Opinion Expectations

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freoextra said:
All this says to me is that Hawthorn had or were forced to move on some players due to their success. The other obvious statement is that they have superior depth or development or both (probably why they won back to back).

Sure, you can't stand still and Hawthorn are really giving a lesson to all clubs on smart free agency recruitment, but we will never be in quite the same position unless we move the club to Melbourne (not in favour of that!). So you deal with what you do best, keep a stable team and make sure you develop your youth and give them opportunities and always have the best possible draft position.

I see lots of opportunities for Crozier, Sheridan, Apeness, Taberner, A Pearce and possibly Smith next year.

Who knows who will have the monster pre-season next year and force their way in.
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Here's hoping that guys like Mayne, Clancee and Clarke can actually have pre-seasons this year. Spending the time injured certainly had an impact on their seasons this year.
 
Admiral Byng said:
At the start of the season Ross Lyon was talking about kicking more goals.
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First thing that comes to mind with this is our home game against Hawthorn. I felt we went in with a totally different, less defensive game plan. We basically where in a shootout with Hawthorn who are one of the best teams at doing it and came out on top.

I saw another side to our team that day that I haven't really seen with Ross Lyon as the coach. It makes you wonder if we should be playing a more attacking, less defensive brand of footy

Collingwood Round 1 felt the same. We where using the corridor so much more and where carving up Collingwood left, right and centre. Also felt we played that way against Port, Round 23.

Would love to see more of it
 

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calaisking said:
First thing that comes to mind with this is our home game against Hawthorn. I felt we went in with a totally different, less defensive game plan. We basically where in a shootout with Hawthorn who are one of the best teams at doing it and came out on top.

I saw another side to our team that day that I haven't really seen with Ross Lyon as the coach. It makes you wonder if we should be playing a more attacking, less defensive brand of footy

Collingwood Round 1 felt the same. We where using the corridor so much more and where carving up Collingwood left, right and centre. Also felt we played that way against Port, Round 23.

Would love to see more of it
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Wonder if we keep a few cards close to our chest during the season with the 'full gameplan' coming into action in the later parts of the season
 
clogged said:
It's not a hypothetical. You're making excuses.


If you're going to make the injury excuses for how Freo got unlucky, then why isn't there more talk about how lucky the side was in finals last year?

It isn't good enough. It's well short of being good enough.

Freo have beaten one top four side away from home in the three years Lyon has been coaching. That's not good enough.
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We played Hawthorn, Sydney and Port all away off six day breaks. Played Port twice and both games we were coming off six day breaks.
That is tough.
 
Last edited:
in 2015 I expect...

  • to spend some of my weekends politely abusing Dean Margetts and his buddies.
  • at least once, to have water to somehow sneak around my poncho and wet my bum.
  • Freo to get smashed in a pre-season game
  • to enjoy the reaction on BigFooty to said loss.
  • to witness some breathtaking speed from Hayden Ballantyne and sublime footskills from Stephen Hill and Michael Walters.
  • to watch Nathan Fyfe make the impossible, possible.
  • Aaron Sandilands to dominate again.
  • Pav to kick a bag and commentators to say he'd be more highly rated if he played for a Victorian team.
  • Hayden Crozier to arrive.
  • Matt Taberner to play in round 1
  • Anthony Morabito to play finals
And I hope with all of my soul to see Josh Simpson play AFL.
But, I don't give a flying * where we finish on the ladder.
 
I'll wait and see what the draw serves up for us before putting my neck on the block definitively but even with the upgrades other teams are making in the trade window we've still got some decent talent in our list that barely strung together games this season for one reason or another and I'd be disappointed if we weren't competing for top 4 once again.
 
Our list is injury prone. I am sure they will look at managing both Johnson and McPharlin (a given), and they will be looking at minimal pre-season and target the second half of the year.

I have doubt that at full strength we can beat any team, but that has been a tough ask for as long as I can remember.

I would be bitterly disappointed if we did not finish top 4. Port and North will be around the place though. It will also be interesting how Gold Coast go. They will certainly be top 8, with a mild draw.
 
I think our list is better than what we have shown on the field and a big part of the reason for us not reaching our potential has been poor selection policy. We would be a much better team if we just picked our most talented players instead of role players. This finally seemed to gel with the coaching staff in the last few weeks of the season and we looked a much better team in the final few rounds against Geelong, Hawthorn and Port as a result.

If we had have done that earlier in the season we could have finished top 2 and had a home QF which would have seen us in the GF.

So it's not all doom and gloom, I think there is potential for improvement purely in selection, without needing to recruit any new players.
 
pokerspiv said:
I think our list is better than what we have shown on the field and a big part of the reason for us not reaching our potential has been poor selection policy. We would be a much better team if we just picked our most talented players instead of role players. This finally seemed to gel with the coaching staff in the last few weeks of the season and we looked a much better team in the final few rounds against Geelong, Hawthorn and Port as a result.

If we had have done that earlier in the season we could have finished top 2 and had a home QF which would have seen us in the GF.

So it's not all doom and gloom, I think there is potential for improvement purely in selection, without needing to recruit any new players.
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Judging by this past week , I'd say Chris Bond agrees with you. So do I.
 
pokerspiv said:
I think our list is better than what we have shown on the field and a big part of the reason for us not reaching our potential has been poor selection policy. We would be a much better team if we just picked our most talented players instead of role players. This finally seemed to gel with the coaching staff in the last few weeks of the season and we looked a much better team in the final few rounds against Geelong, Hawthorn and Port as a result.

If we had have done that earlier in the season we could have finished top 2 and had a home QF which would have seen us in the GF.

So it's not all doom and gloom, I think there is potential for improvement purely in selection, without needing to recruit any new players.
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That's an interesting angle Pokerspiv and it has been similarly raised by others as well. I gather you are referring to the likes of Crozier and maybe Duffy for the fleeting moments he played - both of whom play with a bit more flair than say a Mat deBoer who I think is an example of a role player type. While I like the injection of offensive types into the team and a bit more risk taking, I would not like to see the whole 'role play' come conservative style sacrificed as it has served us well. The players obviously like the clear messaging that comes with Ross's style and game plan as our retention is very good. In the ideal world, a player can be both but there's a real talent to it. We do have those that can both lock down and then play with skill and flair - Ballantyne comes to mind as the best example. His pressure without the ball is much heralded by the other players but he can cut loose too in an instant and work magic. That goal against Geelong early in the year where he weaved his way in and around Rivers was poetry in motion. But his direct and referred pressure even when standing the mark on point kick ins is equally awesome. The exciting thing with Crozier was he showed some of the same in the Hawthorn game at home - great tackle on Burgoyne and some flair going forward in that game too. I want to be there this time when he runs head first into the line of play and takes a screamer alongside the goal post at Subiaco Oval.
 
pokerspiv said:
I think our list is better than what we have shown on the field and a big part of the reason for us not reaching our potential has been poor selection policy. We would be a much better team if we just picked our most talented players instead of role players. This finally seemed to gel with the coaching staff in the last few weeks of the season and we looked a much better team in the final few rounds against Geelong, Hawthorn and Port as a result.

If we had have done that earlier in the season we could have finished top 2 and had a home QF which would have seen us in the GF.

So it's not all doom and gloom, I think there is potential for improvement purely in selection, without needing to recruit any new players.
Click to expand...

I think it was also compounded by injuries in the twos. Duffy would have easily played in the first half of the season barring injury imo. He played a couple pre season games and looked great. Pearce and Smith also could have played but for injury and Ross said that Grey was set for a debut but for injury.

Considering how young and full of X-factor waiting to be realised some of our players are I'm fine being the optimist :) Apeness is probably the most exciting first round prospect (to me anyway) since Morabito and Taberner will only get better.
 

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Mr Peabody said:
That's an interesting angle Pokerspiv and it has been similarly raised by others as well. I gather you are referring to the likes of Crozier and maybe Duffy for the fleeting moments he played - both of whom play with a bit more flair than say a Mat deBoer who I think is an example of a role player type. While I like the injection of offensive types into the team and a bit more risk taking, I would not like to see the whole 'role play' come conservative style sacrificed as it has served us well. The players obviously like the clear messaging that comes with Ross's style and game plan as our retention is very good. In the ideal world, a player can be both but there's a real talent to it. We do have those that can both lock down and then play with skill and flair - Ballantyne comes to mind as the best example. His pressure without the ball is much heralded by the other players but he can cut loose too in an instant and work magic. That goal against Geelong early in the year where he weaved his way in and around Rivers was poetry in motion. But his direct and referred pressure even when standing the mark on point kick ins is equally awesome. The exciting thing with Crozier was he showed some of the same in the Hawthorn game at home - great tackle on Burgoyne and some flair going forward in that game too. I want to be there this time when he runs head first into the line of play and takes a screamer alongside the goal post at Subiaco Oval.
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Yeah the Crozier screamer is just around the corner you can feel it. You can see him set himself for it fairly regularly.
 
I can't believe it but clogged and I have been agreeing a little too much as of late. But I agree with him again. This forum loves to espouse the cliches of one Ross Lyon and dealing in hypotheticals is, reportedly, not one of them. But it's apparent that is what the hope of Freo in 2015 stands on: for Crozier to become a firm 22 player and be on a goal and a bit game, for us not to lose an important player for most of the season, for a kid like Ballard or Grey to have a mammoth, West Coast Eagles-like pre-season and become a gun, or for the laws of ageing to not halter Pav, Sandilands, or Luke.

I personally see the extension of Luke as dumb. Just me. And it feels sacrilegious saying that. He's been a servant for this footy club, consistent and underrated. But he's too old. People forget how he missed games in 2013 too.

Pav is an utmost champion who is even underrated on this forum. The fact he's kicking nearly 50 goals at his age, after an entire career of being the great white hope, is pretty admirable. But can he really be expected to keep it up? Would Hawthorn or Sydney really rely on a man of that age to be the focus of their forward line? If he goes, who steps up? I'm sick to * of these 'role players' coming in because they fit a physical range, but being found out because they're not good enough. Taberner will stick out and do nothing without Pavlich and even Apeness, who I really like and rate, will need some help. I just see us going down in the forward 50, with some big injury to Pav, and having a serious dilemma up there.

I don't know, but if Cyril Rioli can be cooked in a Grand Final and miss, what, 10 to 15 weeks, and for the Hawks to plays as enviably as they did, where does that leave Freo? I personally think Sonny is a better player than Cyril, but the way we missed him was just... it took the guts from the side. Freo hopes and crosses fingers and toes and asks for John Safran-like voodoo spells to not have injuries and for the miraculous hypotheticals to unfurl. When that happens, you're ****ed.
 
Silent Alarm said:
I can't believe it but clogged and I have been agreeing a little too much as of late. But I agree with him again. This forum loves to espouse the cliches of one Ross Lyon and dealing in hypotheticals is, reportedly, not one of them. But it's apparent that is what the hope of Freo in 2015 stands on: for Crozier to become a firm 22 player and be on a goal and a bit game, for us not to lose an important player for most of the season, for a kid like Ballard or Grey to have a mammoth, West Coast Eagles-like pre-season and become a gun, or for the laws of ageing to not halter Pav, Sandilands, or Luke.

I personally see the extension of Luke as dumb. Just me. And it feels sacrilegious saying that. He's been a servant for this footy club, consistent and underrated. But he's too old. People forget how he missed games in 2013 too.

Pav is an utmost champion who is even underrated on this forum. The fact he's kicking nearly 50 goals at his age, after an entire career of being the great white hope, is pretty admirable. But can he really be expected to keep it up? Would Hawthorn or Sydney really rely on a man of that age to be the focus of their forward line? If he goes, who steps up? I'm sick to **** of these 'role players' coming in because they fit a physical range, but being found out because they're not good enough. Taberner will stick out and do nothing without Pavlich and even Apeness, who I really like and rate, will need some help. I just see us going down in the forward 50, with some big injury to Pav, and having a serious dilemma up there.

I don't know, but if Cyril Rioli can be cooked in a Grand Final and miss, what, 10 to 15 weeks, and for the Hawks to plays as enviably as they did, where does that leave Freo? I personally think Sonny is a better player than Cyril, but the way we missed him was just... it took the guts from the side. Freo hopes and crosses fingers and toes and asks for John Safran-like voodoo spells to not have injuries and for the miraculous hypotheticals to unfurl. When that happens, you're ******.
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Nothing new there, every team's plans for the next season can be dashed by key injuries or poor form. We got healthy at the end of 2013 and made the GF, we were unhealthy at the end of 2014 and went out in straight sets. The 4 teams left were all healthy. It takes some fortune during the year and that's been the case every season.
Re: McPharlin. Silvagni will play ahead of him (at least to start the season and almost assuredly on away games). I wouldn't be surprised if Lyon wants McPharlin available for the last third of the season rather than the beginning.
My sleeper in our improvement is Clancee Pearce. If he does a full preseason and is ready to go we'll be that much better as to go along with his kicking he is a tackling machine.
 
malpaso said:
Re: McPharlin. Silvagni will play ahead of him (at least to start the season and almost assuredly on away games). I wouldn't be surprised if Lyon wants McPharlin available for the last third of the season rather than the beginning.
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Would be a bit stiff on Silvagni if we use him for most the year then drop him for the finals to bring in Macca ( If that's what your implying )
 
calaisking said:
First thing that comes to mind with this is our home game against Hawthorn. I felt we went in with a totally different, less defensive game plan. We basically where in a shootout with Hawthorn who are one of the best teams at doing it and came out on top.

I saw another side to our team that day that I haven't really seen with Ross Lyon as the coach. It makes you wonder if we should be playing a more attacking, less defensive brand of footy

Collingwood Round 1 felt the same. We where using the corridor so much more and where carving up Collingwood left, right and centre. Also felt we played that way against Port, Round 23.

Would love to see more of it
Click to expand...

I wasn't sure we had the talent in our team to run an attacking style without our key players, that a larger portion of our side where hard working grinders and we almost wrestle goals.

If we see a full season from Ballantyne, Walters, Crozier, Duffy, Simpson et al then we could be in for a fireworks show rather than the safe arm wrestle we seem to default to.
 
calaisking said:
Would be a bit stiff on Silvagni if we use him for most the year then drop him for the finals to bring in Macca ( If that's what your implying )
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Well they aren't going to use McPharlin like they have in the past, this has already been stated by Freo. I think it's more that they want McPharlin healthy at the pointy end rather than deciding if he comes in and for whom.
 
Should throw Macca forward. We know he's capable of playing forward and can take a grab. Atleast that way he can monitor how he runs rather then chasing around the number 1-2 forward from the opposition
 
calaisking said:
Should throw Macca forward. We know he's capable of playing forward and can take a grab. Atleast that way he can monitor how he runs rather then chasing around the number 1-2 forward from the opposition
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Macca is no doubt insurance against the up and comers not actually coming up, or an injury crisis. All being well, he may not be actually required in an on field position on game day.
 
Silent Alarm said:
I personally see the extension of Luke as dumb. Just me. And it feels sacrilegious saying that. He's been a servant for this footy club, consistent and underrated. But he's too old. People forget how he missed games in 2013 too.
.
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Yes you could say that but as soon as the Frawley trade did not eventuate they went with plan B.

What I do think is that there has been an acknowledgement that it is a transition year for big Luke and he is not required for all games, which means Pearce and Smith will play at some stages (they have to!).

You never know, if Pearce is as good as hoped, maybe we wont have a big issue down back later in the year.
 
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