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The MCG roared to life. The Hawks now led by 25 points at the start of the second term. It was the sixth goal in a run of nine consecutive Hawthorn majors. Game officially over.<\/p>\n
But, honestly, the game was probably done well before that moment for the Eagles.<\/p>\n
We\u2019d played in a prelim in 2011, but this was our first Grand Final as a group and the club\u2019s first decider since 2006. So pretty much everyone playing in the game \u2013 outside of Sharrod Wellingham, Xavier Ellis and Sam Butler \u2013 hadn\u2019t experienced the week as a player before.<\/p>\n
Luke Hodge and Hawthorn fans celebrate THAT goal. Picture: Colleen Petch.Source: News Corp Australia<\/p>\n
Looking back, I think we thought at the time the dream was to play in the Grand Final. Collectively, we were very happy to just be in it. Therefore, everything that went with Grand Final week was an amazing thing.<\/p>\n
I remember the last main training session at Subiaco Oval with 20,000 people there. Then there was the Grand Final parade, the flood of media coverage, every person in your phone book congratulating you and wishing you good luck \u2013 and asking for tickets \u2013 and organising tickets and flights and accommodation for family \u2013 none of us really knew how to handle that. A lot of us did that work ourselves and spent a lot of the week caught up in those things.<\/p>\n
You forgot you\u2019re going to play a game of football.<\/p>\n
I remember standing on the ground on the day before the game, watching the heats of the Grand Final sprint then watching some entertainment being set up. Then suddenly it clicked: \u201cOh, sh*t. I\u2019ve gotta f***ing get strapped to play.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Eagles after losing the 2015 AFL Grand Final. Picture: Quinn Rooney\/Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll never forget warming up for the granny and feeling like I had lead boots on. It was like I\u2019d just run a marathon then had weights tied to my legs before the game.<\/p>\n
And none of that was physical. It was all mental.<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t prepare well enough. I didn\u2019t get my head inside what it would take to win a Grand Final. I didn\u2019t know my opposition well enough. I thought: \u201cWe just beat Hawthorn two weeks prior, we can do it again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ultimately, we rocked up and got it handed to us.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a true regret of my career, the way we played in that Grand Final. But I learnt everything from that week and was able to use it in 2018.<\/p>\n
Will Schofield during an Eagles Welcome Home function at Subiaco Oval in October 2015.Source: News Corp Australia<\/p>\n
SAME STAGE, DIFFERENT APPROACH THREE YEARS LATER<\/p>\n
I approached the Grand Final against Collingwood so differently.<\/p>\n
I turned my phone off on the Wednesday. Like, fully off. I didn\u2019t look at it once.<\/p>\n
My wife handled all the tickets and accommodation. If anyone wanted a ticket or reached out to wish me good luck, they needed to go through her. She was an amazing support for me.<\/p>\n
As a team, there were no sunglasses in the parade. Yes, we embraced the week, but we weren\u2019t there to \u2018enjoy it\u2019, per se. After the Grand Final parade, it was a case of: \u2018Present yourselves well, hold the cup up, stand there, get it done, get off, get back to preparing properly.\u2019 Everything was about winning the game in 2018.<\/p>\n
West Coast’s Will Schofield celebrates with the 2018 premiership cup. Picture: Mark StewartSource: News Corp Australia<\/p>\n
But, ultimately, the biggest thing I did was prepare properly. I\u2019ve never been more prepared for a game in my life than I was for Collingwood in 2018, specifically for the role I played on the day. It just meant that when I ran out on Grand Final day, I was so clear, so focused and able to get in the zone immediately. A lot of us were like that.<\/p>\n
Now on paper it didn\u2019t go very well initially as we gave up the first five goals of the game. But there wouldn\u2019t be too many teams who would\u2019ve given their opposition such a head start then been able to pull off a comeback in a Grand Final like we did. That\u2019s because we were so clear on our role and we had this belief we could get back into the game.<\/p>\n
The bottom line is the dream is not just to reach an AFL Grand Final. It\u2019s to prepare and then win a Grand Final. Any player who\u2019s both lost and won a decider gets the difference. They understand both what the real dream is, the regret you have in the Grand Finals you\u2019ve lost and the pure joy in the ones you\u2019ve won.<\/p>\n
EAGLES 2015 v FREO 2026<\/p>\n
In terms of September experience, there are a few parallels between the Eagles of 2015 and the Dockers 2026.<\/p>\n
Like us 11 years ago, Fremantle will go into Saturday\u2019s match with three premiership players: Shai Bolton, Mason Cox and Luke Jackson.<\/p>\n
But they\u2019re not necessarily \u2018better prepared\u2019 than we were. A lot of our players learnt so much from losing in 2015, so we did a lot of things differently.<\/p>\n
Premiership trio Luke Jackson, Shai Bolton and Mason Cox.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Freo, unfortunately, don\u2019t have that experience. There\u2019s a real danger they get carried away with it all if they don\u2019t get their mindset right.<\/p>\n
The difference is that Justin Longmuir\u2019s Dockers, both on paper and in the way they\u2019ve performed in 2026, are so much better than we could\u2019ve ever been.<\/p>\n
Freo has so many match-winners. You could argue the Dockers have up to 10 players who can rip a game apart by themselves. They don\u2019t have as many role players as a lot of previous premiership sides.<\/p>\n
Grand Finals come down to a mix of both player types. Yes, you need your top-band players \u2013 think Jackson, Bolton, Hayden Young, Murphy Reid and Josh Treacy \u2013 to stand up and win the game. But you also need your role players \u2013 think Judd McVee, Corey Wagner and Matty Johnson, to an extent \u2013 to do their job.<\/p>\n
Those less-heralded Dockers need to have the games of their lives to keep up with the Lions, who\u2019ve done it before. And Brisbane is going to be so much more prepared than Freo ever were or could be.<\/p>\n
\u2018BRUTAL\u2019 DOCKERS SELECTION CALL LOOMS<\/p>\n
I think Fremantle is considering at least one change, if not more, for the Grand Final.<\/p>\n
So far the Dockers have won just three of 12 quarters in this year\u2019s finals series. No typo. Three quarters in three games. Clearly they\u2019re not playing at the level they\u2019d hoped to be at.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s where selection becomes so important. In a Grand Final, you can\u2019t afford passengers \u2013 particularly against a Brisbane side that knows what it takes to win this game.<\/p>\n
Freo comeback sinks Swans in epic prelim | 03:21<\/p>\n
And the way a few Fremantle players performed in the first three quarters against Sydney, I reckon there\u2019s a few spots up for grabs, with Mason Cox one of the players under pressure<\/p>\n
I believe Cox was one mark away from being dropped. If he didn\u2019t take that mark and kick that goal late against the Swans, he would\u2019ve been vulnerable, because he\u2019d had a negative impact on the game prior to that.<\/p>\n
But I was at Optus Stadium on Sunday to see Peel Thunder\u2019s WAFL grand final triumph and watched Sean Darcy play \u2013 and Darcy isn\u2019t at the level to be selected for an AFL Grand Final. He wasn\u2019t clean enough and just didn\u2019t look fit enough, to be honest.<\/p>\n
Brandon Walker, though, is a really interesting call. He played exceptionally well in the WAFL granny on Sunday. His defensive actions stood out: His spoiling, smothering, one-on-one work, defensive craft, bodywork, closing speed \u2013 he was brilliant.<\/p>\n
So if the Dockers are considering a change and going in with a smaller backline, Walker will be straight in, because he did absolutely everything he could have for Peel.<\/p>\n
The big one, though, is Brennan Cox. Freo held him out of the WAFL decider and he hasn\u2019t played footy in five weeks. They\u2019re definitely considering playing all three key defenders to take on Eric Hipwood, Oscar Allen and Logan Morris, or making a change with Oscar McDonald for the Grand Final.<\/p>\n
Brennan Cox in action during a Fremantle training session at Cockburn ARC Oval. Picture: Paul Kane\/Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Dropping McDonald would be absolutely brutal \u2013 and it would also be a big risk, given Cox\u2019s body. But they\u2019re definitely looking at it, because Cox trained really strongly on Saturday.<\/p>\n
My call? I think they should play tall and bring in Cox. I just don\u2019t know who you drop<\/p>\n
McVee and Wagner are guys that are usually last into the team and first out if they do make a change.<\/p>\n
But I thought McVee\u2019s game against Sydney was probably his best of the year. When the chips were down and Freo was really struggling, McVee wasn\u2019t. He was clean, tough and hard. I don\u2019t think you could drop him off that prelim performance.<\/p>\n
And Wagner gives the Dockers something different with his flexibility.<\/p>\n
Maybe it\u2019s Cox for McDonald? I don\u2019t know. It\u2019s going to be an interesting and tough call for Longmuir, who hasn\u2019t been afraid to pull the trigger at selection throughout the year.<\/p>\n
ONE WIN FROM \u2018FLAGMANTLE\u2019<\/p>\n
A Freo flag would be truly amazing. For the fan base, for Longmuir, for the team, for the extended squad and for the club.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a lot of people that have invested a lot of blood, sweat, tears and time into this footy club.<\/p>\n
The signs of a Fremantle flag push were there in 2022 when the club made the jump into the top eight for the first time since 2015. We started running with \u2018Flagmantle\u2019 in 2022, even though it was too early in their journey to genuinely challenge.<\/p>\n
Longmuir praises battle-hardened Dockers | 12:39<\/p>\n