Preview Key match-ups VS FREO

[Number 10]

I haven't read the whole thread. But from a few posts I've noticed that the general concensus is Pies are slow, and Freo are fast.

This I agree with. We have a pretty slow midfield and Freo obviously have one of the quickest. But it seems as though we are judging "speed" on footspeed alone and couldn't be further from the mark.

Collingwood, through the likes of Swan, Beams, Pendlbury, Didak, Thomas, Shaw and O'Brien, move the ball accross the ground in a Geelong-like way. Absolute "ball speed" with pinpoint precision and accuracy. We don't have a Hill or Davey or Jetta or Judd to move the ball through the midfield by speed and/or strength, but rely on our fast hands and feet, as exemplified by the last 4 games.

So in this game of perceived slow vs. fast, I think it will actually be very even.

Other than that, without being biased I would tell other people to tip Collingwood on the basis that our goal kickers are eratic and hard to stop. Other than that it should be a very high quality and entertaining game.
May the best team win.

 

[Mayneman]

Ballantyne plays forward, he's probably as quick as Medhurst. Hill is certainly quick, Palmer has the explosive pace from packs, Suban isn't lightning, Morabito I haven't seen all that much of [only 3 games this year] but he seems fairly quick.

Yeah sorry, Ballantyne is lightning quick and plays a large portion of the match through the middle. Normally rotates with our other forwards on the wing. Ballantyne is alot faster than Medhurst, not just saying that because Im a freo fan.

If you're suggesting Suban is quicker than Thomas, you're kidding yourself.

Did I say that, I just dont think Thomas is that quick. Reasonably quick, I'll pay that.

Swan has some serious toe, but it's deceptive due to his running style, bursts from packs similar to Palmer.

Yeah Swan does burst from packs, and I'll pay that but keeping up with Hill or Morabito over 30 metres, gone.

Wellingham is back this week and is probably our quickest player.

Yeah forgot him, he's a class kid. Rate him highly.

Plus Johnson is pretty quick.

Lol.

That's four players who go through our midfield with pace; all are playing brilliant football at the minute. Leon Davis, Paul Medhurst and Alan Didak up forward have some pace. Shaw, O'Brien and even Maxwell aren't bad off half-back, and Toovey would probably be our third quickest player. We're quick enough.

And BTW... Beams isn't slow.

Beams isnt quick, he's a very good contested ball winner, similar to Barlow IMO.

Like I said before, if can get the ball into open space enough I think we'll run you off your feet. If not, I'd back yours boys to win more contested footy.

Like I said a toss of a coin. Home ground advantage is the only deciding factor for me.

 

[pauly_moss]

Pavlich - Harry O
Johnson - Reid

midfield who cares as we will win plenty of Sandilands taps, the inclusion of Jolly hasnt seen us dominate the rucks yet so I dont see this as a big advantage for Freo.

Match winners....
Swan, Didak, Ball, Harry O, Shaw, Maxwell

I expect the small forwards like Medhurst, Davis to be the major goal kickers along with 3 from Swan. Should be a magpie win bring Freo back to earth like we did to Carlton. However Freo are looking good to be a potential top 4 team. Big test for both teams go pies

 

[Moo]

Hi Guys

Really looking forward to this clash - hope it lives up to it and isn't like the Saints-Doggies clash where I was all set up and ended up hoping a game would emerge.

Leon is unstaoppable in the west

Leon loves being back at home ...wondering if Medders will do a cameo too.

hahaha. but seriously, what's a Morabito?

Big lump of a lad with a massive leg on him.

If you have not seen much of Freo however the player to watch is Hill - simply a wonderful player in full flight.

Wood actually rucks well against Sandilands from memory. Last time we played them he was leaping over him or nullifying his taps.

I personally think it will be a landslide victory to one of the teams. If we shut them down, we will destroy them. If we don't keep it tight i.e. 3rd quarter against Carlton their front runners will carve us.

It should be a very hostile and cracking first quarter... Freo supporters are almost as nuts as us

Sandi has gone up a level this year and it helps when you are rucking to Palmer, Barlow, Hase, Pavlich and Hill over some of the other spuds we ahve had.

I actually think it may be an arm wrestle.

Anyway this may be the game that actually brings entertainment back to the game.

Good luck.

 

[KissStephanie]

if you think Jolly and Wood will be able to use their mobility to beat Sandi, check out last week's derby and Naita and Cox vs. Sandi... Sandi won overall.

I didn't think so. I thought that Cox and Sandilands broke about even, whilst Natanui's performance gave West Coast an overall win in the ruck.

Lots of teams have promised that their rucks will beat Sandi this year, but none have.

Cox and Natanui combined did beat Sandilands though. Sandilands was still good, but if Collingwood can get a similar result with Jolly and Wood, then I think they'll be happy regarding that.

We just need to make sure they don't get smashed in the hitouts [at least win 20 or so between them] and do some damage around the ground, particularly Jolly resting forward.

They'll be aiming to win more than that. I think that Jolly and Wood are capable of winning at least 30 hit outs between them.

 

[Daics35Marvel]

hahaha. but seriously, what's a Morabito?

I'm pretty sure that it's a Mexican dish that's popular from street vendors, although it is known to cause bad gas and occasionally the runs. Reading between the lines, it looks like Freo are concoting some dodgy Moraburritos, possibly with the aim of serving them to the Pies players the night before the game. If you see Swan doubled over at 1/4 time having violent diarrhoea I guess we'll know that their little scheme worked as planned.

 

[Trojan82]

He a footballer who runs faster than anyone on your list

I would put $100 on Sean Rusling to beat every other player in the AFL over 100 metres.

Just saying.

 

[Collingwould]

Nah its the same Palmer who got 2 brownlow votes last time you visited Subiaco.

Looking forward to this game. Should be a cracker. I'm usually not sure what to expect being a Fremantle supporter. Usually our form is pretty unpredictable. This year is totally different. We are averaging around the 110 mark whether we are winning or losing. It will depend on whether Collingwood can dissect our zone.

Can't wait.

try being a Collingwood supporter!

before this year, our form varies wildly, and I for one am not getting hopes up too high too early. Obviously if both teams can play as they have been it will be a dead set cracker, so just hoping we can maintain our form line.

 

[Quicky]

I haven't read the whole thread. But from a few posts I've noticed that the general concensus is Pies are slow, and Freo are fast.

This I agree with. We have a pretty slow midfield and Freo obviously have one of the quickest. But it seems as though we are judging "speed" on footspeed alone and couldn't be further from the mark.

Collingwood, through the likes of Swan, Beams, Pendlbury, Didak, Thomas, Shaw and O'Brien, move the ball accross the ground in a Geelong-like way. Absolute "ball speed" with pinpoint precision and accuracy. We don't have a Hill or Davey or Jetta or Judd to move the ball through the midfield by speed and/or strength, but rely on our fast hands and feet, as exemplified by the last 4 games.

So in this game of perceived slow vs. fast, I think it will actually be very even.

Other than that, without being biased I would tell other people to tip Collingwood on the basis that our goal kickers are eratic and hard to stop. Other than that it should be a very high quality and entertaining game.
May the best team win.

I think this is a good summation of the slow vs. fast debate. I think Mayneman you hammed up the slowness of our midfield in your original post. We aren't a quick midfield but we aren't slow either. I don't think it has proven an issue against other quick sides like the Doggies, Blues and Dons. But no doubt Freo has the points in this area - you have quality on form over those other sides too. Freo will need to work really hard and be precise in their disposal to get through our shit-down defense - if Freo can do it consistently it could really rain goals for them as you get exposed at the back if this gamestyle gets undone. It should be a cracker of a game and a real test of our new game plan.

 

[Alfonz]

I think this slow vs fast debate is a little bit exaggerated. Across the park, we might be a bit quicker, but we still have a few guys like Hasleby, Crowley and Mundy running through the middle who aren't that quick. Palmer and Barlow provide excellent gut running with fairly good pace off the mark, but I wouldn't call them lightning. Hayden is one of our slowest players, but people think he is quick because he rarely gets caught.

I think our running power this year is more to do with the structure of the side. We have only really played 3 genuine KPP ... Pav, Taz and McPharlin ... and all of these are quick for their size. The latter 2 in particular. Guys like Mayne and Johnson are playing roles that might traditionally go to slower/bigger players. That leaves us with a large rotation of players who run well all day, leaving us with sustained running over the duration of a match.

Guys like Didak, Shaw, Davis, Wellingham offer a fair bit of speed in their own right. Swan is pretty quick, its just that he waddles his seemingly large arse in a way that doesn't appear like he should be quick, but his pace off the mark is pretty good.

I think the easiest thing to say is that neither side is slow.

Absolutely no idea who will win.

 

[Vendrell]

There's a difference between leg speed and fast ball movement. Heath Shaw running 20m out of the backline and then drilling a 50m pass up the ground is a lot faster than 3 or 4 players moving the footy 70m by running and handpassing.

 

[joxstrap]

Fremantle 117
Collingwood 89

 

[Suspense]

I haven't read the whole thread. But from a few posts I've noticed that the general concensus is Pies are slow, and Freo are fast.

This I agree with. We have a pretty slow midfield and Freo obviously have one of the quickest. But it seems as though we are judging "speed" on footspeed alone and couldn't be further from the mark.

Collingwood, through the likes of Swan, Beams, Pendlbury, Didak, Thomas, Shaw and O'Brien, move the ball accross the ground in a Geelong-like way. Absolute "ball speed" with pinpoint precision and accuracy. We don't have a Hill or Davey or Jetta or Judd to move the ball through the midfield by speed and/or strength, but rely on our fast hands and feet, as exemplified by the last 4 games.

So in this game of perceived slow vs. fast, I think it will actually be very even.

Other than that, without being biased I would tell other people to tip Collingwood on the basis that our goal kickers are eratic and hard to stop. Other than that it should be a very high quality and entertaining game.
May the best team win.

Fantastic post, Number 10.

 

[Mayneman]

I. Freo will need to work really hard and be precise in their disposal to get through our shit-down defense -

Clean it up

 

[Gambit78]

Does the respective heart break Freo and Pies supporters have had to endure over the past god-knows-how-long endear a sense of solidarity? I feel as if I could spend all day talking football with a Freo supporter and at no stage feel the need to smash the empty Jim Beam bottle and glass him. What's going on?

As for the topic, I have to admit, as tantalizing as the midfield match-ups promise to be, the battle I am really keen on is Tarrant v Cloke. Travis plays the role Tarrant used to play for us, so you know that Cloke is coming up against a defender that will go the distance with him. Just reckon this will be a stellar duel amongst a number of stellar duels.

And while I'm in the mood for making ridiculous statements, I think this...wait for it...will be...wait...



...the grand final preview.

 

[Tazmania]

Does the respective heart break Freo and Pies supporters have had to endure over the past god-knows-how-long endear a sense of solidarity? I feel as if I could spend all day talking football with a Freo supporter and at no stage feel the need to smash the empty Jim Beam bottle and glass him. What's going on?

As for the topic, I have to admit, as tantalizing as the midfield match-ups promise to be, the battle I am really keen on is Tarrant v Cloke. Travis plays the role Tarrant used to play for us, so you know that Cloke is coming up against a defender that will go the distance with him. Just reckon this will be a stellar duel amongst a number of stellar duels.

And while I'm in the mood for making ridiculous statements, I think this...wait for it...will be...wait...



...the grand final preview.

I've noticed that a bit too. There's a thread on the main board that devolved into a travelling pies thread...but it seems the dockers supporters didn't really do that it was other club fans.

Should be a cracker of a game this friday. Hard to pick I think but Freo for home ground advantage.

Grand Final preview...Now that has to be the big call of the week.

 

[Daics35Marvel]

Does the respective heart break Freo and Pies supporters have had to endure over the past god-knows-how-long endear a sense of solidarity? I feel as if I could spend all day talking football with a Freo supporter and at no stage feel the need to smash the empty Jim Beam bottle and glass him. What's going on?

Maybe it has more to do with Freo being so generous to us over the years by giving us the likes of Clement, Medhurst, Holland and Pick 8 (Ben Reid). But you're right, it is hard to feel animosity towards them. Then again, give them a few years at the top to build arrogance amongst the supporter base, throw in a messy trade dispute and they'll be the next St Kilda.

 

[Quicky]

Clean it up

Running joke created by a hilarious typo from an afl.com article. We could have called it the high press, the forward press or even the shut-down defense but the powers that be decreed it shall be forever coined the "shit-down defense".

 

[DrJon]

I haven't read the whole thread. But from a few posts I've noticed that the general concensus is Pies are slow, and Freo are fast.

This I agree with. We have a pretty slow midfield and Freo obviously have one of the quickest. But it seems as though we are judging "speed" on footspeed alone and couldn't be further from the mark.

Collingwood, through the likes of Swan, Beams, Pendlbury, Didak, Thomas, Shaw and O'Brien, move the ball accross the ground in a Geelong-like way. Absolute "ball speed" with pinpoint precision and accuracy. We don't have a Hill or Davey or Jetta or Judd to move the ball through the midfield by speed and/or strength, but rely on our fast hands and feet, as exemplified by the last 4 games.

So in this game of perceived slow vs. fast, I think it will actually be very even.

Other than that, without being biased I would tell other people to tip Collingwood on the basis that our goal kickers are eratic and hard to stop. Other than that it should be a very high quality and entertaining game.
May the best team win.

Good post.

Speed is good when your skilful, but it provides very little if you fumble the ball or miss targets. Sure handling and quick thinking will beat a team of fleet foooted athletes every time. I'd wager Richmond aren't necessarily slow but they butcher the ball, give away posession and have to chase all the time.

An example close to home; a player like Paul Hasleby has never been quick but from his first game back in 2000 he was able to find space because his ball handling and skills were so good. The Geelong team of 2007 weren't slow but looked lightning fast because of their skills, unlike Essendon who try and do it but can't.