FREMANTLE hero David Mundy had a past failure on his mind as he lined up to kick the winning goal in the final minute of yesterday’s thrilling four-point victory against Richmond at the MCG.
Not his missed shot after the siren against Geelong last year, but rather losing a goalkicking competition against teammates Tendai Mzungu and Matt de Boer at training this week.
“I actually thought about a goalkicking comp with them on Wednesday — that I lost horrendously,’’ he said.
“I was thinking about that a little bit to be honest.’’
Mundy’s accurate shot from right on the 50m arc directly in front gave the Dockers the lead for one of the few times in the match.
While the 30-year-old wasn’t haunted by his miss against the Cats in Round 20 last season, yesterday’s goal did give him special satisfaction.
“It was nice to get redemption though,’’ Mundy said.
“It’s what all little boys dream of. Kicking the footy with my dad growing up, you used to take hangers on the boundary and the siren would go in the grand final and you kick goals to win it.
“To get a little bit of that is always nice.’’
Mundy was superb throughout, finishing with 28 possessions and six clearances to go with the most important goal of his life. He had never even kicked the winning goal in junior football.
Mundy said he was surprised Richmond defender Bachar Houli opted to kick out down the middle following Docker Tommy Sheridan’s missed set shot.
Garrick Ibbotson was on hand to take a brilliant intercept mark before passing to Mundy.
“I was kind of tracking my bloke and they were all going to one side,’’ Mundy said of the kick-out.
“I was a bit surprised that Bachar kicked it down the middle to be honest, but just from my position defending I found myself in a good spot.
“I was pretty calm. I’ve been in this caper for a long time and I feel like I’ve got a pretty good goalkicking routine and I think it held me in good stead.
“It was the end of the game, my heart was pounding anyway. I was knackered.
“We put ourselves under those stressful situations in training, so when you come to situations like that it should just be pretty routine.
“You try and not think about the crowd or the position you are in, you just go back and kick through it.’’
Mundy joked Sheridan owed him big time.
“He said he’s going to buy me five slabs, so I’ll hold him to that,’’ he said
Fremantle coach Ross Lyon was reluctant to draw comparisons with Mundy’s missed shot at Simonds Stadium last season, which was from slightly further out and on a more difficult angle.
“They are two different kicks. I wouldn’t say he ‘missed’ the other one,’’ Lyon said.
“That’s what they’re paid to do. He’s a leader. He’s a long, accurate kick, sound technique. Under pressure it should stand up and it did.
“Our young player Tommy, who is a long, accurate kick, he just gets some feedback that under pressure he needs to keep his mind strong.’’