Review Freo Just not Quite Good Enough - Rd 23 Review

[EastcoastDocker]

I saw Serong kick a pretty handy goal in a derby not that long ago

He's kicked 4 goals 9 this year from 21 games following on from 5 goals 9 from 22 games last year.

tbh im amazed serong was a mid/fwd as a junior. If he could add either a more efficient kick like a Sam Mitchell or hit the scoreboard a bit more he will reach the upper echelon of players.

 

[Snuffaluphagus]

He's kicked 4 goals 9 this year from 21 games following on from 5 goals 9 from 22 games last year.

tbh im amazed serong was a mid/fwd as a junior. If he could add either a more efficient kick like a Sam Mitchell or hit the scoreboard a bit more he will reach the upper echelon of players.

Knowing him, he'll fix that and get to the 10 goals a year we need from him.

 

[Footskill]

It’s been mentioned a couple of times but it boiled my blood watching Sturt & Amiss leading straight up from goal being burned over & over while someone stood there paralyzed with indecision before kicking it up for Alir to pick off.

At one stage Sturt was visibly frustrated & I don’t blame him. His biggest asset is his lead& finishing.

The same could be seen from behind the goals. Players leading into space in the corridor to be ignored in favor of the trusty bomb to the wing.

Yeh happens alot I noticed when we got the ball just bit further out from 50. There are few leads early, then as they just wait , it closes up and they just bomb it in to a pack.

That Ryan one irritated me, where he just bombed it long and there were only 3 port players in that vicinity

 

[Ge3ks]

Is Brennan Cox

36

Brennan Cox

Age

26

Ht

195cm

Wt

97kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

11.1

3star

K

5.8

2star

HB

5.3

4star

M

4.2

4star

T

2.1

4star

MG

182.8

3star

D

12.3

3star

K

7.5

3star

HB

4.8

3star

M

4.0

4star

T

1.0

2star

MG

182.8

3star

D

11.0

3star

K

5.8

3star

HB

5.2

4star

M

4.2

4star

T

1.8

4star

a forward again now? What was the reason for the late switch?

 

[Footskill]

Is Brennan Cox a forward again now? What was the reason for the late switch?

Think with banners going down they needed another tall in there..funny how Ryan was at full fwd for like seconds..not sure if was error or not.

Also those calling for Cox back into fwd. My concern is that over pre season they train him up, gel with the fwd line, and looks decent, then we find his woes from previous stints are still the same. Then he has to get used to playing back again

Seems like the Fyfe /Hughes experiment all over again

 

[apuchar]

Is Brennan Cox a forward again now? What was the reason for the late switch?

Trying to win it at the risk of losing by more.

 

[Joose]

What have we achieved this year other than getting Melbourne a high draft pick?

Valuable experience into Amiss, Johnson, Erasmus and Treacy. The development of the Unicorn into one the comps best rucks.

Plenty to take from season

 

[Purpletown]

We are questionable off field.

Here's a compounding group of associated decisions which indicate a lack of vision:

• I don't want to judge Erasmus, but Wanganeen-Milera certainly looks like a better fit.
• That comes into sharper focus with Brodie losing favour and being relegated to depth for Fyfe and O'Meara. Or not being compatible in the same side.
• Fyfe, Brodie and O'Meara all signed on for the future despite it being apparent they are incompatible in the best 22 midfield. This also resulted in the failed strategy to focus the forward line around Fyfe.
• this co-exists with a need to put development time in front of their replacements Johnson and Erasmus.
• this also co-exists with the somewhat obvious trial of Young in the midfield despite no significant pre-season exploration of the strategy.

I agree with Snuffaluphagus that outcoached probably gets too much of a workout, including by myself. Many factors that resulted in this defeat may not exist as the list matures. But I see the list as an end result of decision making at the higher level. We must improve those areas.

• be ruthless in trades and don't throw in a second rounder for what is a done deal.
• don't let required players come out of contract before deciding to join the auction that we have enabled.
• recognise that losing a midfield assistant coach is a significant loss and prevent it or cover the loss.
• recognise that a rookie coach may benefit from some level of mentoring and support and put it in place

I'm not going to look at the penultimate game this year and have a crack at individual players for the loss (the first loss we have against the Power in WA). We can bemoan our forward line, but in a round where Jesse Hogan kicked 9, the result of this game and this season is better seen in the context of the broader decision making at our club.

Very well put Gav but let's forget Hogan and his 9 goals. He was playing in a good team against against one of the most insipid teams to ever run onto a footbal field. He was a total waste of draft capital for us and a total stuff up from beginning to end. The only good thing about his stint at Freo was him leaving.

 

[s_wd6]

Is Brennan Cox a forward again now? What was the reason for the late switch?

Last ditch effort to win. We’ve done it a lot of games this year

 

[s_wd6]

Think with banners going down they needed another tall in there..funny how Ryan was at full fwd for like seconds..not sure if was error or not.

Also those calling for Cox back into fwd. My concern is that over pre season they train him up, gel with the fwd line, and looks decent, then we find his woes from previous stints are still the same. Then he has to get used to playing back again

Seems like the Fyfe /Hughes experiment all over again

What necessarily were his woes up forward? Because from what I can remember he was a very good contrasted mark, and had poor goal kicking in his first season. He actually cleaned up his set shot quite a bit the next season.

 

[apuchar]

What necessarily were his woes up forward? Because from what I can remember he was a very good contrasted mark, and had poor goal kicking in his first season. He actually cleaned up his set shot quite a bit the next season.

He doesn't like the pressure and expectation of having to convert his shots at goal.

 

[s_wd6]

He doesn't like the pressure and expectation of having to convert his shots at goal.

He’s had two set shots in the past 4 years. I’m not sure the issues with a 19 year old Brennan are still relevant 6 years later

 

[Snuffaluphagus]

He’s had two set shots in the past 4 years. I’m not sure the issues with a 19 year old Brennan are still relevant 6 years later

Not according to him. Shits me as well, everytime Cox goes up there, he's a massive tease...

 

[apuchar]

He’s had two set shots in the past 4 years. I’m not sure the issues with a 19 year old Brennan are still relevant 6 years later

He said in an interview recently that he credits JL with his recent success because he put him straight into the backline and left him there. Seems to be something of an issue still.

 

[Mk LXIII]

This is one of the best posts I’ve read in here this year. Brilliantly written and 100% true.
I think many posters on here are really overrating our midfield, in particular its future prospects. Brayshaw and Serong are great guys, tough hard workers that do everything right. But you know what? Anyone who said they had confidence in these guys to kick those crucial goals today when they were lining up those shots is lying to themselves deep down.
The best players have class with the ball in hand. Silky smooth touch, poise, skills.
We are so drastically lacking that kinda player in our midfield.
Top midfielders kick goals.
People were arguing here during the week “oh but our guys don’t spend much time up front, it’s not fair to compare their goal scoring records to other players”
The fact is if those 4 goals were kicked today we win the game. If Daicos, Pendlebury and Degoey take those 4 set shots for Collingwood, they would score at least 3. That’s the difference.
I remember about 2 years ago david Mundy kicked 3 goals and had 30 disposals as a 36 year old v north Melbourne. None of our current mids are capable of something like that IMO.
I love the look of Amiss and also Sturt in recent weeks. When the ball is in their hands you feel reassured, like something good will be created. The problem is walters is nearly done. Treacy for all his work and effort which makes him a real fan favourite, has very little class. That set shot miss today was just unforgivable at this level.
Your last point about handballing errors on the overlap is down to raw talent. We are asking players to don’t have enough talent to play that style to implement it anyway.
Whenever I see people talk about skill errors that really means a lack of talent. The most talented players don’t make as many skill errors. You won’t see Amiss giving a dumb handball behind someones back or throwing the ball on the boot with no composure. I’m really not sure what the solution is TBH.
So much depends on Erasmus and Johnson making it. They do have time on their hands still I guess.
Can we please not draft more ball butchers though? For one draft I’d like to see us focus exclusively on skilled ball users instead of pressure maniacs with no composure. Players like Ashton Moir and Riley Hardemann sound like what we need. I don’t care what knocks they might have around tacking and pressure.

Great insight from you both, kind of reminds me of the 2013 Grand Final and a certain champion midfielder kicking at goal but who wants to revisit that ... amother season almost done ...

And nothing ever happens, nothing happens at all
The needle returns to the start of the song
And we all sing along like before
And we'll all be lonely tonight and lonely tomorrow ...

The life of a Freo supporter ... oh well, there's always 2024.

 

[Righteo]

Knowing him, he'll fix that and get to the 10 goals a year we need from him.

It'll happen when Johnson and Erasmus can take a greater share of the mid duties and allow him to sneak/rest down there more often.

 

[anchor man]

Knowing him, he'll fix that and get to the 10 goals a year we need from him.

He did mention it in his post match interview.

 

[Big Animal]

Great insight from you both, kind of reminds me of the 2013 Grand Final and a certain champion midfielder kicking at goal but who wants to revisit that ... amother season almost done ...

And nothing ever happens, nothing happens at all
The needle returns to the start of the song
And we all sing along like before
And we'll all be lonely tonight and lonely tomorrow ...

The life of a Freo supporter ... oh well, there's always 2024.

2025's where it's at

 

[Lach72]

It’s been mentioned a couple of times but it boiled my blood watching Sturt & Amiss leading straight up from goal being burned over & over while someone stood there paralyzed with indecision before kicking it up for Alir to pick off.

At one stage Sturt was visibly frustrated & I don’t blame him. His biggest asset is his lead& finishing.

The same could be seen from behind the goals. Players leading into space in the corridor to be ignored in favor of the trusty bomb to the wing.

that is purely coaching.

”hey, you…midfielder…look at this vision….take the ****ing kick or you’re playing at Peel”

it boils my piss

 

[Footskill]

that is purely coaching.

”hey, you…midfielder…look at this vision….take the ******* kick or you’re playing at Peel”

it boils my piss

Not sure about that.

"We try to pull kicks off to the junction 50 out when you could drive and get it to 15 metres out, then go to work aerially and at ground level and play the game in our front half. But we’re going for these 15, 20 metre kicks into shots where it’s marginal whether you kick them anyway"

 

[dockerpurple]

Freddie's skills have

How many classy players do Fremantle have?

Walters, amiss and that's probably it.

Seeing for all the amazing things that he is lacks class. Brayshaw too.

Young for the elite kick that he supposedly is doesn't show his class ball in hand.

Young, Brayshaw X2 and serong missing their set shots today were so predictable.

MJ was meant to be one of the better kicks in his draft but I'm yet to see him actually hit a target inside 50 on a lead or a kick that opens up the play. It's either a simple chip kick or a headless bomb.

Watching our mids butcher kicks inside 50 all day then seeing tod bloody Marshall sublimely pick out Rioli was infuriating AF.

AB is my fave player but what exactly is he. A low clearance winning inside to outside mid with questionable disposal?

70m out who do you want kicking inside 50? You struggle to think of someone. Theoretically young? Days gone by would be Mundy and Walters

45meters out slight angle at a pivotal time how many players do you trust to kick it?

We make things look ridiculously hard. We've been out so many times this year but have absolutely butchered it. Think the only time we were out and got a set shot on goal was hitting Shultz pretty much on the boundary line. Every other team gets a shot 30 out on a slight angle.

Even our handballing on the overlap, a simple skill, is atrocious. The player running past has to pause and halt his momentum coz it's rarely delivered in his stride.

How many classy players do Fremantle have?

Walters, amiss and that's probably it.

Seeing for all the amazing things that he is lacks class. Brayshaw too.

Young for the elite kick that he supposedly is doesn't show his class ball in hand.

Young, Brayshaw X2 and serong missing their set shots today were so predictable.

MJ was meant to be one of the better kicks in his draft but I'm yet to see him actually hit a target inside 50 on a lead or a kick that opens up the play. It's either a simple chip kick or a headless bomb.

Watching our mids butcher kicks inside 50 all day then seeing tod bloody Marshall sublimely pick out Rioli was infuriating AF.

AB is my fave player but what exactly is he. A low clearance winning inside to outside mid with questionable disposal?

70m out who do you want kicking inside 50? You struggle to think of someone. Theoretically young? Days gone by would be Mundy and Walters

45meters out slight angle at a pivotal time how many players do you trust to kick it?

We make things look ridiculously hard. We've been out so many times this year but have absolutely butchered it. Think the only time we were out and got a set shot on goal was hitting Shultz pretty much on the boundary line. Every other team gets a shot 30 out on a slight angle.

Even our handballing on the overlap, a simple skill, is atrocious. The player running past has to pause and halt his momentum coz it's rarely delivered in his stride.

 

[dockerpurple]

How many classy players do Fremantle have?

Walters, amiss and that's probably it.

Seeing for all the amazing things that he is lacks class. Brayshaw too.

Young for the elite kick that he supposedly is doesn't show his class ball in hand.

Young, Brayshaw X2 and serong missing their set shots today were so predictable.

MJ was meant to be one of the better kicks in his draft but I'm yet to see him actually hit a target inside 50 on a lead or a kick that opens up the play. It's either a simple chip kick or a headless bomb.

Watching our mids butcher kicks inside 50 all day then seeing tod bloody Marshall sublimely pick out Rioli was infuriating AF.

AB is my fave player but what exactly is he. A low clearance winning inside to outside mid with questionable disposal?

70m out who do you want kicking inside 50? You struggle to think of someone. Theoretically young? Days gone by would be Mundy and Walters

45meters out slight angle at a pivotal time how many players do you trust to kick it?

We make things look ridiculously hard. We've been out so many times this year but have absolutely butchered it. Think the only time we were out and got a set shot on goal was hitting Shultz pretty much on the boundary line. Every other team gets a shot 30 out on a slight angle.

Even our handballing on the overlap, a simple skill, is atrocious. The player running past has to pause and halt his momentum coz it's rarely delivered in his stride.

 

[DockerDerek]

Is Brennan Cox a forward again now? What was the reason for the late switch?

It seems ridiculous that we only put Brennan forward when we have absolutely no chance of winning i.e., we need 4 goals in 6 mins.

If we were serious we would at least have made the move at 3/4 time.

The only reason I can see for not giving him more of a run forward is that we think it might cause him to want to leave the club. After all, he is the best contested mark in the team.

 

[Freomaniac]

He's kicked 4 goals 9 this year from 21 games following on from 5 goals 9 from 22 games last year.

tbh im amazed serong was a mid/fwd as a junior. If he could add either a more efficient kick like a Sam Mitchell or hit the scoreboard a bit more he will reach the upper echelon of players.

how he is played and how he is built. Caleb Serong does remind me of Robbie Gray.

I wouldnt mind if Serong ends up kicking as much goals and play as much games as robbie gray did. (367 goals from 271 games)

 

[Freomaniac]

I didn’t mind the change in strategy so we could specifically avoid Aliir and their rebound but the skills really ****ed it. In reflection, it might have just added to the confusion and the team wasn’t ready to be able to change like that. They definitely missed chances moving the ball forward by being OVERLY cautious.

I really think there is a fair bit of dramatisation on the game. We lost the game on skills and our skills honestly haven’t been that level of bar all year, including kicking at goal

I am not denying we have dropped this year. We didnt drop massively but we dropped....

But the thing is... last season we Faced both Brisbane and Port in Perth. We beat both of them.

When we beat Brisbane last season, we were down by 2 goals, got a small lead at 3 quarter time and held on to win by 2 goals.

When we faced Port last season, we had a 30-40 point lead, then held on by a goal.

In 2022, Brisbane finished 6th, won 2 finals. Port narrowly missed out on finals after going 0-5.

This Season we Narrowly lost to Brisbane and Port in Perth.

Have Brisbanes playing squad improved? they traded in Josh Dunkley and got Jack Gunston as a free agent. Port traded in Jason Horne Francis but lost Karl Amon in free agency.


I think Brisbane and Port improved their squad by 10 percent. While on the other hand Freo went backwards by 10 percent.

Dockers have lost some Narrow games at home.... North, Tigers, Brisbane and Port. We win those 4 games, we make finals.