Paul Hasleby calls out Josh Treacy and Sam Sturt for ‘deplorable’ efforts against Port Adelaide

Former Docker Paul Hasleby has labelled Josh Treacy and Sam Sturt “deplorable” after their efforts against Port Adelaide on Friday.

The pair had just 10 touches between them and didn’t register a goal in the 39-point loss despite having a golden opportunity without Jye Amiss and Luke Jackson playing.

The Dockers managed just eight majors for the match, and Hasleby warned the pair they could quickly find themselves on the outer with the game having passed them by.

“Josh Treacy needs to stand up, or the game’s going to overtake him,” Hasleby told SEN.

“He was deplorable on the weekend. I think at one point, he had one touch. He didn’t even get near it. He didn’t read the play.

“He’s got to be better than that because it’s only one player that can step up and take his spot. It can happen very, very quickly. It might be one player from the draft, or it might be (Patrick) Voss, who they selected.

“He (Voss) looked better. I’d love to see Justin Longmuir send a message straight away to Josh Treacy and say, ‘Mate, that’s not acceptable; that was really poor’. He needs to improve.

“Sam Sturt, I put him in the same boat only at the three disposals. He’s had some opportunity last year. He’s not a young player anymore.

“When you get the opportunity given to you, you’ve got to do better than what we saw on the weekend from those two players.”

Hasleby added he was also surprised by Fremantle’s overall lacklustre performance, stating he had expected much better, especially in the contest.

“They had some players out, I understand that,” he said.

“Luke Jackson, of course, Jye Amiss and Brennan Cox. But you still had some very good players, and you still had a very good midfield.

“When the talk coming out of Fremantle all pre-season was about their contest method. I expected better in the middle part of the ground.

“They had a great midfield, and I’ve sung the praises of all of these midfielders through the pre-season, but they were towelled up a little bit by Port Adelaide.

“There was a lack of intent. The handball receives the corridor ball movement.

“I watched all these other teams over the pre-season games, and they’re trying to do that; they’ve worked on something, they’re trying to implement it.

“I left that game thinking, what have Fremantle been working on? They’ve been playing a little bit more careful in the back half. That might work for them… but in this day and age, you’ve still got to be able to score, and I feel they’re going in a different direction than a lot of the other teams.”

Fremantle host last season’s runners up Brisbane in their first clash.