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Mega Thread 2025 Media & Miscellaneous Thread

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Tonga Bob

Tonga Bob

Call me Ishmael
SFA MVP - beez Medal SFA MVP - beez Medal SFA MVP - beez Medal SFA Mobbs Medal SFA MVP - beez Medal SFA Club Captains Coney Island Warriors - Sweet F.A. Fremantle Poster of the Year
Oct 26, 2013
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93,899
Van Cortlandt Park
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Back by popular demand. However...

There has been some aggro from publishers of articles in recent months about sites that copypasta their content onto other sites, particularly the paywalled ones, which could lead to fines and whanot for those that do it. Apparently there are copywrite laws for these things. As a result we can no longer have full articles reposted here, so if you come across something then please refrain from nabbing the whole thing and just post the link. Quoting a paragraph or two and linking the source is fine however, just don't get greedy.

Here's the updated site-wide rule: https://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/please-read-re-copyright-posting-newspaper-articles.1389553/

Here's an example of what you can do:

"If West Coast was the gold standard for how to operate, then Fremantle's arrival into the AFL in 1995 could be viewed as a series of cautionary tales.

Despite eight wins in that debut season, a series of poor recruiting choices meant they didn't play their first final until 2003."

If they believe that us not making finals until 2003 was solely due to "a series of poor recruiting choices" then I have a bridge to sell them.

www.abc.net.au

Can 'perennial underachievers' Fremantle become WA's biggest footy club?

For 38 years the West Coast Eagles have been WA footy's alpha male, but in the midst of their worst ever on-field run, is the balance of power shifting towards their bitter rivals Fremantle?
www.abc.net.au www.abc.net.au

Thanks for your understanding.
 
Purple Suit said:
They look like pretty big boots. Maybe someone has left already and didn't clean out their locker so Serong is doing it like the team player he is.

We've delisted someone and they've cracked it is my first impression. Although a delisted player would want their boots. A player who has asked for a trade will get a new set at their new club.....

Freddie has asked for a trade due to reading Big Footy over the weekend.
Click to expand...
They are, it will take a bloody special player to fill them.😁😁
 
Dockeroo said:
I think that stuff from Kane and kingy is harmless enough to be fair. Their show is a lighthearted entertainment product. I don’t think they hate freo as such. They get stuck into plenty clubs and afl figures over the season.

I find the likes of Tim Gossage a lot more toxic and sinister in his commentary about freo. He absolutely despises us and it was evident yesterday when he spoke with Simpson about Freo.

Actually a guy that really is beginning to irritate me in his commentary on Freo is Ryan Daniels. All week long he was cheerleading a Freo win and dismissive of the suns chances. Arrogance and hubris on full display purely to curry favour with WA dockers fans. If we finish 7th next year and lose week 1 of finals he’ll still be talking about how freo fans are too demanding and expect too much.

Mark Duffield is the only pundit worth listening to. His show was excellent yesterday if you want some balanced reflection on the game.

The entire week of the game was exactly the same as the western bulldogs game in terms of the media build up except in reverse. Our media (including Ryan Daniels) was completely dismissing and disrespecting the suns. Just like the VFL media dissed us the week before v the doggies.

Before any one jumps in and says that kind of thing has no impact on the players - that’s nonsense. The players don’t live in a vacuum and hear and see the narrative around our team and our opponents all the time.
I’d love if someone asked rhino what he thought of the West Australian (his ****ing employers) front page last week? You can be sure he’ll dodge that question.
Click to expand...
Not disagreeing with your post, but just wanted to mention Paul Haselby - as someone I rate highly. He obviously understands the game (and in particular Freo), communicates well, is well connected and very balanced and honest.
 

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Dockeroo said:
I think that stuff from Kane and kingy is harmless enough to be fair. Their show is a lighthearted entertainment product. I don’t think they hate freo as such. They get stuck into plenty clubs and afl figures over the season.

I find the likes of Tim Gossage a lot more toxic and sinister in his commentary about freo. He absolutely despises us and it was evident yesterday when he spoke with Simpson about Freo.

Actually a guy that really is beginning to irritate me in his commentary on Freo is Ryan Daniels. All week long he was cheerleading a Freo win and dismissive of the suns chances. Arrogance and hubris on full display purely to curry favour with WA dockers fans. If we finish 7th next year and lose week 1 of finals he’ll still be talking about how freo fans are too demanding and expect too much.

Mark Duffield is the only pundit worth listening to. His show was excellent yesterday if you want some balanced reflection on the game.

The entire week of the game was exactly the same as the western bulldogs game in terms of the media build up except in reverse. Our media (including Ryan Daniels) was completely dismissing and disrespecting the suns. Just like the VFL media dissed us the week before v the doggies.

Before any one jumps in and says that kind of thing has no impact on the players - that’s nonsense. The players don’t live in a vacuum and hear and see the narrative around our team and our opponents all the time.
I’d love if someone asked rhino what he thought of the West Australian (his ****ing employers) front page last week? You can be sure he’ll dodge that question.
Click to expand...
Bottom line is they’re all reactive to results like the average supporter.

When we win they praise us & talk us up but if they have an agenda against us just like a number of posters on here, they go missing until we lose again.

And when we lose most cop it, particularly the coach & those with an agenda rub their hands together & become relevant, not only in the media with King, Kane & Gooshead lighting the pitchforks, but on here where they crawl out of their dark places & start to tear blokes down again.
 
Email from Garlick:

Dear [REDACTED]

On the weekend, our 2025 AFL campaign came to a heart-wrenching end as we were knocked out of the finals by the Gold Coast Suns.

There is no denying the numb feeling of pure disappointment that comes with falling short of the ultimate goal. A feeling shared by every player, coach, staff member, and loyal supporter who have worked so hard to get this Club back to AFL Finals.

Our story this AFL season was one of grit and unwavering belief, and after speaking with the majority of our playing group this week, the loss to the Suns will burn right through the off-season.

And that energy must and will be directed into 2026 preparations, to ensure we give ourselves the best chance to go again, climb again and make the Freo family proud.

We often speak of our purpose to make you proud, but it’s worth noting how proud you make us.

It may be cold comfort to you right now, but the commitment and unbreakable spirit displayed by everyone in purple to achieve record membership of 66,179, as well as finish top 3 in the AFL for average home game attendances this season is incredible.

You show up and you back us in, and that privilege is not lost on us.

Back in 2021 we presented to you, our valued members and partners, our four-year strategy and 2025 marks the end of that plan.

It was a bold strategic blueprint that provided our Club with a united and clear vision for our future.

From the 13 key metrics across our pillars of Football, Members & Fans, Culture, Community, Partnerships and Finance & Infrastructure, we are proud to have achieved eight of them.

However, we understand that the key metrics of at least one Men’s premiership, three top four AFL finishes and 80,000 members by the end of 2025 was not achieved.

We knew these goals were ambitious, reflecting our belief in what we can achieve when we contend on a sustained basis, and we won’t shy away from being a Club that sets high expectations and puts itself on the hook by being open about its goals. As a Club we have not always been as transparent but you, our most important stakeholders, deserve to know what your Club is looking to achieve, and how it plans to go about it.

We have high expectations and while we may not have reached all the heights we set out for by the end of 2025, the foundation we’ve built, the lessons we’ve learned, and the passion of the Purple Army during this period make this part of the journey highly critical and meaningful.

From an on-field perspective, the AFL season output of 16 wins, which is one off our Club record of 17 set in 2015, is a clear indication that we are heading in the right direction. While it provides no guarantees or assurances for the future, the base that has been set is a strong one from which we can launch.

To see two All Australians in Jordan Clark and Caleb Serong, along with two squad members in Luke Jackson and Andy Brayshaw, Murphy Reid voted as the best first year player, as well as improvement in a significant amount of our playing group shows that we continue to provide an environment that develops our people to be the best players they can be.

This needs to keep building into a strength of our program as we look to use this off-season to again add to and improve our playing list. We will continue to do whatever is required to build our Members and Fans a list capable of contending for Premierships on a sustained basis.

Off the field, I am proud of our position in the industry as a financially stable and robust Club. I know how important this is to our members and partners and with this in mind we will be pleased to report at the end of our financial year a 6th consecutive profit and another increase in our cash reserve base.

We have a Partnership family that leads the AFL with a remarkable group of blue chip companies led by our co-major partners in Woodside and Bankwest, and including the likes of DP World, Asahi Breweries, RAC, HostPlus and McDonald’s to name a few. Combined with our loyal and passionate members and partner base, the financial strength this support provides means we can continue to invest in our future.

At our Cockburn HQ, our new AFLW and community changerooms facility and spectator viewing area is almost complete and shows our commitment to ensuring we provide the best facilities for our players, while continuing to enrich and give back to the community.

Our AFLW team are four rounds into the season and are up for the fight after a disappointing start to our campaign.

Their commitment to excellence and the way Lisa Webb and her coaching group challenge and demand improvement means we’re confident things will turn around for us. It’s a short season, which makes it challenging, but we are up for it starting this Sunday when we take on West Coast at Fremantle Oval for the RAC Derby.

Before I round out, I want to express deep gratitude and acknowledgement for the extraordinary careers of Nathan Fyfe and Michael Walters.

These two champions have given everything to Fremantle, leading with passion, inspiring generations, and leaving a legacy that will forever be part of our Club’s story.

Their impact goes far beyond the field.

Justin spoke about their legacy post-game on Saturday night but the hole that these two players will leave on this group is immeasurable and I want to thank both Nathan and Sonny for the memories, the leadership, and the love they’ve shown for this Club.

Our final thank you goes to you, the Purple Army.

What an unbelievable army of fans you are.

Those of you at the Elimination Final on Saturday night were something to behold. It had to be loudest collection of 57,500 in the history of world sport. We are acutely aware of how fortunate we are to have the best member and fan base in the world and we were all gutted we couldn't get across the line for you on Saturday.

But you are our inspiration to go again in 2026, you are the heartbeat of Fremantle, and it is because of your support and backing that I know we can build some truly special.

I look forward to seeing many of you at Freo Oval for the back half of the AFLW season, because your support matters, and it makes us the special Club that we are.


Go Freo!

Warm regards,

Simon Garlick
Chief Executive Officer
Fremantle Dockers
Click to expand...
 
I agree with this mostly

Mick Malthouse: Fremantle Dockers had a good year but there are tweaks they need to make to compete in 2026
In the cold light of day, after all the soul searching, the Fremantle Dockers will breakdown their season and realise they had a good year.
16 wins in the home and away season is nothing to sneeze at.
However, having the lowest percentage inside the top nine means that they were not particularly winning with margins that are associated with the true top teams.
The Gold Coast Suns went into last week’s final with one less win on the board, but a better percentage, so there should never have been an expectation that Fremantle would just walk into the next final.
The Suns are a seriously good football side. Having thumped the Brisbane Lions by 11 goals not that long ago, they will head into this weekend’s final with confidence.
Breaking down the Dockers’ game, it’s hard to pinpoint one area where they were deficient. It was a combination of minor things that, when accumulated, leads to an insufficiency that causes angst in finals football.
And these are the things that need to be addressed before next season.
Fremantle’s backline is tight. It’s got good runners, and it’s well led by captain Alex Pearce. But if there is any criticism it’s that it can go into its shell too often, keeping the ball in its back half while waiting for the perfect pass out.
Mick Malthouse: September brings pressure for more than finals-bound clubs
This exposes them to counterattack by good opposition. In these moments the Dockers’ ball movement becomes slow and laborious and has cost them early on, on multiple occasions against the better sides.
The Band-Aid effect of this is that they’ve been able to come back later in games and win in astonishing fashion because they swap slow ball movement with speed on the ball.
They can’t keep chasing their tails though, so getting onto this earlier in games will help them next season.
Fremantle’s midfield, as talented as it is, lacks a consistent second tier that can maintain ball-getting power and pressure against good opposition.
Only Justin Longmuir and his match committee would know if there’s any younger players that can supplement the midfield next season.
Andrew Brayshaw, Caleb Serong, and to a lesser degree Hayden Young, seem to be the go-to, but if one or two of them are held throughout a game, the machine stops.
They need better backup to improve this area next year.
The Dockers’ forward line has a certain potency, but I think they carry one tall too many into a game. That tall is Jye Amiss. Whilst he’s only young, he fails in the key areas of pressure on the ball and missing easy shots.

Jye Amiss. 2025 Getty Images
With three other talls - Josh Treacy and Patrick Voss, and a lot of times Luke Jackson - the opposition cuts them apart on the way back.
You can’t resurrect Michael Walters, but that’s the player Fremantle lacks.
When you look at the better sides, Geelong has Tyson Stengle, Collingwood Bobby Hill, Adelaide Izaak Rankine, Gold Coast Ben Long, and yesteryear Brisbane had Charlie Cameron. This smaller, speedy type of forward is essential to give the Dockers’ forward line a different look and a better chance of big scores next season.

Longmuir should be congratulated for getting his team into the eight, it’s not easy.
When on song Fremantle has proven it can go with the best, and, win away from home.
But without doubt, the Dockers are a victim of a shallow list. When you have more players to filter through, you don’t lose structure, momentum, or intensity. When Freo has trailed off it’s been because of one of those components.
Congratulations to Nat Fyfe and Michael Walters on wonderful careers. With their retirement Fremantle needs to find younger replicas of them to keep the club moving forward.
To comment on this story and join the conversation, subscribe to The West
 
blue shark said:
Brad Hardie has given his opinion on Freo.
Some home truths there, even if you think he is a tool.
Click to expand...
Yesterday on the radio he doubled-down and went even harder claiming that one of our senior players "refuses to even enter the gym." He then really went to town on Simon Garlick again for his bold ambition of winning a premiership in both the men's and women's competitions by 2025, which he said was a complete failure.

Does anyone know why he wasn't invited to the Western Bulldogs 100 Year Celebrations and wasn't included as one of the top 25 Western Bulldogs of all time, when he was one of only 10 Footscray/Western Bulldogs players to have won a Brownlow Medal at the club over the last 100 years?
 

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Harry Reems said:
Yesterday on the radio he doubled-down and went even harder claiming that one of our senior players "refuses to even enter the gym." He then really went to town on Simon Garlick again for his bold ambition of winning a premiership in both the men's and women's competitions by 2025, which he said was a complete failure.

Does anyone know why he wasn't invited to the Western Bulldogs 100 Year Celebrations and wasn't included as one of the top 25 Western Bulldogs of all time, when he was one of only 10 Footscray/Western Bulldogs players to have won a Brownlow Medal at the club over the last 100 years?
Click to expand...
Because he’s forgettable and irrelevant. His opinions are based on a game that isn’t played that way any more. He is the journalist equivalent of a fan screaming over the fence “just kick it… Oh why did you kick it”.
For some reason until someone mentioned him the other day, I thought he had retired from media or had passed on.
 
Harry Reems said:
Yesterday on the radio he doubled-down and went even harder claiming that one of our senior players "refuses to even enter the gym." He then really went to town on Simon Garlick again for his bold ambition of winning a premiership in both the men's and women's competitions by 2025, which he said was a complete failure.

Does anyone know why he wasn't invited to the Western Bulldogs 100 Year Celebrations and wasn't included as one of the top 25 Western Bulldogs of all time, when he was one of only 10 Footscray/Western Bulldogs players to have won a Brownlow Medal at the club over the last 100 years?
Click to expand...
He is a sook & has always been a sook. I’ve had some not so pleasant dealings with him & he is an arseh*le of the highest order. He has burnt so many bridges over his time that he is completely irrelevant to most in the industry it really is a waste of time discussing anything he’s says on here because he is so bitter.
 
Harry Reems said:
Yesterday on the radio he doubled-down and went even harder claiming that one of our senior players "refuses to even enter the gym." He then really went to town on Simon Garlick again for his bold ambition of winning a premiership in both the men's and women's competitions by 2025, which he said was a complete failure.

Does anyone know why he wasn't invited to the Western Bulldogs 100 Year Celebrations and wasn't included as one of the top 25 Western Bulldogs of all time, when he was one of only 10 Footscray/Western Bulldogs players to have won a Brownlow Medal at the club over the last 100 years?
Click to expand...

Hardie reminds me of a miserable old uncle that ends up being background noise that the rest of the family tune out.
 

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Harry Reems said:
Yesterday on the radio he doubled-down and went even harder claiming that one of our senior players "refuses to even enter the gym." He then really went to town on Simon Garlick again for his bold ambition of winning a premiership in both the men's and women's competitions by 2025, which he said was a complete failure.

Does anyone know why he wasn't invited to the Western Bulldogs 100 Year Celebrations and wasn't included as one of the top 25 Western Bulldogs of all time, when he was one of only 10 Footscray/Western Bulldogs players to have won a Brownlow Medal at the club over the last 100 years?
Click to expand...
As the French man said."I don't think, I know".
 
Harry Reems said:
Yesterday on the radio he doubled-down and went even harder claiming that one of our senior players "refuses to even enter the gym." He then really went to town on Simon Garlick again for his bold ambition of winning a premiership in both the men's and women's competitions by 2025, which he said was a complete failure.

Does anyone know why he wasn't invited to the Western Bulldogs 100 Year Celebrations and wasn't included as one of the top 25 Western Bulldogs of all time, when he was one of only 10 Footscray/Western Bulldogs players to have won a Brownlow Medal at the club over the last 100 years?
Click to expand...
Imagine actually believing that a senior player refuses to enter the gym and then repeating it on the radio segment that represents your entire 3 minutes of relevance each week. Even Suma has more brains than this salty fool.
 
Piggy Smalls said:
Imagine actually believing that a senior player refuses to enter the gym and then repeating it on the radio segment that represents your entire 3 minutes of relevance each week. Even Suma has more brains than this salty fool.
Click to expand...
I believe him. You really think Luke Ryan looks like he’s ever stepped one day in the gym?
 

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