Opinion Round 1 Changes vs. Geelong

[wayToGo_]

The Crozier and Hill brothers playing together terrific idea - does the other Crozier go all right?

Surely you'd play one at half back and one at half forward?

 

[Scham]

I'm curious to know why Collins has been "left right out" lately ?.

Last season I saw him as slowly moving into Dawson's position. It appears that Zac is back in favour and Collins is peeling.

By the way, I'm a great fan of Zac's defensive work, unfortunately my finger nails struggle when he does attacking ( going forward ) work.

I think most on here just accept that Ross will pick him (Dawson) and especially against Geel. IMO Collins should've been given game time in the preseason but as you've correctly said, Zac is back in favour and Collins is peeling.

If you asked the wider Fremantle supporter group or even just the members, you'd find that the vast majority would have Collins in front of Dawson.

 

[manpurple]

Does anyone know how Bennell is getting on?

 

[scon]

Understood to have built a very lucrative meth distribution business while partying hard and successfully bamboozled a Federal surveillance operation.

According to Ross the other day he has ramped it up again and sounds as though he may be up to starting some sprint work.Several of the training watchers have said he's looking a million bucks.

 

[Unique Name]

Does anyone know how Bennell is getting on?

Just relaxing.


Posted today.

 

[scon]

What's he doing in Canada ffs??
Must be running the network from there.
Hope she's qualified to touch those calves!!

 

[youmewe]

I think most on here just accept that Ross will pick him (Dawson) and especially against Geel. IMO Collins should've been given game time in the preseason but as you've correctly said, Zac is back in favour and Collins is peeling.

If you asked the wider Fremantle supporter group or even just the members, you'd find that the vast majority would have Collins in front of Dawson.

There are 138 members of the 'I played a game under Ross Lyon' club.

In round 23, 2016, the club welcomed its first Life Member.

Zac Dawson became the first player to reach the 150 games under RTB milestone.

New season, ultra conservative coach, Dawson is an automatic first choice selection. That's the way it is.

(He's also very effective in his designated 'stopper' role, just keep the ball out of his hands if we're trying to counterattack).

 

[Dockernut]

Just relaxing.


Posted today.
View attachment 345550

Lol. This guy cracks me up.

 

[Carnthedockers]

I'm curious to know why Collins has been "left right out" lately ?.

Last season I saw him as slowly moving into Dawson's position. It appears that Zac is back in favour and Collins is peeling.

By the way, I'm a great fan of Zac's defensive work, unfortunately my finger nails struggle when he does attacking ( going forward ) work.

When was Dawson ever out of favour? Pretty sure he sits on Ross' lap at team selection..

 

[wayToGo_]

12 months on, things have changed a bit - hopefully the outcome of the game will also:

B Ibbotson - Dawson - Spurr
HB SHill - CPearce - Sheridan
C Sutcliffe - Mundy - DPearce
HF Walters - Pavlich - Fyfe
F Clarke - Mayne - Ballantyne
FOL Taberner - Suban - Barlow
I/C Griffin - Mzungu - Weller - Neale

red = no longer with us
orange = injured or unlikely to play rd 1
blue = will play but unlikely to line up in that position
green = nothing much has changed

 

[yakamoto]

Don't know how we expected that team to beat the premiers. This year's projected R1 team looks far more accomplished. Still plenty of time for a few more injuries before Sunday week.

 

[Kunna17]

FB - Spurr Dawson Hamling
HB - Weller Johnson Crozier
C - Billy Neale Tucker
HF - Langdon Kersten* Blakely
FF - Walters McCarthy Griffin
Fol - Sandi Fyfe Silly
Int - Tucker Mundy Sutcliffe* D.Pearce

* = I think will play, but would rather see somebody else (Kersten --> Tabs) (Sutcliffe --> Ryan/Hughes)
Midfield rotation is highlighted in green (Obviously... I'd like to see lots of guys rotated through their at different stages, and wouldn't mind seeing Weller/Crozier rotate forward at stages - Sort of like Hawthorn with Hodge/Burgoyne/Roughead etc.)

 

[Freomaniac]

Just a little amused that almost the first person you think of putting in is Zak Dawson (especially with Hawkins playing). Zak will do a good job but I am now really disappointed that we wont be seeing the Pearce/Hamling combination anytime soon.

Zac Dawson is playing due to the fact that he has experience. If freo had a fully fit squad, things will be different. If Freo were taking on the crows or the Swans and Freo had a fully fit squad and I had it my way, My 3 main tall defenders would be Hamling, Alex Pearce and Johnson. Alex Pearce gets the 200 cm ruck forward in Jenkins/Tippet as he is 200cm tall. Hamling would get the best tall forward in Tex walker/ Buddy, Johnson playes 3rd tall defender.

I'd like to think it's because we really want to win round 1 and Tom Hawkins is just about the only forward Dawson matches up well against.

I would hope Collins has replaced Zac by season's end; he adds a bit more versatility.

Zac Dawson is 198cms and 95 kgs and is an ordinary kick, Sam Collinsis 194cms and 90 kgs and is a decent kick. Zac Automatically gets games is due to height and Experience. Zac might not be the best player in the league, But he is better than nothing.

I really don't want Zac in the team, however of the teams you would play him on match up alone .....it is probably Geelong/North Melbourne - Hawkins is just a big lunk immobile forward and the prescription is a big lunk immobile back ...allows Hamling to take Taylor and for MJ to zone off and use that laser guided left foot to release the greyhounds in the midfield and flanks.

Bingo!

Look... you can tell what our backline is going to be for the season ahead. Hamling Dawson and Johnson are likely to be our 3 tall defenders this season. If Dawson is injured, Collins takes his spot.

I am looking forward to 2018 when Collins takes Dawsons spot at full back, Alex Pearce is our 200 cm CHF that takes on the Jenkins type ruck forwards and Hamling play then Johnson Role as the 3rd tall on the back pocket.

 

[Dirty_banchez]

When was Dawson ever out of favour? Pretty sure he sits on Ross' lap at team selection..

I just watched the Carlton game again and Dawson just doesn't do enough on the rebound. We need more bounce out of D50 imo.

 

[Unique Name]

I just watched the Carlton game again and Dawson just doesn't do enough on the rebound. We need more bounce out of D50 imo.

Dawson offers zero on the rebound, never has, never will. His job is to lockdown on the biggest forward. With Alex Pearce injured and Collins out of favour Dawson is the man for the job.

If you want more rebound we need to cut one of our intercepting defenders that offer little on the attack, ie Ibbo.

 

[meima]

Dawson and ibbo is effective at what they do best. But put too much pressure on their teamate with their disposal ( handpass or decision making). They might not be directly affect opposition scoring but indirectly. Players like fyfe and s.hill might not always get out of jail due to teammate poor disposal using their brute force or speed.

 

[johnnomac]

Yeah, I'm back. Bit early, but whatever.

Okay, so technically, there won't be "changes", so I guess, for the first round, post your starting line-up.

Here's mine:

FF: Walters/McCarthy/Griffin
HF: Langdon/Kersten/Crozier
C: B Hill/Mundy/S Hill
HB: Weller/Hamling/Johnson
FB: Spurr/Dawson/Ibbotson
R: Sandilands/Fyfe/Neale
I/C: Blakely/D Pearce/Tucker/Logue

EMG: Taberner/Suban/Collins

I would agree except for:

The team should be kicking down with the backs at the top.

Depends on who wins the toss.

 

[wayToGo_]

Depends on who wins the toss.

Easier to kick with gravity than against.

 

[meima]

From freo twitter

Hale: Taberner still has some stuff to work on, he's a work in progress. Hopefully he will line up for Peel on Saturday

Think the interview will be up on freo website later.

 

[Joeltownsmith]

Who gets first go at it tabs or kersten ?

 

[Moist Biscuit]

Who gets first go at it tabs or kersten ?

I think Kersten gets first crack.

 

[dominguez]

We really need to get some youngsters into that backline, hoping we can move on Dawson & Ibbotson ASAP. Everyone but Weller and Hamling in that backline could be gone in 2-3 years.

You're right, but on a positive note their replacements are already at the club in Logue, Pearce, etc.

It (hopefully) won't be like 2008 when the Carr's, Black, Tarrant, Solomon, etc, etc departed and first and second year players were left to fill the void.

 

[DaveLister]

To me our most dominant team recently was the early 2015,
here what was our line up against Sydney in round 4
FREMANTLE
B: Cameron Sutcliffe, Luke McPharlin, Lee Spurr
HB: Garrick Ibbotson, Michael Johnson, Nick Suban
C: Paul Duffield, Nat Fyfe, Matt de Boer
HF: Danyle Pearce, Matthew Pavlich, Matt Taberner
F: Zac Clarke, Chris Mayne, Michael Walters
FOL: Aaron Sandilands, David Mundy, Stephen Hill
I/C: Michael Barlow, Lachie Neale, Clancee Pearce
SUB: Tendai Mzungu

Here is my expected round 1

FB: Spurr, Dawson, Ibbotson
HB: Weller, Hamling, Johnson
C: B Hill, Mundy, S Hill
HF: Langdon, Kersten, Crozier
FF: Walters, McCarthy, Griffin
R: Sandilands, Fyfe, Neale
I/C: Blakely, D Pearce, Tucker, Sutcliffe

Matched and rated changes:
Luke McPharlin > Hamling
Paul Duffield > Weller
Nick Suban < B Hill
Matt de Boer < Tucker
Matthew Pavlich > McCarthy
Matt Taberner < Kersten
Zac Clarke < Griffin
Chris Mayne = Crozier
Michael Barlow > Blakely
Clancee Pearce != Dawson
Tendai Mzungu != Langdon

Some of veterans that are still playing are not as good anymore but on the flip side there has been significant improvement to a number of players who were still young in 2015. My <,>,= ratings don't really show the extent that some players are better or worse, on the whole we are well below the 2015 team but a large contributor to that is lack of experience and the age gap.

The game has changed in 2 years but one the whole our changes reflect that, we are significantly faster and younger compared to the 2015 team.
A lot of players have very limited time playing together in the past year, which will make team cohesion a big difference from the 2015 team.

 

[Gussman]

How do you guys feel about moving Weller into the forwardline to replace Ballas. Would take quite a bit of speed and rebound out of defense, but Weller could very easily slot into that pressure forward role. He also has a good sense of goal.

To replace Weller in defense we could use Logue or Croz. I think Luke Ryan is injured or something, but if he is good to go round 1, he's also an option.

 

[DaveLister]

How do you guys feel about moving Weller into the forwardline to replace Ballas. Would take quite a bit of speed and rebound out of defense, but Weller could very easily slot into that pressure forward role. He also has a good sense of goal.

To replace Weller in defense we could use Logue or Croz. I think Luke Ryan is injured or something, but if he is good to go round 1, he's also an option.

Hale said we wouldn't be changing team structures when replacing Ballas. So either Croz or Suban will come in and play the small/medium pressure forward role. I'm in favour of this but I don't think it would matter hugely having Weller forward and Croz back vs Croz forward and Weller back.