Preview 2021 Best 22 Discussion

[FreoRicci]

I can also see the Hughes and Ibbo comparisons too....

Both are 185ish cm medium tall defenders.

Both started their careers slowly.

Ibbotson when fully fit was in freos backline when freo made finals in that 2010-15 period.

Ibbotson had a solid career though. Only played in 3 finals wins sadly: the 2010 elim final win vs the hawks the 2012 elim finals win vs the cats and the 2015 qualifying final win vs the swans.

He had an injury riddled 2013 season. Sadly missed out on the 3 finals in that Famous 2013 season where freo made that grand final.

I was suprised he reitred in 2017 aged only 29 years old. I seriously though he would play on for another 2-3 seasons. With him retired, Ironically Hughes played 18 games in 2018 on Ibbotsons position in the back pocket or back flank as a small defender.

Pretty shocked he only played those finals. Not one in 2013 is the damning one. Him on Gunston and who knows.. 2014 he also missed.
Him and McPhee. Always wished we kept McPhee or persuaded him. Would’ve been key too.

Hughes is 188cm. Plays like 195cm. Those types are needed/pretty much in every clubs backline.

 

[Freomaniac]

Pretty shocked he only played those finals. Not one in 2013 is the damning one. Him on Gunston and who knows.. 2014 he also missed.
Him and McPhee. Always wished we kept McPhee or persuaded him. Would’ve been key too.

Hughes is 188cm. Plays like 195cm. Those types are needed/pretty much in every clubs backline.

He plaed in both 2014 finals.

As I said. for a guy that was in out back line for a better part of 9-10 years, only 3 finals wins he played in.


Luke McPharlin I felt sorry for.

Of all the finals Freo played under Ross Lyon in that 2012-15 era. There was only 1 year out of that 4 he played in. Yep it was the year we made the Grand final in 2013. Didnt play any finals in 2012, 2014 or 2015 due to injury.

 

[pK75]

He plaed in both 2014 finals.

As I said. for a guy that was in out back line for a better part of 9-10 years, only 3 finals wins he played in.


Luke McPharlin I felt sorry for.

Of all the finals Freo played under Ross Lyon in that 2012-15 era. There was only 1 year out of that 4 he played in. Yep it was the year we made the Grand final in 2013. Didnt play any finals in 2012, 2014 or 2015 due to injury.

Hi absences are why we failed to make an impact in those finals

 

[go_the_dockers]

He plaed in both 2014 finals.

As I said. for a guy that was in out back line for a better part of 9-10 years, only 3 finals wins he played in.


Luke McPharlin I felt sorry for.

Of all the finals Freo played under Ross Lyon in that 2012-15 era. There was only 1 year out of that 4 he played in. Yep it was the year we made the Grand final in 2013. Didnt play any finals in 2012, 2014 or 2015 due to injury.

We never managed our players properly.

Johnson, Ibbotson, McPharlin, Fyfe, Pavlich were all sore, battered and bruised or injured coming into finals.

 

[FreoRicci]

We never managed our players properly.

Johnson, Ibbotson, McPharlin, Fyfe, Pavlich were all sore, battered and bruised or injured coming into finals.

Problem was Lyon’s gameplan was quite demanding/taxing each and every game. That was the downside effect towards the end of the season.

 

[go_the_dockers]

Problem was Lyon’s gameplan was quite demanding/taxing each and every game. That was the downside effect towards the end of the season.

and then he did not rest players enough to ensure they were fresh.

 

[sherrif]

The reason Hughes finished top 10 in the Doig and the coaches love him is because he puts his body on the line every single time. If there is a ground ball to be won or a contested mark backing into the pack he's your guy. If you could package that up and give it to all our other players who are more skilled then he wouldn't be B22 and we'd have a friggin' unbelievably good back line. Atm I think he is second picked after Ryan and the others have to displace him. If they do, we are in good shape.

I agree that Hughes would be rated higher than people think. The 'problem' (in terms of selection) is that our depth in defence is far greater than other areas of the ground. If Hamling and Alex Pearce return to their best than I think they will want the best kicking options to be paired with those two so that Hamling and Alex can short kick or hand pass a lot as they are both not great kicks (but not terrible kicks) I still really think Logue is a good kick who has chosen the wrong option a bit too much but that should get better with experience. So Wilson, Ryan, Young, Logue, Hamling, Alex Pearce and one of Conca or Hughes would be my go. With the extended game time and less rotations than last year I think Alex and Joel will be rested a fair bit on the bench early on so Cox will be needed to rotate forward and back for a fair while. Later on in the season if we have not had injuries I'll be stunned so cross that bridge when or if we come to it.

I'd love to see Wilson get through this preseason after coming back early and finally not having off season surgery. If he could build his fitness I'd love to see him be given minutes on a wing, same with Young. Aish could rotate back as well as mid if that happened to keep enough good kicks in defence the whole game.

 

[Taylor]

Problem was Lyon’s gameplan was quite demanding/taxing each and every game. That was the downside effect towards the end of the season.

And yet if either Griff or Kepler didn't do their knee that season we probably win a flag in 2013.

 

[Docker82]

We never managed our players properly.

Johnson, Ibbotson, McPharlin, Fyfe, Pavlich were all sore, battered and bruised or injured coming into finals.

Disagree. We simply didn’t have the depth to cover these players.

Some would argue that Silvagni was at least close to AFL standard. Outside of that there was simply nothing else in terms of depth. Can’t really argue Kepler as he did his knee early 2013 and never played again.

Look at when we rested Sandilands against bottom placed St Kilda in 2014... Ouch - it pretty much ended our chances of top two.

We wouldn’t be in the situation to make Prelims/Grand Finals if we had rested players. Ultimately we rebuilt most of the list over 2-3 years - the quantity of talent wasn’t enough.

 

[sherrif]

Hughes at the start of the 4th vs Gold Coast. Slipped over and cost us a goal and the game singlehandedly. Not the first time.

He pretty much beat his man most weeks after that.

 

[Freomaniac]

We never managed our players properly.

Johnson, Ibbotson, McPharlin, Fyfe, Pavlich were all sore, battered and bruised or injured coming into finals.

We had depth in certain areas.

Dawson, McPharlin and Johnson were all 3 solid tall defenders.

You could lose one of them with an injury for one or 2 games and the other 2 will fill the CHB anf FB spots well. the only problem was all 3 were in the same age bracket. McPharlin reitred in 2015 as a 33 or 34 year old. Zac dawson played his last game as a 31 year old in 2017. Michael Johnson retired as a 33 year old in 2018.

Rucks stocks in that era was Sandilands, Jono Griffin, Zac Clarke and Jack Hannath. Not ad ruck stocks for that 2012-17 period. But sadly Griffin and Clarke both left in 2017.

Zac Clarke was 4 years younger than Griffin and I hoped Zac Clarke would of played on for 2 more seasons.

Problem was Lyon’s gameplan was quite demanding/taxing each and every game. That was the downside effect towards the end of the season.

Thats true. That meant the game plan wasnt suited for younger players hence not too many youth played in that 2012-15 era.

and then he did not rest players enough to ensure they were fresh.

Yes and No.

Again, Freo had depth in certain parts of the team. Dawson, McPharlin and Johnson were good tall defenders. Silvagni was a back up.

The ruck stocks I have already mentioned.

Freos biggest weakness was the dire lack of KPF depth. There was next to nothing outside of an Ageing matthew pavlich. Taberner was slowly developing. Tanner Smith and Michael Apeness were injury prone..

Inside mid depth had Fyfe, Mundy, Barlow, Neale. Suban and De Boer were depth. Outside mids were Mainly Stephen Hill, Danyle Pearce, Clancee Pearce and Tendai Mzungu.



Sadly it was going to take 3-4 years to produce a 30-40 goal a season tall forward and we were trying to do it in out finals window of 2012-15.

 

[scottishdiction]

Pretty shocked he only played those finals. Not one in 2013 is the damning one. Him on Gunston and who knows.. 2014 he also missed.
Him and McPhee. Always wished we kept McPhee or persuaded him. Would’ve been key too.

Hughes is 188cm. Plays like 195cm. Those types are needed/pretty much in every clubs backline.

yeah honestly you wonder if Adam McPhee was what was missing in 2013.

he was absolute shithouse when he returned. remember going to games at Subi and everyone got stuck into him. you don't see or hear that these days at the CorporoDome. but toward the end he actually became a very dependable backman. he was an absolute coach's nightmare though: he'd drop marks with no one around him for four metres but then in the next bit of play, peel off his man and spoil a full forward from a 90 metre sprint. he was a bit like a modern Clive.

 

[scottishdiction]

Disagree. We simply didn’t have the depth to cover these players.

Some would argue that Silvagni was at least close to AFL standard. Outside of that there was simply nothing else in terms of depth. Can’t really argue Kepler as he did his knee early 2013 and never played again.

Look at when we rested Sandilands against bottom placed St Kilda in 2014... Ouch - it pretty much ended our chances of top two.

We wouldn’t be in the situation to make Prelims/Grand Finals if we had rested players. Ultimately we rebuilt most of the list over 2-3 years - the quantity of talent wasn’t enough.

Sandilands was rubbish. most overrated footballer of all time. worse than Koutafides.

 

[Righteo]

...said the pencil neck

 

[Square Peg]

...said the pencil neck

In his SA days was he the one to monotonously post that Griffin was a better ruck than Sandi?

 

[Cesoir]

Here we go again!

 

[J Docker]

hughes instead of Wilson???

I second this.

Also I hate to say it but Hill is on borrowed time. A shadow of his former self even when full fit. It's time to stand down and blood some youth

 

[J Docker]

Sandilands was rubbish. most overrated footballer of all time. worse than Koutafides.

Leigh Matthews said the same thing

 

[The Big Doggy]

I second this.

Also I hate to say it but Hill is on borrowed time. A shadow of his former self even when full fit. It's time to stand down and blood some youth

Have you ever made a positive comment on this site?

 

[J Docker]

Have you ever made a positive comment on this site?

Didn't know I had to but thanks for researching my history so extensively on ya Saturday evening

 

[scottishdiction]

In his SA days was he the one to monotonously post that Griffin was a better ruck than Sandi?

J Griffin was a better ruckman than Sandilands.

Sandilands was a *in moron. okay around the taps but completely useless as a footballer. Griffin at least was useable around the ground.

Sandilands used to handball off every mark he got, which wasn't really a mark but he got overcompensated and got lots of frees. if a club was half smart they would've worked it out.

he couldn't rest forward, he couldn't kick a goal, and he couldn't mark. absolute ******* moron as far as footballers go.

anyway, apparently I have s**t opinions... I said Hogan was an entitled, spoilt little boy and we should delist him. we delisted the charlatan and everyone said what an amazing move it was. same as Ross Lyon. reality is: I've got better opinions than most on here.

does anyone remember when that old fogey used to post on here and someone chipped him about how he was a known pest at Fremantle Oval? or the big gangstarrrrrr who got into smoking ice and posting on here? and they were 'well respected' posters.

anyway, original point: Sandilands is a moron. s**t footballer. then again this forum reckons Paul Duffield was s**t...

 

[scottishdiction]

Have you ever made a positive comment on this site?

Hill should've been delisted two years ago. soft as butter even at his peak.

he's there on feel good vibe alone but you only give feel good contracts to hard pricks who bring a good culture.

Hill is a root rat. it's the reason we didn't land Kelly, and he also tried to shag Pav's sister.

another overrated Fremantle footballer. his brother is a dog too.

positive stuff? when we had character... when we paid for Fitzroy to be sent off with some semblance of pride... when we offered them to have a home game sacrificed so they could play their last one ever in their hometown. when we had adept, innovative coaches. when we lived in The Town. when we had guys who gave a s**t. we might actually have a list pretty soon like that. I reckon we're close again. but 2014-2018 was a sh*tstain.

 

[Square Peg]

Parental tip for the kids out there, if you feel that you need to keep telling people you're the smartest person in the room, it just proves you're not

 

[Freomaniac]

I second this.

Also I hate to say it but Hill is on borrowed time. A shadow of his former self even when full fit. It's time to stand down and blood some youth

So Hughes to take Nathan wilsons spit in the back 6? Interesting. Anyone want Nathan Wilson to play on a win or Forward flank? On of wilsons strengths is his pace.

I still think Stephen Hill has one good year left. Age and a broken down leg isn't helping.

He was a free agent a year ago and no one wanted him due to his injuries.

Hoping the strength and conditioning staff and help him. If they do, we could get 2-3 good seasons out of him

 

[AstonSouffle]

Didn't know I had to but thanks for researching my history so extensively on ya Saturday evening

A Freo fan who says nothing positive about Freo, yeah you don't have to but don't know how you're okay with it?