In more ways than one, you can’t have a smother without a mother and Luke Jackson just ensured it’s a dual celebration! Time to Restump Podcast the harvesting of the Hawks.

Thursday seems so long ago, yet the Wharfie Time signalling chiming bells continue celebratory ringing in my head.

We got the test we needed against a formidable opponent, in the form of the Hawks, and we aced it. Consequently, any trace of a doubting Thomas tendency is now terminated!

What a thrilling and thoroughly entertaining game it was. It wasn’t 3 minute bursts here or there like we have been performing in recent weeks against lesser opposition. It wasn't working out to a lead before cue in the racking it. This was a 4-quarter high skilled, tactic changing, pressure fuelled grind in which we were better for longer.

It took some doing but despite the Hawks enjoying a 22-point margin half way through the final term, it felt one goal either way was the open flood gate difference.

But late in the piece when there were nervous tension and uncertainty about whether we could raise the level required to get it done, those Wharfie Time church bells sounded! The instant activation of the Freo folk on the field and in the stands, turned the stadium into a giant spine-tingling electrical field, signalling caution to the wind be thrown and sparking inherent motivation.

We've grown up as a team. We can handle pressure and dish out physicality; we have a great complimenting role balance across the board and seemingly a game awareness at all times. We now possess the ability to change things up and adapt on the run if need be.

Case in point - The first half we extended the Hawks exclusive use of the corridor and provided them the equivalent of a police escort. The result of which saw Jack Gunston feast and poor Lukey Ryan and at times Brennan Cox left holding the bag.

But there is now a hunger for change when things are going sideways. The identification of the issue and the rapid responsive buy in to collectively protect and guard the Fremantle fairway in the second half, was Hawk chokingly productive.

Are we getting our Paddy Voss back? There were signs the passiveness is perishing. The ironically defensive job he delivered on James Sicily cannot be overstated.

And what about Michael Frederick! Freddy just Krugered the Hawks, slicing them to bits as he rolled out his career best game.

But do we get there without Caleb Serong's second half? Josh Treacys brutal contest winning competitiveness? Or would we all really be enjoying Monday without Luke Jackson's absurd period of mind-blowing dominance and that mother of a smother that had to be seen to be believed?

We're now 8 on the bounce and we've just knocked off a major adversary. While other hopefuls may rear their heads, we've still got the Brisbane box to brand and the Sydney space to swipe, in terms of current contenders. But after Thursday we'll happily meet those subsequent challenges with a pep in our step and a glide in our stride.

It felt like Thursday was a pivotal point in our end of season endeavours and we got the answer we were all hoping for.

We're in rare territory so we make hay while the purple sun shines. Come for the celebration and stay for the conversation as we relive our handling of the Hawks.

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If that was the trailer for the upcoming ten to twelve season series of Young and Younger, pass me a pen and point out where to sign! Time to Restump Podcast the downing of the ducking dogs.

We've seen prolonged purple patches and periods previously suggesting the Hayden hysteria was warranted, but, after Friday night's performance, it's official.

Forget about their work around the ground for a moment because we don't want to suffer a celebratory overdose, but Hayden Young and Murphy Reid's antics in front of the Sean Darcy toothpicks was the height of absurdity!

Murphy Reid destroyed the ancient Egyptian sun dials and timekeeping techniques with his scintillating siren snatcher, while Sir Isaac Newton is now questioning everything he thought about physics after Youngy's banana bender from the boundary.

However, while their highlights steal the spotlights, Sammy Switkowski deserves a ton of love. His first half work and 2 important goals kept us in the contest. And let’s not overlook the magnificent game from Karl Worner who not only defended and marked everything that came his way, but partook in numerous offensive plays.

As a team, we seem to be surviving on bursts at the moment, and of course on Boltons, but is it a sustainable 4-point business model?

Take nothing away from the thrill and excitement of the victory and the manner in which it was secured, but did we allow it to become a tougher task than it should have been?

Let's be fair to the Bulldogs, they were injury ravaged, depleted and the walking wounded. While he probably only needs one of them, Bontempelli was on one leg, Ed Richards was under a cloud all week, Tim English was underdone and, with all due respect, their backline consisted of Coffield, Busslingler, Selwood and a guy called Buku.

Again, similar to last week, you can only beat who is in front of you and we are making that a habit, albeit against lesser opposition. But can we continue relying on operating in bursts and letting teams back in? I'm just not sure we can regularly escape suffering bouts of opposition scoreboard assaults in quick time against better credentialed opponents.

Last week Carlton kicked 5 goals in 7 minutes against us to almost cause us a disaster. Friday night the Dogs came back half way through the final quarter from 28 points down to get within 5 points. Don’t get us wrong, we're loving winning and it is exciting football, but that is unsustainable!

We're now 7 and 1 after a third of the season and we’ve set our year up magnificently. But on some level, we are yet to face a test of the current best. This coming Thursday we'll get answers and a much clearer picture of where we are.

However, we probably shouldn't rely on bursts of freakish dominance or leave doors open late against the Hawkers.

Anyway, right now it's about just enjoying the moment. So, if you're still reminiscing about Friday, and looking for like-minded Freo folk to join you in calling the ridiculous high tackle free kick count a load of Bullduck, your search is over.

More adulation, plenty of nonsense and a sprinkle of balance on the pod.

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He did his best from beyond the field, but the days of Jack Newnes' haunting Freo are done! Time to Restump Podcast the little too close for comfort Carlton clash.

Luke Jackson and Shai Bolton went on a ghost busting rampage, ensuring the hint of haunting from the previously problematic Jack Newnes was extinguished. Two finer games from the pair may never have been seen previously.

It's difficult what to really make of the Saturday night result. The four points were secured which is obviously the main goal but to be 40 points up in the final quarter and win by 14 against a broken team that was minus 121 points in final quarters this year, is a little unnerving.

Was it simply that 'cue in the rack complacency' crept in or something more sinister, sinister beyond the supernatural Newnes nudging?

It felt like we kept Carlton just at arm's length for the first three quarters before turning up the heat and stunning them with an absurd period of purple dominance at the start of the fourth. It was a 40 point margin over the Blues in a blink of a Bolton eye as we banished the battle from being in the balance.

However, with 7 minutes left on the clock Carlton repaid the punishment of sorts. They scored 6 times in those 7 minutes kicking 5 goals 1 to reduce the final margin to a tick over 2 goals.

Were we under siege, unable to undermine the assault? Or had we timed our prevalent purple patch earlier in the period with precision?

If it was the latter, it is probably not a practise we should get too familiar with because, while we appear in final four form, a fellow final four outfit may not allow us to finesse so freely!

Football is rarely perfect though and the unpredictability is part of the presentation. We know all too well that inexplicable performances occur. So, when a period of perplexity plays out, it's more palatable when you still procure the 4 point prize.

We're enjoying the best start to a season since 2022. We've only been six and one after seven games twice, once in 2010 and the aforementioned 2022. We're in good nick, we’ve pretty much done everything we could have and we've set out season up perfectly.

So, why does it feel like we need a proper test? Why does it feel we need to touch the fire to see if we can handle the burn? Is it because 5 of our 7 games so far have been against current bottom 8 teams?

You can only beat the opponent in front of you but maybe there's cause to gently lean on the hype brakes. A hapless Eagles two weeks back, a broken and known second half deficient Carlton on the weekend got within a couple of goals of us and we have a shell of a Bulldogs team this week. All you can do is win but do we need to reserve some judgement until we face the likes of Brisbane, Hawthorn or Sydney?

They’re questions we all don’t want to ask or be asked, but they need asking. Thankfully, everyone has an opinion and it’s all momentarily subjective. Consequently, there are currently no wrong answers.

So, pick up your proton pack and PKE metre, pile in, pitch in and partake in the process of probing the preceding potentially paranormal purple performance on the pod.

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