Freo and the never ending rebuild

[mattis117]

What a sad ass thread. Stuff like this shits me, waving the white flag before it's decided, and getting in early in case we fail. Deafeatism is pathetic, this is the season where anything can happen. This thread is pathetic even if we lose the last two games because it gives no credit for gains that have been made.

We're a young team in Perth and you're comparing us to teams in Victoria. There's no place harder to win it from than here, which is why it will be so special when it happens. The team that has been given nothing and held back in all possible ways, finally breaks through. A Fremantle premiership will be the greatest ever, because no other team has had to go through the shit we have.

We're clearly not rebuilding. We're challenging. Injuries have hit us in the wrong places at the wrong time and we haven't been clutch enough in key moments. Percentage never lies and it says we're the fourth best team. Our fixture is also bullshit, with the break days differential and timings. Go compare our fixture to the Hawks who have the fixture of a bottom four team.

Freo have played football this year that would beat any team.

 

[Alfonz]

Starting to get a bit tired of the Hawthorn lovefest that is popping up on threads across our board. We played them without Pearce and Darcy, and had them covered for most of the game down at their shithole ground in Tasmania and just got pipped. We are still above them on the ladder and have a higher percentage. Some people are acting like they are guaranteed flag winners and we are useless in comparison.

 

[go_the_dockers]

We can get Berry with one of our picks anyway. Getting Bolton and Berry fills two if the three holes.

And Bolton is only 25. If any i oh f them have a better career than Bolton they’ll basically be Eddy Betts…fantastic but unlikely

You obviously rate Bolton higher than I do, and don't share my concerns about him.

It is the number of shots he misses that is my biggest concern. I just don't think he is the type of player you pay pick 7 and 15 for.

If you rate him highly, then the trade is probably fine.

If it was Kozzie, and not Bolton I would be a lot happier to trade the picks away. I just don't rate Bolton as high as most other people

I would love to watch a video of all of Bolton's shots on goals, so I can see why he is missing so many. Have not been able to find any thing close to this and the few games I have seen this year, he has missed some sitters.

 

[Lach72]

You obviously rate Bolton higher than I do, and don't share my concerns about him.

It is the number of shots he misses that is my biggest concern. I just don't think he is the type of player you pay pick 7 and 15 for.

If you rate him highly, then the trade is probably fine.

I much prefer the guy getting shots over the guys not getting shots, yes

 

[1980GFVideo]

You obviously rate Bolton higher than I do, and don't share my concerns about him.

It is the number of shots he misses that is my biggest concern. I just don't think he is the type of player you pay pick 7 and 15 for.

If you rate him highly, then the trade is probably fine.

If it was Kozzie, and not Bolton I would be a lot happier to trade the picks away. I just don't rate Bolton as high as most other people

I would love to watch a video of all of Bolton's shots on goals, so I can see why he is missing so many. Have not been able to find any thing close to this and the few games I have seen this year, he has missed some sitters.

This is the exact reason I dont mind him going if we get something in return for him.

Some of his blazing away at goals has been "back to the backline stuff" except he has never played in the backline.

Baker will give you more in regards to winning the game.,

 

[Eski3]

We are two games we should have won away from being top 4, and one of them was a loss by a single point after leading by 25 in the last term with our captain out and our number 1 key forward going down. We are very clearly not rebuilding - we are literally in the mix this year and the best young team in the comp (albeit Hawthorn are in form too). Literally if Alex Pearce

25

Alex Pearce

Age

29

Ht

201cm

Wt

98kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

10.6

3star

K

5.2

2star

HB

5.4

4star

M

3.4

3star

T

1.8

4star

MG

106.3

2star

No current season stats available

D

11.0

3star

K

5.0

2star

HB

6.0

4star

M

4.4

4star

T

0.8

3star

MG

103.2

2star

hadn't broken his arm we'd be second, and there is no hyperbole in that statement at all.

This thread is an incredible overreaction to two disappointing weeks

 

[Purple Suit]

The solution is simple, anybody who is jealous of Hawthorn can go join them instead of having zero patience. Go to the Hawks board and have a circle jerk over there. You will get to watch an army of small forwards play for frees all day.

 

[The Feeder Club]

If we're shipping supporters that are aggrieved that we mightn't make finals off to the Hawthorn board, can we ship those that keep saying our best can beat anyone, and if it wasn't for injuries we'd be top two, off to the Carlton board? Because that's who they sound like, deluded Carlton fantasists.

 

[Snuffaluphagus]

The solution is simple, anybody who is jealous of Hawthorn can go join them instead of having zero patience. Go to the Hawks board and have a circle jerk over there. You will get to watch an army of small forwards play for frees all day.

It's incredible that I wish for Hawthorn to fail just so Freo supporters will stop being so whiney and annoying

 

[Purple Suit]

If we're shipping supporters that are aggrieved that we mightn't make finals off to the Hawthorn board, can we ship those that keep saying our best can beat anyone, and if it wasn't for injuries we'd be top two, off to the Carlton board? Because that's who they sound like, deluded Carlton fantasists.

No, there won't be enough posters left.

How can you say that our best cannot beat anyone though? The issue is we aren't at our best enough and we no depth or a match committee willing to change it up.

We can turn it around, we only lost to Geelong by 11 points and we played Tabs ffs.

 

[The Feeder Club]

No, there won't be enough posters left.

How can you say that our best cannot beat anyone though? The issue is we aren't at our best enough and we no depth or a match committee willing to change it up.

We can turn it around, we only lost to Geelong by 11 points and we played Tabs ffs.

Honestly where do you rate us? You're a smart poster, we don't often agree, but you're a good judge.

Me I'm going to reserve proclaiming that our best can beat anyone for the times that I am actually convinced our best can beat anyone. Like 2014 convinced when I was strutting around telling everyone we were going to win the flag.

I'm not going to say it when 1) we've won nothing in years, one final in eight years and 2) our current record this season against teams currently in the top half of the ladder is 3 wins 6 losses vs 9.5 wins and 2 losses against teams in the lower half.

That's a pretty midtable team record, we beat up on teams we should but lose more often than noit to the better teams. To think otherwise is, in my opinion, at Carlton level delusions of grandeur.

 

[Ghost Pig]

The only reason it's all doom/gloom and hand wringin' venters around here of late is because this season we've seen a glimpse of the future, we won games this year with a style and flair that everyone had called for (and no-one believed we'd ever see) and we all know it's a style that could truly kick a winning score on the last game of the year and oh boy does it sting all the more knowing we're stumbling on the final turn.

The thing is, the kids got a taste of that addictive football and even though they lost a bit of their hard edge on the way, the confidence from the group is palpable, they have fallen in love with the quicksilver ball movement and morale boosting 6 goal runs, yes, maybe a little too much, but nothing that won't be fixed come pre-season and they all know it.

Whatever happens this year, once this team truly believes that this is the year and I believe that urgency will fester from the confidence built this season, the AFL will have a throbbing purple problem in its hand, one that will not go away with any amount of dodgy fixturing or brown paper bags on gameday.

 

[dominguez]

Starting to get a bit tired of the Hawthorn lovefest that is popping up on threads across our board. We played them without Pearce and Darcy, and had them covered for most of the game down at their shithole ground in Tasmania and just got pipped. We are still above them on the ladder and have a higher percentage. Some people are acting like they are guaranteed flag winners and we are useless in comparison.

How many games have Pearce and Darcy played together in their 8 years on the list together? One of them is injured more often than not, we need to be able to win games without them.

 

[dominguez]

The only reason it's all doom/gloom and hand wringin' venters around here of late is because this season we've seen a glimpse of the future, we won games this year with a style and flair that everyone had called for (and no-one believed we'd ever see) and we all know it's a style that could truly kick a winning score on the last game of the year and oh boy does it sting all the more knowing we're stumbling on the final turn.

Close losses and baffling team selections has fans frustrated. It's understandable almost a decade after re-plumbing, re-wiring, re-stumping.

 

[dominguez]

Honestly where do you rate us? You're a smart poster, we don't often agree, but you're a good judge.

Me I'm going to reserve proclaiming that our best can beat anyone for the times that I am actually convinced our best can beat anyone. Like 2014 convinced when I was strutting around telling everyone we were going to win the flag.

I'm not going to say it when 1) we've won nothing in years, one final in eight years and 2) our current record this season against teams currently in the top half of the ladder is 3 wins 6 losses vs 9.5 wins and 2 losses against teams in the lower half.

That's a pretty midtable team record, we beat up on teams we should but lose more often than noit to the better teams. To think otherwise is, in my opinion, at Carlton level delusions of grandeur.

Fyfe, JOM, Aish and Walters are the only players on our list who don't have scope to improve next year and none are best 18. Another summer on the track should see us improve by at least a goal a game which would have been enough to beat Carlton, Port, Collingwood and Essendon and gets us into the top 4.

Anything short of a prelim in 2025 will be disappointing.

 

[Docker82]

Never ending rebuild? Tbh we’re still one of the bottom four lists for age.

We can use that as an excuse but we’ve really got to look at why thats the case when we started rebuilding in 2016 IMO.

Can’t help but think that most of our outs over the next two years will be older than 28 so I’m not sure our average age is rising that quickly either.

 

[Joao]

It is certainly the case that the rebuild took too long if you take the start at 2016. Let's be real though, apart from the 2017 draft, we were trying to do it half ass with trades to "win a flag" with Ross.

The current rebuild really starts in 2019, and on that basis, it is pretty standard in length. For example, the turnover is almost identical since 2019 for both Freo and the Crows (who actually started rebuilding in 2019).

If you're angry, fair enough, but send the vibes Ross and Steve's way.

And when this list goes over the cliff in 10 years or whatever, you should remember this and be supporting hitting the draft hard and staying away from crappy top-ups to avoid another 10 year rebuild.

 

[poshman]

It is certainly the case that the rebuild took too long if you take the start at 2016. Let's be real though, apart from the 2017 draft, we were trying to do it half ass with trades to "win a flag" with Ross.

The current rebuild really starts in 2019, and on that basis, it is pretty standard in length. For example, the turnover is almost identical since 2019 for both Freo and the Crows (who actually started rebuilding in 2019).

If you're angry, fair enough, but send the vibes Ross and Steve's way.

And when this list goes over the cliff in 10 years or whatever, you should remember this and be supporting hitting the draft hard and staying away from crappy top-ups to avoid another 10 year rebuild.

There is a re-writing of history with a negative lens around here. Not many thought we were anything near a rebuild going into 2016. Then they took the strategy that we could partly do it and build around Fyfe, Hill, mundy etc. The club was crippled by injuries through that time and it didn't work.

As you say the current one only really started in 2019 and going by the talent on the list we are doing very well. Perspective is lost around here so bloody fast. This year was always an enjoy the ride year. We have some questions, who plays on next season and coaching. None of that should be surprising and prior to the season these were discussed thoroughly. It is almost as if some threw all those things out the window because we have had a strong year...

This thread isn't a couple of weeks early, it is a year early.

 

[Purple Suit]

Honestly where do you rate us? You're a smart poster, we don't often agree, but you're a good judge.

Me I'm going to reserve proclaiming that our best can beat anyone for the times that I am actually convinced our best can beat anyone. Like 2014 convinced when I was strutting around telling everyone we were going to win the flag.

I'm not going to say it when 1) we've won nothing in years, one final in eight years and 2) our current record this season against teams currently in the top half of the ladder is 3 wins 6 losses vs 9.5 wins and 2 losses against teams in the lower half.

That's a pretty midtable team record, we beat up on teams we should but lose more often than noit to the better teams. To think otherwise is, in my opinion, at Carlton level delusions of grandeur.

I rate our talent as top tier but I think we are too young and inconsistent to win it in the next few years. I really want us to of course but the age demographic just isn't there. Losing so many of our best player to trades is just not normal but it has condensed our next group more than an expansion team start up.

The fact that our young players are our best is a bloody good sign though and I think we could well be on the path to a dynasty. I just think it's still a few years off to really contending so I get sick of people throwing the toys out of the cot when we are actually improving.

Carlton have the demographic to win the whole thing but they seem to still play poorly for a quarter every game still. The good teams don't do this, we are slowly turning into a good team even if we can't do it for a whole season yet.

 

[Joao]

I rate our talent as top tier but I think we are too young and inconsistent to win it in the next few years. I really want us to of course but the age demographic just isn't there. Losing so many of our best player to trades is just not normal but it has condensed our next group more than an expansion team start up.

The fact that our young players are our best is a bloody good sign though and I think we could well be on the path to a dynasty. I just think it's still a few years off to really contending so I get sick of people throwing the toys out of the cot when we are actually improving.

Carlton have the demographic to win the whole thing but they seem to still play poorly for a quarter every game still. The good teams don't do this, we are slowly turning into a good team even if we can't do it for a whole season yet.

I reckon 2025 is possible. Our profile enters the bottom end of "contending" demographics around the end of this season. The only caveat is our KPFs are still young but Treacy is already the 3rd-5th best KPF in the league so I think that mitigates it somewhat.

But at the end of the day, they'll be ready when they're ready, regardless of how frustrated it makes us till then.

Re Carlton: I am still completely convinced Voss is at least part of the problem.

 

[Purple Suit]

I reckon 2025 is possible. Our profile enters the bottom end of "contending" demographics around the end of this season. The only caveat is our KPFs are still young but Treacy is already the 3rd-5th best KPF in the league so I think that mitigates it somewhat.

But at the end of the day, they'll be ready when they're ready, regardless of how frustrated it makes us till then.

Re Carlton: I am still completely convinced Voss is at least part of the problem.

It will be interesting who wins the flag this year. The last two teams to win it have been the oldest. It could just be a coincidence or maybe modern footy is so much about momentum, it takes old heads to steady the ship when teams get a run on.

 

[Joao]

It will be interesting who wins the flag this year. The last two teams to win it have been the oldest. It could just be a coincidence or maybe modern footy is so much about momentum, it takes old heads to steady the ship when teams get a run on.

It makes sense that if you can keep super experienced players fit then they are going to be better, on average, than players that have played less football.

It's why we'd be a totally different prospect if Fyfe and Sonny were even 90% of their peak selves rather than the 60% versions we have. For whatever reason we can't keep our 30+ players anywhere near their best, especially since Mundy.

 

[Stinky Lomax]

It's incredible that I wish for Hawthorn to fail just so Freo supporters will stop being so whiney and annoying

It’s going to take a lot more than that.

 

[chaosball32]

Stuff like this shits me, waving the white flag before it's decided, and getting in early in case we fail. Deafeatism is pathetic, this is the season where anything can happen.

I never said the season is over, I said it’s a realistic possibility. We have to face 2nd and 3rd to end the season. GWS and Port two of the most in form teams in the comp. We probably have to win both. A few weeks ago I was saying we could win the flag, which is why it’s so frustrating that we find ourselves here

We're a young team in Perth and you're comparing us to teams in Victoria. There's no place harder to win it from than here, which is why it will be so special when it happens.

West Coast’s 4 flags from 7 Grand Finals says hello. Yes they had significant help when they were starting up in the late 80’s that we were not afforded but up until 2022 they’ve always been competitive and consistently one of the best and most respected teams in the competition, or at least there abouts. Hate to give them credit but what is our excuse as the vastly underachieving WA team?

We're clearly not rebuilding. We're challenging.

I thought we were challenging. Now we are closer to not making finals then we are to a flag. Still some cogs missing before we have a team that can go all the way. Still one of the youngest teams in the comp. Paper-thin depth outside of the midfield. Our forward line. Expecting significant changes to the best 22 over the summer especially with our hand. That’s rebuilding. You’d think late stage rebuilding (how much longer can it take), but still rebuilding nonetheless.

Injuries have hit us in the wrong places at the wrong time

Yes they have but we’ve been very lucky on the injury front this year until the last few weeks. Every team suffers injuries, it happens. If anything, we’ve had a good injury run this year. Our reliance on a select few players is a bit worrying

we haven't been clutch enough in key moments.

Ken Oath. Only team to lose 5 times this year after leading at 3QT. No other team has lost more then 2 times leading at 3QT. I think that’s a mentality and coaching issue.

Our fixture is also bullshit, with the break days differential and timings. Go compare our fixture to the Hawks who have the fixture of a bottom four team.

Fixtures will never be fair, especially not for us. Too many conflicting variables. Complaining about it is futile.

Freo have played football this year that would beat any team.

I agree, which is why this season will be a failure if we don’t at least make finals from here. You can’t keep missing finals as a club (1 campaign in 9 years need I remind) and expect players to gain that big game experience, which is where we’ve struggled.

Some valid points but ultimately a lot of excuses. Unfortunately the competition is unbalanced and doesn’t favour us. It sucks but it’s unlikely to change. Excuses won’t get us where we want to be, accountability will. The club can only control what it can control. I think there are shortcomings that haven’t been addressed and have been overlooked in favour for excuses that see us in the position we are in now.

 

[chaosball32]

We are two games we should have won away from being top 4, and one of them was a loss by a single point after leading by 25 in the last term with our captain out and our number 1 key forward going down.

The Essendon game was lost in the midfield. Even if Treacy didn’t go down early in the 4th, he would’ve gotten **** all service considering Merrett and co were walking it out of the centre bounces.

But it’s not just the last 2 weeks. What about the Carlton and Port games earlier in the year? The first derby against West Coast where we just didn’t show up? The Hawthorn game a month ago? There’s many winnable games from earlier in the season that we can point to, that would have rendered the last 2 disappointing games null.

Literally if Alex Pearce hadn't broken his arm we'd be second, and there is no hyperbole in that statement at all.

If one player is the difference between us being 2nd vs us potentially missing finals then we aren’t as close as we think.

This thread is an incredible overreaction to two disappointing weeks

This thread is more so in reaction to the last 9 years as opposed to the last 2 weeks.