Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir was full of praise for unicorn Luke Jackson, and rightly so.
Jackson was arguably the most influential player at Optus Stadium in the Dockers' 15-point comeback win.
"He's a barometer for us, and he was huge," Longmuir said in his post-match address.
"When he's up and going and doing his thing on the ball, he just adds another layer to our stoppage work.
"[He] plays a big part in how he overwhelms with his physicality and presence through the middle of the ground, and that allows our mids to get on top."
Jackson had 22 possessions, seven clearances, eight tackles, nine score involvements and five intercept possessions in the victory. But it was his final term that turned the 22-point deficit into Fremantle's eighth-straight win.
"I thought Coxy actually gave us something in the ruck, early in the last," Longmuir said.
"Which gave us field position. Jacko being forward actually straightened us up a bit, and got us deeper entries. He probably wasn't able to clunk any, but when he went into the ruck a little bit fresher, he got to work."
Longmuir attempted to keep the former Demon as fresh as possible heading into the final term, utilising his other genuine ruck, Mason Cox, early in the final term, before unleashing Jackson onto a tired Hawks outfit.
A strategy the Dockers have used consistently throughout their impressive start this year.
Jackson had a team-high nine disposals in the fourth term, as well as three clearances, three marks, five score involvements, four inside 50s and one crucial and desperate lunging smother to set up a goal.
"I think so. That's the plan anyway," Longmuir revealed.
"It was probably last year, keeping Sean a little bit fresher, and he was the one getting the tired ruck. It was probably more the ruck craft aspect of it. In the first half, we were losing hitouts, but as the game went on, we started giving our mids a bit of a look and started getting on top of stoppages, especially centre bounce, which was important.
"It's a bit different tonight, because they had two rucks, but definitely when there's one ruck, that's what we're after."
