the third, Jackson racked five disposals, four clearances and four score involvements, including two of his own goals.<\/p>\n

And from there, Freo rode that momentum through the final term to hang on for a 14-point win and book a preliminary final showdown with Sydney at the SCG next weekend.<\/p>\n

More coverage …<\/p>\n

DOCKERS PLAYER RATINGS: \u2018Legendary\u2019 five-minute rampage sets up EPIC win; star\u2019s \u2018white-hot\u2019 start<\/a><\/p>\n

CATS PLAYER RATINGS: Rising star\u2019s career night wasted; seven fails as underdone stars struggle to fire<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2018EXTRAORDINARY FAILURE\u2019: Finals controversy erupts after epic \u2018Jackie Chan\u2019 AFL act denied<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cRespect to both teams for turning on a show,\u201d Anthony Hudson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the best games that I reckon you could see,\u201d Garry Lyon added.<\/p>\n

\u201cHeroes everywhere for both sides.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pat Voss finished with four goals, including the sealer in the final minute.<\/p>\n

Earlier, Fremantle got off to a red-hot start with the opening three goals of the match.<\/p>\n

Just as coach Justin Longmuir and star Caleb Serong called for, they came out hunting to pile the pressure on a Cats side described by Lyon as \u201cdeer-ish in the headlights\u201d.<\/p>\n

Voss was dominating his opponent Tom Stewart in the perfect response to his quiet qualifying final.<\/p>\n

FINALS FIXTURE: See the AFL finals bracket and who\u2019ll play who<\/a><\/p>\n

MATCH CENTRE: Fremantle vs Geelong First Semi Final scores and stats<\/a><\/p>\n

And by the first change it was Freo with a six-goal opening term \u2013 more than their entire score against the Hawks last week.<\/p>\n

But you can never count out the Cats, as they began to creep closer.<\/p>\n

When they finally got their midfield game going, the goals started to come more freely at both ends of the ground as it turned into a shootout.<\/p>\n

At half-time, it was Fremantle holding a 21-point buffer in a display Serong told Fox Footy \u201cis us\u201d.<\/p>\n

But the third term was where the match turned.<\/p>\n

The Cats came out with a killer instinct \u2013 but couldn\u2019t put Freo away.<\/p>\n

They kicked 1.7 (13) from eight inside 50s in a total domination, with Ollie Henry\u2019s fourth goal putting Freo on the ropes as they suddenly stared down a 10-point deficit.<\/p>\n

Enter Jackson, who \u201cturned the game on its head\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cLuke Jackson, take a bow,\u201d Garry Lyon said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been pivotal.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe just stood up and said no, not on my watch.\u201d<\/p>\n

By the time the Dockers turned for home, they held a 16-point buffer in front of a record 59,725 crowd at Optus Stadium.<\/p>\n

When Serong set sail from the arc to put Freo up by 24 points, the Dockers looked home.<\/p>\n

But no one told the Cats.<\/p>\n

A big holding free kick to Shannon Neale saw the margin close to just 12, setting up a thrilling finish.<\/p>\n

\u201cHollywood blockbusters have got nothing on this!\u201d Dwayne Russell said.<\/p>\n

Tom Stewart nailed his second goal of the season to bring the Cats to within eight points as Wharfie Time set in with just 75 seconds to play.<\/p>\n

With the noise deafening, Voss got out the back to goal and ensure it was Fremantle going into just the club\u2019s fourth-ever preliminary final.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fremantle is through to a preliminary final after holding on to claim one of the most remarkable semi-finals…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":888293,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-888292","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/888292","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=888292"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/888292\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/888293"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=888292"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=888292"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=888292"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}