For most of this season, excitable Fremantle forward Patrick Voss played the pantomime villain.
asserted
Voss → play → villain
Late on Saturday afternoon, he became the unexpected shoulder of comfort amid a flood of Fremantle despair.
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he → become → despair
It was by design, he said, in the painful aftermath of a seven-point loss.
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he → say → loss
He had penned himself a note during the week to remind himself to be a good person.
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He → pen → himself
That was why he kept his feet after the cruellest of grand final losses and instead offered solace to his devastated teammates.
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he → keep → teammates
First he lifted Jye Amiss from the MCG turf and then Josh Treacy before giving them both a hug.
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he → lift → hug
“I wrote on a card before today the things I’m proud of myself for, and I sort of said to myself, ‘whatever happens today, I’m not going to be defined by being a premiership player or not’,” he said.
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he → write → myself
“I feel like I’m a good person, and I feel like my 22 brothers on the field are all good people, and they’re not going to be defined by this loss.
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they → feel → loss
So, yeah, I wanted to show my love and support to them.”
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I → want → them
Voss, almost more than any other Fremantle player on the day, typified the vast contrast between winning and losing.
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Voss → typify → winning
He pranced with delight around the boundary after his third goal gave the Dockers a 17-point lead deep in the final term, setting off the deafening roar of Wharfie Time.
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goal → prance → Time
Few thought his team could be denied their fate so late in the game before Brisbane willed themselves to victory.
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Brisbane → think → victory
In the space of five minutes, his glee had been transformed to desolation.
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glee → transform → desolation
Voss fought back tears in the Fremantle rooms, his voice one of the rare sounds in a funereal-like room that had been pervaded by pockets of silence.
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that → fight → silence
Players staggered around the room in trances, looking for loved ones and unable to speak of their pain.
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Players → stagger → pain
Captain Alex Pearce supported himself on crutches, his towering presence reduced in height and potency, while Treacy leant back on a wall, his hand across his head in utter disbelief.
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Treacy → support → disbelief
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Lions hero Logan Morris kicked three last-quarter goals after Pearce crashed to the ground and out of the match seven minutes into the third term with a ruptured Achilles.
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Pearce → kick → Achilles
Treacy missed what seemed a certain goal during the final term when he was dragged to the ground by Ryan Lester and the ball skewed off his boot.
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ball → miss → boot
But neither moment could be blamed for costing the Dockers their first premiership, according to Voss.
uncertain
moment → blame → Voss
“Alex is a great player and a great leader, but I thought Oscar McDonald, Luke Ryan, Heath Chapman, Judd McVee, Karl Worner and Jordan Clark all stepped up and performed really well, and we didn’t notice his absence at all,” Voss said.
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Voss → think → absence
He might have been overplaying the team-first mentality.
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He → overplay → mentality
Sometimes players cannot be replaced.
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players → replace → ?
Sometimes squandered opportunities cannot be understated.
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opportunities → squander → ?
“Everyone will have moments that they’re going to replay in their head for the next six months and want back, and I’m no different,” Voss said.
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Voss → have → months
“But we win together as a team.
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we → win → team
We lose together as a team.”
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We → lose → team
The Fremantle players filed down the race and into the rooms after the game barely able to contain their tears.
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players → file → tears
Ryan was first, followed by Clark and then the skipper on his crutches.
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Ryan → follow → crutches
Mason Cox folded his arms into his jumper and ambled past deep in thought.
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Cox → fold → thought
Amiss and Andrew Brayshaw brought up the rear of a sad and sorry conga line, walking arm in arm with their partners, and reluctantly parting ways as they filed off to a backroom for a debrief with coach Justin Longmuir.
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they → bring → Longmuir
The loyal Fremantle fans clapped as their brave team ambled in, careful not to overdo their appreciation for what most certainly classified as an honorable loss.
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what → clap → loss
Voss said Longmuir was “extremely disappointed, but extremely proud”.
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Longmuir → say → ?
“More than anything, he told us to be easy on ourselves.”
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he → tell → ourselves
But not being hard on yourself after what could have easily been a historic victory was easier said than done.
uncertain
what → say → yourself
“I’m replaying moments in my head right now that I’d love to have back,” he said.
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he → replay → that
“But that’s sport.
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that → ’ → ?
I heard [Hawthorn coach] Sam Mitchell say after their loss last week, to feel the greatest achievement, greatest accomplishment, you have got to be willing to be heartbroken and lose like we’ve lost today.
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we → hear → achievement
But I think it’s the hardships and the hard losses that bring the group together and will make it all the sweeter when we manage to win one.”
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we → think → one
With minutes to go, Fremantle looked to have secured their first-ever AFL premiership.
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Fremantle → go → premiership
The Lions stopped them cold.
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Lions → stop → them
…and 2 more, not listed.
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