Toast Reasons for Optimism

[poshman]

The rational optimist in me is feeling the winds of optimism picking up. As Spring is upon us and we yet again get to enjoy some of the best weather anywhere in the world. While the economy slows in other states there is a fortune to be made in WA. While other teams look and struggle to fill holes across their list, we have a wealth of riches with more to come.

Bolton looks like a done deal. Adding flair, crumbing, excitement and 35-45 goals a season. He makes Freddy instantly more dangerous. Amiss will improve as will Jackson and Treacy. Expect Amiss to be more assertive next season as he adds four or five kgs to his frame. I predict a jump to 45-55 goals next season. Our forwards will be impossible to match up against. Bookmark a top three attack next year.

Expect to see further improvement from Chappy, who will be massive in finals as the player who can lock down the mid sized forward. Toby is a gun and won't be a headache for us. Add NOD to the list of those who will improve. He can be dynamic when fit, lets hope for a strong, injury free preseason.

We want to see Simpson play at least ten games in purple next year. Preferably 15. He has something unique that is a problem for the opposition.

Managing Drapers growth will be a welcome challenge. I don't think we will have two KPD's suffer 15-19 game injuries in round one.

We will either do the unlikely and still bring Warner over or we will have two high draft picks come into the club. My preference would be Warner, but two picks helps sure up the decade of dominance. There is a chance that a couple of academy picks are round one talents and will fill skilled positions in the future.

Our picks will all be in the teens aside from the occasional player traded home for a top ten pick. In most cases those trades will benefit us in the chase for flags 2 and 3.

Expect debate about who is our best midfielder next season. A case could be made for Brayshaw, Young and Serong. We want to see a leap from Johnson and Ras next season. Bolton rolling through, Fyfe adding brute force and we have a special group.

At the executive level, while I have some concerns about our board, financially we are better off than most of the competition. Our facilities are being expanded and we have the foundations for sustained success. It would take a colossal blunder to not a win at least one flag.

What a time to be a freo fan!!

 

[dropbear101]

 

[eastfreo75]

The rational optimist in me is feeling the winds of optimism picking up. As Spring is upon us and we yet again get to enjoy some of the best weather anywhere in the world. While the economy slows in other states there is a fortune to be made in WA. While other teams look and struggle to fill holes across their list, we have a wealth of riches with more to come.

Bolton looks like a done deal. Adding flair, crumbing, excitement and 35-45 goals a season. He makes Freddy instantly more dangerous. Amiss will improve as will Jackson and Treacy. Expect Amiss to be more assertive next season as he adds four or five kgs to his frame. I predict a jump to 45-55 goals next season. Our forwards will be impossible to match up against. Bookmark a top three attack next year.

Expect to see further improvement from Chappy, who will be massive in finals as the player who can lock down the mid sized forward. Toby is a gun and won't be a headache for us. Add NOD to the list of those who will improve. He can be dynamic when fit, lets hope for a strong, injury free preseason.

We want to see Simpson play at least ten games in purple next year. Preferably 15. He has something unique that is a problem for the opposition.

Managing Drapers growth will be a welcome challenge. I don't think we will have two KPD's suffer 15-19 game injuries in round one.

We will either do the unlikely and still bring Warner over or we will have two high draft picks come into the club. My preference would be Warner, but two picks helps sure up the decade of dominance. There is a chance that a couple of academy picks are round one talents and will fill skilled positions in the future.

Our picks will all be in the teens aside from the occasional player traded home for a top ten pick. In most cases those trades will benefit us in the chase for flags 2 and 3.

Expect debate about who is our best midfielder next season. A case could be made for Brayshaw, Young and Serong. We want to see a leap from Johnson and Ras next season. Bolton rolling through, Fyfe adding brute force and we have a special group.

At the executive level, while I have some concerns about our board, financially we are better off than most of the competition. Our facilities are being expanded and we have the foundations for sustained success. It would take a colossal blunder to not a win at least one flag.

What a time to be a freo fan!!

Tall Forwards: Jackson, Treacy, and Amiss
Medium Forward: Sturt
Small Forwards: Bolton, Switta and Freddy.

That's a good forward line.

 

[poshman]

Tall Forwards: Jackson, Treacy, and Amiss
Medium Forward: Sturt
Small Forwards: Bolton, Switta and Freddy.

That's a good forward line.

Incredible forward line and I hope Simpson takes a step up and puts pressure on. Not many sides will be able to stop them.

 

[BeinPurplenGreen]

Reasons for optimism:

1. We're not West Coast.
2. We're not Carlton.

 

[BringFevBack2021]

Tall Forwards: Jackson, Treacy, and Amiss
Medium Forward: Sturt
Small Forwards: Bolton, Switta and Freddy.

That's a good forward line.

That forward line is legitimately ridiculous

Bolton, Switkowski and Freddy are so quick

Then you’ve got Sharp on a wing who nobody in the Eastern states even rates, but is also so quick and clean

Gun engine room with three genuine A Graders and two gun rucks

You guys have so much reason to be positive, I know we’ve had a mini rivalry for a bit now but credit where credit is due - that Dockers list is scary

 

[poshman]

That forward line is legitimately ridiculous

Bolton, Switkowski and Freddy are so quick

Then you’ve got Sharp on a wing who nobody in the Eastern states even rates, but is also so quick and clean

Gun engine room with three genuine A Graders and two gun rucks

You guys have so much reason to be positive, I know we’ve had a mini rivalry for a bit now but credit where credit is due - that Dockers list is scary

Insane amount of talent on the list! Strange place to be as a club. Great time to be a supporter though.

 

[Quay Club]

Insane amount of talent on the list! Strange place to be as a club. Great time to be a supporter though.

I agree we have a lot of talent on paper but the games are played on the oval.

For whatever reason we have not performed in the games that matter when they were there to be won.


Hopefully Bolton is the missing piece and is the catalyst to launch us into the top four next year.

 

[poshman]

I agree we have a lot of talent on paper but the games are played on the oval.

For whatever reason we have not performed in the games that matter when they were there to be won.


Hopefully Bolton is the missing piece and is the catalyst to launch us into the top four next year.

Agree - I do think that the reasons behind performance are obvious, unless we are in the think JL is a spud camp.

We lost our first three choices at KPD for a total of 40 ish games this season in Pearce, Cox and McDonald. Then we lost Darcy and Treacy.

It was also one of the closest seasons in history, partially due to the absolute garbage that the bottom three teams were putting up.

Bolton will be a great addition but the side is already there. If we land no one and only go to the draft I would be disappointed with anything other than a 3rd to 5th finish.

 

[Dockeroo]

Agree - I do think that the reasons behind performance are obvious, unless we are in the think JL is a spud camp.

We lost our first three choices at KPD for a total of 40 ish games this season in Pearce, Cox and McDonald. Then we lost Darcy and Treacy.

It was also one of the closest seasons in history, partially due to the absolute garbage that the bottom three teams were putting up.

Bolton will be a great addition but the side is already there. If we land no one and only go to the draft I would be disappointed with anything other than a 3rd to 5th finish.

I don’t buy these injury excuses at all.

We will have more key players injured next year. I don’t know for certain what will happen in 2025 but I can guarantee you that at least - important players will miss big games though injury for freo.
And every other club in the AFL.

Hawks lost their number one key forward for the entire season in Mitch Lewis.
They they wanted the finals without Will Day, their best inside mid.

That would be like us losing Treacy and Young.

They still found a way to get it done.

 

[s_wd6]

I don’t buy these injury excuses at all.

We will have more key players injured next year. I don’t know for certain what will happen in 2025 but I can guarantee you that at least - important players will miss big games though injury for freo.
And every other club in the AFL.

Hawks lost their number one key forward for the entire season in Mitch Lewis.
They they wanted the finals without Will Day, their best inside mid.

That would be like us losing Treacy and Young.

They still found a way to get it done.

Missing someone for the whole year you can adapt and plan your game without them. Why we were able to deal without Cox, because we got games into Draper and so he was able to step up. No Mitch Lewis meant games pumped into Dear and he’s stood up.

When you’ve been so reliant on three KPPs all year and they all get injured at the same time right before playing three top 4 teams then it’s a completely different situation.

 

[DocT]

Missing someone for the whole year you can adapt and plan your game without them. Why we were able to deal without Cox, because we got games into Draper and so he was able to step up. No Mitch Lewis meant games pumped into Dear and he’s stood up.

When you’ve been so reliant on three KPPs all year and they all get injured at the same time right before playing three top 4 teams then it’s a completely different situation.

I agree with your analysis but on balance I think Freo had a better than average injury year in 2024.

 

[s_wd6]

I agree with your analysis but on balance I think Freo had a better than average injury year in 2024.

We did in terms of number of injuries. But long term injuries to 5 first choice KPPs (especially our best from each line all at the same time) means it was worse than just numbers. Most teams don’t have to deal with that, and most teams aren’t competing as well as we did against top 4 teams with that.

Like seriously, how often do teams ever have each of their first three choice KPDs missing at least half the season or more?

 

[malpaso]

I don’t buy these injury excuses at all.

We will have more key players injured next year. I don’t know for certain what will happen in 2025 but I can guarantee you that at least - important players will miss big games though injury for freo.
And every other club in the AFL.

Hawks lost their number one key forward for the entire season in Mitch Lewis.
They they wanted the finals without Will Day, their best inside mid.

That would be like us losing Treacy and Young.

They still found a way to get it done.

We lost our spine.

 

[DragoDelph]

We lost our spine.

literally and figuratively

 

[Purple Suit]

I don’t buy these injury excuses at all.

We will have more key players injured next year. I don’t know for certain what will happen in 2025 but I can guarantee you that at least - important players will miss big games though injury for freo.
And every other club in the AFL.

Hawks lost their number one key forward for the entire season in Mitch Lewis.
They they wanted the finals without Will Day, their best inside mid.

That would be like us losing Treacy and Young.

They still found a way to get it done.

We lost the equivalent of Lewis, Meek & Sicily. We also lost Young to injury in the Port game and he was hobbling on a broken leg so add in Will Day.

How do you think they would have gone without them?

I recon Hawks still win on the weekend as Port will play a lot worse than they did vs us when there wasn't that much on the line. Butters out will also be massive or he will play but not be himself.

 

[malpaso]

I don’t buy these injury excuses at all.

We will have more key players injured next year. I don’t know for certain what will happen in 2025 but I can guarantee you that at least - important players will miss big games though injury for freo.
And every other club in the AFL.

Hawks lost their number one key forward for the entire season in Mitch Lewis.
They they wanted the finals without Will Day, their best inside mid.

That would be like us losing Treacy and Young.

They still found a way to get it done.

Hawks haven't gotten anything out of Lewis so he doesn't count.

We win another 2 games easy if Pearce doesn't go down.
We win another 2-4 games easy if Darcy was able to play
We win another 2 games at the end of the season if Treacy was playing.

If you just look at the last 2 games, we needed those 3 players and most likely win them.

Pearce available in the Hawks game and we win it.

If I could have chosen one player not to lose at the end of the season it would have been Pearce. It was a critical blow on top of him being our captain. Draper doesn't even see an AFL field this year without our injuries.

 

[s_wd6]

Hawks haven't gotten anything out of Lewis so he doesn't count.

We win another 2 games easy if Pearce doesn't go down.
We win another 2-4 games easy if Darcy was able to play
We win another 2 games at the end of the season if Treacy was playing.

If you just look at the last 2 games, we needed those 3 players and most likely win them.

Pearce available in the Hawks game and we win it.

If I could have chosen one player not to lose at the end of the season it would have been Pearce. It was a critical blow on top of him being our captain. Draper doesn't even see an AFL field this year without our injuries.

Also early in the year we beat Carlton with one of McDonald or Cox. Draper was in his second game playing on Curnow ffs.

Pearce’s loss wouldn’t have been so bad if Cox had a proper season. He’s counted as healthy for all the games he played but anyone could see he was so far from it.

 

[Snuffaluphagus]

I don’t buy these injury excuses at all.

We will have more key players injured next year. I don’t know for certain what will happen in 2025 but I can guarantee you that at least - important players will miss big games though injury for freo.
And every other club in the AFL.

Hawks lost their number one key forward for the entire season in Mitch Lewis.
They they wanted the finals without Will Day, their best inside mid.

That would be like us losing Treacy and Young.

They still found a way to get it done.

Keep your Hawks simping out of the positivity thread

 

[freo1]

bit of two and fro going on here, and i see both sides of the argument, but i think the point is, if you want to win the flag, you need a lot of luck, but you also need to find a way to win games you shouldn't, weather that be due to injury or whatever.

This year we found a way to lose games we shouldn't have, so injuries aside, we were plain just not good enough. We'll need to improve in all areas and have a charmed run with injury in 2025.

Every team has their issues with player unavailability, heck Sydney lost the like the Heeney, Papley, Rampe etc. at times in the season. I know their form dropped off with these player losses but they had wins on the board to cover.

We've a lot to be optimistic about next year, but nothings guaranteed. we need another good run with injury, and we need player development - crazy things is I remember saying exactly this for the last 30 years.

 

[malpaso]

The crazy thing about the Hawks is not having Lewis made them the side they are because they had to rely on small ball up forward.

 

[nurries]

The crazy thing about the Hawks is not having Lewis made them the side they are because they had to rely on small ball up forward.

That’s a good coach

 

[pK75]

bit of two and fro going on here, and i see both sides of the argument, but i think the point is, if you want to win the flag, you need a lot of luck, but you also need to find a way to win games you shouldn't, weather that be due to injury or whatever.

This year we found a way to lose games we shouldn't have, so injuries aside, we were plain just not good enough. We'll need to improve in all areas and have a charmed run with injury in 2025.

Every team has their issues with player unavailability, heck Sydney lost the like the Heeney, Papley, Rampe etc. at times in the season. I know their form dropped off with these player losses but they had wins on the board to cover.

We've a lot to be optimistic about next year, but nothings guaranteed. we need another good run with injury, and we need player development - crazy things is I remember saying exactly this for the last 30 years.

It was our lack of cover or reluctance to play the cover that was ultimately our downfall, Pearce out doesn’t hurt as much if McDonald steps in, he wasn’t available so Draper has to take on players clearly out of his weight division. Darcy out doesn’t impact if Reidy is ready to step in, MC deemed this not to be the case until the very end (rightly or wrongly) Treacy out doesn’t hurt as much if Tabs could still bend over, unfortunately he can’t and is in no way the depth we’d hoped he would be, instead we turn to another untried player in Voss who proceeded to shit the bed in front of goal.
The hope is next year, if Darcy is out, Reidy plays, if Pearce or Cox are out, McDonald plays, if Treacy is out it’s still Voss but he improves and feels like he deserves to be there. That alone should mean we’re a top 8 side, adding cream like Bolton, Warner or Pickett elevated us to top 4.

 

[Dockeroo]

bit of two and fro going on here, and i see both sides of the argument, but i think the point is, if you want to win the flag, you need a lot of luck, but you also need to find a way to win games you shouldn't, weather that be due to injury or whatever.

This year we found a way to lose games we shouldn't have, so injuries aside, we were plain just not good enough. We'll need to improve in all areas and have a charmed run with injury in 2025.

Every team has their issues with player unavailability, heck Sydney lost the like the Heeney, Papley, Rampe etc. at times in the season. I know their form dropped off with these player losses but they had wins on the board to cover.

We've a lot to be optimistic about next year, but nothings guaranteed. we need another good run with injury, and we need player development - crazy things is I remember saying exactly this for the last 30 years.

This is my point.
We are going to have players injured.
It’s as simple as that. You have to find a way to win enough games regardless. Injuries are part and parcel of AFL footy.

Also Draper was awesome this year in several games that he came in for yet people are talking like he was a spud. No way we’d have beaten Sydney without his last quarter heroics for example.

Every single team has players out of form and underdone at various stages.
Every single one.

If you offered me our injury run this year, again for 2025 - I’d accept it right now. By and large we were pretty healthy.

If we are brutally honest, there’s a fair chance our injury list will revert to the mean and will be slightly worse in 2025 if anything. Hopefully Merriman can help us continue to be better than league average in that area.

 

[Joao]

This is my point.
We are going to have players injured.
It’s as simple as that. You have to find a way to win enough games regardless. Injuries are part and parcel of AFL footy.

Also Draper was awesome this year in several games that he came in for yet people are talking like he was a spud. No way we’d have beaten Sydney without his last quarter heroics for example.

Every single team has players out of form and underdone at various stages.
Every single one.

If you offered me our injury run this year, again for 2025 - I’d accept it right now. By and large we were pretty healthy.

If we are brutally honest, there’s a fair chance our injury list will revert to the mean and will be slightly worse in 2025 if anything. Hopefully Merriman can help us continue to be better than league average in that area.

Its the optimism thread, take it somewhere else.