Some of us in the football punditry business have been pretty sceptical about Fremantle for virtually the Dockers' entire 30-year AFL existence. I know I have.
But sometimes there are moments that not only define a team, but completely change popular perceptions of them. And that's how powerful Fremantle's thrilling one-point win over Collingwood at the MCG on Sunday afternoon could prove. It really was remarkable stuff.
Put it this way. The Dockers have played almost 700 games in league company. Outside of their seven finals victories among that number, has Freo had a more significant win? I'm not sure it has.
This was away from home, against the top team on the ladder, in front of a very loud and vocal pro-Collingwood crowd of 62,198, a record for a Pies-Dockers home-and-away game. It came after Fremantle trailed by as much as 22 points with under 17 minutes remaining.
It came against a team Fremantle hadn't beaten at all for more than four years, and at the MCG for six years. It came in a cliffhanger against a side which had won an amazing 25 of 34 games decided by single-figure margins over four seasons under the coaching of Craig McRae. And it came as a follow-up to another gritty victory at home last week against Hawthorn, the Dockers trailing at three-quarter time in both wins.
Only percentage now separates Justin Longmuir's side from a top four spot after eight wins and an 11-point loss from their last nine games. And yet I'm sure I'm far from the only person who after that narrow defeat against Sydney at the SCG a fortnight ago as good as said: "Here we go again".
My thinking has been that Fremantle hasn't been able to consistently nail all parts of its game in unison or for long enough.
While its defence ranked fourth for fewest points conceded headed into this round, and fourth for restricting opposition transition from defence to attack, its midfield and offensive numbers have been at best mediocre, the Dockers only ninth for points scored, 13th for points per inside 50, and bottom six in several key midfield categories.
Fremantle has also been as recently as a fortnight ago the AFL's slowest ball movement team. That certainly changed in the final term, however, with necessity (by way of a four-goal deficit) the mother of invention and the Dockers far more direct as a result. It ended up being a win for efficiency, too, Freo beaten in almost every key statistic, none the least a lopsided inside-50 count of 63-40.
Two names in particular added to the significance of this victory, also. The obvious one was Patrick Voss, whose six goals was double his previous personal best, and who could play a handy foil indeed for established key forward pair Josh Treacy (who ended up taking the game-saving mark in defence) and Jye Amiss.
The other was long-absent midfield star Hayden Young, of whom not much was expected in his first hit-out at senior level since Round 8, thus his starting as substitute. Young, however, ended up having a profound impact on the result with 11 disposals and two goal assists in a little more than a quarter.
Jaeger O'Meara, too, in his third game since a near three-month absence from the senior line-up, rediscovered some touch with 23 disposals and a crucial last-quarter goal. Add he and Young to the likes of Caleb Serong (superb again against the Pies) and Andrew Brayshaw, and you suddenly have a midfield that demands a lot more opposition attention.
A more productive midfield and a more potent forward set-up could help make Fremantle a different-looking proposition altogether in the lead-in to the finals. And that's without even taking into account the Dockers' biggest single asset on display so far this season - their capacity to match it with the best in the competition.
Freo was putting away some good teams even before it launched into this latest winning run. And this biggest win of the lot means the Dockers have now beaten five of the top eight - Collingwood, Gold Coast, GWS, Hawthorn and Adelaide.
What's left to come? Five games, of which three, including a derby against the hapless West Coast, are at home. Brisbane is the only top eight opponent the Dockers will face in the lead-up to September, too. Which makes a potential top four spot far more than mere wishful thinking.
Nor does the MCG hold the same fears it once did. Sunday's massive win made it 5-4 to Fremantle there since 2022. And two of those four losses have been by just one point and 10 points.
Which brings us to an unwanted anniversary. It was around this time last year that the Dockers sat third on the ladder before losing their final four games, none by more than 20 points, as finals "certainties" slipped from contention altogether.
Prior to the past fortnight, I would have believed the same scenario was entirely capable of being repeated. But not any longer. You can't win victories like that Fremantle did over Collingwood without having impressive levels of not just talent, but cool-headed maturity.
And I suspect when the Dockers finally do break the premiership ice, this is one game which will be seen as no less significant than most of its finals victories.
You can read more of Rohan Connolly's work at FOOTYOLOGY.