Fremantle’s Luke Jackson said harsh lessons learned last year are bearing fruit as the star ruckman led his team to another thrilling victory over Hawthorn.
The Dockers were staring down the barrel after Jack Gunston’s sixth goal put Hawthorn up by 19 points with 10 minutes to go in the contest.
However, Fremantle dug deep on the back of an inspirational final term from Jackson, who finished with 22 touches, seven clearances, nine score involvements and five inside-50s to claim best-on-ground honours.
Jackson credited the maturity of the group, pointing to their finals heartbreak for spurring them on this year.
“There wasn’t any panic at three-quarter time. We were actually very calm, and we felt like if we trusted ourselves with the ball and went corridor, we had good enough players in there to win those tight games,” he said on Seven.
“I think the feeling around the club is very different to last year. I feel like losing that final to Gold Coast last year was good for us in a way, to get that experience.
“I feel like we’ve got a group now that has played together a lot, and I feel like you need that to beat good teams, and I just can’t wait to keep going and keep training hard through the season because I feel like we can achieve anything.”
Jackson was unstoppable around the contest with his second and third efforts crucial in setting up the Dockers’ late goal.
The 24-year-old said he had been focusing hard on his clearance work taking inspiration from Caleb Serong.
“But I think everyone is really good in there in getting everyone involved, Bolton has really grown in that area, and I feel like everyone is just levelling up,” he said.
“We’re a very good clearance team, which I feel like Caleb leads in that area he’s been elite for a long time, and that’s something I’ve wanted to build out in my game with the new centre bounce rule and being able to jump.
“I feel like it’s working so far, and I just want to keep working on it.”