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Justin Chadwick
June 28, 2026 — 8:29pm
The pressure on Gold Coast is set to go into overdrive after the Suns produced a horror show on the way to a 51-point loss to Fremantle at Optus Stadium.
Murphy Reid (28 disposals) produced a midfield masterclass and Michael Frederick kicked an equal career-high four goals as Fremantle notched their 14th win on the trot with a 11.14 (80) to 3.11 (29) triumph in front of 50,602 fans in Perth.
The win catapulted Fremantle (14-1) two wins clear of second-placed Sydney and three and a half wins clear of third-placed Hawthorn, with a top-two finish well and truly theirs for the taking.
Gold Coast (7-8) started the year as one of the premiership favourites, but are now on a five-match losing run and face a big battle to turn their season around.
The Suns only had two majors to their name against Fremantle until Jed Walter ran into an open goal in the dying minutes of the match.
Some of Gold Coast’s errors were so bad it left coach Damien Hardwick with his hands on his head in frustration in the box.
Although Gold Coast won the clearance battle 36-24, they failed to capitalise because of some horrendous decision-making and poor skill execution.
Damningly, Gold Coast lost the tackle count 66-44 despite having 64 fewer disposals for the match.
Noah Anderson (32 disposals, eight clearances) battled hard, but fellow midfield star Christian Petracca (17 disposals, five clearances) was quiet while spending large periods in attack.
Forward Bailey Humphrey (no score from six disposals) endured another lean outing, while out-of-contract spearhead Ben King was restricted to 1.2 from seven disposals.
Fremantle had winners all over the field.
And Dockers ruckman Sean Darcy made a welcome return, tallying six disposals, 20 hit-outs and one goal in his first AFL match since round five.
The Suns beat Fremantle by one point in last year’s elimination final in Perth, and the Dockers came out like a team possessed early in Sunday’s rematch.
The Dockers’ intense pressure proved too much for the Suns, with Frederick cashing in with three quick goals, and Luke Jackson adding another from a contested mark to give Fremantle a 28-2 edge by quarter-time.
The damage would have been even greater if not for two misses from Dockers spearhead Jye Amiss and a poster from Patrick Voss.
Fremantle dominated the inside-50 battle 15-7 in the second quarter, but their reward was a meagre three behinds in what was their lowest-scoring term of the season.
King kicked the only goal of the term to bring the margin back to 20 points.
But Jackson broke the game open early in the third quarter, nailing his 50m set shot before delivering an assist to Voss for another.
And when Frederick bobbed up for his fourth goal, the margin was 40 points and it was game over.
AAP
