Review Freo holds on against the Swans

[oldgoat]

Andrew Brayshaw reveals how Fremantle planned to take down Sydney’s star-studded midfield​

Can you stop all of Errol Gulden, Chad Warner and Isaac Heeney in the same midfield? Justin Longmuir and the Dockers proved it’s possible. ELIZA REILLY reveals the stunning numbers behind the strategy.

3 min read
July 2, 2024 - 10:05AM
https://www.codesports.com.au/afl/f.../68e52be7c97d4c813e249c641e57db7e#share-tools
Fremantle stand-in captain Andrew Brayshaw says that the Dockers will continue to adapt their midfield approach dependent on their opposition after a sacrificial display delivered a season-defining win against Sydney.
Boasting the best clearance differential in the AFL this season, Fremantle has backed in its midfield more often than not this season. But it hasn’t always been to the Dockers’ benefit and they were criticised heavily a fortnight ago for letting Western Bulldogs captain Marcus Bontempelli run free.
Against Sydney, Fremantle was deliberately more defensive than usual. Swans trio Errol Gulden, Chad Warner and Isaac Heeney are widely considered to be the incumbent All-Australian midfield. But against the Dockers, all three failed to produce at the same level the AFL has come to expect from them this season.
Fremantle won the clearance count 42-32 but Brayshaw (24 disposals), Caleb Serong (23) and Hayden Young (17) all racked up less footy than their current season averages. But collectively, they stifled Sydney’s star trio.
Nat Fyfe tagged Heeney. Jeremy Sharp was sent to Gulden. And Serong got some extra attention in the second half but used it to his advantage.

Chad Warner tackles Nat Fyfe during Fremantle’s win on Saturday. Picture: Brett Costello

“You look around the ground, we had a number of guys that wanted to help the team win no matter what,” Brayshaw said. “There were a number of guys that played a really selfless role.
“No one dominated but we had 22 guys play their role for the team.
“Each team that we come up against is a little bit different. Sydney have had a few players that have been really influential in the few weeks before playing against us.
“We’ll analyse each midfield as they come. There’s a few teams that have a number of players that are really dominant.
“It’s Joel Corey’s decision whether we have a run-with role or whether we back ourselves in. No matter what he and JL decide to do, we don’t mind what we do as a midfield. We just want to get the win.
“We had Sharpy doing a bit of work on (Errol) Gulden. Caleb had a run-with in the second half and was blocking and trying to open up space for other midfielders. Fyfey did his job nullifying Heeney.”

Errol Gulden v Fremantle​

	Half-time stats	Full-time stats	Season average
Disposals	7	21	28
Uncontested possessions	5	15	19.7
Metres gained	40	240	603.4
Marks	1	3	6.3
Score involvements	2	8	8.1

Chad Warner v Fremantle​

	Half-time stats	Full-time stats	Season average
Disposals	7	23	23.9
Clearances	1	5	3.9
Inside 50s	2	4	5.6
Metres gained	138	412	456.5
Score involvements	1	7	7.8

Isaac Heeney v Fremantle​

	Half-time stats	Full-time stats	Season average
Disposals	6	20	25.9
Clearances	1	6	6.5
Inside 50s	1	4	5.2
Metres gained	90	281	430.4
Score involvements	1	7	8.5

Brodie Grundy v Fremantle​

	Half-time stats	Full-time stats	Season average
Disposals	3	13	19.9
Clearances	1	1	5.1
Hitouts	11	28	32.2
Hitouts to advantage		7	9.8
Score involvements	1	6	6.4

Brayshaw was particularly full of praise for Fyfe given the veteran has copped criticism this year for his perceived lack of impact.
“He’s been quite selfless in the way he’s gone about it (all year),” Brayshaw said. “All he cares about is us winning and if that means he has to play a role where he might not have 30 touches but he nullifies someone like Heeney on the weekend, it’s a big tick.
“We’re always looking at vision of him trying to block for guys and give them time and space and communicating. It would’ve been pretty rattling for Heeney for Fyfey to go to him but that’s the way he’s been playing.
“He’s been one of the best players in the competition this year. We needed to send someone to him and we thought Fyfey matched up really well on him.”


The Dockers also feel as though they’re starting to get the best out of Sean Darcy and Luke Jackson with the ruck pairing stringing the past five games together. While some viewed Jackson as the better match-up against Brodie Grundy due to his athleticism and impact around the ground, Darcy attended 68 ruck contests and effectively quelled the Swans star, highlighted by a memorable 30m spoil in the second half.

“We feel like our connection with them both is only growing,” Brayshaw said. “That connection between both of those two has grown significantly from round one.
“We needed Dogga forward on the weekend. We thought we matched up best with him there. Sean knew he had to take on a big role playing ruck.”
Brayshaw is set to hand over the captaincy reigns to co-vice captain Caleb Serong ahead of Fremantle’s clash with Richmond on Saturday.

Andy Brayshaw thinks like a captain
Talks like a captain
Acts like a captain
Yokai!
And he's not the only one

 

[Paracleet]

Rule 15.5.2 states that if a ball is touched after siten sounds and crosses the score line it is a behind provided the attacking side does not help it across the line .


So if Omera had allowed the ball to cross the line it would be a draw

Now 16.5.2 apparently.

Seems poorly worded to me. "Assisted"? That's pretty broad. You could argue reasonably strongly that the Swans players punching it towards goal made it dead on this basis.

 

[Quay Club]

Andy Brayshaw thinks like a captain
Talks like a captain
Acts like a captain
Yokai!
And he's not the only one

Yes we are very lucky to have him.

This week it is Caleb's turn to take the captaincy, who also has outstanding leadership qualities.

Hayden is another one who would make a great captain.

The decision to focus on character as well as ability over the past few drafts are paying dividends now.

 

[armpit]

Poor Clark gets cruelled, even though he's still giving everything right up to the last moments of the game and has a bloody gash on his head, fingers and palms, fingers and palms because we went on and won or am I missing something?

 

[armpit]

Yes we are very lucky to have him.

This week it is Caleb's turn to take the captaincy, who also has outstanding leadership qualities.

Hayden is another one who would make a great captain.

The decision to focus on character as well as ability over the past few drafts are paying dividends now.

See West Coast's Captain on the weekend? You could almost feel sorry for them, but, yeah, nah.

 

[armpit]

no idea what you mean. i have posted many times Umpires make mistakes. They are human,

But i dont complain about umpires or blame them for losses. When the umpires make more mistakes than players then i will change my complaints

When i coached and the players came off grumbling about umpires i had to remind them of this and queitly take them aside and speak of any errors they made. and then work on those areas of thier game

Hey i understand one eyed ness. it is part of sport.

Go look at any forum on here for other teams they think they all hard done by umpires

So they cant all be right. and probably most likely wrong.

I dont beleive the AFL has a cons[iarcy against Non-Victorian teams or against Fremantle in particular.
I do accept some umpires may have personal reasons for a bias. it coudl be agaisnt certain players of for certain players. but that not the AFL as a whole. it is being as human

I think when he said, "bad umpiring", he more meant, they are being seen to cheat and influence momentum and results sometimes, and there's no defending that, no matter how badly you spell it.

 

[Raz]

I think when he said, "bad umpiring", he more meant, they are being seen to cheat and influence momentum and results sometimes, and there's no defending that, no matter how badly you spell it.

I dont beleive any UMPIRES deliberatly Cheat . MAke errors YES. But Cheat no.

 

[armpit]

I dont beleive any UMPIRES deliberatly Cheat . MAke errors YES. But Cheat no.

That's lovely and all and when you compare our avatars, it's not surprising we have different outlooks.

 

[Raz]

That's lovely and all and when you compare our avatars, it's not surprising we have different outlooks.

yes i am what i am . you are whatever the person who sees you wants to see.

That is the way with umpires. they are who they are. but the fans see them as usseless Cheats dedicated to only causing their team to lose and always nice to the other teams

As i said . go read all fan forums. all of them blame umpires for hating their club.

 

[armpit]

I haven't got the time to do as you suggest, so my opinion is personal but shared by many in my sphere of reference. It's not all petty blaming the umpires for losing when in fact your teams crap, it's becoming more about the links to gambling.

 

[anchor man]

Rule 15.5.2 states that if a ball is touched after siten sounds and crosses the score line it is a behind provided the attacking side does not help it across the line .


So if Omera had allowed the ball to cross the line it would be a draw

From my memory, that has always been the case.Defence always punches the ball back into the playing area, never towards the goals.
Remember the great punch from Chappy in his first game where he punched the ball back into the playing arena from in the line.

 

[anchor man]

Now 16.5.2 apparently.

Seems poorly worded to me. "Assisted"? That's pretty broad. You could argue reasonably strongly that the Swans players punching it towards goal made it dead on this basis.

View attachment 2037363

Yes, you are correct.

 

[anchor man]

I dont beleive any UMPIRES deliberatly Cheat . MAke errors YES. But Cheat no.

I believe that almost all are influenced by who or which team is being infringed upon. Certain players get either the leniency, or certain teams get leniency. I don't believe they cheat, just get swayed by who is involved.
It is easy to name names, and no need for me to say who they are as we all know.

 

[ubiquitous226]

I haven't got the time to do as you suggest, so my opinion is personal but shared by many in my sphere of reference. It's not all petty blaming the umpires for losing when in fact your teams crap, it's becoming more about the links to gambling.

A common problem, especially in the modern world.
If your sphere of reference is just an echo chamber and you don't consider any one else's opinion then you're not critically thinking.
Ultimately we all have some distorted view of reality, they just differ in how distorted.

Is corruption real? Or course it is.
Is it an integrity threat to the AFL? Of course it is.
Are the umpires orchestrating results across the board? Highly unlikely in my view, as there is a lot of scrutiny across those sort of areas.

 

[armpit]

I totally agree with everything you said, except the highly unlikely bit. Gillon McLachlan is murky waters in his new position.

 

[ubiquitous226]

I believe that almost all are influenced by who or which team is being infringed upon. Certain players get either the leniency, or certain teams get leniency. I don't believe they cheat, just get swayed by who is involved.
It is easy to name names, and no need for me to say who they are as we all know.

No argument there, some of the best or higher profile players seems to get away with more.
Equally if a player gets a reputation, like Ginnivan, Greene or Walters, then they may cop it more.

Interestingly I always thought Fyfe didn't get the 'superstar tax's, he always seemed to be judged fairly harshly.

The crowd influence is proven to be a factor too, umpires are ultimately human, although unfortunately the statistics show we don't get much of a bump at home.

 

[ubiquitous226]

I totally agree with everything you said, except the highly unlikely bit. Gillon McLachlan is murky waters in his new position.

I do find that appointment pretty incredible personally, and feel there should have been more of an upcry about it.
I don't personally believe that points to corruption within the game as distinct from the AFl organisation, just the old game of influence and "relationships".

Very poor optics though.

 

[anchor man]

No argument there, some of the best or higher profile players seems to get away with more.
Equally if a player gets a reputation, like Ginnivan, Greene or Walters, then they may cop it more.

Interestingly I always thought Fyfe didn't get the 'superstar tax's, he always seemed to be judged fairly harshly.

The crowd influence is proven to be a factor too, umpires are ultimately human, although unfortunately the statistics show we don't get much of a bump at home.

On the latter, our crowd don't make enough noise, don't boo loud enough, as some do

 

[ubiquitous226]

On the latter, our crowd don't make enough noise, don't boo loud enough, as some do

Yeah we need to find a way to get some of the Subi atmosphere back.
We need to be loud and make it hostile for the other side.

 

[Raz]

Yes the old Subiaco and waca home games were always noisey from fans was great . So much better then other teams home games there

Never been to the new oval to compare . Perhaps the newer members are less noisy as our membership has grown a lot

 

[yakamoto]

Re the dropped mark by Clark I remember a story about Sharp’s grandfather using a ball filled with sand with a view to strengthening his grip in marking contests.

 

[yakamoto]

There is a widely believed phenomenon in lower grade cricket in which umpires tend to go with the flow favouring the fielding team. A bit like crowd affirmation at Optus when the blue and yellow team is at home.

 

[anchor man]

Yes the old Subiaco and waca home games were always noisey from fans was great . So much better then other teams home games there

Never been to the new oval to compare . Perhaps the newer members are less noisy as our membership has grown a lot

Different days back then.
A new club, travelling mostly by bus. Crowded in and chatting to each other. Hardly any mobile phones.
Singing the clubs song on the buses after a win.
A more personal time. We were still able to rag each other back then. Club banter. Now days everyone looks at their phones to get stats.
At the grounds, people seem afraid to yell and scream for the team.
Much different times.
I do my own Freeeeeeeeeeeeoooooo up in block 521, amazing to look at people look around as if to say what the blood hell you doing?
Different days.

 

[Raz]

Different days back then.
A new club, travelling mostly by bus. Crowded in and chatting to each other. Hardly any mobile phones.
Singing the clubs song on the buses after a win.
A more personal time. We were still able to rag each other back then. Club banter. Now days everyone looks at their phones to get stats.
At the grounds, people seem afraid to yell and scream for the team.
Much different times.
I do my own Freeeeeeeeeeeeoooooo up in block 521, amazing to look at people look around as if to say what the blood hell you doing?
Different days.

yes different days possible.

Can say i would never look at my phone during a footy match , whether it is AFL or Amatuer league.

But i gues some people do spend more time looking at phones than at what occuring around them

Sad really. but each to their own. just wish they would cheer and get noisy

 

[anchor man]

yes different days possible.

Can say i would never look at my phone during a footy match , whether it is AFL or Amatuer league.

But i gues some people do spend more time looking at phones than at what occuring around them

Sad really. but each to their own. just wish they would cheer and get noisy

Looking to see how their Fantasy footy stats are going.
I always reckon most on footy sites get their opinon on how players are going by the stats. That is why their are so many who dislike this one or that one.