Preview Round 6 2023 - The Doggies Barking Loud for Lobb?

[BeinPurplenGreen]

So Round 6 of the 2023 season brings us a match against the Doggies, the first rematch since we bested them in the finals last season.

Also the first match that Rororororyyy Lobb will play against us, and boy aren't so many hair dye specialists hanging out for what colour the hair do will do.

Quick summary (noting it is early in the season and both teams have had some statistically weird games already), the BpG stats machine says that, roughly:

• we have almost the same total disposals and marks per game, but Freo handball far more;
• we have more goals, tackles and hit outs per game, and are well ahead in both goal assists and inside 50s; BUT
• the Doggies are better than us in stoppage clearances, rebound 50s and one percenters;
• they turn the ball over more, but take more intercept marks (Luke Ryan time to step up);
• we have more free kicks for than they do so far (hang on that can't be right, the Doggies always get more free kicks than anyone except Wet Toast).

Really looking forward to our first truly great young ruck showdown of the year, with Darcy and Luke J going up against a bright young West Aussie talent in Tim English.



Some fun facts...
"Fun" he says...

Regular season buddies but Finals ghosts
We've only ever played one final against the Footscray mob, last year when we got up in the Elimination Final at Optus after an almighty comeback.

Footscray started Owen
Which club was the first to introduce us to Old Mate Owen in 2016?
Oh that's roighty toighty right, it was Footscray!!
They caused what was then seen as an upset by beating us at Ethiturd in round 1, 2016, by nearly 70 points. Biggs and JJ both got 35 disposals each for the Doggies, and Stringer kicked a lazy 5 goals on us. Little did we know how long we'd come to know and slovenly co-habit with Owen for during the 2016 season.

The result of this game will break the tie (or draw, or "even stevens" or whatever cool kids call it nowadays) - unless it is a draw.
We've played 36 regular games and finals against the Doggies, and are 18 W, 18L. Can we break the 50% winning record??

Turning back the clock...
On a slightly serious note, one of my favourite Freo memories is going to away games in the very early days when the Vic clubs still played some games at their suburban grounds. One of my first real exposures to that suburban footy subculture was when we played Footscray for the first time, in Round 5 1995, at the Western Oval.

Our team featured a debutant in Shauny Mac, and greats such as Leigh Wardell-Johnson and Neil Mildenhall. Peter Miller had probably his best ever game for us, with 3 goals straight and 24 disposals. John Hutton, who had been built up as a star, kicked 2.5, Scott Watters kicked 2.2, and Craig Burrows only managed 2 behinds, which doubled Jason Norrish's results.

For the Doggies, their team had some very established old school dudes like Richard Osborne, Steve Wallis and Scott West

Scott West

Age

50

Ht

178cm

Wt

83kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

25.4

5star

K

12.7

5star

HB

12.6

5star

M

3.3

3star

T

2.6

4star

No current season stats available

D

12.0

3star

K

6.6

3star

HB

5.4

4star

M

1.4

2star

T

1.0

3star

, but at the same time featured a (relatively) new and young breed with Chris Grant, Brad Johnson

Brad Johnson

Age

48

Ht

182cm

Wt

87kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

19.7

5star

K

14.1

5star

HB

5.6

4star

M

5.9

5star

T

1.6

4star

G

1.5

5star

No current season stats available

D

12.8

4star

K

10.2

4star

HB

2.6

3star

M

2.2

3star

T

1.2

3star

G

0.6

3star

and Leon Cameron

Leon Cameron

Age

52

Ht

185cm

Wt

82kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

17.2

4star

K

12.4

5star

HB

4.7

3star

M

3.6

4star

T

0.9

3star

No current season stats available

D

20.8

5star

K

14.4

5star

HB

6.4

4star

M

3.6

4star

T

0.8

3star

right at their early peaks.





As a Freo visitor I loved the game, and the atmosphere, and the beer in proper steel cans. I won't spoil the result - though it came down to a Ben Allan kick after the siren...

Enjoy the viewing of the last quarter, especially Spider Burton's awesome first ruck knock at the start of the quarter.
Then marvel at the hairstyles in the crowd, relish the unending Australian fashion parade of the mid 1990s, and especially hark back to when suburban grounds could produce this sort of ruckus for an early season game against a new interstate club playing in proper attractive football uniforms (none of this stealth rubbish)...

 

[Snuffaluphagus]

Legend for stepping in BPG and awesome write up

 

[Paracleet]

This preview seems of this vintage:

"What about Chris Grant?"

 

[royale with cheese]

The umpiring has really improved since the 90s.

 

[Big Animal]

The umpiring has really improved since the 90s.

they get paid into bank accounts and not paper bags now

 

[royale with cheese]

I watched that whole half hour last night, and man we had some hopeless players back then. Neesham was a coaching genius to get any wins out of that lot.

 

[royale with cheese]

This preview seems of this vintage:

"What about Chris Grant?"

That show was so funny. Micallef never got near to being that funny after that.

 

[Mofra]

Excellent write up.
Is this the place I remind Fremantle that we kept the receipts for the Lobb trade and are currently pouring over the fine-print (returns policy)?

You owe us for taking superstar Koops off your hands. Can't remember the player you got with that pick, I think he played a few games....

 

[BeinPurplenGreen]

I watched that whole half hour last night, and man we had some hopeless players back then. Neesham was a coaching genius to get any wins out of that lot.

Yes, though it was also the first game we saw Neesham really prove he could get some great effort out of our talented players too. This was really the first game Scotty Chisholm proved he was a great player, and we saw sparks of brilliance from Dale Kickett, Debutant Shaun McManus and Anthony Jones.

Neesham more than held his own against one of the all time great coaches of the era in Alan Joyce, who had a much more experienced, talented side and 16,000+ fans to drive things on.

Neesham could be a great defensive coach at times, he doesn't get enough credit for just how well he did with an absolute dross list in those years.

The other thing that really jumps out from watching that whole quarter is just how much things like the deliberate out of bounds rule, the focus on shirtfronts and bumps, and the changes to holding and interference in marking contests have changed the game of AFL.

Both teams (and all teams of the era in all levels of footy) used the "kick/punch it straight to the boundary" as a way to kill any momentum or attack from the other side. It led to so many more start stop boundary throw ins, and killed off so many play sequences that would these days escalate to a chain of attack and fast ball movement.

Also both Peter Miller and Dale Kickett copped what were by today's standards brutal hits, yet no one blinked an eye, they jumped back up and play on.

Similarly Chris Grant was just monstered all game with over the shoulders, arm chops and holds by Stephen O Reilly and Shane Parker - only one of which was called. These days that whole type of play would be an instant free, and in some cases even a 50. The forwards have a much fairer game now - which just shows how great the likes of Plugger, Ablett Senior, Dunstall and company must have been to be able to beat constant holding and arm hacks.

Really worth a watch folks...

 

[BeinPurplenGreen]

Excellent write up.
Is this the place I remind Fremantle that we kept the receipts for the Lobb trade and are currently pouring over the fine-print (returns policy)?

You owe us for taking superstar Koops off your hands. Can't remember the player you got with that pick, I think he played a few games....

Thanks mate, appreciate the feedback, I really did love the Western Oval.

And yes the old fella Koooooopsy is actually the source of a few great Freo trivia questions:

1. Who was traded for the pick that Freo used to draft David Mundy? Answer: Koops, who was traded for pick 19 in the 2003 National draft. For extra points, who did Freo take in that draft before selecting Mundy with pick 19? Answer: Riley Dunn with pick 10 (which we got for Croad in a trade) and Ryan Murphy with pick 12. Yes, we rated both Riley Dunn and Ryan Murphy ahead of David Mundy. Ahh the old Freo draft days...
2. Who is the youngest ever player to play for Freo? Answer: Koops, who debuted for us at 17y 277d
3. Who is the only Freo player to be entered onto ASADA's drug offender register, despite having their guilty plea overturned by the AFL and no penalty or findings imposed by the AFL tribunal? Answer: Koops (and my gawd does this doozy give some insight, along with the tragic mess we created for poor Clem Michael, of just how sloppy we were in the early years with basic administration and medical care):

"In 1999 he [Koops] suffered a knee injury and was drug tested the day after surgery, returning a positive test for pethidine, a banned substance. Upon advice from the club, he pleaded guilty to the charge, but no penalty was imposed. However, due to the guilty finding, his name was entered onto the Australian Sports Drug Agency register, even after the AFL overturned the guilty finding and cleared Koops' name. Fremantle Football Club was fined $5000 for not notifying the AFL of the operation."​

 

[Snuffaluphagus]

Excellent write up.
Is this the place I remind Fremantle that we kept the receipts for the Lobb trade and are currently pouring over the fine-print (returns policy)?

You owe us for taking superstar Koops off your hands. Can't remember the player you got with that pick, I think he played a few games....

Thinking about it, you’d be in that rare GC air of clubs we haven’t been rorted by in a trade unless there’s someone I’m missing?

 

[Retzlaff]

Excellent write up.
Is this the place I remind Fremantle that we kept the receipts for the Lobb trade and are currently pouring over the fine-print (returns policy)?

You owe us for taking superstar Koops off your hands. Can't remember the player you got with that pick, I think he played a few games....

Amidst all our wallowing in self-pity over failed trades, Koops for Mundy (effectively) doesn’t get spoken about nearly enough

 

[royale with cheese]

I remember Koops being a pretty good player and being sad when he was traded.

 

[Piggy Smalls]

So Round 6 of the 2023 season brings us a match against the Doggies, the first rematch since we bested them in the finals last season.

Also the first match that Rororororyyy Lobb will play against us, and boy aren't so many hair dye specialists hanging out for what colour the hair do will do.

Quick summary (noting it is early in the season and both teams have had some statistically weird games already), the BpG stats machine says that, roughly:

• we have almost the same total disposals and marks per game, but Freo handball far more;
• we have more goals, tackles and hit outs per game, and are well ahead in both goal assists and inside 50s; BUT
• the Doggies are better than us in stoppage clearances, rebound 50s and one percenters;
• they turn the ball over more, but take more intercept marks (Luke Ryan time to step up);
• we have more free kicks for than they do so far (hang on that can't be right, the Doggies always get more free kicks than anyone except Wet Toast).

Really looking forward to our first truly great young ruck showdown of the year, with Darcy and Luke J going up against a bright young West Aussie talent in Tim English.

View attachment 1665059

Some fun facts...
"Fun" he says...

Regular season buddies but Finals ghosts
We've only ever played one final against the Footscray mob, last year when we got up in the Elimination Final at Optus after an almighty comeback.

Footscray started Owen
Which club was the first to introduce us to Old Mate Owen in 2016?
Oh that's roighty toighty right, it was Footscray!!
They caused what was then seen as an upset by beating us at Ethiturd in round 1, 2016, by nearly 70 points. Biggs and JJ both got 35 disposals each for the Doggies, and Stringer kicked a lazy 5 goals on us. Little did we know how long we'd come to know and slovenly co-habit with Owen for during the 2016 season.

The result of this game will break the tie (or draw, or "even stevens" or whatever cool kids call it nowadays) - unless it is a draw.
We've played 36 regular games and finals against the Doggies, and are 18 W, 18L. Can we break the 50% winning record??

Turning back the clock...
On a slightly serious note, one of my favourite Freo memories is going to away games in the very early days when the Vic clubs still played some games at their suburban grounds. One of my first real exposures to that suburban footy subculture was when we played Footscray for the first time, in Round 5 1995, at the Western Oval.

Our team featured a debutant in Shauny Mac, and greats such as Leigh Wardell-Johnson and Neil Mildenhall. Peter Miller had probably his best ever game for us, with 3 goals straight and 24 disposals. John Hutton, who had been built up as a star, kicked 2.5, Scott Watters kicked 2.2, and Craig Burrows only managed 2 behinds, which doubled Jason Norrish's results.

For the Doggies, their team had some very established old school dudes like Richard Osborne, Steve Wallis and Scott West, but at the same time featured a (relatively) new and young breed with Chris Grant, Brad Johnson and Leon Cameron right at their early peaks.





As a Freo visitor I loved the game, and the atmosphere, and the beer in proper steel cans. I won't spoil the result - though it came down to a Ben Allan kick after the siren...

Enjoy the viewing of the last quarter, especially Spider Burton's awesome first ruck knock at the start of the quarter.
Then marvel at the hairstyles in the crowd, relish the unending Australian fashion parade of the mid 1990s, and especially hark back to when suburban grounds could produce this sort of ruckus for an early season game against a new interstate club playing in proper attractive football uniforms (none of this stealth rubbish)...

Awesome effort mate! I was spewing that I couldn’t find the time to write one up this week but now I’m really happy I read this. Loved the throwback footage. Times have sure changed!

 

[Piggy Smalls]

Excellent write up.
Is this the place I remind Fremantle that we kept the receipts for the Lobb trade and are currently pouring over the fine-print (returns policy)?

You owe us for taking superstar Koops off your hands. Can't remember the player you got with that pick, I think he played a few games....

Lol I’m expecting Lobb to factor prominently in your bottom 50 if he stays on pace this season.

 

[vidwhal]

I'm liking the team ins and especially who's not playing. Still not my ultimate line up but getting there! Stoked to see Sturt playing a full game and some future ins in the emergencies.

 

[Nothing]

Which club was the first to introduce us to Old Mate Owen in 2016?
Oh that's roighty toighty right, it was Footscray!!
They caused what was then seen as an upset by beating us at Ethiturd in round 1, 2016

We're developing a trend after playing in finals the previous year and then losing the first week. 2007 lost to Port who played in the GF. 2016 lost to WB who played in the GF. 2023 lost to Saints who...?

 

[bresker]

One of my Freo memories was one of the first games I went to in around 2004. On the way into the stadium I was listening to the ABC and the commentators were worrying about the Dogs future. How many would turn up? 12,000? 14,000? Would the Dogs be viable going forwards?

In the end nearly 19,000 turned up, but Freo won by about 50 points. The second half seemed like waves of Freo players handballing merrily into an unguarded goal. That was part of a run of eight losses in a row.

Peter 'our Mastermind' Rohde got sacked at the end of the year & Rocket took over thank Christ.

 

[Dump Truck]

Yes, though it was also the first game we saw Neesham really prove he could get some great effort out of our talented players too. This was really the first game Scotty Chisholm proved he was a great player, and we saw sparks of brilliance from Dale Kickett, Debutant Shaun McManus and Anthony Jones.

Neesham more than held his own against one of the all time great coaches of the era in Alan Joyce, who had a much more experienced, talented side and 16,000+ fans to drive things on.

Neesham could be a great defensive coach at times, he doesn't get enough credit for just how well he did with an absolute dross list in those years.

The other thing that really jumps out from watching that whole quarter is just how much things like the deliberate out of bounds rule, the focus on shirtfronts and bumps, and the changes to holding and interference in marking contests have changed the game of AFL.

Both teams (and all teams of the era in all levels of footy) used the "kick/pinch it straight to the boundary" as a way to kill any momentum or attack from the other side. It led to so many more start stop boundary throw ins, and killed off so many play sequences that would these days escalate to a chain of attack and fast ball movement.

Also both Peter Miller and Dale Kickett copped what were by today's standards brutal hits, yet no one blinked an eye, they jumped back up and play on.

Similarly Chris Grant was just monstered all game with over the shoulders, arm chops and holds by Stephen O Reilly and Shane Parker - only one of which was called. These days that whole type of play would be an instant free, and in some cases even a 50. The forwards have a much fairer game now - which just shows how great the likes of Plugger, Ablett Senior, Dunstall and company must have been to be able to beat constant holding and arm hacks.

Really worth a watch folks...

Thank you for this. Only watching now because your comment really sold it.

 

[freo1997]

I watched that whole half hour last night, and man we had some hopeless players back then. Neesham was a coaching genius to get any wins out of that lot.

Neesham built a fairly competitive team with mostly wafl calibre players, who played to their strengths.

Drum came in a screwed it all up trading and delisting fairly exciting players who were much loved. Clive was the only one who played his best under Drum.

Same can be said with the Harvey/Lyon transition. Nick lower, Broughton and Grover’s papers were stamped fairly early.

 

[royale with cheese]

This was really the first game Scotty Chisholm proved he was a great player

Got three votes that game. At one point in the commentary Ian Robertson is in raptures over him as a genius.

 

[BeinPurplenGreen]

Got three votes that game. At one point in the commentary Ian Robertson is in raptures over him as a genius.

I thought Robbo and especially Ross Glendinning were both actually pretty good in the commentary, certainly fair miles ahead of some of the rubbish dished up in commentary teams (which seem much bigger and more highly paid) nowadays.

Yes, I am really old man yelling at cloud...

 

[DQ 4EVER]

Excellent write up.
Is this the place I remind Fremantle that we kept the receipts for the Lobb trade and are currently pouring over the fine-print (returns policy)?

You owe us for taking superstar Koops off your hands. Can't remember the player you got with that pick, I think he played a few games....

Old "Chicken" was OK, but in case nobody has mentioned it. Ta Mundy, I mean muchly
Always love your contributions to this site

 

[mightymouse75]

That show was so funny. Micallef never got near to being that funny after that.

Yes.
I eagerly watched any of his new stuff for years but it all went down hill.
What happened He used to be a comical genius, or he had some good writers

 

[royale with cheese]

Yes.
I eagerly watched any of his new stuff for years but it all went down hill.
What happened He used to be a comical genius, or he had some good writers

I think the format suited him. Good cast too. Wayne Hope was a great straight man.