News New Captain for 2023 - Alex Pearce

[Snuffaluphagus]

Pearce officially captain

'It was unanimous across the board' | Peter Bell

Hear from Peter Bell following the announcement of Alex Pearce as captain.

www.fremantlefc.com.au

 

[King Tenz]

I respect your opinion Snuff and I hope you don't feel my posts have been crossing any lines.

I too never thought AP should be captain. Even last season I felt the Brayshaw / Serong pairing had more leadership displayed on field. For example Serong being the one who called everyone in for Hayden Young's first career goal or Brayshaw's run down tackles with ferocity.

A player being out there unfit or injured invites critique on form. Where that bridges over is when the critique takes aim at the person personally.

AP has not played well or even satisfactory for the majority of the season. He had an excellent game on Franklin first time around, whether Franklin had flu or whatever is actually irrelevant because he chose to play through it. That was point that I was addressing with Kenyan, Alex being injured does not excuse him being beaten by Franklin last weekend. Franklin has been well held by the majority of defences this season.

Fremantle's entire backline is down on form and Alex gets more criticism than most because he is the captain. That goes with the job.

Ziebell for North was horribly out of form last season and the exaggerations were rolled out of worst captain in history etc.

If you can't stand the heat captaincy isn't for you.

Kenyan only seems to come on here to defend Alex, and appears to be a Hawks supporter, would it not be easier for them to avoid our board altogether if seeing their friend criticised affects them so greatly? Would that not be more effective than them expecting an entire fan base to censor their emotions and thoughts to accommodate them?

If they choose to come here are they not consenting to see our posts? This the Fremantle Football Club board not the main board.

Kenyan has been a lot better about not playing the poster and responding to points rather than attacking the fanbase and I have no problem with their presence. However they are just as blind to Alex's faults and performance as anyone who rags on Pearce, Henry, Banfield etc and is blind to the good things they do.

Elite post my friend, said what I wanted to say but didn't have the balls to say earlier.

The Kenyan only seems to pop up in here after a down Alex Pearce game to try and say nah he ain't bad it's everything else that's bad, which is nonsense to me. It's an Alex Pearce/Captain thread, so that's what we should be talking about, none of this midfield/team is garbage stuff.

On this whole injury stuff with Pearce though, if you're fit enough to play then you're fit and then you are fair game for criticism on performance imo.

 

[Snuffaluphagus]

I respect your opinion Snuff and I hope you don't feel my posts have been crossing any lines.

I too never thought AP should be captain. Even last season I felt the Brayshaw / Serong pairing had more leadership displayed on field. For example Serong being the one who called everyone in for Hayden Young's first career goal or Brayshaw's run down tackles with ferocity.

A player being out there unfit or injured invites critique on form. Where that bridges over is when the critique takes aim at the person personally.

AP has not played well or even satisfactory for the majority of the season. He had an excellent game on Franklin first time around, whether Franklin had flu or whatever is actually irrelevant because he chose to play through it. That was point that I was addressing with Kenyan, Alex being injured does not excuse him being beaten by Franklin last weekend. Franklin has been well held by the majority of defences this season.

Fremantle's entire backline is down on form and Alex gets more criticism than most because he is the captain. That goes with the job.

Ziebell for North was horribly out of form last season and the exaggerations were rolled out of worst captain in history etc.

If you can't stand the heat captaincy isn't for you.

Kenyan only seems to come on here to defend Alex, and appears to be a Hawks supporter, would it not be easier for them to avoid our board altogether if seeing their friend criticised affects them so greatly? Would that not be more effective than them expecting an entire fan base to censor their emotions and thoughts to accommodate them?

If they choose to come here are they not consenting to see our posts? This the Fremantle Football Club board not the main board.

Kenyan has been a lot better about not playing the poster and responding to points rather than attacking the fanbase and I have no problem with their presence. However they are just as blind to Alex's faults and performance as anyone who rags on Pearce, Henry, Banfield etc and is blind to the good things they do.

Again, I dont want to stop criticism or having opinions just encouraging people to do so respectfully with this topic. I've said myself I think a change is warranted for next year.

I've confronted Kenyan more in here than people with criticism and I dont think either yours or Poshmans responses to my post are unfair and all players are open to opinions on a Freo discussion board. Only asking that said opinions are presented thoughtfully. Kenyan aside, I feel some empathy is warranted for a dude whose body has gone through hell over the years, appears to be being held together by string and duct tape this year and has had to be captain through a really shit year.

Whether he should be playing or not is another thing but that's not his fault but I dont doubt the guy is playing through some decent pain to get on the park as captain of the club each week

Am I hypocrite given my posts on other players? Absolutely, but I'm trying to be better there

 

[Van_Dyke]

Elite post my friend, said what I wanted to say but didn't have the balls to say earlier.

The Kenyan only seems to pop up in here after a down Alex Pearce game to try and say nah he ain't bad it's everything else that's bad, which is nonsense to me. It's an Alex Pearce/Captain thread, so that's what we should be talking about, none of this midfield/team is garbage stuff.

On this whole injury stuff with Pearce though, if you're fit enough to play then you're fit and then you are fair game for criticism on performance imo.

not disagreeing but at the same time playing through injury provides context to the form. now if it's affecting their form as much as I reckon it's impacting AP, or earlier the year with Brayshaw's knee, the question of whether the club should be playing them is the far more valid one imo.

 

[King Tenz]

not disagreeing but at the same time playing through injury provides context to the form. now if it's affecting their form as much as I reckon it's impacting AP, or earlier the year with Brayshaw's knee, the question of whether the club should be playing them is the far more valid one imo.

That's fair about context.

Do feel for him though as I doubt he'll ever be 100 percent fit ever again.

I reckon we've only truly seen like 6 weeks of peak elite fully fit Pearce in like early 2018 or 2019, haven't seen it since as he's always out injured or carrying something.

 

[Van_Dyke]

That's fair about context.

Do feel for him though as I doubt he'll ever be 100 percent fit ever again.

I reckon we've only truly seen like 6 weeks of peak elite fully fit Pearce in like early 2018 or 2019, haven't seen it since as he's always out injured or carrying something.

yeah he's still going to go down as a genuine what if for mine. things like his dash that he'd show off a few times a game we still saw a bit of in 2021 and 2022 on occasions but can't really remember seeing at all this year. even his kicking, while never been great has certainly been better then what it's been like recently.

 

[mad about it]

I respect your opinion Snuff and I hope you don't feel my posts have been crossing any lines.

I too never thought AP should be captain. Even last season I felt the Brayshaw / Serong pairing had more leadership displayed on field. For example Serong being the one who called everyone in for Hayden Young's first career goal or Brayshaw's run down tackles with ferocity.

A player being out there unfit or injured invites critique on form. Where that bridges over is when the critique takes aim at the person personally.

AP has not played well or even satisfactory for the majority of the season. He had an excellent game on Franklin first time around, whether Franklin had flu or whatever is actually irrelevant because he chose to play through it. That was point that I was addressing with Kenyan, Alex being injured does not excuse him being beaten by Franklin last weekend. Franklin has been well held by the majority of defences this season.

Fremantle's entire backline is down on form and Alex gets more criticism than most because he is the captain. That goes with the job.

Ziebell for North was horribly out of form last season and the exaggerations were rolled out of worst captain in history etc.

If you can't stand the heat captaincy isn't for you.

Kenyan only seems to come on here to defend Alex, and appears to be a Hawks supporter, would it not be easier for them to avoid our board altogether if seeing their friend criticised affects them so greatly? Would that not be more effective than them expecting an entire fan base to censor their emotions and thoughts to accommodate them?

If they choose to come here are they not consenting to see our posts? This the Fremantle Football Club board not the main board.

Kenyan has been a lot better about not playing the poster and responding to points rather than attacking the fanbase and I have no problem with their presence. However they are just as blind to Alex's faults and performance as anyone who rags on Pearce, Henry, Banfield etc and is blind to the good things they do.

Ok , I look forward to our new captain next year, AB or CS, letting Geelong waltz the ball out of the midfield again. Putting no pressure on and being unaccountable in the middle, but it’s AP and the backlines fault.

 

[poshman]

Ok , I look forward to our new captain next year, AB or CS, letting Geelong waltz the ball out of the midfield again. Putting no pressure on and being unaccountable in the middle, but it’s AP and the backlines fault.

I think a tension can be held, that looks something like this:

Pearce is out of form and being out bodied and out positioned in situations he shouldn't and that is unacceptable AND there are times that the best KPD's in the league would struggle to stop the opposition due to lack of pressure up the ground.

Pearce has lost his ability by foot and hasn't been confident to go by hand, he is a liability with ball in hand, which is causing issues with ball movement AND the team is struggling with ball movement which is a whole team and coaching issue, and is seen across all lines of the field, some are worse than others, this is a critical issue.

I am not sure if you are a fan why you would look forward to our midfield being beaten or not putting on pressure, and I would imagine if the captain next season has regressed form wise and the team is playing bottom four football that there will be criticism. Some justified and some not. We had one of this generations best players as captain and he copped it non stop when he was playing and sometimes not.

 

[King Tenz]

Ok , I look forward to our new captain next year, AB or CS, letting Geelong waltz the ball out of the midfield again. Putting no pressure on and being unaccountable in the middle, but it’s AP and the backlines fault.

Are you related to Alex Pearce and The Kenyan as well? I don't wanna risk a ban by being too negative.

What I will say is that it's pretty clear Alex Pearce isn't that good anymore my friend. Also, Andrew Brayshaw and Caleb Serong, especially, have nothing to do with that.

 

[Scham]

After reading the last few pages of this thread I'm even more convinced that the future doesn't look good for AP as an AFL player and we need to look at trading in a replacement this year if we want to progress as a team.

 

[mad about it]

I think a tension can be held, that looks something like this:

Pearce is out of form and being out bodied and out positioned in situations he shouldn't and that is unacceptable AND there are times that the best KPD's in the league would struggle to stop the opposition due to lack of pressure up the ground.

Pearce has lost his ability by foot and hasn't been confident to go by hand, he is a liability with ball in hand, which is causing issues with ball movement AND the team is struggling with ball movement which is a whole team and coaching issue, and is seen across all lines of the field, some are worse than others, this is a critical issue.

I am not sure if you are a fan why you would look forward to our midfield being beaten or not putting on pressure, and I would imagine if the captain next season has regressed form wise and the team is playing bottom four football that there will be criticism. Some justified and some not. We had one of this generations best players as captain and he copped it non stop when he was playing and sometimes not.

You’re not sure I’m a fan ?? I think the same when you continually bag our capt. You’ve made your point on numerous occasions, you want a new captain, so leave it at that. Move on.
I look forward to your views on how we perform on Sat, but no doubt it will our captains/coaches fault ?

 

[poshman]

You’re not sure I’m a fan ?? I think the same when you continually bag our capt. You’ve made your point on numerous occasions, you want a new captain, so leave it at that. Move on.
I look forward to your views on how we perform on Sat, but no doubt it will our captains/coaches fault ?

If you are looking forward to something bad happening then yes I doubt if you are a fan of the club or of one particular player.

You don't get to decide for me to move on... my post was fair and balanced, something you don't seem to recognise or be able to recognise.

I will criticise Pearce if he falls over, gets beaten or turns the ball over in an egregious manner. If he is getting beaten due to supply I haven't criticised him. He is a nervy starter, which is something I have been saying for more than just this season, That issue is one that should be laid at the feet of the coach and captain and a lesser extent the leadership group. I would criticise Pav and the coach for that if we had the same horror show first quarter run that we are currently having.

I haven't come on here every week and criticised him. And unless he does the things above I won't give my views on the game here but in the review thread.

Ok , I look forward to our new captain next year, AB or CS, letting Geelong waltz the ball out of the midfield again. Putting no pressure on and being unaccountable in the middle, but it’s AP and the backlines fault.

Again, a fan of the club would never look forward to a bad performance.

I stated early in the year that I hoped he proved me wrong. He hasn't and to be fair I think a part of that is injury. However, if he continues to play through injury he is open to critique on form as he is declaring himself fit to play.

 

[Dockeroo]

If you are looking forward to something bad happening then yes I doubt if you are a fan of the club or of one particular player.

You don't get to decide for me to move on... my post was fair and balanced, something you don't seem to recognise or be able to recognise.

I will criticise Pearce if he falls over, gets beaten or turns the ball over in an egregious manner. If he is getting beaten due to supply I haven't criticised him. He is a nervy starter, which is something I have been saying for more than just this season, That issue is one that should be laid at the feet of the coach and captain and a lesser extent the leadership group. I would criticise Pav and the coach for that if we had the same horror show first quarter run that we are currently having.

I haven't come on here every week and criticised him. And unless he does the things above I won't give my views on the game here but in the review thread.


Again, a fan of the club would never look forward to a bad performance.

I stated early in the year that I hoped he proved me wrong. He hasn't and to be fair I think a part of that is injury. However, if he continues to play through injury he is open to critique on form as he is declaring himself fit to play.

I’d agree on one point - when you cross the line to go out onto the field week after week - you are then assumed to be fit and fair game to be judged by the same standards as everyone else in terms of performance. It would be a bit different if you strapped someone up for a grand final or something but turning out week on week is different.
You are either fit enough to play afl footy or not. In fact, the vast majority of players inthe afl would be carrying a minor niggles or knocks of some sort by round 18. A part of the challenge is to keep fronting up and delivering excellence despite that each week, and that’s exactly what the top players in the game do.
It’s no different to testing out an opposition players dodgy shoulder or ankle if they appear on the pitch strapped up.
Once you are out in that field all bets are off.
Explaining poor performances away though the line “oh but he’s injured” won’t wash with most fans after a while.

 

[King Tenz]

Better this week. I'll lay off the big fella for a bit.

 

[ilikepotatoes]

****ing huge.

 

[Dockeroo]

Well done Alex Pearce

25

Alex Pearce

Age

29

Ht

201cm

Wt

98kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

10.6

3star

K

5.2

2star

HB

5.4

4star

M

3.4

3star

T

1.8

4star

MG

106.3

2star

No current season stats available

D

11.0

3star

K

5.0

2star

HB

6.0

4star

M

4.4

4star

T

0.8

3star

MG

103.2

2star

, massive response this week! One of the best games I’ve seen him play.

 

[Scham]

What a response from the man! Just outstanding. Well done to him - THAT was a captains game.

Goes without saying that we need to see that much, much more.

 

[Piggy Smalls]

Full credit to AP. That was close to the best game he’s ever played and a true Captain’s game.

 

[DQ 4EVER]

3 words to describe 2day
Great Captain's Day

On SM-G960F using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[Wilksyy]

A superb performance. Well done Captain

 

[poshman]

I didn't think he had that type of game in him anymore. Great game, in the contest, consistent, came up big in big moments. Bloody well done!

 

[Van_Dyke]

His dash seemed to be back a bit today, that was ****ing incredible

 

[kuhni]

Is Hamlings inclusion freeing him up a bit? Was he covering two talls with Cox there?

 

[Dump Truck]

Turns out he wasn't injured, just fatigued from carrying around his monumentally sized balls all the time.
Best game he's ever played I reckon. Bloody amazing

 

[Paracleet]

Ball coming in dirty most of the time = better able to defend one on one.

 

[apuchar]

That was as good as you could hope for from him today