Bobby Hill kicked four goals and Jy Simpkin ran rampant in the midfield as the Indigenous All Stars put on a spectacle in a 43-point win over Fremantle at Optus Stadium. Hill starred with his four majors from 12 disposals in Saturday’s twilight match, while Jason Horne-Francis was equally impressive with three goals from 17 touches as the All Stars ran out 16.12 (108) to 9.11 (65) winners. Simpkin won the Polly Farmer medal as best afield after his 30-disposal, 10-clearance, one-goal effort.
The match marked the first Indigenous All Stars clash since 2015 and the 37,865 crowd on hand smashed the previous record of 17,500, set in 2003 when Carlton suffered a 73-point loss in Darwin. Caleb Serong led the way for Fremantle with 27 disposals, while Michael Frederick kicked three goals. The Fremantle forward Sam Switkowski suffered a suspected concussion when he was crunched in a first quarter marking contest, ruling him out for the rest of the match.
The All Stars were on fire from the outset, with their swift ball movement and willingness to take risks a sight to behold. Hill kicked the opening goal after Fremantle’s defence were panicked into a mistake, while some inventive handballs in the midfield set up Horne-Francis for their second. Tyson Stengle produced one of the highlights of the quarter when he nailed a tough 40m set shot from the boundary line, helping give the All Stars an 18-point lead at quarter time.
Kysaiah Pickett, who is rumoured to want a trade to Fremantle from Melbourne at the end of this year, produced a crowd-pleasing “don’t argue” fend-off on Serong early in the second quarter. Pickett also kicked a fine goal later in the term, but two goals to Fremantle forward Frederick closed the margin to 12 points by half-time. Hill kicked two goals in the third quarter as the All Stars broke the game open, giving them a 30-point lead at the final change.
Sign up to From the Pocket: AFL Weekly. Jonathan Horn brings expert analysis on the week's biggest AFL stories. after newsletter promotion. The carnage continued in the last period as the stunning skill and pace of the All Stars humbled Fremantle, who were without players including Sean Darcy, Hayden Young and Nat Fyfe, as well as All Stars squad members Shai Bolton, Alex Pearce and Michael Walters. Pearce didn’t play due to an ankle injury.
