Preview 2025 Best 22 Discussion
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While the substance of what you say is true it ignores the fact that Erasmus has nothing like Fyfes athleticism, ball handling skills or any of the overhead ability he once had. Perhaps more importantly he doesn’t have Fyfes football brain.
I would dearly love to be wrong but I don’t see Erasmus reaching much more than Matt DeBoar level. Which can still mean a solid career.
100%. The 23 afl games Erasmus have played so far have been pretty underwhelming. Yes some were sub appearances but there’s been very few flashes to make you think, wow there’s something here, this guys a player.
There hasn’t been a game where he even looked a contender for a rising star nomination, if he were eligible.
Some posters were saying that players like Cerra, Brayshaw Serong etc got opportunity earlier because our team was weaker then. That misses the point that they were all vastly superior in their first 3 seasons. Cerra won Brownlow votes and had over 30 touches a number of times in his first 3 years and we knew then, he was a long term afl quality midfielder from very early on.
I would even say players like Matt Johnson and NOD are well ahead of Erasmus at the point as they have shown very good signs in a number of games at AFL level.
It was good to see Neil dominating the WAFL grand final but plenty of great WAFL players in recent times like Hamish Brayshaw looked lost at the higher level so it’s no guarantee of anything. Connor Blakely is another the comes to mind - a former great white hope for freo fans too.
As for Matt deboer he was a 12 or 13 year player in the afl playing over 200 games. He had a fine career in the end.
The position that Erasmus is trying to establish himself in is so difficult (inside mid). You can’t really be a fringe player and also be a long term inside midfielder for a good afl team. The competition for selection is just too tough.
- Aug 17, 2009
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Agree with a lot of this, except that at times I thought Erasmus’ ability to disrupt inside the contest, by tackling and getting a hand in has been excellent. Doesn’t sound sexy, but just noticed he’d have a knack of preventing the opponent clearing the ball. Similar to Libba for the Dogs in some sense.
He also showed much more composure last season in his afl games.
If he can break into the side, I can see him having a career as a gut runner who just shows up at every contest and fights for the ball.
May even start racking it up, as he has at WAFL level. Maybe a little like Tom Mitchell - little hurt on the outside, but pure work rate, and being clean has some nice benefits.
- May 26, 2003
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All this talk of Erasmus replacing Fyfe reminds me of the talk of Connor Blakely replacing Lachie Neale. 
- Aug 17, 2009
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All this talk of Erasmus replacing Fyfe reminds me of the talk of Connor Blakely replacing Lachie Neale.
Definitely in the range, but you could say that Fyfe 2019 has been replaced by Serong already, and 2025 Fyfe is a far lower bar than Neale set at his departure.
Yeah, not like for like. More that there is only room for one of them. At their current career stages it becomes relevant. I think Fyfe should be managed to being at his best come finals, and developing Erasmus is the way to achieve it.All this talk of Erasmus replacing Fyfe reminds me of the talk of Connor Blakely replacing Lachie Neale.
- May 26, 2003
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That was tongue-in-cheek really. But at the same time, Erasmus will never be anywhere near Fyfe, not in the same stratosphere. Just like Blakely was so far away from Neale that the sureness of posters at the time is really funny. But of course not like-for-like. Should’ve used 
That’s why I used DeBoer as an example. Similar limitations but also I think Erasmus has the same determination & work ethic which made DeBoer successful with limited ability.That was tongue-in-cheek really. But at the same time, Erasmus will never be anywhere near Fyfe, not in the same stratosphere. Just like Blakely was so far away from Neale that the sureness of posters at the time is really funny. But of course not like-for-like. Should’ve used
Same solid citizen & clubman vibes too.
You get a player like Nathan Fyfe once every 30 or 40 years at your footy club, if you are very lucky. I would be surprised if another Fremantle player between now and the year 2050 scales the individual heights in the AFL that Fyfey did. Could easily have won 3 Brownlow medals if not for a harsh two game suspension in 2014 that allowed Priddis (a much inferior player) win by one vote from Fyfey.That was tongue-in-cheek really. But at the same time, Erasmus will never be anywhere near Fyfe, not in the same stratosphere. Just like Blakely was so far away from Neale that the sureness of posters at the time is really funny. But of course not like-for-like. Should’ve used
It’s always amusing to read that some unproven kid is going to replace a superstar. We must have gone through about 7 Pav replacements since 2013. Apeness, McCarthy (RIP), Kersten, Hogan, Lobb, Tabs just some of the options tried and now finally two that actually look like a somewhat satisfactory replacement in Treacy and Amiss.
None of them will be as good as Pav though I don’t think.
A top10 pick for a DeBoer-like player would be disappointing in draft value terms, but that is the raffle of the draft.
The value in DeBoer-like players is they get the most out of themselves and bring a team orientated commitment. We should have held onto him.
- Dec 26, 2010
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X, as it's called, is a public forum with a search function where you'll find comments about topics including Fremantle training. There's a privacy option for anyone wishing to restrict viewing of posts, so the stalking comment is nonsense, and one way to assess the validity of the information you find is to have it put in context with other information by the same author. It's asking "what else does he/she say".
I accept that the "calling them out" part is wrong as I don't have the qualifications for an appropriate intervention, and as I posted previously I have no further questions, and won't make any further comments here.
- Aug 20, 2010
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Literally no one has said that (bolded). What you're arguing is irrelevant, the only thing that matters is which player provides better output right now and into the future.
- Dec 6, 2020
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I have to disagree here, if we are managing Fyfe at all, I want Johnson to have all his inside mid minutes, as others have said, Noddy is also borderline ahead of Ras in the pecking order as well.
I am not even even going to say the mandatory “hope I’m proven wrong”, I just don’t see it with Ras and think Reid could even overtake him as early as mid year this year in the pecking order.
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If the coach wants a big body replacement for Fyfe he isn't choosing between Murphy and Erasmus.
I'm not quite sure who Murphy (or Cooper by the way) replace if they come in, but pretty sure it won't be Fyfe.
Erasmus is competing with Fyfe, O'Meara, O'Driscoll and Banfield for a place.
- Dec 6, 2020
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MJ moves full time to Fyfes inside mid role, Murphy Reid or Simpson takes the wing/HHF role that MJ has been playing still no room for Ras, NOD takes JOMs role.
- Aug 17, 2009
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With all the focus on what Bolton will brings, I sort of forgot about Johnson.
I am still in two minds about whether he can become a star, seemingly has the attributes but yet to consistently pull it all together week in, week out - perhaps due to the roles he has been getting.
He’s got a bit of figjam about him, a bit like Fyfe had in his prime, but not in a bad way - more the way you want for someone who is going head to head with absolute guns, and needs to have that self belief in order to assert themselves on a game.
He’s looking big, not like someone who is expected to spend a season on a wing, so perhaps he will be spending more time in the contest.
- Jun 18, 2013
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FB: Ryan Pearce Walker
HB: Clark Cox Chapman
C: Sharp Serong Johnson
HF: Bolton Treacy Switkowski
FF: Fyfe Jackson Amiss
ON: Darcy Brayshaw Young
INT: Draper Aish Frederick Erasmus
SUB: O’Meara or NOD
I just wanted to have a crack, really like your list.
Disclaimer, i have no idea, but think this could work. It would be be good to see Erasmus break into the mid rotation more. Fyfe is a forward only now i think.
HB: Clark Cox Chapman
C: Sharp Serong Johnson
HF: Bolton Treacy Switkowski
FF: Fyfe Jackson Amiss
ON: Darcy Brayshaw Young
INT: Draper Aish Frederick Erasmus
SUB: O’Meara or NOD
I just wanted to have a crack, really like your list.
Disclaimer, i have no idea, but think this could work. It would be be good to see Erasmus break into the mid rotation more. Fyfe is a forward only now i think.
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Piggy Smalls
Is it Friday yet?
- Nov 30, 2018
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Not a bad effort, however Sam Sturt is a notable omission. I imagine he'll be in the forward pocket and Fyfe will be interchange or sub.
I don't know about the rest, but Fyfe most definitely is not a forward.
Good shot.
Draper, Cox, Pearce and Ryan probably makes us too tall in the back line. Plus Chapman.
Sam Sturt should be in for some one.
Erasmus and Fyfe are unlikely to play in the same side, I think they both need to play as the inside mid to be best 22.
If you swapped Fyfe and Draper for Sturt and Johnson, it would be pretty close.
