Season Review 2022 – South FremantleSunday, November 20, 2022 - 8:40 AM - by Chris Pike

SOUTH Fremantle played finals for a seventh consecutive season in 2022 and appeared capable of going further, but an elimination final exit and the retirement since of premiership stars leaves them in a fascinating position heading to 2023.

It has been a remarkably consistent run for the Bulldogs under the coaching of Todd Curley who inherited a team that needed a bit of a rebuild and guidance when he returned to the WAFL ranks in 2015.

There was that building first season, but ever since the Bulldogs hadn’t finished earlier in a season than a preliminary final until this year. South Fremantle lost three consecutive preliminary finals before finally breaking through in 2019 to reach the Grand Final.

The Bulldogs would end up winning three straight preliminary finals while winning the premiership in 2020 along the way, and there were certainly times throughout 2022 where they appeared flag contenders once more.

However, they ended up just missing out on a top three finish and a finals double chance, which would prove their downfall. 

South Fremantle finished the season with 12 wins, five losses and a draw, and would have liked their finals prospects having drawn with West Perth, beaten East Fremantle twice and thrashed Claremont in the most recent meeting.

The Bulldogs hosted Peel in an elimination final and were on top most of the day, but couldn’t grasp their chances and conceded the last two goals to lose and see their season end. 

That ended up the story of their season where not taking their chances in front of goal was an on-going feature along with struggling to score in general, averaging just 72.6 points a game.

The South Fremantle defence was miserly, though, conceding just 55.5 points anchored by Team of the Year members Noah Strom and Toby McQuilkin along with Chad Pearson, Jordan Boullineau and Blake Schlensog.

Hamish Free had a strong year in the ruck too to be named to the Team of the Year while the second half of the season of 200-game superstar Haiden Schloithe was brilliant.

Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, he has now retired as have premiership teammates Nick Suban and Mason Shaw meaning it's somewhat of a changing of the guard for the Bulldogs.

There's no shortage of emerging talent, though, and Jake Florenca will be like a new recruit while Jarrad Doney missed the end to the season and had emerged. But for Curley, it's going to be all about reinventing things once again in 2023.

FINISHING POSITION: Fourth, 12-1-5, 130.8%, Lost elimination final

WHAT WENT WELL: South Fremantle did play finals for seventh straight season, so that's nothing to be sneezed at, but for the first time in that stretch they didn’t at least reach the preliminary final having bowed out after an elimination final defeat at the hands of Peel Thunder. It was a tough patch mid-season where South Fremantle emerged as a premiership fancy with wins against Claremont, Swan Districts and East Fremantle, and a draw with West Perth. But they weren’t quite able to build on that momentum and by finishing in fourth position they missed out on a finals double chance, which proved fatal with the loss to Peel. They clearly had the best defence in the competition this season conceding just 55.5 points a game, but scoring was an issue at just 72.6 a game. Haiden Schloithe was once again superb while the back-line anchored by Noah Strom, Blake Schlensog, Chad Pearson, Toby McQuilkin and Jordan Boullineau was a standout. Tom Blechynden, Glenn Byron and Jarrad Doney were among others to take the next step in 2022 who they need even more from in 2023.

BEST PLAYER: Haiden Schloithe had made the decision that 2022 would always likely be his final WAFL season but even he might not have expected that he would finish in such dominant and outstanding form. The 29-year-old had a good enough first half of the 2022 season where he was spending a significant percentage of games in the forward half, but once he became a permanent on-baller throughout the second half of the season, his form was irresistible. Schloithe ended up averaging 27.9 possessions in the last eight games of the season and that form was recognised by being named to the WAFL Team of the Week in seven of those while racking up plenty of votes both in the Sandover and Hughes Medal counts. By the end of the season, Schloithe ended up named to the WAFL Team of the Year for the seventh straight season while ending up runner-up in the Sandover Medal and then claimed a fifth WJ Hughes Medal as the South Fremantle fairest and best company. By becoming a five-time fairest and best winner, it puts Schloithe in rarefied air in the history of the South Fremantle Football Club. The only player in the club's history to be a five-time fairest and best winner is the legendary Stephen Michael.

DEBUTANTS
Lachlan Taylor – Round 1
Jordan Boullineau – Round 1
Josh Cuneo – Round 1
Steely Green – Round 1
Riley Colborne – Round 1
Brendon Ah Chee – Round 3
Darryl Anderson – Round 3
Tyson Headland – Round 8
Jacob Sax – Round 8

MOST IMPROVED: Tom Blechynden was one South Fremantle premiership player who turned himself from handy role player to crucial on-baller in 2022. Through necessity with the players departed from the midfield and then the loss of Jake Florenca to injury, he was called upon to be the mainstay of the Bulldogs on-ball brigade in 2022 and he did a standout job. He went on to average 24.6 possessions a game including a career-best 39 in Round 13 to be now a 49-game player. As a premiership player as well, he is going to be a key component of the South Fremantle midfield for a long time to come.

OUTLOOK FOR 2023: Without question it's the beginning of a new era at South Fremantle in 2023 after a run of seven straight finals campaigns that included three grand final appearances and highlighted by the 2021 premiership. Now all of a sudden a host of key players from that premiership are gone with the retirements of Haiden Schloithe, Mason Shaw, Nick Suban and Steve Verrier. They were dealt a cruel blow in the AFL Draft too with the loss of WAFL Team of the Year ruckman Hamish Free to North Melbourne. There is good news, though, with the returns of Jacob Dragovich and Matthew Parker while Jake Florenca will be a virtual new recruit after missing the last 12 games of 2022. There's still enough talent and experience for coach Todd Curley to work with, but they are going to need the next generation to take the next leap at the same time if they are to make it an eight consecutive finals appearance.