Review Freo storm home against North

[s_wd6]

Little negative comment here, sorry poshman
Haven’t watched the full replay yet, but watched the highlights & on the back of last weeks game, there can’t be such a huge gulf between our best & worst footy.

As we get deeper into the season & in general will be more fatigued, we won’t be able to flick the switch & overrun teams. There has to be some discussion among the playing group & coaches that realistically needs to be player driven on how that needs to be addressed.

There will clearly be stats associated with that as there are stats for everything & I presume it will be bought up in the media this week.

Points on the board early on are always good though & 11 different goal scorers is huge with 5 or 6 coming out of the midfield.

Honestly last game didn't feel like we were that bad early on, just that we made extremely costly and stupid errors that made Brisbane look better than they were. The rushed behind, and 50m penalty weren't credit to Brisbane at all, and I'm sure at least one of their other goals was from an unforced turnover.

The were a lot of concerns with how we started yesterday, where North completely dominated on all fronts. I'd be intersted to see how we start against Adelaide before making judgement only beacause there were "excuses" in the other two games, with Brisbane having played opening round and us dusting off the cobwebs, and then the 10:45am start which we always struggle with.

 

[mayne iac]

The problem with Darcy is that he is a 70/30 player
Plays 70% of the time, injured the rest. IMO the length of his contract was a problem.

 

[Dale147]

 

[Footskill]

From a simplistic view I think our bad starts are result of the midfield getting spanked. That then puts pressure on our backs who can only hold the dam wall for limited time and in turn limits our forward forays and when they do get it there they are all out of position

 

[rgauci]

Our one wood is centre square work. It worked beautifully against Brisbane who were missing Lachie Neale

9

Lachie Neale

Age

31

Ht

178cm

Wt

84kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

27.0

5star

K

11.5

4star

HB

15.5

5star

M

4.0

4star

T

3.7

5star

CL

5.9

5star

D

28.3

5star

K

13.9

5star

HB

14.4

5star

M

4.6

4star

T

4.0

5star

CL

5.9

5star

D

12.0

3star

K

4.6

2star

HB

7.4

5star

M

2.0

3star

T

1.0

3star

CL

0.4

3star

and aren’t centre square specialists. We absolutely belted them out of the middle.

LDU finds another leg against us. Ex team mate of Brayshaw from high school? Not sure why, but our mids go to water against him.

Anyone who would pass up Chad Warner

1

Chad Warner

Age

23

Ht

185cm

Wt

82kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

7.0

2star

K

4.5

2star

HB

2.5

2star

M

1.5

2star

T

1.5

3star

CL

0.0

1star

D

7.0

1star

K

4.5

2star

HB

2.5

2star

M

1.5

2star

T

1.5

2star

CL

0.0

1star

D

7.0

2star

K

4.5

2star

HB

2.5

3star

M

1.5

2star

T

1.5

4star

CL

0.0

1star

because our midfield is “set” has no idea.

Johnson, Erasmus, Fyfe, Aish, JOM aren’t fit to be in the rotation long term.

Erasmus and Johnson might get there. Fyfe when fit still has it. Aish and JOM never had it.

Serong and Brayshaw are elite. Young is close. We need more quality to roll through the middle.

 

[theGav56]

Little negative comment here, sorry poshman
Haven’t watched the full replay yet, but watched the highlights & on the back of last weeks game, there can’t be such a huge gulf between our best & worst footy.

As we get deeper into the season & in general will be more fatigued, we won’t be able to flick the switch & overrun teams. There has to be some discussion among the playing group & coaches that realistically needs to be player driven on how that needs to be addressed.

There will clearly be stats associated with that as there are stats for everything & I presume it will be bought up in the media this week.

Points on the board early on are always good though & 11 different goal scorers is huge with 5 or 6 coming out of the midfield.

In agreement with your observations, but want to add some thoughts:

• there has been some strategy changes during the off season plus some injuries that impact structure. To me the long term cure for the slow starts is Darcy returning and smashing in from the get go.
• we'll fatigue and so will the other teams which should balance itself out. But as we mature we will be less prone to fatigue.
• midfield goals puts us in another echelon of play. It rattles the defence and that helps us forward too. Longmuir has done well with his midfield strategy and I am really impressed that he has held the line with Young staying in the midfield.
• I'm equally impressed how he is using Banfield, and with the debuts of Sharp and Draper.
• But for me the big gold star is how he is working Jackson and Treacy. They bring an intimidation factor to our game.

 

[Footskill]

Maybe the Treacy experiment can only be explored once Darcy returns.

Having Amiss up front by himself with half baked tabs and bringing in another below grade tall doesn't seem like a good idea.

 

[MadMac]

Just on Sonny, he has never been a quick player to begin with and yes, he does look even slower now. But them footy smarts you can’t teach and even though occasionally some of his kicks can get intercepted simply due to the nature of them being low and direct, he still pulls it off more often than not. And he’s still our best kick for goal. He’s not leaving the game just yet.

 

[Joao]

Sonny is the best inside 50 kick too.

 

[Footskill]

Think the kicks being referred to to Sonny is where he is 1 vs 1 around the 50 fwd area with a high ball and doesn't have clear advantage. Best he can do is halve the contest so best maybe in those situations they need look for better option

 

[MadMac]

Watched the replay and same conclusion again, Brayshaw was our best. That willpower to drag the whole team up was just amazing to watch. Maybe it’s just my “metrics” though.
And apologies to Banfield for singling him out in defence when the whole team stank defensively in the first half. He had a very good game

 

[mightymouse75]

How good is Jackson.
I never believed in unicorns.
Now I can see.

Now we are getting 3 first round draft picks this year I can let the trade capital for jacko go.

 

[Footskill]

Watched the replay and same conclusion again, Brayshaw was our best. That willpower to drag the whole team up was just amazing to watch. Maybe it’s just my “metrics” though.
And apologies to Banfield for singling him out in defence when the whole team stank defensively in the first half. He had a very good game

Don't think he even played defense. He may have run down there to help at times

 

[Wray27]

Ha, I think all Freo supporters who watched a replay started from this point why put yourself through the first quarter and a half of rubbish.

I didn’t. Watched it all.

 

[Wray27]

Interesting take on Warner. CBA last night 22/38 with 2 CC. Not sure those numbers will make a huge difference to our CC work.
I’m in for Warner but don’t see him as CC beast.

 

[apuchar]

Interesting take on Warner. CBA last night 22/38 with 2 CC. Not sure those numbers will make a huge difference to our CC work.
I’m in for Warner but don’t see him as CC beast.

I agree. We would need him on the outside.

 

[ilikepotatoes]

Walters will make the perfect sub if he slows down - but tbh I don't really see that being the case so far this season.

I'm still somewhat concerned that we look like a clearance or bust team again this season. I suppose once we get Cox and Chapman back we should have a bit more intercept and skills on the rebound however.

 

[MadMac]

Don’t expect miracles from Chapman, folks. His last AFL game was a long time ago. Right now I see him as a bonus if he overcomes his injuries, not a part of the “cavalry” (Cox, Darcy etc)

 

[Descent]

The Clarko coaching is really starting to come through. They’re just a little bit rough, but manage to mostly get away with it, and they always try to creep an extra 0.5-1m forward when manning the mark. Just classic Hawthorn tactics.

 

[theGav56]

Think the kicks being referred to to Sonny is where he is 1 vs 1 around the 50 fwd area with a high ball and doesn't have clear advantage. Best he can do is halve the contest so best maybe in those situations they need look for better option

Sure, kicks should always be put to maximize a players advantage in any mismatch.

Asking Walters to routinely out mark a taller opponent (as we have done by kicking high and long to him) is exactly why the opposition has created that particular mismatch. But I don't see it as a reasonable criticism of Walters.

Maybe chaos ball is a better option.

 

[Footskill]

Sure, kicks should always be put to maximize a players advantage in any mismatch.

Asking Walters to routinely out mark a taller opponent (as we have done by kicking high and long to him) is exactly why the opposition has created that particular mismatch. But I don't see it as a reasonable criticism of Walters.

Maybe chaos ball is a better option.

Wasn't criticism on Walters for that. His team mates know how good he is and usually he is able to halve the contest. So it's on his team mates to look for better option in those situstions

 

[Taylor]

Walters was putting on good chase efforts against Brisbane but I guess the marvel ground is more cramped

 

[Stinky Lomax]

Writing off Walters is a bit premature based off a couple of games into the season, but someone writing off Draper after a quarter & a half in the game day thread was as bad as it comes.

 

[Mogumber]

Freo are getting way better at stoppage goals, and goals from centre bounce.
This will be why we will be in games up to our eyeballs this year as long as we keep the cattle

 

[gaskin]

Freo are getting way better at stoppage goals, and goals from centre bounce.
This will be why we will be in games up to our eyeballs this year as long as we keep the cattle

I feel like we have always been pretty good at stoppage goals.