Match Thread: Fremantle v Swans

[mcs]

He's certainly someone's 'usual suspect', yet your boy Chad (and he's our boy too, we all love him) escapes scrutiny.

Rowbottom 15 disposals, 1 mark, 8 tackles, 3 clearances and a goal.

Warner 12 disposals, 1 mark, 4 tackles, 4 clearances and a goal.

Does Chad have some pictures of you by any chance?

We all know iin the eyes of that poser everyone is equal, but some are more equal than others in the eyes of said poster..... Another week, the same old dribble - one set of rules for the chosen few favourites, bazookas for the target boys.

Its not worth the energy responding to such tripe - if only we could have 'list reviews' on here and have regular delistings....

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I tend to be a bit more “glass half full” than many posters, especially after a two point loss, but seriously, we effectively lost our in-form ruckman within the first few minutes, had a few players down and lost Fox. Ollie Florent lowers his eyes, spots up Heeney or Hayward, and it’s likely a different result. But his wasn’t the only dumb decision made during that last quarter. Hickey battled on gamely, but the Freo midfield had it on a platter most of the game. Blakey in the ruck is really just pinch-hitting, and everyone knows it. His form is disappointing, so it’s either back to the VFL or just stick him on a wing or at half-forward for a while and let him settle into a position.

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Spot on. Fyfe and Mundy are two of the best midfielders in the comp, a ruckman able to give them an armchair ride was seriously detrimental to our chances.

Tend to agree with your summation Kafka. So disappointed by the ending - Ollie has generally got a lot better than that with his decision making, but the rush of blood to his head that such a moment can have meant he made a poor call.

As you say, was always going to be hard when Hickey got that early knock - the most frustrating part of it was we got ourselves well placed by half time to go on and win the game, but a very poor 3rd term hurt us badly. But it is simply growing pains - not the 'throw the baby out with the bathwater' that some on here want to do, let alone the relentess campaigning of a few about a select few players to go with it.

And agree about Blakey - I want to see him succeed but he is just not offering anywhere near enough at the moment.

[Ludwig]

I suspect the reason for playing Blakey in the ruck was to give him some midfield time. Blakey and McLean were likely to be equally ineffective as ruckmen, so why not improve the structure?

It's hard to say what's wrong with Blakey. I hate blaming it on low confidence, since I often feel that Blakey tries things that are too difficult because of overconfidence. Some posters have noted that he should just try to get back to basics and not worry about the fancy stuff. I'm drifting toward this point of view. I hope the comparisons to Rohan doesn't turn out to be prophetic. We can't wait until he's 30 to get it right. I agree with those who think he needs a stint in the reserves.

Even if it hurts in the short term, I think we need to get experience into some of the players that we can foresee being part of our backline in the coming years, including Gould, Ling and COR. I think McInerney is another good candidate. We need to get more run out of defence.

I will repeat once again my impression that Lloyd would be more useful in the midfield than in defence. He's very good at picking out the right targets in the forward half of the ground. We can put a linebreaker, like JMac, in his place. He was one of our better players yesterday, but nothing new about that.

Despite JPK, Parker and Mills being our best contested ball winners, I feel the lack of leg speed is hurting us. It's okay when we win the ball at stoppages, but we are getting blown away when we don't. It's not an easy call, but it would be JPK to drop out if we have to change things. It's hard to kick out our best player over the past decade, and even if he dropped out of them midfield, his potential replacements, Florent, RB and Warner, don't look likely to improve things, at least in the short term.

Buddy had a great game for this point in his career. His kicking is still very special. But he has lost the agility of his younger days, which has hurt his defensive pressure, an important part of his game. I was thinking that he's not pushing his burst running to reduce the strain on his leg muscles in order to avoid further injury. If so, it's probably the right compromise. We still need him to play at a high level for the next couple of years, even if it's only 80% of what he's capable of.

I think Ollie was going for Papley. It was a reasonable choice as Papley had a step on his 2 chasers and often turns those chances into goals. Heeney and Hayward had clear open space and would have been better options, but in the moment, I can understand why Ollie had his focus on Papley.

[Aprilbr]

Having had a night to reflect on the game, I feel we learnt a lot about the limitations of our team. For that reason, the game was insightful albeit a bitter pill to swallow. If we had made that final play and won then we might have glossed over our deficiencies. We clearly lack in a few areas - tall defender, break away midfielder and ruck support for Hickey come to mind. We have some immensely talented youngsters currently not playing seniors due to form and/or injuries. We also have some talented ones playing seniors at present but well down on their early season form. I think we will improve over the next couple of seasons so there is no need for panic. It will be interesting to see who puts their hand up in the reserves game today.

[Nico]

On that game we are still a few players short. Yes, we have some young players out but that comes with the territory. It appears as the season goes on there is a sorting out of what the future team looks like. There is always an if, however when Gulden and Campbell come back in during the second half of the season, they will be refreshed and add some more spark. I think we have been consistent to date in that we have been in all games except the Suns. Lets hope we have some natural improvement in the second half.

A fit Naismith will add another dimension.

[MattW]

Having had a night to reflect on the game, I feel we learnt a lot about the limitations of our team. For that reason, the game was insightful albeit a bitter pill to swallow. If we had made that final play and won then we might have glossed over our deficiencies. We clearly lack in a few areas - tall defender, break away midfielder and ruck support for Hickey come to mind. We have some immensely talented youngsters currently not playing seniors due to form and/or injuries. We also have some talented ones playing seniors at present but well down on their early season form. I think we will improve over the next couple of seasons so there is no need for panic. It will be interesting to see who puts their hand up in the reserves game today.

Good post.

Re today, particularly: Gould, McDonald, Naismith, Ling. I wonder whether they jetted Amartey back.

[Foreign Legion]

Blakey just needs to stop being gifted games. He needs a serious stint in the reserves. Especially when we have players in the ressies who deserve games

I agree longmile.

I don't care if Blakey is BOG when he plays in the reserves - he needs to fight like hell to get back in. I think he can as he has talent but he needs to work his way into the side.

[Nico]

Good post.

Re today, particularly: Gould, McDonald, Naismith, Ling. I wonder whether they jetted Amartey back.

Also think we missed JMc's pace. I was a bit disappointed in Stevens in that he appears a very outside player and didn't get into space. Maybe it's a matter of simply playing him week in, week out at this level.

[MattW]

Also think we missed JMc's pace. I was a bit disappointed in Stevens in that he appears a very outside player and didn't get into space. Maybe it's a matter of simply playing him week in, week out at this level.

Definitely. He's also a clutch player, capable of generating momentum with a big play.

Agree with your assessment of Stephens; unlike Blakey (who needs time in the reserves to develop poise/confidence), reckon Dylan needs games in the firsts to develop a feel for it.

[crackedactor 01]

On that game we are still a few players short. Yes, we have some young players out but that comes with the territory. It appears as the season goes on there is a sorting out of what the future team looks like. There is always an if, however when Gulden and Campbell come back in during the second half of the season, they will be refreshed and add some more spark. I think we have been consistent to date in that we have been in all games except the Suns. Lets hope we have some natural improvement in the second half.

A fit Naismith will add another dimension.

I thought we miss Reid big time last night. McClean had a shocker and was clearly beaten by Cox. I was hoping that McClean could at least bring the ball to the ground but failed many times. Also Reid playing on Lobb would have been a better match up for us.

[royboy42]

Blakey is clearly devoid of confidence and a clear head right now.

But I’ll give him this. Playing him as a secondary ruck is madness. Maybe the coaches think the Reid model but can be replicated, but Reid has the body for it.

It’s also as if the coaches haven’t settled on a preferred position for him and keep throwing him around. Let him settle, and in reserves for a month if necessary.

Blakey has serious talent but I’m not sure we’re harvesting it properly right now.

I pretty much agree, mate.

In fact, i see a little of the way we threw Rohan around the field in this.

He was settling nicely as a forward when he broke his leg.

After his recovery, we threw him all over the place, half back, half fwd, full fwd wing...he never really had the chance to settle.

Geelong said lock yourself into that forward line. and , voila!

Blakey might just need one job to show his best?

I do hope so, cos he occasionally shows what he's capable of.

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Blakey is clearly devoid of confidence and a clear head right now.

But I’ll give him this. Playing him as a secondary ruck is madness. Maybe the coaches think the Reid model but can be replicated, but Reid has the body for it.

It’s also as if the coaches haven’t settled on a preferred position for him and keep throwing him around. Let him settle, and in reserves for a month if necessary.

Blakey has serious talent but I’m not sure we’re harvesting it properly right now.

I pretty much agree, mate.

In fact, i see a little of the way we threw Rohan around the field in this.

He was settling nicely as a forward when he broke his leg.

After his recovery, we threw him all over the place, half back, half fwd, full fwd wing...he never really had the chance to settle.

Geelong said lock yourself into that forward line. and , voila!

Blakey might just need one job to show his best?

I do hope so, cos he occasionally shows what he's capable of.

[royboy42]

[QUOTE=MattW;818731]Nah mate, he didn't. We expect a lot of players, the least we can do is be measured with our posts.

He had 24 disposals, some critical contested possessions and flew for marks. Suggest a rewatch would produce a different view.

With McLean annihilated up forward and Heeney looking lost hanging around the wing (and he's a seriously strong forward), I just kept waiting for the move!!!

And it came with minutes to go...too late.

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[gazza]

we need height down back,to see rampe on lobb was an inmpossible task. gould must be promoted

[Foreign Legion]

I thought we miss Reid big time last night. McClean had a shocker and was clearly beaten by Cox. I was hoping that McClean could at least bring the ball to the ground but failed many times. Also Reid playing on Lobb would have been a better match up for us.

Yes 100%! The problem was McLean could not even spoil a lot of times. I don't expect anyone to win all contested marking competitions but a spoil at least gives the smaller players a chance.

[Mountain Man]

Rampe is listed as 188; Gould at 191. Not sure 3 cm would have reduced Lobb influence.

Brand at 198 is the only "tall", with McCartin only 193.

It is a gap in our list, no doubt, but not sure Gould will fill THAT gap, but has the potential to contribute in other ways

[TheBloods]

Here we go again ! Load of BS !

Warner was worse than Rowbottom. If warner wants to play in the midfield he needs to put a hand on someone and not just try and get a sneaky goal here and there. Warner had 4 tackles for the game out of which 3 came in the first quarter and then he just disappeared from the scene when Fremantle got going. For a midfielder that is just not good enough.

Rowbottom was given the task of running with Fyfe and Fyfe who is too big and too strong took full advantage.
Maybe game day coaching was not good. When Mundy and Fyfe started to hurt us we should have put Clarke or Hewett on them.

What does that have to do with what they do with the ball ?? Aside from kicking that goal which was fantastic he was not damaging with the ball at all . You can rinse and repeat every week. We have another Tom mitchell on our hands , i guess we will just have to wait 3 years until we can trade him like we did Titch !