MOTIVATED: Fremantle's Tendai Mzungu at Victoria Quay. Picture: Will Russell Source: PerthNow
IT might be four months since Fremantle's heartbreaking semi-final loss to Adelaide, but it's a bitter memory that continues to drive the Dockers as they set themselves to make consecutive finals series for the first time.
Fremantle had appeared headed for the preliminary finals after charging to a 29-point lead in the second quarter before being overrun by the Crows.
The AAMI Stadium loss is acting as a significant spur and an inspiration, according to midfielder Tendai Mzungu.
"It still burns in our guts a little bit. We felt that we were right in the game and had an opportunity to play in a prelim," Mzungu said.
"You've got to acknowledge it. It did happen and we did lose. So it's something that I think drives us, knowing that we can improve and our best is good enough.
Unfortunately on the night it wasn't, and it's something we've dealt with at the moment, but at the time it felt like a bit of a missed opportunity."
Fremantle is yet to make the finals for two years in a row after reaching September in 2003, 2006, 2010 and last year, but the Dockers know a top-four finish is the only place from which a realistic premiership assault can be mounted.
"We can't rest on what we did last year," Mzungu said. "At the end of the day, we didn't really achieve anything. We didn't get what we wanted.
"This year we know that if we put in the hard work, we'll be really competitive. We'll all put in as much as we can and who knows where we can go?"
Mzungu fractured his left wrist in the finals defeat to Adelaide but the pain of elimination was so acute he didn't take much notice of the throbbing in his arm.
The injury was picked up by scans the following week, and while it limited his ability to do weights pre-Christmas, the noted runner has been able to stay on his feet and believes he's in career-best shape heading into his third AFL season.
The late-blooming 26-year-old forged a more permanent role in the midfield under Ross Lyon last season but is happy for his versatility to remain an advantage.
"I guess a strength of mine is to be able to play a few different roles, so anything that Ross puts to me I think I'll be able to handle," he said.
"I'm doing all the sessions and I feel a lot fitter and stronger than previously."
Mzungu said the squad was benefiting this summer having had a year to come to grips with Lyon's game style and methodology. He rejected the depiction of Lyon as a negative coach whose systems stifled players' creativity and attacking flair.
"Having 12 months with Ross and the style he's brought to the club, and being able to crack in day one of pre-season and implement the things that we've learnt in his first year, has been really beneficial and I think is something that will hold us in good stead for the year," Mzungu said.
"He really embraces the players, if you do the work he's 100 per cent supportive of you.
"With the game style, he loves scoring and moving the ball quickly and through the corridor, so there's certainly no negativity with the type of play.
"You defend really well and it's probably the best way to end up attacking."
Mzungu, the Dockers' best clubman last season, said the award was made more special because close mate Matt de Boer had won it for the two years previously.
"We're pretty tight. We kick around together and maybe a little bit of his influence rubbed off on me," he said.
"I was really humbled to win that award."
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