‘Ultimate one-club player’ to Swans boss: Inside Freo legend’s epic journey … and ‘impossible’ dilemma

It will surprise few in footy that in Fremantle’s finest hour, a preliminary final triumph over Sydney, it was Matthew Pavlich who stood tallest in a defining moment for the Dockers.

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Nor is it a shock that in a sordid juncture for the Swans last month, with Sydney’s hard-earned reputation in peril, it was Pavlich who squared his shoulders and acted decisively to set the tone forward for a club in the midst of a crisis.

With Fremantle pursuing its first premiership, and the Swans aiming to end a drought dating back to 2012, Pavlich is sure to be feeling conflicted when they meet at the SCG tonight, according to former Dockers teammate Lee Spurr.

“He is part of the fabric (at Fremantle) and always will be. But I know that come game day on Friday, he’s 100 per cent in for the Swans,” he told foxsports.com.au.

“He’s a man of commitment and integrity. He will be all-in Swans … but I’m sure he will always have a soft spot for the Freo community.”

Fremantle helped make the man and leader Pavlich is now.

From the day he was drafted he bled purple. Infamously, he almost killed himself for the club on his first day when pushing an immature body far beyond the limits it was ready for on a western scorcher according to former recruiting boss Phil Smart.

“You could feel the heat coming out of the grass and I was sitting with Brent Dawkins, one of our recruiters, as (Pavlich) … just started running off the line, a bit like that lady in the marathon that time when she was running at right angles,” Smart told this reporter prior to Pavlich’s 300th game.

“I looked at Brent and said, ‘This is going to be good. (His) mum didn’t want him here and now I am going to have to tell her that he is in intensive care’.’’

One of the finest footballers to grace an oval, Pavlich was already planning for the future while excelling from one end to the other as a Docker, building knowledge and expertise for life after footy while trying to lead Fremantle to the Holy Grail.

Every week he would put on his Superman cape – it was his address in a 2009 clash with Hawthorn that sparked the now ubiquitous ‘Wharfie time’ phenomenon – and led with distinction from defence to attack and in the middle as well.

When the Dockers last met Sydney in a match meeting the stake that is on offer at the SCG tonight, the 2013 preliminary final in Perth, he was near unstoppable when the final was at its hottest.

But the premiership he and the Dockers craved eluded Pavlich.

The 2013 grand final was the closest Fremantle has got, though one confidant believes the one that truly went begging was the 2014 flag when Pavlich was outrageously good in a qualifying final against the Swans but could not drag the Dockers over the line.

As a close mate told foxsports.com.au yesterday, his loyalty was exemplary despite big offers to return to his native South Australia, with the Crows leading the charge, and he proved himself the “ultimate one club player”. At least until he was not.

After an outstanding media career that included an extended stint with Fox Footy along with newsreading duties back in Perth, a chance too good to refuse arose to put the expertise he had gleaned from footy, from study and from extensive business experience into place – heading up the Sydney Swans, a club with one of the biggest fanbases in the country.

“It’s probably bittersweet that they are playing each other in order to get to a grand final,” Spurr said.

STANDING TALL ON HISTORIC NIGHT FOR FREMANTLE

The last time the Dockers and Swans met on a stage of such significance was the 2013 preliminary final, which resulted in Fremantle’s greatest moment as a footy club.

The Dockers were on top in the cut-throat match played at Subiaco Oval but inaccuracy was a plague early, which kept the Swans in the match.

But Pavlich was decisive, with his goals at the 19-minute mark of the first term and in the infancy of the second swinging momentum firmly Fremantle’s way.

The first was a classic by the captain, with the six-time All Australian out-positioning Ted Richards to mark a long-kick in from Nick Suban as his former rivals Luke Darcy and Matthew Richardson waxed lyrical about his importance for Fremantle in commentary.

The second followed another strong pack mark and as Pavlich pumped his fist in triumph and was embraced by Ryan Crowley, the Fremantle faithful rose as one in the stands.

The magnificence of his football aside, the reason Pavlich was so respected across the competition was evident amid the outpouring of emotion in the moments after the final siren sounded on a historic night for the Dockers.

As his teammates embraced each other and fans celebrated wildly at Subiaco Oval, Pavlich made a beeline to the hard-as-nails Swans midfielder Jude Bolton, whose career ended with the loss, and embraced him. It was brilliant sportsmanship.

The Dockers and Swans would clash in the following two finals series in qualifying finals – Pavlich was a lone hand in attack when kicking four goals in defeat in 2014 after the Dockers lost Matthew Carr to a hamstring early on, and was quieter with his side in control a year later – after he set the tone in 2013.

A grand milestone moment in the twilight of his decorated career also came against the Swans, with Pavlich snaring a couple of late goals in his 350th game.

At that stage, he was the first footballer to spend the entirety of his career based in Western Australia to reach the 300-game milestone, with the impact associated with regular travelling cutting the careers of other champions short, though ex-West Coast skipper Shannon Hurn and future Fremantle captain and current record holder David Mundy have since followed suit.

Spurr, who celebrated his 100th game in that Pavlich milestone match, was in awe of playing alongside a champion of his calibre and said his influence on the club was extraordinary.

“Freo was incredibly blessed. Matthew Pavlich is the best leader I’ve played with,” Spurr said this week.

“Aaron Sandilands, Luke McPharlin, David Mundy; you talk about those players but Matthew Pavlich, that ability to have the like versus respect (was critical as captain).

“He sacrificed himself. Pav probably could have got five or 10 per cent more out of himself if he was a little bit more selfish or a bit more insular … but he knew it was a collective. He needed to ensure that Lee Spurr, playing at half back, (was switched on); ‘Was he ready. What was going on?’

“He sacrificed his own preparation and his own performance for the team to drive forward (and) we were incredibly blessed that our best player was also our best leader and best captain.

“When I think about Matty Pavlich, he set this club up for success. That’s all I ever saw from the moment I walked in. He has a huge legacy.”

Leading into his 300th game, Pavlich’s father Steve explained why the superstar, who Spurr believes should be considered “a top five player of all time”, always resisted the lure and riches on offer to return to South Australia.

“(It was) because he wanted to help Fremantle get better. That’s it. That’s the real base of it,” he said.

“There were times that he was very frustrated that they weren’t doing as well as they would have liked, but he wanted to be part of building that history at the Dockers.

“His relationships with the people at the club and those around the club that he had met were very important to him. He felt loyal to those people who had invested time in him and he didn’t want to break that loyalty.”

One man who understands those ties is Tex Walker, who similarly to Pavlich moved interstate to pursue a career and ultimately went on to captain his club to a decider.

The Adelaide champion, who retired after the Crows’ loss to Brisbane in a semi-final last week after playing in 319 games, would have loved to see Pavlich return to South Australia if only to have the chance to play alongside him and feels Pavlich’s excellence on the field is arguably undersold despite his phenomenal record.

And he says it is no surprise that it has taken Fremantle 11 years to get back to a preliminary final given the impossibility of replacing a player of the calibre of Pavlich, who captained the Dockers for nine years.

“It would have been unbelievable to have him back. It is always good to get South Australian talent back and … he was a special player, unbelievable to play against and unbelievable to watch,” Walker said on Thursday.

“He was an absolute superstar. I’m not sure people understand how incredible it is, really, for someone to be able to be an All Australian in three different areas of the ground. That is just extraordinary and it is a testament to how incredible he was as a player.

“If he had been playing in Victoria, I think people would be rating him up there with the greatest players of all time. And his record alone says that. Then to be able to lead a club for so long, and with such conviction, that is a special thing in itself.

“You can’t beat experience. You can’t buy it. Having someone around the club like that is invaluable and they are an avenue of being someone to learn from, even if you are doing it without actually realising, because they are so professional. I am sure there would have been a massive hole in the footy club when he left.”

BUILDING TO BECOME SENIOR SWANS EXECUTIVE

During the three successive finals series where the Dockers and Swans were squaring off against each other in significant matches, Pavlich already had an eye on life after footy.

Walker said the role of captain is a complex one that offers those who hold it a unique perspective on the inner-workings of a footy club, but also the opportunity to meet and learn from external sources with a broad range of experiences.

“It is good to see good players like that stay within footy, because they understand how the game works, how it is played, all of that,” Walker said.

“Captaincy does fill your cup a little bit more than just playing. Meeting people is one of the obligations, part of the job of being a skipper, and especially when you have a family, it is hard to juggle that, but the ones who have taken it on their chin, taking it in their stride are the ones who are quite successful.

“The ones who don’t want to do all the extra stuff are the ones who go down a little bit quicker but he is one who certainly took it in his stride and accepted it as part of his job, I suppose.”

While playing, he completed a bachelor’s degree in science at the University of Western Australia and later added an MBA to his qualifications, and in the latter stages of his career he and wife Lauren became parents to Harper and Jack, with William born just after Pavlich’s retirement in 2016.

Just over a year after Fremantle’s loss to Hawthorn in a tight grand final, Pavlich was elevated to the presidency of the AFL Players Association as a replacement to Luke Ball and served the collective as leader through testing negotiations, forming a new Memorandum of Understanding with the AFL while also steering through the inaugural AFLW MOA.

Such was his respect across the competition, it was a role he held for a period after his retirement before eventually handing it over to Geelong champion Patrick Dangerfield.

Life after footy on the field was no less busy.

Along with former Saint and Crow James Begley, Pavlich launched a business called Pickstar, which subsequently became Launchd, a company that specialises in brand partnerships.

Pavlich was also pivotal in the running of PMY Group, a technology and information management company founded and run by a childhood mate Paul Yeomans.

All the while he was the primary sports presenter for Channel Nine in Perth, while offering expert analysis nationwide for Fox Footy, where he was a favourite.

But footy tugged at his soul and when the chance arose to replace Tom Harley at the Sydney Swans last year, Pavlich appealed as a logical choice according to chairman Andrew Pridham.

“He is a champion of our game and brings to the club a wealth of football experience both from a playing, as well as an administrative, perspective,” he said.

“Together with his business pursuits in the sports and entertainment industry, Matthew has stayed involved in the game since his retirement from playing in 2016 and is widely respected across the industry.

“We believe he will fit in well with the Sydney Swans culture and bring his own unique insights and perspectives that will benefit the club moving forward.”

LEADING IN A TIME OF CRISIS

When Pavlich accepted the role with Sydney, he always knew there was a chance the Swans and Dockers would meet in a match of massive significance given the strength of both sides leading into 2026.

And so it has proven with a grand final spot at stake at the SCG.

Before the Pullman Hotel crisis that engulfed Sydney a month ago, one that saw five star players suspended, the six-time Doig Medallist spoke of the conflict he felt when the Swans travelled to Perth to play the Dockers in late July.

“Freo, my first football love, is on fire, and it warms my heart to say that. But at the same time, I’m now on the other side of the fence, and I’m really excited about what we can do at the Swans this year. It’s going to be a tremendous match,” he told the AFL website.

“I keep saying to a few people that it’ll be a bit like asking me which one of my kids I love the most — it’s an impossible question to answer, albeit that I’m all in on where I am at the moment.

“I might have to wear a neutral suit. I think everyone — whether it’s Lauren, the three kids, or everyone in between that I’ve shared 26 great years in Perth with and have a strong connection to the Freo football club — will feel a bit strange and awkward about it.

“That being said, my love for that club won’t change, and my passion, direction, and real ambition for the Swans is certainly not diminishing just because we’re playing my old team.”

September has proven far from easy for both clubs.

Fremantle were outmuscled by Hawthorn in a qualifying final, which made their path to a potential second grand final far harder – but they arrived in Sydney fresh from a confidence boosting win over Geelong.

It seems the whole world knows what happened with the Swans – it was reported in The New York Times and American reporters in Melbourne for the NFL last week could not quite shake their astonishment at what unfolded – but the crisis has not “torpedoed their season”, as Pridham feared it would in the immediate aftermath of the scandal.

The Swans rebounded to savage North Melbourne in the final round, with that loss ending Alastair Clarkson’s coaching career, and were then magnificent in crushing double-defending premiers Brisbane.

While the saga soured some fans, it is worth noting many have rallied. The qualifying final win over Brisbane was nearly a sell-out, tickets went rapidly for tonight’s preliminary final, the Swans AFLW team drew a great crowd last weekend at Henson Park and there were several hundred supporters at training on Thursday in Sydney.

The rally is not surprising and it starts with strong leadership.

Few footy chief executives have been tasked with handling such a crisis in their career, let alone their first season, but Pavlich set the tone again off the field and the Swans have responded to it on field.

If Sydney win tonight, they will feature in their third grand final in five years, but this will be the most astonishing given the drama last month.

And if they lose? Pavlich will watch on as Fremantle attempt to win its first premiership, and at least one man hopes that loyalty will count for something should the Dockers pull off a historic triumph.

“I’ve said this consistently with a lot of talk about who should give the cup – I think you can respect and acknowledge someone’s legacy without diminishing their current responsibilities,” Spurr said.

“I think every Freo fan feels that about Matthew Pavlich. They can respect the legacy he built at Freo, what he created.”

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