Training Preseason 2024

[vidwhal]

Full Intraclub Match #2 - 16-02-2024


Enjoy.


Or Cry.


Whatevas driving those emotions.

 

[FreoMatt]

I turned on SEN "rating the teams for 2024" yesterday and promptly switched it off when I heard them say the only reason we might do ok is because of Perth stadium. That's when I became sure they had NFI.

All we'd have to change to become a top 4 team is to win 10-11 home games. We win enough on the road already.

I agree being Melbourne based it’s laughable how the Melb media just dismiss us. They all think we will do worse as we have lost Henry and Shultz and in their eyes we have gained nothing. They don’t realise the natural improvement in one of the youngest lists in the comp.


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com

 

[Dump Truck]

So more Freddy backflips is what you are saying, preferably in the first quarter

Anything that pisses Sumich off is definitely a win in my book. He's still grumpy Freddy decided to do a flip!

 

[Dump Truck]

Just found out Treacy got suspended before he played his first AFL game.
This also happened to Jonathon Brown.

Treacy = J.Brown 2.0 confirmed

 

[Joao]

I agree being Melbourne based it’s laughable how the Melb media just dismiss us. They all think we will do worse as we have lost Henry and Shultz and in their eyes we have gained nothing. They don’t realise the natural improvement in one of the youngest lists in the comp.


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com

They all do that, and I'd argue most non-Freo fans do it as well. Crows, Hawks, whoever else all have limitless upside but we lost a small forward that kicked 30 goals so we're basically fighting it out with North and West Coast for the spoon. Pre-season is full of terrible takes from all comers and fair enough, it is hard to predict. But...

What really gets me is that these people literally work in football and they somehow don't know that our record at Optus is ****. How could you take a football "analyst" seriously when they either
A: Don't watch enough football to know that
B: Too stupid or lazy to take notes if they can't remember details like that

I didn't make it that far but I'd be willing to bet they mentioned the big hole Buddy leaves at the Swans despite the fact he was basically a corpse last year (kicked 1 goal more than Treacy). I am surprised they didn't mention how much we rely on Fyfe.

 

[poshman]

They all do that, and I'd argue most non-Freo fans do it as well. Crows, Hawks, whoever else all have limitless upside but we lost a small forward that kicked 30 goals so we're basically fighting it out with North and West Coast for the spoon. Pre-season is full of terrible takes from all comers and fair enough, it is hard to predict. But...

What really gets me is that these people literally work in football and they somehow don't know that our record at Optus is ****. How could you take a football "analyst" seriously when they either
A: Don't watch enough football to know that
B: Too stupid or lazy to take notes if they can't remember details like that

I didn't make it that far but I'd be willing to bet they mentioned the big hole Buddy leaves at the Swans despite the fact he was basically a corpse last year (kicked 1 goal more than Treacy). I am surprised they didn't mention how much we rely on Fyfe.

The laziness is a killer. Some are clearly more interested in things outside of football post playing career. Which is fine for them. For the football public it is a weekly slap in the face.

 

[Purple Suit]

They all do that, and I'd argue most non-Freo fans do it as well. Crows, Hawks, whoever else all have limitless upside but we lost a small forward that kicked 30 goals so we're basically fighting it out with North and West Coast for the spoon. Pre-season is full of terrible takes from all comers and fair enough, it is hard to predict. But...

What really gets me is that these people literally work in football and they somehow don't know that our record at Optus is ****. How could you take a football "analyst" seriously when they either
A: Don't watch enough football to know that
B: Too stupid or lazy to take notes if they can't remember details like that

I didn't make it that far but I'd be willing to bet they mentioned the big hole Buddy leaves at the Swans despite the fact he was basically a corpse last year (kicked 1 goal more than Treacy). I am surprised they didn't mention how much we rely on Fyfe.

You have limitless upside till you make finals, then if you slip then you're useless and not to be trusted.

We'll be on the nose till we make finals again while the Crows will continue to fly under the radar despite not making it for a longer time.

 

[Snuffaluphagus]

They all do that, and I'd argue most non-Freo fans do it as well. Crows, Hawks, whoever else all have limitless upside but we lost a small forward that kicked 30 goals so we're basically fighting it out with North and West Coast for the spoon. Pre-season is full of terrible takes from all comers and fair enough, it is hard to predict. But...

What really gets me is that these people literally work in football and they somehow don't know that our record at Optus is ****. How could you take a football "analyst" seriously when they either
A: Don't watch enough football to know that
B: Too stupid or lazy to take notes if they can't remember details like that

I didn't make it that far but I'd be willing to bet they mentioned the big hole Buddy leaves at the Swans despite the fact he was basically a corpse last year (kicked 1 goal more than Treacy). I am surprised they didn't mention how much we rely on Fyfe.

Crows are a particular bug bear of mine. I'm prepared for this to blow up in my face but they are honestly as likely to go backwards as forwards. Odds on Tex continuing his Mundy level of late career resurgence are low, if he gets injured for a decent part of the season (and he's 34 in April), they dont sniff finals IMO

 

[gaskin]

Crows are a particular bug bear of mine. I'm prepared for this to blow up in my face but they are honestly as likely to go backwards as forwards. Odds on Tex continuing his Mundy level of late career resurgence are low, if he gets injured for a decent part of the season (and he's 34 in April), they dont sniff finals IMO

Agreed. No chance they get the same output from Tex.

 

[Docker82]

I agree being Melbourne based it’s laughable how the Melb media just dismiss us. They all think we will do worse as we have lost Henry and Shultz and in their eyes we have gained nothing. They don’t realise the natural improvement in one of the youngest lists in the comp.


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com

Literally only Serong, Jackson, Walters and 2nd/3rd year players had better seasons in 2023 than 2022.

Even without natural improvement from youngsters, a number of players aged between 23 and 30 improving to the levels they reached in 2022 would see us make finals.

IMO Schultz is a big loss but one player won't see our wins dwindle enough to be bottom four like the Victorian media are suggesting. This isn't basketball. The loss of Henry and Hamling isn't even worth mentioning imo.

 

[ignoramus]

I turned on SEN "rating the teams for 2024" yesterday and promptly switched it off when I heard them say the only reason we might do ok is because of Perth stadium. That's when I became sure they had NFI.

All we'd have to change to become a top 4 team is to win 10-11 home games. We win enough on the road already.

At least they're in 2024. Go to the the Foxsports AFL page and filter by team, and here's what we learn about Freo:

 

[Dockeroo]

I’m loving all the preseason talk about us from eastern states pundits.
Just hook it into my veins.
The more we are written off the better.
Great chance for the coach to create a siege mentality and come out fighting. It’s when everyone is saying nice things about us, pumping us up that softness and complacency creeps in. We saw that last year.
But I think the vic media can do even better… I want to see a few tip us for the spoon. Would just love it.

The sooner we all realise those words of thee people mean nothing to how we will play the better.

 

[Channels]

Mongrel Punt is the only one (potentially CodeSports as well) that does anything more than fingernail deep analysis.

 

[Docker82]

I’m loving all the preseason talk about us from eastern states pundits.
Just hook it into my veins.
The more we are written off the better.
Great chance for the coach to create a siege mentality and come out fighting. It’s when everyone is saying nice things about us, pumping us up that softness and complacency creeps in. We saw that last year.
But I think the vic media can do even better… I want to see a few tip us for the spoon. Would just love it.

The sooner we all realise those words of thee people mean nothing to how we will play the better.

As long as we have the expectations internally that reflect where we're really at its fine.

Our board shouldn't accept a bottom six finish so far into a rebuild and so far into a coach's tenure.

 

[Joao]

Crows are a particular bug bear of mine. I'm prepared for this to blow up in my face but they are honestly as likely to go backwards as forwards. Odds on Tex continuing his Mundy level of late career resurgence are low, if he gets injured for a decent part of the season (and he's 34 in April), they dont sniff finals IMO

Yeah it's funny how much more credit kicking goals gets you. Literally the best they've done is get fleeced with the last kick of the season but otherwise, no finals in 4 years and they're top 4 fanices for many and Nicks is safe as houses.


I wonder how much of their overall potency (which is their 1 wood) stems from Tex directly or indirectly? I reckon our midfield definitely felt the loss of Mundy.

 

[Snuffaluphagus]

Yeah it's funny how much more credit kicking goals gets you. Literally the best they've done is get fleeced with the last kick of the season but otherwise, no finals in 4 years and they're top 4 fanices for many and Nicks is safe as houses.


I wonder how much of their overall potency (which is their 1 wood) stems from Tex directly or indirectly? I reckon our midfield definitely felt the loss of Mundy.

He's one of the best disposers of the ball in the game and plays tall and small, the impact he would have on them is gigantic. You take Tex and put him in our team last year and I'd be stunned if we didnt make finals. That's such a gigantic hole for them to fill in the next couple of years and Fogarty is still extremely up and down and Thilthorpe hasnt proven anything

 

[Piggy Smalls]

Crows are a particular bug bear of mine. I'm prepared for this to blow up in my face but they are honestly as likely to go backwards as forwards. Odds on Tex continuing his Mundy level of late career resurgence are low, if he gets injured for a decent part of the season (and he's 34 in April), they dont sniff finals IMO

Scoring output at the expense of defensive accountability certainly doesn’t seem like a sustainable game plan. The fact they scored the most points last year and missed finals is a huge red flag to me.

This year they will be forced to work on their defensive game to bridge the imbalance and I have no doubt their scoring will suffer. Just about any team in the comp could become an offensive juggernaut if they decided to abandoned their defensive structure to achieve it.

 

[Piggy Smalls]

He's one of the best disposers of the ball in the game and plays tall and small, the impact he would have on them is gigantic. You take Tex and put him in our team last year and I'd be stunned if we didnt make finals. That's such a gigantic hole for them to fill in the next couple of years and Fogarty is still extremely up and down and Thilthorpe hasnt proven anything

Agree with you on his disposal. In my opinion he is the best kick in the comp and has been for a long time. I base this on balance of his field kicking and goal kicking. Some players can do one of them better (although not many) but nobody can do both as well as Tex in my opinion.

 

[theGav56]

Crows are a particular bug bear of mine. I'm prepared for this to blow up in my face but they are honestly as likely to go backwards as forwards. Odds on Tex continuing his Mundy level of late career resurgence are low, if he gets injured for a decent part of the season (and he's 34 in April), they dont sniff finals IMO

They do have other tall forwards. We were far more dependent on Pav.

 

[pK75]

They do have other tall forwards. We were far more dependent on Pav.

We were, and we paid the price for not having the foresight to have a replacement coming in behind him, Fogarty, Thilthorp and Elliot Himmelberg isn’t a forward line to fear.

 

[Joao]

He's one of the best disposers of the ball in the game and plays tall and small, the impact he would have on them is gigantic. You take Tex and put him in our team last year and I'd be stunned if we didnt make finals. That's such a gigantic hole for them to fill in the next couple of years and Fogarty is still extremely up and down and Thilthorpe hasnt proven anything

Yes I agree with that.

Agree with you on his disposal. In my opinion he is the best kick in the comp and has been for a long time. I base this on balance of his field kicking and goal kicking. Some players can do one of them better (although not many) but nobody can do both as well as Tex in my opinion.

Tex is the best kick I've seen, period.

No other player has the accuracy, vision and penetration on both feet. Unbelievable skills.

 

[anchor man]

I love this read about how Johnno is progressing right now. Also like the fact that Noddy is showing that he has learnt from his slack year in 23.He is determined to regain his wing position it seems.https://www.fremantlefc.com.au/news/1483109/johnsons-pre-season-influence-corey

 

[MadMundy]

I think we could do with some of our players trying to play it up to the crowd a bit more. Walters has always done it but I'd love for our guys to show some more character on field.

 

[Snuffaluphagus]

They do have other tall forwards. We were far more dependent on Pav.

Yeah no doubt but we had other mids and look how we went back losing Mundy and Acres

 

[EastcoastDocker]

I agree on the game plan. And disagree on the wins. We need to win more games than last season and need to establish a home ground advantage. We must start to reward to fans at home and build an atmosphere at Optus.

It's hard to have a home ground advantage when teams come over here and flog the eagles by 100 pts. Subi was a fortress towards the end because both us and the eagles were strong.

Feel also dimensions at Optus are a bit standard too. It's not like a team going to play arsenal at Highbury or Geelong at GmbH

 

[poshman]

It's hard to have a home ground advantage when teams come over here and flog the eagles by 100 pts. Subi was a fortress towards the end because both us and the eagles were strong.

Feel also dimensions at Optus are a bit standard too. It's not like a team going to play arsenal at Highbury or Geelong at GmbH

I agree with the dimensions portion to a degree. Subi was quite different than any other ground.

However, WCE were dominant there for many years while we sucked. The simple observation is that very good teams win at home.

Our slow starts mitigate part of the home ground advantage as the crowd gets out of the game early.