Autopsy Autopsy vs Freo - ****

[north_lad]

I’m pleased the short bursts of allowing teams to get a bit of a run on no longer turns into us allowing them get a run on for majority of the game! We’re fighting back which is a trait we’ve not had for a very long time. It’s a trait I’m getting excited about!

Yes

 

[Zondor]

There's a world where we are potentially 7-5 or 8-4

Yeah thanks for that Tattoo. How is Fantasy Island? :stern look

 

[Rollmop]

uuuuurrrrrggghhhh

We deserved to win that

We did. We should have lost last week but we sure as hell deserved to win tonight

 

[ohmygewd]

Much, MUCH better effort by the lads compared to last week!!
We can go on how shit such and such player is but you know what, nearly every player is playing their role - good or bad but this team has really harden up defensively as a team.
Lets compare where this team is after today compared to last year:
2025 2024
R1 -16 -39
R2 59 -26
R3 -36 -56
R4 -65 -70
R5 -52 -75
R6 -82 -45
R7 -9 -57
R8 -3 -38
R9 0 -68
R10 4 -40
R11 -45 -59
R13 10 9
R14 -6 -1
Av -18.54 -43.46

Yes, l expect more from this team but you know what, apart from the Pies game in R11, this team kept teams, or has not been scored on (depends on which side of the fence you are on), under 100pts since R6..this time last year, teams averaged around 110pts per game!!

I really hope the belief is there now that the lads can be in the game and even a lapse like that in the 2nd quarter (which l thought, not again), they can will their way back in the contest.

 

[scottywiper]

Just watching the highlights....in the first quarter Sheezel takes a tackle and instantly fires out a handball to a teammate. Only to be called HTB. What the ****. He disposed of it immediately with a legal disposal.
Sheezel was beside himself with the call and Luke Parker

26

Luke Parker

Age

33

Ht

183cm

Wt

88kg

Pos.

M/F

Career

Season

Last 5

D

24.2

5star

K

12.6

5star

HB

11.6

5star

M

3.8

4star

T

5.6

5star

CL

5.8

5star

D

22.1

5star

K

12.3

5star

HB

9.9

5star

M

3.9

4star

T

5.0

5star

CL

5.5

5star

D

21.2

5star

K

11.4

4star

HB

9.8

5star

M

2.0

3star

T

8.0

5star

CL

5.2

5star

gesticulated at umpire. Went straight down other end for Bolton goal.
Larkey decision was horrific. This was no better and made no sense at all

 

[Rod Stroker]

Put Treacy or Voss in our forward line and we win that game. Get a KP player who can take a contested mark FFS……or at least one that can halve them.

We have one but refuse to play him. #39

 

[dus]

Thoughts from the game.

We should have won. We just have no killer instinct.

Pink did everything possible, except that last moment. Marks all of those and different story. He played well though.

Umps were woeful, haven’t seen the Parker head high mentioned yet. Freo goaled from it.

LDU disappeared after that first quarter.

Larkey missed when it counted, but redeemed himself. Too little too late. He was trying hard though.

RHJ did more than Fyfe as sub.

FOS is brilliant. Missed marked and attempted soccer, he could have kicked a couple. Possibly needs to be released from his lock down role. Get him the footy more.

Darling in the ruck is not the answer. Played a good game though.

Lmac was good. Credit where it’s due.

Parker was great. Put the team on his shoulders. We fell off.

Simpkin was below average.

Curtis was down.

Daniel was his usual chip scabbing ineffective self. Can’t tackle or defend.

Powell barely noticed.

Zurharr put his body on the line. Did nothing but injure himself. He’s overrated.

Hards tried had. Beautiful kick. Barely got near it. Imagine he got it as much as Daniel.

Konstanty has the worst disposal and decision making of any small forward in the comp. Can’t knock his pressure and tackling though.

Sheeze got it a bit. Wasn’t that damaging. We just need to get him the ball more and get someone to cover his man.

Fisher is average. At best.

Wardlaw and Kerch need more games. Will be dynamic. Give Daniel’s role back to Kerch.

Would love to see Wardlaw resting forward more.

Should have won. Story of the season.

 

[hcd199]

We're a strange sort of side at the moment. The old lapses where the opposition take control and pile on a run of goals aren't completely gone, but they are contracting in length, and something approach a new competitive normal is expanding in its place - but sometimes that's long periods where neither side can score because we're controlling enough of the play to stifle them and we don't quite know how to convert for ourselves, sometimes that's clinging on grimly via repeat stoppages and rolling back hard, sometimes it's the pressure game leading to both sides appearing near-totally inept. There's a lot about it that's uncertain - what we need to see confirmed is that these close losses aren't the peak an upswing but are a genuine sustainable lift in our base competitiveness - but, gradual and lacklustre and not wholly convincing though it is, with every week that we repeat it, it does start to feel like progress. Tonight's last quarter definitely felt like that - enough for the loss to sting rather than feel inevitable, which I guess is a good thing?

Parker played like exactly the sort of on-field leader we just haven't had for a while. Some of the tackling efforts across the team were excellent, Hardeman's spoil in the last great (he's been really good since settling into the 22), McDonald another solid game, O'Sullivan good again (despite the air-swing non-goal), and nice to see Logue finding something finally this season on a night where Pink was clearly beaten (not woeful but definitely bested) and K. Dawson probably blew one of his last chances. LDU really good early in setting the tone, but the same frustrating inconsistencies were there again (even when he was on in the first). Stephens stepping up has been significant to our 'better' period since R7, and Darling played exactly the role he's signed to play. Curtis kept quiet hurt us tonight, while Larkey's form remains frustrating (his complete miss late in the third was seriously momentum-sapping; we're lucky Darling managed to slot one on 3QT not too long after). Konstanty still a mixed bag, and between tonight and the somehow-given-as-a-free-to-us-then-revoked one in R8, maybe we need to tell him not to take the advantage? Some particularly abrasive umpiring decisions in a close game too, not least the phantom HTB against Sheezel in the 1st and no HTB to Larkey on the goal-line in the 2nd.

Carlton next week will really be telling. Not just as 'how far have we come since Good Friday', but as an absolutely gettable side for us in the form both teams are in - and it feels like we're well past due a win in one of those...

 

[dus]

I don’t think Pink was beaten at all. He was very solid.

 

[Freomaniac]

$6? When was that, halfway through the third?

Nope before the opening bounce

 

[zoomba23]

Nope before the opening bounce

Boggles my mind. Would've had us at $4.50 odd. No disrespect to your mob but they don't scare me the way some of the other contenders do.

Still, you have Treacy. We don't. So maybe it was fair odds

 

[The Talent Scout]

Well like everyone else that was gut wrenching, I know there are a few who are sick & tired of honourable losses and I get it, but WE have gone from getting slaughtered and people saying, "I don't care about losing but bloody hell can we please make it competitive, none of this 10 & 15 goal losses, what I would give". Your seeing glimpses, and "the little things", are people noticing them?

They are there if you are willing to acknowledge that okay we lost, we should have won, but we nearly caused a boil over and yes the naysayers will say, "yes that's right we didn't win, because we are not good enough and we don't know how to win". I know it doesn't help but here's the thing, those two statements are dead right. We didn't win for a variety of reasons and "we are not good enough" is partly correct, we're not, but we are learning, the team is learning and I can assure you there are lots of other little things that can and will be be learned from losses like these and during training and team meetings they will be discussed and go in the memory banks.

Last week we probably should have got beat, but won, this week we should have won but got beat, it stinks but that's the way it goes, at the moment. Like last week move on and we play the Blues, don't think there will be many changes.

 

[zoomba23]

Well like everyone else that was gut wrenching, I know there are a few who are sick & tired of honourable losses and I get it, but WE have gone from getting slaughtered and people saying, "I don't care about losing but bloody hell can we please make it competitive, none of this 10 & 15 goal losses, what I would give". Your seeing glimpses, and "the little things", are people noticing them?

They are there if you are willing to acknowledge that okay we lost, we should have won, but we nearly caused a boil over and yes the naysayers will say, "yes that's right we didn't win, because we are not good enough and we don't know how to win". I know it doesn't help but here's the thing, those two statements are dead right. We didn't win for a variety of reasons and "we are not good enough" is partly correct, we're not, but we are learning, the team is learning and I can assure you there are lots of other little things that can and will be be learned from losses like these and during training and team meetings they will be discussed and go in the memory banks.

Last week we probably should have got beat, but won, this week we should have won but got beat, it stinks but that's the way it goes, at the moment. Like last week move on and we play the Blues, don't think there will be many changes.

Next week will be a great test of our mettle. Previously we've had performances like this, poured the resultant bathwater into beakers, and started sculling like parched desert explorers. Carlton have been vulnerable for ages and the closest we got to them was last year's second match up, and even then we never hit the front. We should be hungry for the win and willing to do EVERYTHING to ****ing win it

 

[Rollmop]

Been a long time since I’ve seen so many htb decisions in a game of footy, mostly against us of course, some were absolute bullshit, and then there was the missed one, the Larkey one on the goal square which was an absolute howler. We dominated in that first quarter and a half and if we had someone who could take a contested mark or take a clean possession in the forward line or just take the game on and kick the bloody thing, well things could have been different - we didn’t take our chances, that’s on us. We didn’t give up though which was pleasing, kept fighting til the end but the worst moment for me was LDU fumbling away on the wing, that was the moment - don’t ever assume, and don’t ever just stop.

 

[danj]

That non call Larkey HTB in the goal square is the difference

No mate the 5 goal run they had in the 2nd was the difference

 

[Archer_11]

Honestly, I'd take tonight's defeat over last week's four points. The only reason we lost today was a lack of polish and issues down forward. Plus we seemed to draw the shot straw with 50-50's on countless occasions.

If that HTB was correctly called on the goal line; if Curtis converted the easy set shot; if O'Sullivan kicked the ball on the ground; if Sheezel wasn't incorrectly pinged for HTB. Onward it goes.

Poor Cam got smashed all night and Tristan looks like he picked up an injury - two developments that probably cost us a goal or two on balance over the night if they were fit and firing.

I thought the defence was fantastic in the absence of Comben and once again a small selection of lesser players stood up. LDU was immense in the first. Parker was more than handy. JMac has some really good form. O'Sullivan is getting it together. Pink is a lock, Hansen Jnr was good, Caleb good by his standards. Darling playing his role. Wardlaw blending really well with Sheez and LDU. Stephens was great. In the fourth quarter we just looked pound for pound the more skillful, hungrier team.

We won't get the result we want this year but it's coming together in a much more positive way. A few straight kicks and we'd be mid table doing cartwheels - if you're feeling down keep the faith is all I can say.

 

[THE_GUN]

Great effort last 2 games and a successful tour of duty out west

Definitely can see improvement and development of players and game plan coming through

Now thats done

Its time to get to work and put all the learnings to action and beat the Blooze

North are very very capable in doing it with talent and skill but is the mental strength upto it

Good Luck next game

 

[amaz199]

In that last quarter, we completely went bonkers. Proper bonkers with ball movement.

Swarmed Freo, got ball back then ran through the defensive lines with quick gives and short kicking. If we're good enough, we keep the ball in our forward territory and block it in. It's the sort of stuff you'd see on repeat from top 8 sides and it's probably what we've been trying to do since earlier in the season. We just haven't been clean enough by foot or by hand. Some of it is positioning and some of it is cohesion. Most of it, probably, is mental lapses and or bad decision making. We seem to be flicking a switch when the game opens up as opposed to forcing it like we did earlier in the year. If the game is a tight arm wrestle, we play the percentages and try to maintain possession. The minute opposition lose structures a tad and the pressure drops, we immediately open up the corridor and use the width of the ground intentionally feeding our best users.

If the team can mature enough to make on-field changes so that it can play to conditions, handle them then play how it wants to, that's basically how top 8 sides are born. Teams that can absorb pressure, wait for the game to open up then punish are said to be closest to their premiership window or well within.

We weren't particularly good in the second half of Q2 and all of Q3. So effectively, to get within a kick of Freo by only playing an alright first quarter and a good fourth, probably implicates we're on the right track but still suffering from mental lapses and a disconnect.

 

[DuckYeah]

Ahhhhh we are close ladies and gents.

You can feel the competitiveness.

If we had a proper forward-line, we'd be laughing.

Missed too many chances.

Agreed.. and the way we enter is like we have prime Carey inside the 50 ready to take the pack mark.

 

[DuckYeah]

Plenty here will love the Honourable Loss lol

Better than getting flogged every week IMO and a step in the right direction.

A step in the right direction is winning. Its still a loss. Dont want any sugar coating rubbish.

 

[DuckYeah]

I think Larkey’s non-holding the ball in the goal square is the worst decision this season. The umpire should be given a demotion.

I think Larkey kicking it out on the full is worse. I think the continual bombs from happy meal inside 50 or the easy dropped chest marks in D 50 or leaving loose players attacking side in a throw in is worse than blaming umpires.

 

[Frank Thring]

0 tackles. I've appreciated his effort but he should be let go.

So he should be let go because he didnt have a tackle in a quarter and a bit of footy. Pretty average assessment of his game

 

[DuckYeah]

Just watching the highlights....in the first quarter Sheezel takes a tackle and instantly fires out a handball to a teammate. Only to be called HTB. What the ****. He disposed of it immediately with a legal disposal.
Sheezel was beside himself with the call and Luke Parker gesticulated at umpire. Went straight down other end for Bolton goal.
Larkey decision was horrific. This was no better and made no sense at all

Ohh yeh but what about the dumb as **** 50 that Sheezel gave away? He doesn’t do that what happens?

 

[LETSGOKANGAS]

Whats a ninnie?

Its what we did in that second quarter when we copped 4 goals in 5 minutes.

 

[Hearts to hearts]

I think it’s masochism to say we we were better for all but five minutes and threw a win away - Freo missed more easy shots than we did and you could say their inexplicable inability to turn marks and set shots in great spots kept it closer than it should have been. We had more inside 50s and great tackling and pressure to keep it there, but fewer quality entries and it was mostly congested and under pressure from Freo, plus they killed us in the air with their contested marking in every part of the ground. The umpiring errors are another thing - really helped them and cost us, over and over.