Young gun Caleb Serong hopes ending finals drought just the start for Fremantle Dockers

Rising Star Caleb Serong says it will be “special” to be a part of Fremantle’s first finals team since 2015 but doesn’t want to stop there.

The Dockers will end a seven-year finals drought after officially clinching their top-eight spot and snapping a three-game winless run on Saturday night.

It will be 21-year-old Serong’s first taste of September action, likewise with most of his teammates other than retiring champion David Mundy, fellow veteran Michael Walters and skipper Nat Fyfe who were around pre-rebuild.

“It’s pretty special and something we’ve been building towards,” Serong told The West Australian.

“We haven’t been afraid of saying that’s where we want to be, we’ve come out and said that publicly.

“That’s the stage we want to be playing on and that’s where we’ve wanted to get this club back to.

“I feel like everyone and bought in this year and we’ve got that little tick now but its definitely not over, that’s not what we came to do.

“We came to win the flag and we’re nowhere near that yet but we’re building.

“Qualifying for finals... is one box ticked but we’ve got a lot to go.”

Serong was instrumental in the Dockers’ win over Western Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium, producing a huge four-quarter performance to finish with 24 possessions, eight clearances, six centre clearances and seven score involvements.

But he was more satisfied with the team’s performance which he felt showed glimpses of their best after a tough few weeks.

“For us, we just wanted to get back to our best footy,” Serong said.

“The last few weeks, we feel like we haven’t player our footy which is the most disappointing part.

“We’ve come up against some pretty good teams but I felt like we haven’t given ourselves a good chance to showcase the way we want to play and I thought this afternoon we got back to that.

“The way we moved the ball with a bit more dare and back ourselves a bit more and trusted the contest in front of the ball which gave us some really good looks.”

Serong said he’d used Dockers games-record holder Mundy’s retirement announced during the week as motivation after what he’s given to the club over 19 years.

“It is a motivator,” Serong said.

“To see the service and what he’s given to this football club over 19 years, it’s pretty special.

“We all get a little boost knowing that we’re doing it for Dave and trying to get as many wins in the back end of the year as we can and hopefully send him off with a flag which would be nice for the big fella.”