Review Win’s a win: Freo in a grind over the Crows

[FreoMatt]

I don't think Emmett is any good. He was fine last year but that's because he came in hungry filled with opportunity when the season was pretty much over.

Needs to play more 2nds.

I do like Emmett but being subbed off today if Simpson can kick 3+ tomorrow he could come into the side


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[Dockeroo]

There is a lot of improving to do which isn’t a bad place to be at 3-0. Early wins in the league are vital to provide breathing space for later.

The biggest challenge for this group is consistent clinical scoring. Maybe the slippery ball provides a pass tonight but I’m not so sure… The horrendous missed chances in the 2013 final have defined and haunted this club for over a decade. Premiership winning sides are ruthless in front of the sticks. 5-12 or whatever it was at one point tonight is just coach killing stuff. We were fortunate Adelaide offered nothing much in attack either.
I like all our forwards individually for various traits they are great at, but how many butcher chances they should easily take, far too often?

Kicking goals is the most important skill in AFL footy. Don’t give a shit what anyone says about literally everything else people do on a football field. Being “afl average” at this skill is not good enough. Fremantle needs to be top 4 or top 2 in this area to win a flag at the MCG.

Projecting forward here a bit but if we make it to a GF in the next 2-3 years and Switta or Frederick or fyfey or Serong or someone is ballooning the ball wide of the posts from a kickable set shot 25 m out early in the piece - it sucks the life out of the entire stadium, the fanbase, the team, everything. We have seen it all before.
I don’t know what the solution is to this problem really. Amiss had a bad night tonight but he’s shown to be generally trustworthy (though he does have an odd bad miss in him), and Walters is the other clutch goalkicker who had a poor night.
The rest of them I don’t trust whatsoever. Actually Jackson is probably the most reliable actually. Tabs with the round the corner left foot snap is usually a banker. Treacy has looked good this year to be fair but doesn’t get many looks at goal in a game, maybe 2-3.
Everyone else - it’s hide behind the sofa and hope for the best stuff.

It’s so hard to win a flag. We will need to kick probably 14 or 15 goals on GF day if we even make it there in the first place.

 

[DocT]

There is a lot of improving to do which isn’t a bad place to be at 3-0. Early wins in the league are vital to provide breathing space for later.

The biggest challenge for this group is consistent clinical scoring. Maybe the slippery ball provides a pass tonight but I’m not so sure… The horrendous missed chances in the 2013 final have defined and haunted this club for over a decade. Premiership winning sides are ruthless in front of the sticks. 5-12 or whatever it was at one point tonight is just coach killing stuff. We were fortunate Adelaide offered nothing much in attack either.
I like all our forwards individually for various traits they are great at, but how many butcher chances they should easily take, far too often?

Kicking goals is the most important skill in AFL footy. Don’t give a s**t what anyone says about literally everything else people do on a football field. Being “afl average” at this skill is not good enough. Fremantle needs to be top 4 or top 2 in this area to win a flag at the MCG.

Projecting forward here a bit but if we make it to a GF in the next 2-3 years and Switta or Frederick or fyfey or Serong or someone is ballooning the ball wide of the posts from a kickable set shot 25 m out early in the piece - it sucks the life out of the entire stadium, the fanbase, the team, everything. We have seen it all before.
I don’t know what the solution is to this problem really. Amiss had a bad night tonight but he’s shown to be generally trustworthy (though he does have an odd bad miss in him), and Walters is the other clutch goalkicker who had a poor night.
The rest of them I don’t trust whatsoever. Actually Jackson is probably the most reliable actually. Tabs with the round the corner left foot snap is usually a banker. Treacy has looked good this year to be fair but doesn’t get many looks at goal in a game, maybe 2-3.
Everyone else - it’s hide behind the sofa and hope for the best stuff.

It’s so hard to win a flag. We will need to kick probably 14 or 15 goals on GF day if we even make it there in the first place.

Agreed BUT we need to remember that Adelaide's much vaunted forward line struggled today as well. Maybe it was the conditions, maybe it was the juju, I dunno.

 

[The Feeder Club]

We took Adelaide's game away from them completely and doubled their score. What's not to like? The backline was immense, I'm struggling to think of a more improved player in the AFL than 2024 Clark

 

[freodog]

Rankine, Rachele and Walker with 0 goals between them.

1 goal from such a potentially powerful forward line. It was a scrappy game but they'd be happy with that

 

[Madas]

I really want to like Emmett, but he’s been largely invisible for 3 weeks.

Does Cooper Simpson get a look?

Yep I honestly reckon Simpson would give it a fair shake

Emmet tries hard but his timing just seems a bit off

 

[mattis117]

There is a lot of improving to do which isn’t a bad place to be at 3-0. Early wins in the league are vital to provide breathing space for later.

The biggest challenge for this group is consistent clinical scoring. Maybe the slippery ball provides a pass tonight but I’m not so sure… The horrendous missed chances in the 2013 final have defined and haunted this club for over a decade. Premiership winning sides are ruthless in front of the sticks. 5-12 or whatever it was at one point tonight is just coach killing stuff. We were fortunate Adelaide offered nothing much in attack either.
I like all our forwards individually for various traits they are great at, but how many butcher chances they should easily take, far too often?

Kicking goals is the most important skill in AFL footy. Don’t give a s**t what anyone says about literally everything else people do on a football field. Being “afl average” at this skill is not good enough. Fremantle needs to be top 4 or top 2 in this area to win a flag at the MCG.

Projecting forward here a bit but if we make it to a GF in the next 2-3 years and Switta or Frederick or fyfey or Serong or someone is ballooning the ball wide of the posts from a kickable set shot 25 m out early in the piece - it sucks the life out of the entire stadium, the fanbase, the team, everything. We have seen it all before.
I don’t know what the solution is to this problem really. Amiss had a bad night tonight but he’s shown to be generally trustworthy (though he does have an odd bad miss in him), and Walters is the other clutch goalkicker who had a poor night.
The rest of them I don’t trust whatsoever. Actually Jackson is probably the most reliable actually. Tabs with the round the corner left foot snap is usually a banker. Treacy has looked good this year to be fair but doesn’t get many looks at goal in a game, maybe 2-3.
Everyone else - it’s hide behind the sofa and hope for the best stuff.

It’s so hard to win a flag. We will need to kick probably 14 or 15 goals on GF day if we even make it there in the first place.

I think you're not accounting for the taxing game style that was played. Many of the forward half errors were the result of players being absolutely gassed. Watch the end second half of the second quarter where Amiss has absolutely nothing left from repeat efforts and his disposal is off, see Clark three bounces down the wing and kicking OOTF.
I'm re watching now and into the third quarter. This was a really taxing game played on the back of two 6 day breaks.

Legitimate concerns but also legitimate explanations.

 

[mattis117]

Yep I honestly reckon Simpson would give it a fair shake

Emmet tries hard but his timing just seems a bit off

He's (Emmett) trying to do too much and is playing like he has more time than he does. Needs to get up to the speed of the game.

 

[masai tu]

Hughes, solid again.

Liked Draper, definitely Johnno Jnr.

Great to have a very fit moose patrolling the back paddock, just got to keep out of the way of a bleached rhino.

 

[DocT]

Hughes, solid again.

Liked Draper, definitely Johnno Jnr.

Great to have a very fit moose patrolling the back paddock, just got to keep out of the way of a bleached rhino.

Moose on the loose.

 

[Righteo]

JL made it clear over preseason that while our method into the fwdline was a work in progress, there were two areas we could address for instant improvement: our work at the coalface and better cohesion/effort defensively. We spent 2023 trying to become the Harlem Globetrotters and we forgot what had made us so good the year prior - stoppages and defence. Play to your strengths and keep it simple (stupid) and tbh that's exactly what we've done. big tick for JL so far imo.

 

[FreoRicci]

Fyfe is so crucial for this team. He’s hard to push off and always does these little tricks to get the midfield out of trouble.
Would absolutely love him v Cripps. Can’t stand that prick. For him to go head to head and protect Serong. Yes please.

 

[Grape Bear]

I’m going to forgive them for that atrocity because the back to back 6 day breaks was a bit of a stitch up. All the boys interviewed mentioned it, so I suspect that took a bit of digging deep to get through and grind out a win. Take that AFL house.

Good teams win ugly, bank the 4 points and move on.

Will be interesting how we pull up vs Carlton next week. Could be ugly

 

[mattis117]

Both teams got pushed really wide too, many entries either shallow (40+ m out) or in the pocket.
I'm actually more impressed with out execution rewatching this game.
Both forward lines were dealing with +1 defenders.

 

[Wray27]

Well, that was quite the hot mess, but it never really did feel like the Crows were going to pile on the scoreboard pressure so we held on long enough to break it open at the end.



I've seen plenty even worse in 30 years, believe me! Amiss did look exhausted for most of the game, which is the reason I think his normally immaculate radar was off, but it is a credit to him that he still kept on presenting and got a couple. Same for Tabs and Treacy really. Walters had two thirds of our entire score at one point, but I thought it was actually pretty smart of the Crows to let him take his marks at 45m out - they clearly know, as we do, he simply cannot kick that far and it's getting worse as he approaches the end.

Probably the disappointing thing for me about the forwards tonight is that they got pushed back into the old "knock it and handball madly around trying to find the perfect shot for someone in the clear" routine, which inevitably backfired. I have more time for Tom Emmett than most because he does attack in straight lines, complemented by Switta's flashing feet going lateral; but it is just starting to look as if we're trying to coach it out of him, which I feel is a mistake.

I shook my head at JOM as sub again. If someone got injured early, understandable, but tactically he was never going to make one bit of difference or give us any burst of energy. I think he is handy to have around as cover, but that's about it at the moment.

I do think the mids were quite down, although their output in the first couple of games has been stellar. I have to join those who think Matt Johnson is on thin ice, I'm afraid. Yes, he has had a couple of impressive moments, but his mistakes have been disastrous and I don't think he's currently got the capacity to fully atone yet in the way that Andy B has, for example.

I also think Young hasn't been all that spectacular in 2024 either. Brisbane made a very conscious effort to corral his left side and prevent him from kicking at all costs in Round 1, which has become the standard playbook, and he still seems too handball happy to me. He was able to free the boot a few more times in the second half tonight, with great effect, and I do appreciate he is still fully learning the craft in the middle. So he does get more of a pass.

Defence was back to the brick wall of the early JLo years, led admirably by our captain and his stout general, the man the group around me are again taking to call "Roxette Ryan". They really did look to have that old synergy back tonight, after it being absent for huge stretches of 2023 - which is extremely impressive given that the back six included a second gamer and Hughes, who I usually want as far away from the defensive 50 as possible! I really do have to give Ethan a lot of credit, he was very good in this one.

And Draper reminded me so much of the young Michael Johnson circa 2006 (although the addition of the cornrows during this week did lessen the physical resemblance somewhat!). It was demonstrable growth after just one senior game, and while his greatest challenges certainly lie ahead in Adelaide, I think he's up for the challenge.

So let them rest, let them refresh, and then stealth across to steal a win (or two)...

Geez you’re a tough marker.
Young BOG for me

 

[ignoramus]

Sharp was very, very good. Kept the field super wide, enabling the 45 degree inboard kicks. That meant he didn't get used nearly as much as he could have, but that is precisely what he is there for and he just kept on maintaining that width. Brilliant runs down into defence with that great effort to get back and spoil in the first. Someone else already mentioned the run tight along the boundary with that perfectly timed/placed kick to Walters.

Great input.

 

[toenail11]

Sharp is flipping quick too

 

[Purple Jesus]

Young easily BOG but I reckon Clark should be right up there. Blessed to have his pace and skill for what we paid.

 

[vidwhal]

Of all the games of AFL I’ve seen, that was one of them

It's what's not said that says so much.

 

[bushchook]

Overuse of handball and too many fumbles were the order of the day.

Young had a great game but he still tries to handball off when he has his left side available. He's one of the best kicks in the league, it's incredibly frustrating watching him dish off to someone in a worse position when he could take the kick himself.

On about 3 occasions we had a player inside 40m attempt to pass the ball off when they should have just gone for goal. Switkowski is one of the main offenders for this. He tried to pass one off 25m out today.

 

[Freomaniac]

Ugly win? Yes.

But to restrict the opposition to just one goal from the 2nd minute of the 2nd quarter with an undermanned defence is astounding.

Walters nearly dialled the clock back to 2014 and could've bagged 6 if he was in the zone. Emmett had some great nearly moments especially in the 2nd quarter, give him some time he's played 5 AFL games.

Not enough love for Young, his transition into the midfield hasn't been easy and he really looked like he belonged today. He's not fast or flashy but he doesn't need to be, he's naturally strong and the contested ball gets will increase - his disposal skills will come in handy when we're really contending.

Fyfe looks like he really belongs in the team, and he hasn't looked like that since 2020.

I dont suspect that that we will have the same inaccuracy issues as years passed, weather was really weird and muggy and we've had the shittest fixturing these first 3 weeks

Club has really surpassed my expectations so far this year and I think we're more than a shake at taking it to Carlton next week. From memory they don't play well in Adelaide.

Im glad we got Hayden young in the middle. His left foot is amazing.

I remember a few years back when we had Adam Cerra on our list. Ross Lyon and Justin Longmuir kept playing him on the back flank where he shouldof been playing in the middle.

 

[King Huskii]

Freo back completely shut out Rankine and Walker looked a crab

Wr won stop sulking

 

[King Huskii]

Im glad we got Hayden young in the middle. His left foot is amazing.

I remember a few years back when we had Adam Cerra on our list. Ross Lyon and Justin Longmuir kept playing him on the back flank where he shouldof been playing in the middle.

Yep


And we have Amiss thanks to cerra

 

[gaskin]

Maybe the slippery ball provides a pass tonight but I’m not so sure…

I'm not really sure it was that slippery. I grabbed one of the balls that came into the crowd in the 3rd quarter and it was dry.

 

[bruzaar62]

We took Adelaide's game away from them completely and doubled their score. What's not to like? The backline was immense, I'm struggling to think of a more improved player in the AFL than 2024 Clark

2024 moose