Autopsy Positives and Negatives vs Fremantle

[Priddis Is Done]

Most excitement I've gotten from an eagles game in a long time.

+
Nelson
Barass
Xon
Jones
Darling
Edwards
Hurn
Duggan

-
Big footy crashing
Too many passengers
Nic Nat
Not being able to sustain it in the 2nd half

Bring on the draft picks

 

[ziad]

That was pretty piss weak from Freo. Lobb is cooked - that was a shoulder dislocation which probably needs surgery, but they'll tape up and he'll play through it. Won't be any good though and the opposition will target him. They're every chance to go out in week 1 of finals.

Our effort was great. We got flogged if you compare scoring shots (Freo's composure was woeful) but that's not a surprise given we didn't really have a midfield.

Our defence and forward line look alright if we can get the players fit and available, but the midfield is in really bad shape. Shuey and Redden are past it, maybe Gaff as well (but I hope he's just injured). The rucks are stuffed - Nic who is on his last legs (will he even get through half of next year?) And a couple of rookies. We need to ditch one of the three and find a stop-gap second stringer who can play 80% TOG (like Hickey/Sinclair/Vardy from days past).

We're going to have a big transition next year, as I figure Shuey, Redden, Nic and Hurn will finish up. I feel carrying all 4 through next year is one too many. Given we need depth in the ruck and defence, one of Shuey and Redden should be retiring and the obvious one is Shuey. Won't happen though, as he is the captain.

For half the game they struggled badly under reasonable pressure from a hopelessly undermanned team. Finals will be an eye opener.
We are only fit enough to play a half.
A positive is that Barrass with Hurn mentally disintergrated them.

 

[Godfather32]

Whatever anyone says about Nic Nat, there's two things that were clear last night.
1- He's playing injured. No ****ing idea why, it's not like it's a season on the line kind of game, it's the tail end of one of our worst seasons in history. Simpson is a ****ing muppet for playing him and risking further injury. We literally have nothing to gain.
2- He got absolutely pantsed in the actual ruck contests by Darcy last night. He attended 65 ruck contests, won 24 (I reckon probably 6-8 of those he won were against Logue) for a win % of 36.9. Dunno what game some people were watching but Nic was not good in the ruck.

 

[Keys]

Rounds 1-12 :
1W 11L
Points for 691 (Ave 57.6)
Points against 1364 (Ave 113.7)
Percentage 50.7

Rounds 14-22 :
1W 8L
Points for 692 (Ave 76.9)
Points against 894 (Ave 99.3)
Percentage 77.4

Unfortunately the wins haven’t come but there’s been definite improvement.

 

[ziad]

Whatever anyone says about Nic Nat, there's two things that were clear last night.
1- He's playing injured. No ******* idea why, it's not like it's a season on the line kind of game, it's the tail end of one of our worst seasons in history. Simpson is a ******* muppet for playing him and risking further injury. We literally have nothing to gain.
2- He got absolutely pantsed in the actual ruck contests by Darcy last night. He attended 65 ruck contests, won 24 (I reckon probably 6-8 of those he won were against Logue) for a win % of 36.9. Dunno what game some people were watching but Nic was not good in the ruck.

He played because he is far better than any other option we have. Remember this for the draft/trade period.

 

[Godfather32]

He played because he is far better than any other option we have. Remember this for the draft/trade period.

Yeah...and what does that matter at this point in the season?
Best case, he plays, we win and still finish second last. Knowing our luck he'll have done further damage to his knee and miss part of the pre-season and for what?
Would playing Bailey Williams instead of Nic made any difference to the result yesterday? We would have lost either way.
Same thing with Gaff, if he's injured shut him the **** down and get him fit for next year.

 

[kaiserchief13]

Positives - effort by majority of players
XON was quite good.

Negatives - lack of effort by certain senior players. If they cbf then **** them off don't care what their name is

 

[Godfather32]

Not sure if it's been mentioned but Harry Edwards played well last night I thought. I still reckon in another 2 years he's going to be a very good player. Between him, Barrass and Bazzo our backline talls are probably covered for the next flag tilt.

 

[swingdog]

Yeah...and what does that matter at this point in the season?
Best case, he plays, we win and still finish second last. Knowing our luck he'll have done further damage to his knee and miss part of the pre-season and for what?
Would playing Bailey Williams instead of Nic made any difference to the result yesterday? We would have lost either way.
Same thing with Gaff, if he's injured shut him the * down and get him fit for next year.

On Nic, did Rotham actually ruck at all last night?

 

[Godfather32]

On Nic, did Rotham actually ruck at all last night?

5 times...didn't win one.
Dixon rucked 39 times...and won 3

 

[The wily weagle]

On Nic, did Rotham actually ruck at all last night?

He did for parts of the game

I remember a passage where he was opposing Darcy at a stoppage in the Fremantle goalsquare. Darcy duly shoved him out of the way and snapped for goal, but thankfully kicked a point

 

[DanWCE]

Rounds 1-12 :
1W 11L
Points for 691 (Ave 57.6)
Points against 1364 (Ave 113.7)
Percentage 50.7

Rounds 14-22 :
1W 8L
Points for 692 (Ave 76.9)
Points against 894 (Ave 99.3)
Percentage 77.4

Unfortunately the wins haven’t come but there’s been definite improvement.

Would we have moved up the ladder at all if someone threw a grenade at R1-12?

 

[Cuzz09]

Would we have moved up the ladder at all if someone threw a grenade at R1-12?

no because only 1 win.

On SM-S908E using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[Goroyals22]

He played because he is far better than any other option we have. Remember this for the draft/trade period.

Absolutely and thats why we need to get a briggs, flynn, soldo , meek to lead the ruck and nic can play his impact minutes in the middle of a quarter as second ruck…

There is no point in him leading the ruck next year.

 

[DanWCE]

no because only 1 win.

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Was wondering if GWS had theirs wins early on (R1-12). Looks like they'd still have at least two in the same period we've only beaten the Bombers

 

[Into The Black]

Yeah...and what does that matter at this point in the season?
Best case, he plays, we win and still finish second last. Knowing our luck he'll have done further damage to his knee and miss part of the pre-season and for what?
Would playing Bailey Williams instead of Nic made any difference to the result yesterday? We would have lost either way.
Same thing with Gaff, if he's injured shut him the * down and get him fit for next year.

Been thinking for a while this maybe Nic's last season

 

[Keys]

Would we have moved up the ladder at all if someone threw a grenade at R1-12?

Was wondering if GWS had theirs wins early on (R1-12). Looks like they'd still have at least two in the same period we've only beaten the Bombers

We’re still 17th based on results since the bye rounds

The inability to run out games due to a lack of fitness has cost us

When the off season comes the first area to address will be our strength and conditioning. Rebuilding our list, coaching changes, game plan changes, Trev resigning or re-signing etc will not make a jot of difference if we don’t address fitness and player availability

 

[Dark Sharks]

Naitanui was pretty bad to watch. Been a long time since i was that frustrated.


You can spin the stats to make his game look better or cite his previous impact and AA's until the cows come home, but he was a bit of a liability in a game which would normally play to his strengths. His opposing ruckman was literally the best player on the ground (behind Barrass ya dog).

It says a bit about the rest of the team when Naitanui can be so "bad" and yet probably still be our 5th best player. So there you go.

Shows how out of their depth and just not AFL standard the rest of the collective squad is.




His TOG and fitness has been a discussion point on here since forever, so won't bother going into that. I just hope that after last night the list management had alarm bells going off that they really cannot keep backing in an ageing Naitanui, who's athleticism seem to be dwindling each week, and supported by non AFL standard backups in Jamo and Williams.

Need to target a big bodied ruckman to replace him sooner rather than later. If not this offseason, then next one for sure.






+ Barrass is taking the absolute piss. Amazing how you can go from a very good backman to absolutely elite in a matter of weeks. Even if this is just a purple patch, it's a pleasure to watch. Wish last nights game wasn't such a dead rubber so more in the AFL community could watch just how good he is at the moment, instead his performance is wasted in a 4 vs 17th matchup.
+ Duggan finally hitting some good form. Strong over the ball, gave us a bit of drive off HB. I think the wet weather suited him because his skills didn't really need to be so pinpoint, it was mainly just getting metres gained.
+ Darling competed well. Pearce is 6cm taller and a very athletic full back. Often against 2 opponents Darling brought it to ground and tackled well.
+ XON's hunt for the contest and the footy was fantastic.
+ Nelson putting in the exact sort of role and effort he's known for. Got knocked around a fair bit, matched up against one of the games premier midfielders and reduced his impact whilst getting their team fired up and off their game.
+ Hurn continued his strong form.


NEGATIVES
Liam Ryan

1

Liam Ryan

Age

28

Ht

181cm

Wt

76kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

11.3

3star

K

8.6

3star

HB

2.7

2star

M

3.0

3star

T

2.0

4star

G

1.3

5star

D

9.9

3star

K

8.0

3star

HB

1.9

1star

M

3.3

3star

T

1.6

3star

G

1.3

5star

D

11.4

3star

K

9.0

4star

HB

2.4

3star

M

3.8

4star

T

1.8

4star

G

1.6

5star

just straight up sucks these days.
Small forwards Langdon and Cripps had absolutely no impact.
Midfield was poor, again. Shock Horror.


Lame evening.

 

[mattyc75]

NN has had a very interrupted season and looked a shadow of himself today. He looked injured, slow and overweight. But with a guy his size, interrupted seasons arent going to make it easy to stay in peak condition and whilst he could be fitter, like the rest of the team, he looked injury affected today.

It was only last year he was in AA form so I hope he can have a good pre-season and get back into top form. But I worry at his age, with his injury history and the constant flying/ our players dropping off a cliff post 30 that it may not happen. Losing weight would no doubt help but its not like he was considerably smaller in 2020 or 2021. Our ruck stocks are a mess though and we need to address it this off season even if its a stop gap but they have to be able to compete.

The bigger issue for me though is despite our effort (which was great) we dont have the class (too many B and C grade players getting a game) and absolutely no line breaking speed.

Barrass, Hurn, Duggan and O’Niell were great. Nelson did a good job. Not sure what Dixon or Langdon are offering. Clark should be playing a full game next week on ball. Give the guy a go FFS.

Dixon adds more than williams, low bar i know but still more

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[Feeling Groovy]

Dixon adds more than williams, low bar i know but still more

On SM-G973F using BigFooty.com mobile app

Very low bar. I am not convinced on either. I feel there must be better options out there and if we are relying on either we are in trouble.

Our list just has too many average players for obvious reasons (we have been successful a long time) and even if some are ok, we need to cycle through them to see if we can find some better options.

Both are still young for talls but I dont see them as long term options so would move them on. I guess we will keep one for another year though.

 

[Mulldogg]

Not sure if it's been mentioned but Harry Edwards played well last night I thought. I still reckon in another 2 years he's going to be a very good player. Between him, Barrass and Bazzo our backline talls are probably covered for the next flag tilt.

Harry Edwards has really neat foot skills. Hit a couple of low darts to spot up targets coming out of the backline.

Also remember that it was his kick that set Yeo on his way to get the ball down to JK last year to beat the Tigers. Now just needs to work on his core strength and contest

 

[KERRPOW]

Positives:
Missed the second half because I'm at a function

Negatives:
It's 80s themed

Most ppl these days seem to be rocking the mullet anyway

 

[KERRPOW]

Why do we always insist on playing injured players especially when one has been shite for the last 2 years.

 

[Flarn Rarn]

Harry Edwards has really neat foot skills. Hit a couple of low darts to spot up targets coming out of the backline.

Also remember that it was his kick that set Yeo on his way to get the ball down to JK last year to beat the Tigers. Now just needs to work on his core strength and contest

Not wrong. He is a very very good kick for a bloke his size.

 

[wce4premiership]

Forgetting the game for a second and in a more overarching look at things.

Annoyed at how JJ is getting injured, that hammy / lower back region causes him grief. He's a good talent and exciting to watch, I just can't believe players still take him on in the tackle, he's so good at getting his whole weight behind himself and driving through the tackle.

We lack class in ball movement, don't appear to be moving well by foot and with the midfield also now being pretty poor at clearances we have no way of getting the ball forward outside of relying on individual pieces of brilliance.

The amount of times it's a nice "build" to a goal is not very often, it sort of just happens randomly.

Great pressure the second half of the season goes to show they're not scared of the tough stuff, I had my doubts. Always have had Cripps and Darling as good pressure players, before Petruccelle got injured he showed a good intent as well, Langdon is a pretty good tackler in regards to strength but does give away a few too many frees. There's promise there in the forward line being able to help the backs lock the ball in.

There may be a future in Rotham, was surprised to see him actually launch at a ball and crash a pack, definitely needs to stop taking the tackle on, is so weak and is burning people to attempt it.

Barrass is the best fullback in the game.

Also, agreed Naitanui is too heavy, judged off how slow his movements are, he just can't get going. Looks like a larger version of Gaff running in quick sand, but Gaff to his credit still covers ground. Love him, but for his own longevity I agree he's a touch too heavy right now. I'd rather he lost 10% strength and gained 10% agility again, be more of a weapon around the stoppage by being able to move sideways to apply pressure.