Fremantle midfielder Caleb Serong admits the pressure got to his side in a shock qualifying loss to Hawthorn, but says despite the “embarrassment”, the result has only brought the minor premiers closer.
The Dockers were under the microscope this week after being stunned on their home deck by the Hawks, their first loss in Western Australia all season.
It also saw their chance at a home preliminary final slip through their fingers.
The Dockers of yesteryear may also have then let the whole season slip away in a do-or-die semifinal against a finals-hardened Geelong outfit.
But Serong’s post-game interview, after his side responded with an epic hard-fought victory in front of another record crowd at Optus Stadium, summed up why this group is different.
“Off the back of last week, it was tough. It was tough walking off in front of our fans. It felt like we put in a bit of a, for lack of better words, an embarrassing performance,” he told Seven.
“There were far more mistakes tonight, but they were having a crack and going about it how we want to, which we’d rather live with.
“It probably sounds funny, but I feel like we felt less pressure this week. We probably put a lot of pressure on ourselves last week to come out, be perfect, and make it almost flawless… and that’s just not finals footy.
“You’ve got to get in the arm wrestle and get in the scrap. It’s going to look messy, it’s going to be a scrap, it’s going to be chaotic, and they’re the games I want to be in.
“We weren’t ready for that last week, but tonight we wanted to put the work boots on and get to work, and as I said, I reckon there were more mistakes tonight, but we did it our way.”
Serong revealed there was a lot of hurt amongst the group as their high-flying season, which included a record 14-game winning streak, hit a nasty hurdle,
But Serong said it gave the club a chance to wrap their arms around each other and refocus on the goal of a maiden premiership.
“I’m so proud of them, but I’m more proud of the week we had on the back of last week,” he said.
“We could’ve gone one of two ways, and we went the right way. We lent in, we supported each other, we normalised those feelings that were all happening, and we threw our arms around each other.”
The Dockers now face a preliminary final against the Swans at the SCG, most likely on Friday night.
Sydney produced a stunning victory of their own in the qualifying final, smashing the reigning premiers despite missing five of their best players due to a ban and then having stand-in skipper Callum Mills rupture his ACL in the first half.
But backing that result up will be no easy task, and the Dockers have travelled well for most of the campaign.
Serong said the Dockers would embrace the week as much as possible with the ultimate reward on the other end of it.
“It’s going to be a special week, and we’ll embrace it,” he said.