Fremantle fans and players alike hailed the much-anticipated return of Wharfie Time - and some clever Pat Voss tactics helped ensure it would result in a victory.

Tom Stewart’s goal with 75 seconds remaining in the semifinal dragged the margin back to eight points, giving Geelong a glimmer of hope late in an epic contest.

But moments after the goal umpire’s signal, the Wharfie Time bells began to strike and the graphic appeared on the screen to whip the crowd into a frenzy.

WATCH IT IN THE PLAYER ABOVE

It marked just the second time the ploy has been used this season, and the first in 127 days since the mid-season win over Hawthorn.

Freo won the ensuing centre clearance, and Pat Voss then marked at full-forward before a high-IQ play to drain the clock.

Voss took his full quota of 30 seconds before starting his run-up, but made a deliberately slow approach to kill even more time before booting the major to seal the 14-point win.

“Neil Erasmus said to me after the siren: ‘You’re not as stupid as you look’.

“I knew that there was 60 seconds to go, or something. I went back, took my full 30 seconds, and then just waltzed in as slow as I could.

“And then I realised ‘I’ve actually got to kick this’.”

Dockers skipper Alex Pearce hailed the fans and the Wharfie Time phenomenon as he prepares for his first preliminary final appearance as captain.

“Our fans are special. They get behind us so much,” Pearce said on Seven.

“To have them lift us tonight, throughout the whole game, and to get Wharfie Time and for everyone to go nuts here and in all the pubs around Freo, it’s fantastic. They’re so good to us.”

When Shai Bolton was asked about Wharfie Time, a broad smile flashed across the star midfielder’s face.

“It was nice for it to come on in the last two minutes, it was cool,” Bolton told The West Australian.

“It was good for the crowd to get going. We love it.”