As Vossy always says, "everything is just a mindset." When it came to taking down Callum, will was key! Time to Restump Podcast the Friday night atonement.

On a Friday night in May just over 12 months ago at Marvel Stadium we suffered an inconceivable 10 goal belting at the hands of the St Kilda stranglers. It was an insipid performance, one that had every Freo fan at wit's end.

But what felt at the time a near West Coast Eagles type depth of despair we'd never surface from, amazing good came from it. It turned out to be the shock wakeup call we needed and the catalyst for absurd change.

Fast forward a tick over 12 months to another Friday night in May, this time in WA, and the same Saints tried the same suffocating assault on us.

But the times, they are and have been a changing. This Freo team of soldiers now deals with heat. We love heat, we eat heat for breakfast… ok we heat things up and eat them for breakfast, but you get the point. We've grown, we've matured and we've improved. We can now weather the storm, we can dig in, grind and then we can counter punch.

Friday night was an important test for us. Sure, I hear what you’re saying, the Saints aren't top of the tree? But the fact is they were far from that last year. They can though drive you into the ground and pressure you to distraction in true typical Rosco Lyon style. If we were unable to mentally cope with the pressure this time around, then our potential premiership hopes were all but a shattered dream.

The fact is we couldn't really have been more impressive. We went toe to toe with the Sainters pressure for 3 quarters and then in the final term, class won out.

The Saints threw everything at us and at one stage they got out to a 3-goal lead. Last year we may have panicked and capitulated. This year when we find ourselves in such a position, we see opportunity and respond with, “challenge accepted.”

Arguably what was most pleasing was being able to perform and win in that manner without the reliance on Caleb Serong, Alex Pearce and Hayden Young. You can't remove three players of such prominence, importance and impact from any team and be unaffected by it, except it seems we can!

It's always said you learn a lot more from your losses than you do your wins. Given we've now won 22 of 27 games since that fateful Friday night in May 2025, that must have been one hell of a lesson!

There's no time for any laurel resting or momentary complacency though because we've got another big box to tick this coming weekend. After two beltings on the bounce, could you face the Brisbane Lions at a worse time? ‘Beware the wounded Lion’ has never been more prescriptive.

Lyon last week, Lions this week... what are we playing in the Serengeti?

Anyhow, while there's no time for the club to stop and head wobble, there's always time for fans to strut after a victory! So, if there's a pep in your step and glide in your stride, join us as we swagger through Friday's cathartic consecration on the pod.

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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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