Preview Round 2, 2021 Fremantle Dockers v GWS Giants - Optus Stadium, Sunday 28 March, 6.10 pm AEDT

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Nov 23, 2015
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Last week's first round game was played in difficult conditions. Notwithstanding that, the Giants had plenty of opportunity to win the game holding a slender lead until only a few minutes to go. Arguably the game turned on a few small GWS errors across the whole game - Cumming's 50m penalty, his goal-line kicking error leading to a Jack Higgins' goal, missed goal opportunities by Harry Himmelberg & Tim Taranto late in the game. However, there remains a few larger issues such as our ability to transition out of D50, and our ability to score once inside 50 and lock the ball inside our F50. There were several players who had solid games - Ward, Coniglio, Hopper, Perryman, Himmelberg - while others looked quite rusty or were unable to impact the game. GWS's best player was Matty Flynn on debut, with excellent tap work in the ruck and a solid all round game.

On the other hand, Fremantle Dockers had a largely scratchy match against Melbourne in Melbourne to go down by 22 points. Injuries have significantly impacted their side to start the season, with a lack of tall forwards, and more injuries suffered within the game by their tall backs - which will necessitate some team changes for this game. Their young midfielders in Brayshaw and Cerra fought valiantly all day, while Fyfe and Serong also played well, and will be a significant danger on their home deck next week.

It will be interesting to see how Matt Flynn performs against (likely) Sean Darcy - a more experienced ruckman than Saints' Paul Hunter - albeit coming back from an injury, and Lloyd Meek, another junior ruckman. It's the perfect opportunity for him to get another game under his belt before he comes up against much more seasoned campaigners - provided there's no lingering affects from his ankle injury.

Possible ins could include Brent Daniels if he's overcome his pre-season hamstring injury - he would provide some more zip in the F50, especially if the deck is dry in WA.

Potential outs could include Tanner Bruhn, who really didn't come to grips with the speed of the game and difficult conditions, although he probably deserves another chance in better conditions. Sam Reid, Bobby Hill, Connor Idun, and Jack Buckley were lesser contributors and could possibly be in the frame.

Depending on the Dockers' set-up, we may make changes to suit, but their KPP woes probably sees GWS field a similar team as last week - with Daniels a likely inclusion if fit.

For GWS it's a must-win, despite being away from home we cannot afford to drop another game to a team likely to be around the same level on the ladder come end of season. Our midfield does need to step up - we lost the clearance battle to Saints and need to reverse that statistic against Fremantle. Our defenders were a bit rusty or a bit inexperienced, and will need to continue their development to keep the Dockers score down. If the GWS forward can convert their I50s into a few more goals, kick slightly straighter, and lock the ball inside our F50 slightly better, then we can certainly kick a winning score through Himmelberg, Greene and a bunch of midfielders.

What are everyone's thoughts on this game?
 

Danny88

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With that injury list we really should be winning this one. They will be relying on their midfield to be competitive and if we win that battle we really should have them covered over the rest of the ground.
ins- Daniels for Reid
Hogan (if fit) for
XOH for bruhn
 

ClockworkOrange

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Freo’s team is so ridiculously depleted that if this was a local club fixture we’d be given the 4 points on a forfeit.

We are very, very fortunate to get this chance to play ourselves into some form and confidence at a time it’s in short supply.

Anything less than a 6 goal win will be a disappointment.

There’s an opportunity for a very special performance from Cogs in his home town with his family in the stands.


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Sep 6, 2012
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Nice write up, GS. I was hoping Simmofreo would have given it a crack, given he'd be the perfect source of inside info on the other side, but when you have divided loyalties...;)

The bookies have Freo as only slight favourites for Sunday, which says something about the condition they're in, as they're very hard to beat over there.

For us, it's really hard to say where we're at. We should have accounted for the Saints at home, but at least it looked like we were trying, which is more than you can say for the back half of last year.

It's going to be a fast track, so we need a bit of speed. Daniels would be handy but he'd be underdone, probably best to let him recover fully.

Hope we can win.
 
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Mar 8, 2002
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You'd think Flynn would struggle to come up for a game on the other side of the country. That injury will be pretty ugly 24-48 hours after the game.

He really did look terrific. I'm just a little gun on pumping him up excessively after declaring Sam Jacobs the missing link after his dazzling Rd 1 display in 2020!
 
Apr 12, 2012
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You'd think Flynn would struggle to come up for a game on the other side of the country. That injury will be pretty ugly 24-48 hours after the game.

He really did look terrific. I'm just a little gun on pumping him up excessively after declaring Sam Jacobs the missing link after his dazzling Rd 1 display in 2020!

Giants just said on Twitter Flynn is all good.
 
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Nice write up, GS. I was hoping Simmofreo would have given it a crack, given he'd be the perfect source of inside info on the other side, but when you have divided loyalties...;)

The bookies have Freo as only slight favourites for Sunday, which says something about the condition they're in, as they're very hard to beat over there.

For us, it's really hard to say where we're at. We should have accounted for the Saints at home, but at least it looked like we were trying, which is more than you can say for the back half of last year.

It's going to be a fast track, so we need a bit of speed. Daniels would be handy but he'd be underdone, probably best to let him recover fully.

Hope we can win.

Haha very good point to be fair :) I didn’t even think to do it

However I am really crap at writing things like that. I always read other people’s and think “I wish I could write creatively like that”

However more than happy to make some comments though.

This is a very interesting match up between 2 teams that have plenty of injuries, however the difference here is that Freo literally have no forwards left. Plenty of defenders and mids but no one to kick it to. And last year scoring was one of the main issues for the dockers. Giants have injuries too but have cover in each of those areas though, albeit not the number one choice .

I think this game says a lot more about the giants than the dockers in my opinion. If GWS want to even make finals this year, no matter win a flag, they need to be beating teams in the same third of the ladder as them. A Freo team decimated by injury and out of confidence should be a no excuse game for the giants not to win.

Structure wise Freo are all over the place due to the lack of forwards, that they are throwing defenders down there who get injured too. Poor bastards have a young tall who kicked friggen 7 goals in the 2’s but got suspended so they can’t even pick him. So the giants need to spend the whole week working on a defensive way to basically stop the ball going deep.

Following Freo is frustrating sometimes because since the Roman times they have always had a strategy of “just bomb the bloody thing high into the forward line and hope for the best”. So teams like west coast who have great intercept markers, just clean up all day long every single forward entry.

Enter Nick Haynes - if he plays loose man in defence all day, giants win by a canter.

Rucks will be pretty even with everyone young and inexperienced. I saw a comment about Darcy. I wouldn’t worry about him because he will not last the whole game anyway, and he is not that experienced because he is held together by sticky tape and doesn’t play many games per year to be fair.

What GWS cannot afford to do is have the experienced Mids of Ward, cogs, Kelly etc, take the young Freo mids of Brayshaw, Cerra and serong lightly. If they do, then the giants will get spanked !! Those kids are a future trio that in 8 years will be talked of like a Cousins / Kerr / Judd or Black / Voss / Aker in my opinion. Seriously they are going to be that good. They are young though so Cogs and crew can certainly beat them if they are on their game. But take them lightly at their peril.

Freo have one of the tightest defence lines in the comp. did last year too even though the didn’t finish high up the ladder and they are hard to score against. However the forward lines that they struggle against the most are versatile ones that have talls and quick smalls. In my opinion Leon needs to keep Bruen in with Toby and bring finlayson back in with Harry. That is the best strategic move with Daniels screaming though there too will be a handful. But same thing, if GWS bomb it high then Ryan and Cox will intercept all day too. But Harry, toby and Finlayson are all more than capable on the lead, so lowering the eyes is the way to get through that defence.

2 more points from me here

1. For the giants to win, DeBoar MUST play on Fyfe as a hard tag. Fyfe may end up playing forward the whole game so then that plan may go down the toilet, but if he is rotating, then deboar needs to go with him and get in his head. They know each other well, so he knows what will get in his head I guess

This is an interesting game because there is plenty of people with inside knowledge of each team. Freo have Muzungu in their coaching staff and Wilson and Lobb on the team (although they won’t play they have knowledge of giants players) and the giants have DeBoar, used to have Sheridan and have Hogan. So plenty of secrets from each side can be shared meaning the coaches have to be creative and move the magnets in ways that the opposition won’t expect. Longmuir is very capable of this. Leon is 100% NOT capable of this. In fact these days I am very concerned what he is capable of to be honest.

2. Hogan should NOT play even if he is ready. He is not necessarily required and in my opinion he will be a liability for this game. This should not be his first game for the club. I love Jesse, but the poor bloke has had a lot of mental challenges and the Perth media and football fanatical people got into his head and put him off his game. That’s why he moved in the first place. If he plays this week, the fans will boo the s**t out of him and the opposition will target him, all while trying to gel with your teammates for the first time. He is not ready for that. If he is ready play him in the VFL this week.

I think this game will be really close and probably more exciting than outsiders will think. Both teams have some talented players and a lot to play for. Confidence more so important than anything else.

So that being said, my tip

Draw ;)

How is that mate ?


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I think this game will be really close and probably more exciting than outsiders will think. Both teams have some talented players and a lot to play for. Confidence more so important than anything else.

So that being said, my tip

Draw ;)

How is that mate ?


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I think we might have unearthed a new preview writer.:thumbsu:

However, to be fair, we'll have to let dlanod preview the Lions game, and Pres preview North, before making a final decision.
 

Danny88

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Things I’m keen to see this game:
- a continued improvement on the ball movement out of the def 50. We were pretty good moving it faster IMO
- win the midfield battle. Again we were better than 2020 but this hurt us last week
- playing that deeper forward, we need someone to kick to in a surge or fast break

things I dont want to see:
- a slow switch in the backline. I love a switch... but it needs to be fast
- long kicks down the line that don’t go out of bounds out of def 50. We wont be able to move it quickly EVERY time ... so long down the line is a viable option... but it kills us when we turn it over there. Need a stoppage and a reset
 
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The GIANTS are set to recall Brent Daniels and could add young tall Jake Riccardi as Leon Cameron looks to tweak his attacking mix ahead of Sunday's clash against Fremantle.
 

Giant Pete

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A dry track with returning speed now Stormy is back in the side, I would think we should be more than too strong.

Would be happier and a lot more confident of Whitfield was back.

Giants by 20
Lol... anytime someone suggests we should win comfortably, we stink it up. The last thing this side needs is a ‘we should win this’ mentality.... it’s arguably been their biggest weakness.
 
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Lol... anytime someone suggests we should win comfortably, we stink it up. The last thing this side needs is a ‘we should win this’ mentality.... it’s arguably been their biggest weakness.

Never said the players should have this mentality.
Just saying my thoughts.
 
Never said the players should have this mentality.
Just saying my thoughts.

Some people can't distinguish between fans and players. ;)

Definitely NOT isolated to our board.
 

ClockworkOrange

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I realise the infamous ‘Leon’s Three Talls’ forward line strategy triggers PTSD among our membership.

Weirdly though, if it was ever going to be resurrected then HH-JezzaF-JakeR on a bone dry track against a depleted Dockers might be the time to unleash it.

I give Leon tactical credit for having the courage (or was it only available option?) to go very small in the forwards for R1 in a monsoon.

Anyone see merit in taking the exact opposite tack on R2 Sunday to try and really stretch the depleted Dockers?




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Freo’s team is so ridiculously depleted that if this was a local club fixture we’d be given the 4 points on a forfeit.

We are very, very fortunate to get this chance to play ourselves into some form and confidence at a time it’s in short supply.

Anything less than a 6 goal win will be a disappointment.

There’s an opportunity for a very special performance from Cogs in his home town with his family in the stands.


On iPhone using BigFooty.com mobile app
Going to be Brutally Honest. GWS wont get a better chance than Beating the dockers in Perth this weekend with all the injuries they got now.

Everyone knows the dockers biggest weakness is the forward line and this is with Both Lobb and Walters in the side.

Sadly Both Lobb and Walters are injured. So thats our KPF/ruck and best small forward out. No Crowden and Bewley so another 2 small forwards out. No Darcy tucker who is a versatile mid out. Sean Darcy who is our main Ruckman and Plays like shane mumford, is out injured. That meant that Lloyd Meek finally got a debut game vs the demons last week after 3 full seasons on the dockers list.

Alex Pearce and Joel hamling, both of them are our best tall defenders are both injured from round 1. Former Giant Nathan wilson isnt playing either.

So yeah a fair bit of players out.

We got carlton next week as well, I can see freo going 0-3.
 
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Changes will be interesting.

Daniels will come in obviously. Logic says it will be Bruhn who will miss but he'd be stiff as you want to give young blokes like that more than 1 game before tipping them out.

Playing Riccardi makes sense for the reasons spelt out but again it's tough to know who to leave out. I'd be looking at one of Keefe, Idun or Tom Green. Nothing against any of these guys but someone has to make way. Idun was very quiet and there are a lot of "like" players in the side to T Green at the moment - and the deck is going to be quick - and they have a quick midfield.

I always think Keefe is a very underrated player and personally think he looked better than Davis last week but think he might be the unlucky one this week.

Coniglio must continue to play those run with roles. Looked miles better last week. Fyfe this time.

In: Daniels, Riccardi
Out: Bruhn, Keefe
 

Giant Pete

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Haynes Davis Ash
Cumming Taylor Reid
Kelly Coniglio Perryman
Greene HH Taranto
Daniels Keeffe Hill

Flynn Hopper Green

Ward DeBoer Idun Buckley
 

fridgeman

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I cant see too many changes and interesting Ash was on the wing and Perryman down back last week so maybe they just want a bit more experience in the D50
My attempt at the team lineup

Reid Davis Haynes
Perryman Taylor Cumming
Kelly Ward Taranto
Greene HH MDB
Daniels Riccardi Hill
Flynn Hopper Coniglio
Ash Green Keefe Idun

Buckley and Bruhn omitted, Riccardi and Daniels in
Keefe to play as swingman and backup ruck
Plenty of pace in this lineup just lacking experience, the club needs to make sure Ash, Riccardi, Green, Idun, Cumming and Hill get as many games as possible this year and make sure they commit to the club as too many have left after less than 20 games taking away that 2 years of development and draft capital
And this years draft crop
 
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Changes will be interesting.

Daniels will come in obviously. Logic says it will be Bruhn who will miss but he'd be stiff as you want to give young blokes like that more than 1 game before tipping them out.

I always think Keefe is a very underrated player and personally think he looked better than Davis last week but think he might be the unlucky one this week.

Coniglio must continue to play those run with roles. Looked miles better last week. Fyfe this time.

In: Daniels, Riccardi
Out: Bruhn, Keefe
Totally agree with this, he is a best 22 player for my money.
Zero flash, all effort
 

fridgeman

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Great opportunity for Sproule and he must have impressed on the track as he was not really sighted in the pre season games although it could be that Riccardi and TOJ are not ready
Hope it is not serious for TOJ after his mental health battles in seasons past
Hoping for more ball in the hands of Tanner Bruhn and we can see some of his class
Cameron has gone tall with Buckley as well so hoping they are in the mood for some defensive pressure and making tackles stick
 
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