Last month, Justin Longmuir was asked an interesting question about his spearhead Matt Taberner and provided an interesting answer.
On whether Taberner could become a liability at some point given his ongoing injury issues, Longmuir responded: “Maybe at some point, but we’re definitely not there yet.”
Six weeks on, the management of not just one, but three injury-affected forwards is looming as the defining issue of Fremantle’s finals campaign.
If they’re available, Taberner, leading goal kicker Rory Lobb and captain Nat Fyfe all appear automatic selections in an individual sense.
But it will be fascinating to see whether the cumulative risk is something the Dockers might baulk at.
If Fremantle take Taberner, Lobb and Fyfe into their first final, it would mean having three players in their forward line who have each broken down during their previous two games.
Throw in Sam Switkowski off a long-term back injury, and that’s four forwards with compromised preparations.
Since first hurting his shoulder against Sydney in round 18, Lobb has played a starring role against the Western Bulldogs, with four goals under the Marvel Stadium roof in round 21, to go with two goalless games in the wet.
Regardless of whether he is physically comfortable with rucking in the finals, Lobb has been Fremantle’s most viable forward target this season.
He’s kicked a career-high 34 goals in 19 games to be the leading goal kicker for a team that will enter September as the lowest-scoring finalist.
In other words, he’s pretty indispensable.
Approaching 31 and with more than 20 operations behind him, Fyfe is no longer the dual Brownlow Medal-winning midfield wrecking ball he once was.
His return from a double shoulder reconstruction followed by serious back surgery was always likely to be a rocky road, and when he had just one kick, to go with 14 handballs, in the loss to Sydney in round 18 it was a pothole.
A week earlier, Fyfe kicked three goals to go with 21 touches in the win over St Kilda. He also took four marks inside 50 and had 10 score involvements that night in a hybrid forward-midfield role.
It was the kind of performance that showed even the 2022 version of Fyfe is capable of having a fair say in the club’s final fortunes.
Mick Malthouse infamously left John Worsfold out of a final in 1998, but the captain being told he’s not wanted is not a scenario that will be repeating here.
Which leaves Taberner.
When the key forward booted seven goals against Essendon in round five, it was the biggest bag kicked by a Docker since Matthew Pavlich a decade ago.
As Longmuir recently noted, Freo aren’t exactly overflowing with players who are capable of kicking bags.
Since then, Taberner has kicked 12 majors in 10 games and been subbed out with injury three times.
Should the Dockers take care of business against 16th-placed Greater Western Sydney in the final round, they will enter their first final off three straight wins but with Taberner having played just 67 minutes of those three games.
Complicating the equation is the fact Taberner impressed with eight marks and two goals in those 67 minutes before getting injured in round 21 against the Bulldogs, a team Fremantle could end up facing in an elimination final.
And muddying the waters further still is that a Taberner recall for the first final could require a brutal selection call on somebody else.
If you want to play Taberner, Lobb, Fyfe and Griffin Logue forward, with regular smalls Michael Walters, Michael Frederick, Lachie Schultz and Sam Switkowski, then eight into the normal seven places allotted won’t go.
The Dockers might feel more comfortable about bringing Taberner in for their first final if he got through a WAFL game on the pre-finals bye weekend.
But if pushing for that contributed to any sort of setback, his final series would be over before it began.
The old adage about not taking injured players into finals is pretty hollow. Important players bravely play through injury all year to get their side into the finals in the first place.
Brisbane famously won the 2003 flag after using 18 vials of painkillers on players.
And the medical sub rule might provide the Dockers with an added layer of comfort about rolling the dice with their forwards.
There’s plenty of water to go under the bridge and a fresh injury to somebody against the Giants might mean all of the pieces fall into place.
Regardless, Fremantle’s selection meeting leading into their first final is shaping as their biggest of the year.
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