Roast Opinions of Fremantle in the media 2015

[scon]

I hate the 'jobs for the boys' mentality the AFL has but I won't lie, if Pavlich takes over Basil's role in a few years I will be a happy man.

So long as the Croatian is encouraged to extract the ultimate vengeance on the Greek and pound its snout into normality.

 

[ep2018]

Come on guys you still have Basil, your no. 1 supporter in the media.

And King, who loved you from day 1 and never rated us at any point during the season and during finals.

 

[ep2018]

But I agree, complete disrespect from the media this year. I think you guys were sitting on top with 2.5 wins separating first and second and they were still baying for blood. But you guys set an amazing example at the start of the year, you know I suppose compared to how you ended up playing everyone was questioning it.

 

[FreoGirl]

I try not to rant where possible but I read a post in the Doig thread that mentioned Ross getting emotional after mentioning the media and then his family. Seriously, how disgusting was the media this year?

We were top of the table but if you read the newspapers you'd think we were fighting to avoid the spoon.

It's foolish to think that the players and coaches don't see what is written about the team, and not unreasonable to think it would affect them. Yet the media kept pushing out the relentless barrage of bullshit.

Then "crap the media wrote" became "public opinion". Troll threads galore posted on the main board (seriously, where the hell were the mods this year?), opposition supporters coming on our board to tell us how poor the team was. Enough to make me considering quitting Bigfooty.

And why? Because of second half of the year was worse than our first? (Despite, you know, continuing to win games by the bucketload). Because we don't kick enough goals?

Is it really that insightful of journalists to write the same articles stating the same points week in, week out? Obviously we shouldn't be above criticism, but it takes absolutely no intelligence to write your 33rd article stating "Freo are bad lulz", it actually take some to write constructive criticism though - "Fremantle want more goals in games, here's how they can get them".

When Collingwood got off to a high flying start and then fell in a heap, were there articles asking "Are Collingwood 2015 the worst ever 12th place side?". No, the young team excuse got brought out again? Lucky them.

Why the double standards there? Is it because the media fear Eddie's response? Do we need to be more proactive in telling the media to F off? Or do we continue to pretend it isn't a factor and privately seethe?

Here's hoping the haters get their comeuppance in 2016. Of course, if Freo do well next year, they'll act as if they were on our side all along.

Sigh.

Great post. I have argued this all year.

 

[AstonSouffle]

Part of the fun of Freo has been that by following them you're hardly ever respected for the decision, Freo as a club is hardly respected. When we do lift the premiership it will be all the more sweeter.

It will change and I hardly think we've reached peak points yet, there's still the training grounds and stadium to come. Plus Fyfe will be our first triple Brownlow winner.

Will the media ever give us a fair go? Perhaps never, but the solidarity in support I've witnessed is what makes me proud to be a supporter. Regardless of the external and at times unjustified heat that we get blasted with. It's empowering in the end, as it is simply a case of they-hate-us-cuz-they-ain't-us.

 

[holy diver]

* them all I say.

 

[kingswood71]

7news Perth = WCE TV....They really dont need "Eagle Vision"...its on at 6pm every night of the season !!!!

 

[sproketman]

The broadcast media is naturally biased against defensive gamestyles. More goals = more ads = more money.

 

[freo84]

The broadcast media is naturally biased against defensive gamestyles. More goals = more ads = more money.

It's always about the money!

 

[basashi]

I don’t personally care what the media think because I do not respect their opinions but it still affects your enjoyment of the game in other ways:

1) Previews / Reviews. People like Tony Shaw, Eddie McGuire etc participate in the media without having any interest in the club at all – and therefore have nothing to add to any preview of our games other than what time the game is on. When it comes to reviews many of them just know the score and how many pies they personally ate. It means that most footy programs aren’t worth watching for a Freo supporter.

2) Game Calls. The same suspects refuse to learn the players’ names. Others just barrack against us from the commentary position. This can reduce your enjoyment … but now that we have been winning a few I am actually starting to get into it from a spiteful point of view. Instead of celebrating goals in front of the telly, I am shouting insults at certain commentators. (eg. Jam that up your nose, Baz!)

3) Off the radar. I know that certain media outlets (Herald Sun, AFL 360 etc) are produced exclusively for the Victorian audience but it is disappointing to see the club just vanish from the general discourse about the game. You are not part of the buzz. With the league administration being monumentally unprofessional they can’t help but be influenced by general media pressure one way or another. That is an argument where we simply have no advocate. This materially affects our interests.

 

[Whatname]

I personally found the WA media to be quite good this year, Basil is a knob but still sticks up for us and the 6pr guys are generally quite supportive as well, dont listen to ABC so cant comment on them.
Duffield is always fair when discussing Freo while Hackdorn can be a bit of a joke but that is his job to play the pot stirrer and at least he stirs every side.

Where the real injust comes from is the "respected members" of the Victorian football media who have this enormous vendetta on Ross Lyon.
Inparticular the fox sports reporters, except Neroli of course, as well as the print reporters and media commentators.

The list is headed by Julian De Stoop, Jon Ralph, Gerard Whately, Sam Landsberger, Jake Niall, Jon Anderson, Sam McClure and many more.

The problem these guys have is not with our club but with Ross Lyon, it goes way back to when he was in charge at St Kilda.
They feel Ross disrepect's them and other media members in media conferences and that he plays ugly football, though it all hit the fan when he left for Freo and not one of the so called journo's had any idea.

I have no doubt if we start to lose games they will be out with their pitchforks.

 

[PapaJ]

The media pretty much got it right this year.

Though it's hard to nail down what you entirely mean by "get it right', I think the media rarely get it right.

Significant parts of the media pre-suppose, sensationalise, type cast, s**t stir, overstate both the good and especially the bad in any situation, the latter with more regularity and venom than is ever necessary. They report rumours as facts, the opinions of past star 'boys club' personalities as laws of the game, act as intellectual individuals when in fact they're just the loudest bleater in a flock of sheep. That's what the media do with Freo and this sport in general - "get it right", less often.

There are some good reporters/journalists and some good stuff around, not doubt, but as a collective, the media side of the AFL is fairly poor, and some pockets are dead-set terrible.

 

[FreoRicci]

Think you really learn a lot about the WA media when in 2010 that West Coast 'won' the wooden spoon. There was limited pressure on the board and coaches, just 'rebuilding' excuses that always pops up.
Couldn't believe how if we don't even make the finals, there's all these stupid questions about the coaches, players and who to trade etc. But 2010 not a peep or pressure on Woosha losing his job. Just 'Nah he's a premiership coach, 4 years before, so he deserves to coach'. Shows the ridiculously biased media, with 6PR, Channel 7 all guilty of.
When we came first, for the first time in our history, the media then hounded on Lyon- that if he doesn't win a premiership he's in 'deep trouble'. The hell. Not even 'Well done, most stable Freo team since day 1". Just analyzing where Dockers went wrong and how poor they were in the last month before the finals.
Tbh the WA Media is certainly much much more intensive and non-forgiving as those in Victoria. It's a "fish bowl" here and unfortunately Ross has learnt that the cruel way. Think Freo won't be forgiven or looked at the same since the Harvey sacking/Ross appointment.. That pretty much hangs over our heads- Gerard Whately is a prime example.

 

[ozzie69]

I hate the 'jobs for the boys' mentality the AFL has but I won't lie, if Pavlich takes over Basil's role in a few years I will be a happy man.

A nose for a nose ?

 

[Tommo]

There will always be less pressure on clubs that have recently won premierships. The media see it as being OK to dip after success, they see it as a part of the system. In many ways it is.
We will never be given that luxury until we win a cup.

 

[Juggs Magnetic]

Look on the bright side , as Oscar Wilde said; "The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about"

Very witty Ripper, very very witty..

 

[danstar]

The media pretty much got it right this year.

yeah the media got it right about the hawks winning the flag cause the AFL had it planned from day 1 2013 that they would allow them to win 3 or 4 flags in a row and the AFL has asked the media to talk it up

 

[danstar]

I absolutely agree re Fyfe. Next year will be different.
With the likes of King though, coverage will depend on performance. It's not quite the same as having past club greats in the spotlight who keep banging on about you week in, week out.

doubt that any ex fremantle players will ever grace the media cause the media has always flogged us since we came in the comp

 

[XXRL]

doubt that any ex fremantle players will ever grace the media cause the media has always flogged us since we came in the comp

Well P. Bell is part of the media. Also, seems there's a good chance Pav will join the media (hopefully in 2017), but he's not likely to enjoy the clout that ex-players based in Melbourne enjoy, obviously.

 

[Square Peg]

Though it's hard to nail down what you entirely mean by "get it right', I think the media rarely get it right.
.

Media coverage of Fremantle in shorthand this year:

Preseason- predicted to fall out of top 4, maybe even top 8 - list too old and no new talent
1st half of season - form team of comp, massive Fyfe love, widespread praise for team tinged with caution re May champions
2nd half of season - not playing well, position on ladder flatters, need to improve to be genuine finals threat
Finals - unconvincing vs swans - did nothing to allay doubts, underdogs against hawks
Background themes throughout year - still too dependent on old guys and will be rooted if they break down, lack scoring power to threaten top sides

Apart from the preseason predictions being wrong (understandably so, many of us felt the same), which part of this narrative was wrong?

 

[PapaJ]

Media coverage of Fremantle in shorthand this year:

Preseason- predicted to fall out of top 4, maybe even top 8 - list too old and no new talent
1st half of season - form team of comp, massive Fyfe love, widespread praise for team tinged with caution re May champions
2nd half of season - not playing well, position on ladder flatters, need to improve to be genuine finals threat
Finals - unconvincing vs swans - did nothing to allay doubts, underdogs against hawks
Background themes throughout year - still too dependent on old guys and will be rooted if they break down, lack scoring power to threaten top sides

Apart from the preseason predictions being wrong (understandably so, many of us felt the same), which part of this narrative was wrong?

Well of course. The narrative as you describe it is entirely descriptive. Unless one is completely dim, then it's hard to get that wrong particularly after the fact.

However, the emphasis and detail in how it is presented and the nuance (or lack there of) is the issue. Take the 2nd half of the season. Yeah, we weren’t playing as well, but some of the reports around, if you just read them or listened to the 'media' without fuller knowledge, you'd be forgiven for thinking we'd fallen in a heap and were out of the finals all together. We weren't playing super well, but we were doing fairly well and clearly, evidently, enough to win often. Then, as an example, you have large sections of the media stating in overly simplistic terms that Ross is as he was at the Saints - too defensive and not interested in scoring, failing to take into consideration the personnel we have (or don't have) at our disposal, the conditions we were playing in and many other things. The devil is in the detail and they often lack it. The classic one is Fyfe is not a good set shot at goal based primarily on two very difficult shots 3 years ago and completely ignores the hard facts which is that he's actually much better than average.

I can't be bothered going on about it. It's not that they are wrong as such all the time, they just do what I stated above, exaggerate, misrepresent, lack sophistication not to mention downright knowledge. That's even before we go to the myriad of conflicts of interest, 'boys club' mentality and lack of professionalism generally.

If you're pleased with the standard of 'journalism' in the AFL, well that's great. With exceptions of course, I find it relatively poor.

 

[E Shed]

I improved my enjoyment of football immensely this year by largely boycotting the footy media. I get my news here and read a few articles on the club website and the AFL site. Listen to a bit of ABC and 6PR on the weekends for other games and a bit of the general chin-wagging.
Glance through the Game lift out in the West on Monday if I'm in a cafe with free papers.
No football panel shows or any TV based media about footy. Ignore the Vic based media websites.
Watch away games with the sound turned off (this one is huge, I had no idea of how much angst it generates listening to idiots call the game).
Makes a huge difference. I don't care what any of them say anymore.

 

[estibador]

I improved my enjoyment of football immensely this year by largely boycotting the footy media. I get my news here and read a few articles on the club website and the AFL site. Listen to a bit of ABC and 6PR on the weekends for other games and a bit of the general chin-wagging.
Glance through the Game lift out in the West on Monday if I'm in a cafe with free papers.
No football panel shows or any TV based media about footy. Ignore the Vic based media websites.
Watch away games with the sound turned off (this one is huge, I had no idea of how much angst it generates listening to idiots call the game).
Makes a huge difference. I don't care what any of them say anymore.

Yep, it's been a funny season for me in that regard.

My brother moved in with me in about March and brought his foxtel with him. You'll love it, he said, so much better than relying on FTA for your footy news. At the time I was pretty excited at the prospect of wall-to-wall footy all week, every week.

He was right in the sense I loved having no ads during games, but it took about 3 weeks into the season before I stopped watching any footy related stuff at all during the week. Everything is so overblown and hyperbolic it just completely ruins any enjoyment of those 3 hours you want to watch on the weekend. They flog everything to death and turn something that should be an enjoyable pastime into a drawn-out political saga that just saps any enjoyment from the sport.

And although it's not a blanket rule, I've also started muting the commentators during some games depending which crews we get (hello Eddie, or should I say, goodbye Eddie).

 

[Square Peg]

Well of course. The narrative as you describe it is entirely descriptive. Unless one is completely dim, then it's hard to get that wrong particularly after the fact.

However, the emphasis and detail in how it is presented and the nuance (or lack there of) is the issue. Take the 2nd half of the season. Yeah, we weren’t playing as well, but some of the reports around, if you just read them or listened to the 'media' without fuller knowledge, you'd be forgiven for thinking we'd fallen in a heap and were out of the finals all together. We weren't playing super well, but we were doing fairly well and clearly, evidently, enough to win often. Then, as an example, you have large sections of the media stating in overly simplistic terms that Ross is as he was at the Saints - too defensive and not interested in scoring, failing to take into consideration the personnel we have (or don't have) at our disposal, the conditions we were playing in and many other things. The devil is in the detail and they often lack it. The classic one is Fyfe is not a good set shot at goal based primarily on two very difficult shots 3 years ago and completely ignores the hard facts which is that he's actually much better than average.

I can't be bothered going on about it. It's not that they are wrong as such all the time, they just do what I stated above, exaggerate, misrepresent, lack sophistication not to mention downright knowledge. That's even before we go to the myriad of conflicts of interest, 'boys club' mentality and lack of professionalism generally.

If you're pleased with the standard of 'journalism' in the AFL, well that's great. With exceptions of course, I find it relatively poor.

With respect I think you are being a bit precious. Why should they nuance that we were playing poorly in the 2nd half of the year, we were. And you are wrong about this being after the fact - it was contemporaneous commentary that could have backfired on the more strident who came out and said in the month or so before the finals that "Fremantle can't win the flag". Well they were right, nothing would have made me happier than to have rubbed their noses in that, but they were right.
One thing I will say is that what is the "media" nowadays is blurred, often some unremunerated blogger acting alone is presented as part of the media, there is a hell of a lot of noise out there and media companies are struggling to make themselves heard so sometimes you get rubbish. But by and large they were right IMO

 

[stanley]

The special comments guy that really peeves me off is McClure on 360. His Freo bashing is relentless and often he spews out generalities when talking about Freo. It's lines like "well until they win a flag" when he is presented with a fact that counters his general arguments about Freo, just shows how smug he is.