Coach Justin Longmuir

[Nodgey]

Yeah I think we need to revert to using a tagger. Whether it’s Banfield or maybe a reinvented Conca. But we’re not a good enough side to go head to head - we get torched.

(Kudos here to Serong who seemed to do an admirable job.)

 

[Joao]

The group that shouldn’t be having issues is the midfield. Dominated by ‘lesser’ midfields (at least on paper) for three weeks now. The depth for midfield is deepest of the three, yet getting pantsed out of the centre.
Kelly 42 disposals, Lyons 29 and this weekend Parish with 39 plus 10 clearances.
Would understand if there’s multiple injuries in that area, but Fyfe Mundy Brayshaw Serong with Cerra Tucker shouldn’t be the main cause of concern

We didn't get "dominated" in the midfield by the Bombers. We won every midfield stat except contested possessions which they won by 3.

 

[Electronic_Renaissance]

fyfe, yeah his defense isn't up to standard atm.

Totally agree with this. Multiple times Fyfe expected to get the ball. When he didn't his opponent left him, won the ball basically unconstested. Fyfe just standing there while his opponent won the clearance.

He's a gun, we all know that. I think his goal kicking yips are getting to him and affecting other parts of his game.

I believe a player should be played where they are best suited. Fyfe has proven he's a gun midfielder, play him there. Walters has proven he is a small forward, play him there. This chopping and changing can't do the players any good.

 

[freo1997]

Remember when Dale said he expects Freo to become a juggernaut..

 

[E Shed]

Anyone else here think that blaming the injuries is a cop out??

Probably the same ones who bag out our recruiters for not addressing needs when all the players who would address those needs are injured.

 

[nurries]

Remember when Dale said he expects Freo to become a juggernaut..

What, Dale Kerrigan?

 

[wild side]

The fact that nut scratchers like us hang around after every ****ing disappointment, shows we could still become a juggernaut (unlikely) but there is care from the supporter base.
now if we could just get the playing group and admin on the same page, who knows??

 

[salim malik]

Probably the same ones who bag out our recruiters for not addressing needs when all the players who would address those needs are injured.

Who is not available in the forward half?

 

[FreoRicci]

Probably the same ones who bag out our recruiters for not addressing needs when all the players who would address those needs are injured.

I mean addressing injury prone players should be a priority now. Pearce and Hamling aren’t going to stand up to AFL football for long term, nor at least this year anyway

 

[Lach72]

It’s not even an issue when the defensive unit is the only group that has any cohesion. They’re doing their job above and beyond. Held Essendon to 10 goals and Brisbane 14 last week. Impressive effort.
The group that shouldn’t be having issues is the midfield. Dominated by ‘lesser’ midfields (at least on paper) for three weeks now. The depth for midfield is deepest of the three, yet getting pantsed out of the centre.
Kelly 42 disposals, Lyons 29 and this weekend Parish with 39 plus 10 clearances.
Would understand if there’s multiple injuries in that area, but Fyfe Mundy Brayshaw Serong with Cerra Tucker shouldn’t be the main cause of concern

We won the clearances, won the ruck won the inside 50’s and had more shots on goal?

 

[freo1997]

What, Dale Kerrigan?

He could do a better job..

 

[TheLastCall]

We won the clearances, won the ruck won the inside 50’s and had more shots on goal?

I thing we need a new forward coach. Our forwards just don’t work well together.

Tracey improves our forward line structure.

 

[Lach72]

I thing we need a new forward coach. Our forwards just don’t work well together.

Tracey improves our forward line structure.

I still have to watch the game...but it seems like when you win the ruck, the clearances, get it inside 50 more and have more scoring chances but screw the pooch when shooting that a lot has gone right up to that point.

 

[theGav56]

I thing we need a new forward coach. Our forwards just don’t work well together.

Tracey improves our forward line structure.

We seem to have a void where there should be a strategy in place with the heading;

How To Play AFL With A Small Forward Line.

OR

Selection Options When You Don’t Want To Play a Small Forward Line.

 

[Cesoir]

I still have to watch the game...but it seems like when you win the ruck, the clearances, get it inside 50 more and have more scoring chances but screw the pooch when shooting that a lot has gone right up to that point.

This is exactly my concern. In the 2013 Grand Final we won just about every statistic on the day except free kicks and SCORE - that's right, 2013. 8 years later we have exactly the same issues where we dominate the game for long periods without putting any scoreboard pressure on then we lose to a more efficient scoring team. We scrunch everybody up into our forward half and it is so congested we can't even get a shot away, then we get exposed by the opposition getting it through our zone into an open forward line and scoring easily. In my mind a lot of this is just poor coaching (both current and previous coaches) and I also think we lack the pace and dare to take the game on, so we tighten everything up to avoid getting blown away.

I honestly don't even think it is a personnel issue per se, I think it is a piss poor game plan for the personnel we have. We have guys like Freddy, Colyer, Switta, Henry and Western all very capable of exposing teams out the back, but there is rarely an "out the back" the way we play. We FOCUS on crowding our forward line and locking the ball in. We did it under Lyon and we do it under Longmuir - how about trying something different? How about we retain a structure behind the ball AND forward of the ball and back in our guys to take the game on. Get selfish and run in to goal rather than trying to chip to a team mate in a worse position. Don't be afraid to run forward of the play and seagull some easy goals - guys like Henry should be doing this all the time because he's doing bugger all else!

Just frustrating that in a game where the winner is the one who SCORES the most, we focus on defense and structure behind the ball. Sure, you can't just neglect those things, but right now our problem is not stopping opposition scores, it is scoring ourselve.

/Rant

 

[summerthebat]

I think blaming our injuries for poor performances this year is generally a weak excuse given the rest of the competition (aside from Sydney) has suffered significant casualties..... however, I do think losing Hughes & Ryan at the same time has been an extremely difficult problem to solve over the last three weeks.

They are the players that consistently put their body on the line in defensive and fill empty space with their ability to read the play. The problem was immediately obvious after Hughes went down against West Coast. Since that moment opposition attacking entries have seemed a lot easier.

 

[theGav56]

I think blaming our injuries for poor performances this year is generally a weak excuse given the rest of the competition (aside from Sydney) has suffered significant casualties..... however, I do think losing Hughes & Ryan at the same time has been an extremely difficult problem to solve over the last three weeks.

They are the players that consistently put their body on the line in defensive and fill empty space with their ability to read the play. The problem was immediately obvious after Hughes went down against West Coast. Since that moment opposition attacking entries have seemed a lot easier.

Yes fair enough, but worth mentioning we are seeing more of Logue this year, and Watson is continuing to emerge. Our defence remains reasonably intact, which is remarkable.

 

[wayToGo_]

Playing 6 small forwards didn't work. Maybe try 7 or 8 next week?

 

[Big Animal]

Playing 6 small forwards didn't work. Maybe try 7 or 8 next week?

Yep I think we need Western in also and cut Tr%#*c#&y* in half.

Ready through these threads, Tr%#*c#&y is clearly the new Cr(6^%to(_n

 

[sumavich]

Some of the best players are small, but they have serious strengths.
Shai Bolton - leap, and everything else
Liam Baker - tank and use
Caleb Daniel - contested ball and use

Our little fellas don't really belong with the above.
Schultz and Switta have defensive pressure, but that's about it.

Sweeney tweeted about Freo forward line :

#18 for goalkicking accuracy (97.117)
#18 for tackles inside 50 (59), Sydney have 123

 

[Joao]

I still have to watch the game...but it seems like when you win the ruck, the clearances, get it inside 50 more and have more scoring chances but screw the pooch when shooting that a lot has gone right up to that point.

We dominate the majority of the game and kicks lots of behinds and OOF.

 

[Joao]

Some of the best players are small, but they have serious strengths.
Shai Bolton - leap, and everything else
Liam Baker - tank and use
Caleb Daniel - contested ball and use

Our little fellas don't really belong with the above.
Schultz and Switta have defensive pressure, but that's about it.

Sweeney tweeted about Freo forward line :

#18 for goalkicking accuracy (97.117)
#18 for tackles inside 50 (59), Sydney have 123

I agree, but Daniels isn't contested ball, he is all decision making, position and kicking.

No doubt our smalls are ordinary though.

 

[Sully90]

Anyone else here think that blaming the injuries is a cop out??

Yes and no. The concentration of injuries on our back line and young developing player has hamstrung us for a few years now.

However what's that saying about doing the same thing and expecting a different result? At the end of last year we should have made the hard decision on one of Hamling or Pearce.

The insinuation that only Conca has parts of his game to work on is insulting.
Singling out an experienced player to the media does not go down well with the playing group,

Take the blinkers of SM, every coach in the AFL past and present has said "'x' player has things they need to work on."

 

[sumavich]

I agree, but Daniels isn't contested ball, he is all decision making, position and kicking.

No doubt our smalls are ordinary though.

His contested ball, as in, not letting the opposition get away with it, is seriously good.
Schultz could be that as well, he's an upper body unit

 

[salim malik]

I agree, but Daniels isn't contested ball, he is all decision making, position and kicking.

No doubt our smalls are ordinary though.

It's amazing how the worm turns, I was berated on here for calling Schultz average.
So much so that I felt the need to apologise , turns out I should have stuck to my guns he is meh