Toast It's time to celebrate Nat Fyfe and what he has done for our club

Remove this Banner Ad

For me it wasn’t the volume of possessions, it was the creativity and attacking nature of his handballs that made this game elite.
He’s shown a fair bit of the ‘give the first option’ play this year whereas in the past he’d try bullock and take contact before disposing in close.
I don’t think he had as much creativity in his handball game back in his heyday .

it’s an evolved Fyfe, and it’s bloody beautiful to watch !!


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com
 
DMan 11 said:
For me it wasn’t the volume of possessions, it was the creativity and attacking nature of his handballs that made this game elite.
He’s shown a fair bit of the ‘give the first option’ play this year whereas in the past he’d try bullock and take contact before disposing in close.
I don’t think he had as much creativity in his handball game back in his heyday .

it’s an evolved Fyfe, and it’s bloody beautiful to watch !!


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com
Click to expand...
loved his goal - he can't do anything in a 'normal' way :)
 

Log in to remove this ad.

The thing I'm loving about Fyfe this season is that this is the Fyfe I hoped we'd get in the twilight of his career - the real Fyfe, the Fyfe who is a genius, the Fyfe with guile.

Fyfe will be best remembered by the footy public as the contested bull who dominated the centre square. A player who could absorb all the tackling pressure, feed off it, then break free and get a handball or clever kick to a player in space. And sometimes a team lifting goal.

But for those of us lucky to watch him from the early days is we know he is so much better than that. We know underneath all that brawn is one of the smartest, craftiest players to have played the game. And no better was this shown than in his second game:



In that play, he's against three West Coast players, but the ball is always his. While he doesn't always have control of the ball, even as he fumbles he commands the ball. When he takes possession, he leaves Priddis befuddled - "where did he go?" All while being built like a stick insect.

Those first couple of years, this was the Fyfe we saw, the Fyfe that oozed potential, that looked like he could do anything. He did do anything - in 2011, his second year, he was in the top 10 for contested possessions AND contested marks per game, something few players good at either ever achieve.

In 2012, a new coach, needing a rock solid midfield for a premiership tilt, called on Fyfe to become the centrepiece, and he made his name as the beast we came to admire. It narrowed his abilities, but turned Fyfe into a star.

The past two years fans have been wondering if we'd seen the last of Fyfe. His body is finished, his injuries too debilitating, his style of footy too limited, all these fears expressed.

But I kept thinking of the skinny kid who could confuse the opposition. The kid who didn't rely on raw physicality, but a brain that could see the play unfolding before anyone else, who could command the play while everyone else was sticking to structures.

I saw that on Saturday night.
 
Last edited:
james haish said:
The thing I'm loving about Fyfe this season is that this is the Fyfe I hoped we'd get in the twilight of his career - the real Fyfe, the Fyfe who is a genius, the Fyfe with guile.

Fyfe will be best remembered by the footy public as the contested bull who dominated the centre square. A player who could absorb all the tackling pressure, feed off it, then break free and get a handball or clever kick to a player in space. And sometimes a team lifting goal.

But for those of us lucky to watch him from the early days is we know he is so much better than that. We know underneath all that brawn is one of the smartest, craftiest players to have played the game. And no better was this shown than in his second game:



In that play, he's against three West Coast players, but the ball is always his. While he doesn't always have control of the ball, even as he fumbles he commands the ball. When he takes possession, he leaves Priddis befuddled - "where did he go?" All while being built like a stick insect.

Those first couple of years, this was the Fyfe we saw, the Fyfe that oozed potential, that looked like he could do anything. He did do anything - in 2011, his second year, he was in the top 10 for contested possessions AND contested marks per game, something few players good at either ever achieve.

In 2012, a new coach, needing a rock solid midfield for a premiership tilt, called on Fyfe to become the centrepiece, and he made his name as the beast we came to admire. It narrowed his abilities, but turned Fyfe into a star.

The past two years fans have been wondering if we'd seen the last of Fyfe. His body is finished, his injuries too debilitating, his style of footy too limited, all these fears expressed.

But I kept thinking of the skinny kid who could confuse the opposition. The kid who didn't rely on raw physicality, but a brain that could see the play unfolding before anyone else, who could command the play while everyone else was sticking to structures.

I saw that on Saturday night.
Click to expand...

i love his hair in that video.. LOL oh the early days of youth.
 
There were two moments in tonights game that Fyfe did pretty much that. The last one when he just one handedly extracted the ball from the grasp of a hopeless bemused Tiger running one way who just looks around to see Fyfe running the other way, magically with ball in hand. It led directly to a goal in that last quarter. It was a pure thing of beauty, Ive only seen one other player do that sort of thing, David Rhys Jones. I wish I knew how to put the highlight in here.
 
Rhufus said:
There were two moments in tonights game that Fyfe did pretty much that. The last one when he just one handedly extracted the ball from the grasp of a hopeless bemused Tiger running one way who just looks around to see Fyfe running the other way, magically with ball in hand. It led directly to a goal in that last quarter. It was a pure thing of beauty, Ive only seen one other player do that sort of thing, David Rhys Jones. I wish I knew how to put the highlight in here.
Click to expand...
Saw that too. I’m loving the crafty Fyfe. In the past he would have been first at the ball and won (or halved) the contest on its merits. But now he waits for opposition to err and pounces
 
The thing that people have always missed about Fyfe, in his "midfield bull" role, is that he has always had that brain that works one step ahead, and great hands. If you see him up close, his hands are so fast that the ball's gone just about instantly, and he hits targets. Other players trying to do the same will fumble. He's also a terrific anticipator of play. Those things were always what differentiated him from other bulls like Dustin Martin, and from accumulators like Lachie Neale.

I'd argue Fyfe at his best is above just about all the other current elite crop, for that reason. I could be biased tho ;)
 
he put in so much effort today - loved seeing him running out of the centre with the ball

I feel like he lost a bit after Cam's death, but now he is back. The longer break would have been great for him too!
 

(Log in to remove this ad.)

I can’t remember much of Leigh Matthews playing, though I do recall the Bruns hit at the time. I saw Ablett, Lockett, Carey and Hird. I am just as privileged to have witnessed Nat Fyfe’s career.

From contested marking machine, to clearance bull, he has been a phenomenal player. He only had to be near a contest and you just knew he’d win it - whether in the air or on the ground.

Should have been a 3 time Brownlow winner. And should eventually be an AFL Legend, never mind a Hall of Famer.
 

Nat Fyfe​

The dual Brownlow medallists return to the midfield has seen the 32-year-old ignite again after a couple of seasons hampered by injury. Fyfe’s ability to win the ball has been on full display as he and the midfield see Fremantle hold the highest number of clearances league-wide.

Key stats - Competition-wide rankings

#6 for contested knock-ons (8)
#8 for effective handballs (144)
#11 for effective clearances (53)
#13 for smothers (10)
#19 for contested possessions (132)
#24 for clearances (61)
 
The best news is his recent comments that he has deliberately been going in at half rat power to help get some continuity (paraphrased) and he now will concentrate in the next half of the season with bursting out of congestion and flying for marks now that he has some miles in the body.

Imagine if the Champ improves another 20%!!!
 

Remove this Banner Ad

Toast It's time to celebrate Nat Fyfe and what he has done for our club

Similar threads

BStaff17
Fremantle Dockers Hall of Fame ??? Is it time to introduce one
Replies
20
Views
964
serial_thrilla
serial_thrilla
anchor man
That time of the year
Replies
16
Views
755
Farrand
Farrand
King Huskii
Autopsy Grade our 2024 draft
2 3
Replies
57
Views
4K
fnerd
F
Tonga Bob
Women's Footy AFLW Buddy Draft 2024 - Run & Done
2
Replies
31
Views
3K
vidwhal
vidwhal
G
Our bottom Six.
Replies
16
Views
796
pK75
pK75
ubiquitous226
Analysis Bye Time - The Run Home Special
6 7 8 9 10
Replies
226
Views
12K
pK75
pK75
King Huskii
Prediction National Draft 2024
70 71 72 73 74
Replies
2K
Views
73K
freo_leo29
freo_leo29

Remove this Banner Ad

Back
Top