Analysis Peel Thunder 2015 (TV schedule in OP)

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yakka man

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Agree with this .Barlow,Duff,Ballard,A Pearce haven't been on the track for weeks.not surprising the skills were down.
Barlow got plenty of it but there was know one reading his ball movement out of the congestion.He also had Van Berlo.s hard tag to deal with coming of an injuryBarlow was scragged and held all day with very few free kicks going his way.Langdon and Weller have probably never played against men before and Weller in particular was impressive.Griff toiled hard winning most of the taps and started to impose in the last quarter.
Weller showed again why he will play first 22 this season.D Pearce needed the run and will play next week.Hughes servicable.
Apeness and Smith were disappointing and though Brady Grey is all courage and heart its debatable that he has the tools to make it.
We were all disappointed at the loss but at the moment its every man for himself out there and it would be very difficult to impose with out team mates helping.
Shepherd was rubbished by those around me but it must be very difficult to coach a team that only gets to say hi on game day.Like Coulda said they need to train once a week with the whole squad.

Weller actually played approx ten games for Southport (I think) last year. I had a feeling he would adapt to the WAFL well. Class act.
 

Square Peg

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Thanks for the reports everyone.
Disappointing to hear the reports about Smith. I thought he looked really good against Sydney, even possibly in line for a rookie upgrade with Silvagni and Dawson out. Will A Pearce play next week or will we go short in defence?
 

rodney hoo

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He was drafted with the view of him becoming a forward/ruckman IMO, much in the vein of a Roughead or Hale. He doesn't seem to have the level of mobility to be a permanent forward.

Better hope tabbs goes on with it or we got to many ruckman forwards & no forward ruckman. Appness should only play forward in the wafl because if he is there to replace Pav might be required as early as next year.
 

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Scham

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Better hope tabbs goes on with it or we got to many ruckman forwards & no forward ruckman. Appness should only play forward in the wafl because if he is there to replace Pav might be required as early as next year.

I see him more as a replacement for Clarke who'll replace Sandi and Tabs the Pav replacement. Fyfe will play forward more over time with the development of Blakely and Weller etc.
 

rodney hoo

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I see him more as a replacement for Clarke who'll replace Sandi and Tabs the Pav replacement. Fyfe will play forward more over time with the development of Blakely and Weller etc.

Pav is more of a stay home forward where as Tabs is a more work your man up & down the ground imo. I reckon Freo were hoping for Apps to be more forward, in saying that he is only 20 & Fyfe yes could be an absolute gem as forward in the king Carey style.
 

blue shark

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Tough gig in that forward line, Peel just bombed the ball into the forward line, to no
advantage, plus the wind, made it difficult.
WP kicked better, sometimes shorter but low hard kicks to players on the move, but
the transition from defense to attack was well structured, and they switched play
to gain advantage.
Blakey, Weller are ready made players, and deserve the hype.
D Pearce just kicks for distance sometimes, dont know if this is under instructions, but
looked poor.
The talent is there, just need better guidance, structure's and play team footy.
 

jedi mind tricks

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Was a bit distracted with kids running wild, but did enjoy bits of it. Agree on Blakely and Weller, both look like A graders. Have not been this excited about first year players since seeing Nat Fyfe debut.

Ales Pearce looks like a footballer body-wise, but obviously a bit short of a run. I think he could be quite something based on the couple of times I have watched him. Apeness looked much better when he had a run on the ball in the last, put his hand up and really worked hard. Prior to that he was bog average and did not look like taking a grab.

Unfortunately I don't see Peel improving much. If that's what they dish up with all those Freo players in the team I hate to think what they will be like without. It just looks like a bunch of footballers who hardly know each other - kind of like the Indigenous All-Stars, lots of great talent but still beaten by the Eagles.

Sigh.

Do you think the disapointment by some posters for not picking up a KPP this draft was fair enough or from what you have seen both Weller and Blakely the decision was justified?
 

DudleyDocker

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Do you think the disapointment by some posters for not picking up a KPP this draft was fair enough or from what you have seen both Weller and Blakely the decision was justified?
For me jmt, we have picked up a couple of beauties in Weller and Blakely, not disappointed at all. I would have thought we could have a crack at a KPP or two with the late picks but maybe the quality just wasn't there.

From what I've seen, Tabs looks like he will come good, Apeness, Tanner Smith and Alex Pearce maybe but it's a bit early to cal for mine - these big guys take time. Time will tell!
 

Agenfrida

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Pav is more of a stay home forward where as Tabs is a more work your man up & down the ground imo. I reckon Freo were hoping for Apps to be more forward, in saying that he is only 20 & Fyfe yes could be an absolute gem as forward in the king Carey style.
Hawkins, Shultz, Tippett copped a fair bit of flak early for their lack of performance. I think Josh Kennedy (If memory serves me correctly) was pretty ordinary in his first couple of years at the Egirls (had what 2 years development at cartank prior?) There's still plenty of time for the Apeman to come good.
 

freoextra

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Hawkins, Shultz, Tippett copped a fair bit of flak early for their lack of performance. I think Josh Kennedy (If memory serves me correctly) was pretty ordinary in his first couple of years at the Egirls (had what 2 years development at cartank prior?) There's still plenty of time for the Apeman to come good.

Could not agree more that he has plenty of time to come good. But I am surprised how much he is stuggling after making such a positive first year debut.
 

purplefrog

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For me jmt, we have picked up a couple of beauties in Weller and Blakely, not disappointed at all. I would have thought we could have a crack at a KPP or two with the late picks but maybe the quality just wasn't there.

From what I've seen, Tabs looks like he will come good, Apeness, Tanner Smith and Alex Pearce maybe but it's a bit early to cal for mine - these big guys take time. Time will tell!
Weller and Blakely hopefully will prove to be very good players and what may make it even more satisfying is the gulf between the 2 WA teams in terms of midfield could increase just that little bit more;).
 

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The FF/2nd ruck role is a difficult one to master. Many good forwards struggle to make an impact on the scoreboard when they spend 1/3 of their time in the ruck. Mitch Clark didn't do it well at Brisbane, for example. Apeness spent a lot of time out of position in the first 3 qtrs, but to be fair he doesn't get the kind of service that an FF might get in the AFL. In the first 10 minutes of the last qtr he had 4 genuine opportunities to take a contested mark inside the F50.
The first, he worked his opponent under the ball but the wind carried it a little further than expected and he had to dive backwards to get his hands on it. He dropped what turned out to be a difficult mark. In the second, his opponent was caught flat footed waiting for the ball to fall and Apeness attacked the ball with a short run-up. But Apeness hardly got off the ground and his hands didn't clear the hands of his opponent. That was quite disappointing because, at 200cm and with a run at the ball, he really should have been able to get clean hands to the ball.
The other 2 contests were pack mark situations where he wasn't able to get to the prime position to take the mark. We all know talls take time to develop, but his lack of a leap is a bit concerning. I like Apeness I think he has a future with us, but at the moment he seems to be a tall who can't play tall. In the WAFL games where he did well last year, he generally took his marks when he was on the move. I haven't seen him take many marks in a pack situation where everyone contesting the mark only gets to have 2 or 3 steps before jumping.
Thanks, if he's making the contest but spilling the mark there is something to work with. Reading the flight is a natural talent talent that is difficult to teach, especially for big guys.
 

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couldhavebeen

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Yeah, he was quiet against Melbourne (IIRC) too. He's still young though which is a plus.

Hannath in the NAB Challenge games showed that he could now fill the roll of second ruck \ forward if Clark is injured or out of form .
He is well ahead of the other candidates . His performances in match sims and preseason games so far this year have improved markedly on last year .
He appears to have gained a yard of pace , increased his strength and weight . He showed against the Eagles that he can now compete against mature hardened bodies and take a good pack mark .
He and Pavlich work quite well together . He also has the strength to block the third tall from coming over the top of Pav when the ball is kicked into the forward 50. He has worked very hard on his goal kicking as shown in the Derby .
Griffin's ruck work is right back to before his ACL but he still needs to build his endurance . By half way through the season I expect him to achieve that as well so he should be all set to replace 211 ir Clarke when the need arrives .
 

sherrif

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Agree with this .Barlow,Duff,Ballard,A Pearce haven't been on the track for weeks.not surprising the skills were down.
Barlow got plenty of it but there was know one reading his ball movement out of the congestion.He also had Van Berlo.s hard tag to deal with coming of an injuryBarlow was scragged and held all day with very few free kicks going his way.Langdon and Weller have probably never played against men before and Weller in particular was impressive.Griff toiled hard winning most of the taps and started to impose in the last quarter.
Weller showed again why he will play first 22 this season.D Pearce needed the run and will play next week.Hughes servicable.
Apeness and Smith were disappointing and though Brady Grey is all courage and heart its debatable that he has the tools to make it.
We were all disappointed at the loss but at the moment its every man for himself out there and it would be very difficult to impose with out team mates helping.
Shepherd was rubbished by those around me but it must be very difficult to coach a team that only gets to say hi on game day.Like Coulda said they need to train once a week with the whole squad.

I agree completely with the above post. Id add that Duffield looked by far the rustiest of the senior players. Im my opinion he is a certainty to NOT play next week, despite the injury concerns of other players. Im not sure if it has been said in an earlier post, but I think Hanath not playing is insurance for Clarke as he apparently didnt train last week. Blakely's skills were awesome and he would have to be strong chance to debut as a sub next week. I know many were disappointed with Apeness, but Id add that he was for most of the game the only tall forward. When the ball is bombed long constantly it was pretty easy for the opposition to double team him in the air. The MOST frustrating thing about watching Peel IMO is that the coach never makes any moves designed to win the game they are playing. Eg Smith or A>pearce could have been moved forward, but they stay back becuase that is the role the Freo coaches want them to play long term. I think Sheppard's hands are tied to a degree in regard to flexibility on match day. On yesterdays performance Id play Weller and Blakely next week if I was picking the team ahead of the underdone Gu, D.Pearce , Tabs, or Duffield. Im not picking the team obviously, but yesterdays game was a clear indication how badly players who have lacked continuity in training can struggle on their return from an injury interuption. Barlow struggled with the tag, but he is the only player that should be assured of senior selection next week of all of the Docker players who played yesterday.
 

Mr Peabody

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Hannath in the NAB Challenge games showed that he could now fill the roll of second ruck \ forward if Clark is injured or out of form .
He is well ahead of the other candidates . His performances in match sims and preseason games so far this year have improved markedly on last year .
He appears to have gained a yard of pace , increased his strength and weight . He showed against the Eagles that he can now compete against mature hardened bodies and take a good pack mark .
He and Pavlich work quite well together . He also has the strength to block the third tall from coming over the top of Pav when the ball is kicked into the forward 50. He has worked very hard on his goal kicking as shown in the Derby .

I would not be surprised to see Jack play this week. Was kept out of the Peel game. If there are lingering niggles to any of Sandi, Clarke or Taberner, I expect he'll play. Very interesting to observe his role in match sims this week if anyone gets down there.
 

Agenfrida

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Hannath in the NAB Challenge games showed that he could now fill the roll of second ruck \ forward if Clark is injured or out of form .
He is well ahead of the other candidates . His performances in match sims and preseason games so far this year have improved markedly on last year .
He appears to have gained a yard of pace , increased his strength and weight . He showed against the Eagles that he can now compete against mature hardened bodies and take a good pack mark .
He and Pavlich work quite well together . He also has the strength to block the third tall from coming over the top of Pav when the ball is kicked into the forward 50. He has worked very hard on his goal kicking as shown in the Derby .
Griffin's ruck work is right back to before his ACL but he still needs to build his endurance . By half way through the season I expect him to achieve that as well so he should be all set to replace 211 ir Clarke when the need arrives .
Yeah, Hannath has been one of the surprise packets of this year. Hopefully his form continues, especially as his work in the forward line was better than his ruckwork. We might actually have a forward/ruck on our hands rather than a ruckman/forward.
 
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Any one think Sherro was kept out because he'll be lining up round 1. Especially with Duffield not looking the best.

Interestingly in the latest Q&A with Ross Lyon he implied that Sherro has been earmarked to take over Duffield's role. So Sherro's role in the NAB against Weagles might be his usual from now on.
 

sherrif

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Any one think Sherro was kept out because he'll be lining up round 1. Especially with Duffield not looking the best.

Interestingly in the latest Q&A with Ross Lyon he implied that Sherro has been earmarked to take over Duffield's role. So Sherro's role in the NAB against Weagles might be his usual from now on.

I hope so. Just added him to supercoach team. His 90%+ efficiency against WCE compared to Duff looking terrible IMO yesterday means Sherro should be a certainty for Round 1. Sutcliffe and Sherro rotating between a wing and half back might be a permanent change in our team structure.
 
Any one think Sherro was kept out because he'll be lining up round 1. Especially with Duffield not looking the best.

Interestingly in the latest Q&A with Ross Lyon he implied that Sherro has been earmarked to take over Duffield's role. So Sherro's role in the NAB against Weagles might be his usual from now on.

He played all 3 NAB games (not as a sub) therefore was not able to play on the weekend.

But to answer your question, i'd be surprise if he wasn't to play Sunday.
 

jedi mind tricks

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I think some posters are being a bit harsh on some of the players. Duffield has just come back from an injury to his ribs and at one stage we feared he would be out of action for a much longer tie period and we don't know if he was playing in any discomfort. Also Ballard, A Pearce and langdon all coming back from stress fractures which has really impacted on their fitness plus would have been fairly rusty from no pre-season game time.

Great news that a big group of players got a run proir to round 1.
 

VolgaBoatman

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Don't know if anyone noticed the attendance at the West Perth vs Peel game in the West today - 1999 - looks a lot like one of West Perth's key sponsors !
 

george2

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For anyone that was at he game on the weekend, did Weller use his pace and take the game on? That's one thing that I noticed from his highlights pre draft. We really need a midfielder that can take the game on with his pace a bit.
 

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