Updated: Jun 5, 2022 3:18 pm

Bailey Banfield booted a career-high four majors as Fremantle produced a monster second half display to put away fellow high-flyers Brisbane in convincing fashion.

Before a crowd of 47,212 – the third highest non-Derby home crowd in the club’s 27-year history – the Dockers have now beaten the top two sides in the competition, in successive weeks, as they chase what would be their first ever Premiership.

Midfielder Andrew Brayshaw (pictured below) was the star with stand-out showing that included 39 disposals, 16 contested possessions, nine clearances and eight score involvements.

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The 22-year-old, speaking on ground to Fox Footy, said “Really proud of the boys’ efforts. We doubled down on the contest in that second half, particularly, and it showed with a few goals.”

He went on “It gives us a lot of confidence; two tough losses in a row and then two really solid wins. We have got another tough game against the Hawks next week before our bye so we have got to try and do the same things we did the last two weeks which is playing a tough brand of footy.”

Ladder leaders and reigning Premiers Melbourne suffered a second consecutive defeat, for the first time since September 2020, as they fell to Sydney at the MCG.

It was a superb, all-round performance by the Swans that clearly have the mantle over the Demons – this made it ten victories from the last twelve encounters – and demonstrated that they are going to be contenders when it comes to the pointy end.

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Speaking in the rooms to Swans TV, co-captain Luke Parker (pictured above) said “It’s one for the ages. When you come down to Melbourne against the Premiers from last year on their home deck, there’s no bigger challenge.”

“Although we were behind we felt like we had plenty of shots on goal early but didn’t convert and they kicked pretty straight. It is never great playing catch-up football against such a quality side but I think once our pressure picked up in the second, contested ball, everything seemed to flow from there.”

He continued “The boys dug deep, played some really good football all night and I think have a tremendous belief in themselves that we can win. They’re a quality opposition so we will take some confidence from that for sure.”

Jeremy Cameron (pictured below) kicked six goals, which included his career 500th, as Geelong head into the bye on the back of chalking up a hard fought win over the Western Bulldogs.

The Cats blitzed and were awesome early in the game, which was just as well as they had to withstand a strong response from the Doggies that got back to within five points; however, they managed to steady, hold their nerve and see out the match.

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Tempers boiled over, at the end of the third, with a melee ensuing as the players headed to their huddles – in an unsavoury incident, Bulldogs midfielder Bailey Smith was reported and has been handed a two-match ban for head-butting Zach Tuohy.

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Coach Chris Scott delighted to get the result; he said “It was a really good win against a very good opposition who outplayed us for big parts of the night, so obviously getting off to a good start and a bit of a buffer was very helpful.”

“We were able to maintain our composure enough to…I shouldn’t say give ourselves a chance because I think we were in front all night but for big parts of the game it felt to us, in the coaches’ box, that we had lost control. It was a stressful night!”

He added “The last four to six weeks we have been pretty undermanned; specifically we were going into this game with just one key defender as we lost Kolodjashnij due to health and safety protocols. We have been really impressed as a coaching group and a club by the resilience of the guys that have been out there.”

Young forward Oliver Henry was the hero, by scoring the winner, as Collingwood held on to get the job done against Hawthorn, in an absolute thriller, by four points.

It gives the Magpies their seventh success of season under coach Craig McCrae, more than they mustered for the whole of 2021, and moves them back into the eight.

The two sides were competing for the Beyond Blue Cup which aims to shine a light on mental health, encouraging meaningful and open conversations that aim to support and maintain positive wellbeing, as well as reduce the stigma attached to mental health issues. The campaign slogan is “Look, Ask, Listen, Support”.

Although the Hawks came out on the wrong side of the ledger, it was still a significant afternoon for both Luke Breust and Liam Shiels as the two veteran players ran out to play their 250th game for the club and were chaired off at the end.

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Up in Darwin, Gold Coast recovered from a poor opening, in skipper Touk Miller’s 150th appearance, before going on to thrash North Melbourne by a 62-point margin.

The Suns racked up a club record 81 inside 50s, in securing their fourth triumph in the last five games, to go six-six at the halfway stage and make it their best since 2014 that will certainly have supporters dreaming of being part of the finals picture.

Only sour note was the injury to Lachie Weller who went down clutching his right knee after twisting awkwardly in the fourth. Unfortunately, the fear is it looks like an ACL for the midfielder, which would rule him out for the rest of the campaign although he will be undergoing scans to confirm the diagnosis and seriousness.

Three goals apiece from Darcy Fogarty, Taylor Walker and Shane McAdam helped Adelaide, that led for the whole afternoon, get up over basement side West Coast.

The Eagles were more competitive this week, despite a shocking opening term, and at least avoided another 50+ point loss which would have been their eighth consecutive and made them the first side in AFL/VFL history to suffer such a run.

Round 12 Results

Western Bulldogs 10.10 (70)
Geelong 12.11 (83)

Adelaide 13.10 (88)
West Coast 8.9 (57)

Gold Coast 15.19 (109)
North Melbourne 7.5 (47)

Melbourne 9.7 (61)
Sydney 10.13 (73)

Hawthorn 10.8 (68)
Collingwood 10.12 (72)

Fremantle 15.9 (99)
Brisbane 13.7 (85)

Bye: Carlton, Essendon, Greater Western Sydney, Port Adelaide, Richmond and St. Kilda

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