Preview Round 9, 2026: Fremantle v Hawthorn, 7 May 2026, 8.10pm AEST @ Optus Stadium

[Liverbird]

Rama can play forward perfectly well so not sure all the fuss with people thinking we are playing 3 rucks.

Just because Gerard w***erly was confused by the selection does not mean us supporters that follow a players development can't see the options.

Rama will play fwd ... not needed as a ruckman. He kicked 3 goals 1 behind from 12 possessions with 4 hit outs in his last game versus North in Tassie last year.

Again not sure why the confusion here...guess most people listen to the mediots and don't have trust in the selection committee and club.

Hawks to make a statement tomorrow night ... bookmark it !!!

 

[VandoHawk]

Hey Fellas, all the best for Thursday night!
Just wondering what the chances are for a late out? Seeing Ramsden come in for Dear, with the 2 rucks already named, is there a chance your too tall? Atleast dear is abit more agile then ramsden, could Meek come out for Nairn and Ramsden play the backup ruck role?

Ramsden is very mobile. He's like a Temu Jackson.

 

[Alite]

Nailed it big time. Well done .

Interested in your reasoning behind scrimshaw. I felt he made of plenty of errors v cats and was making errors v Collingwood. Is it structures or gameplan which resulted in this decision.

Ramsden instead of McCabe ? Purely size based ? Will Ramsden be a forward only? Clearly we aren’t playing three rucks.

What was your reasoning for Ryan over Perez ? Not saying Perez plays the scrimshaw role exclusively, however you mentioned balance.

No one picked these ins and outs in Australia

KOLOKOTRONIS

Ryan has played a few near flawless games in the VFL, especially late last year, but not recently.

I think he is trying to expand his game, likely at the urging of coaches, and has made some horror decisions (somewhat Scrimshaw like)

He gave up 5 goals in a game when he was partially burnt by a lack of upfield pressure against Geelong in the first qtr, but he also stuffed a few contests. What was great was that he thoroughly beat his opponent after qtr time. The resilience was impressive.

I think he will be given a job against a Freo player and he will get that job done. I don't expect big numbers from him or many intercepts (which he is capable of taking). I think this is a taste of the big time for a player that can become an excellent role player, if he rises to the level. He is no Blake Hardwick, but who in the comp is!

It is time to see if the kid can win an AFL matchup.

 

[Tall Tales and True]

Just my opinion, for future reference: if I'm not mistaken, didn't Ramsden rove/snap 2 goals in the vfl last week; Meek couldn't rove/snap a goal if his life depended on it. Max has uncanny skills (below his knees) for such a big guy ... genuinely mobile, w great endurance too. Meek is a big, lion-hearted, (almost old-school) ruck who gives his all in the contest & who possesses a very different, but rather limited skillset. With Reeves, seemingly, taking the no.1 spot, Max offers more as no. 2, IMO, if that's how we roll when Mabs returns; let's hope he performs accordingly.

 

[bigmaxi]

Before I say it, I know this is ridiculous, but could Ramma be set to tag on Jackson?

Limit Jackson's influence at stoppage and around-the-ground and then have Ramma run Jackson off his feat on the spread with his endurance.

Reeves will get the job done at centre bounces against both Jackson and Cox, with Meek wearing both Jackson and Cox down around the ground with his strength.

One of the three rucks is always resting fwd (keeping out of Gunston and Lewis' way during transition) and turning up for the high ball stretching Freo's backs. Pearce (201cm) will have to take the resting ruck, letting Lewis have Cox (195cm) and Gunna have Chapman (193cm). If our fwds separate well enough and don't allow the free backs to co-ordinate, I'd back us to score most entries.

But this is totally ridiculous! So many moving parts. The forwards would have to understand what each other is doing perfectly, and the entries would need to be awesome.

But WHAT IF that is the plan and it works. It would be near impossible to stop once the Hawks small brigade arrives to mop up any crumbs.

It is a fun dream... and sometimes dreams actually happen.

I love this , it’s Alite thinking. Sammy has a plan and his selections scream many moving parts. This one is as good as I’ve read so you get my vote.
PS: Rama does have a massive tank. Lewis to kick his first bag for a while.

 

[SSSSSS]

Hey Fellas, all the best for Thursday night!
Just wondering what the chances are for a late out? Seeing Ramsden come in for Dear, with the 2 rucks already named, is there a chance your too tall? Atleast dear is abit more agile then ramsden, could Meek come out for Nairn and Ramsden play the backup ruck role?

Do your own homework, Justin!

 

[BigTonkaTroy]

Before I say it, I know this is ridiculous, but could Ramma be set to tag on Jackson?

I HIGHLY doubt we are bringing in a 203CM ruck to tag another ruck.

 

[Briar Gold]

Hey Fellas, all the best for Thursday night!
Just wondering what the chances are for a late out? Seeing Ramsden come in for Dear, with the 2 rucks already named, is there a chance your too tall? Atleast dear is abit more agile then ramsden, could Meek come out for Nairn and Ramsden play the backup ruck role?

Friendly reminder that females exist on the internet, including this site!

 

[MazHawk]

Friendly reminder that females exist on the internet, including this site!

Never been called a fella before although occasionally 'one of the guys'.

Intriguing emergencies. Not surprised by Cam, pleased for Matty, and Henry ... well we'll see.

 

[Slainte]

Scrimshaw might have done something awful as he keep getting dropped. I feel gone by end of this year.

Good luck Ryan. Hawks by plenty !!

Scrimshaw's only serious fault is that he makes poor decisions when under pressure with ball in hand . He has cost us goals with panicky little kicks or poor handpasses that go straight to opposition players. If he had moe composure under pressure, he would have a complete game. He defends well one on one, has very good aerial skills and is a lovely kick when in space.

 

[Towmotar]

I reckon we get a bit of a thumping tonight.
Freeo are a very settled team with guns all over the field, they'll be looking to make a statement at home.
We've got a few cracks showing and the Dockers are well equipped to expose our backline the way the Pies did, but worse.
Reality check inbound.

 

[Blackhawk42]

Just realised this is an 8:10pm Thursday game.

R.I.P my Friday morning at work.

 

[DearJai]

We couldn't even beat an injured pies team.
Freo are a good side, oddly enough their midfield has been a bit of a weakness for them this season but you can only beat who they have infront of them and they are doing that.

Freo beat the Pies by one goal, and only scored 45 points against them.

We kicked like a 12 year-old with a head injury vs. the Pies, and still managed to pinch a draw.

Kick straight and we'd have thumped them.

This is another little crucible coming up for our team. We were not far away from a win last time we played there. Our guys are showing an appetite for The Challenge this year. On exposed form we'd have to be a chance to win (Gather Round win, final interstage last year etc.).

 

[daniel23]

I wouldn't be surprised if meek spends a bit of time up fwd, he was the last one kicking goals at the run around yesterday. So Maybe ramsden will take jackson around the ground. Newcombe had no strapping on the knee but spent most of the time with hodgy taking snaps from the boundary. Sicily had his jacket on and didn't do a thing, he mentioned his foot got stood on which was the main issue.

 

[HedgeFund]

Scrimshaw's only serious fault is that he makes poor decisions when under pressure with ball in hand . He has cost us goals with panicky little kicks or poor handpasses that go straight to opposition players. If he had moe composure under pressure, he would have a complete game. He defends well one on one, has very good aerial skills and is a lovely kick when in space.

He isn’t getting dropped due to errors with ball in hand.

It’s what he isn’t doing when he doesn’t have the ball - and that has been his problem for nearly 10 years in the system.

 

[SammyC]

No.
Its the other way around - he needs to develop into bonafide big key forward who spends 20-25% of the game in the ruck. He's never going to be a genuine AFL ruck option BUT he might just be an amazing forward who can ruck - like that guy who played in our threepeat, you know the one who is a current coach at our team

poorly expressed but that’s exactly what i meant and the player i had in mind.

2 rucks is working great but if had one ruck playing 75% and we have max playing majority fwd with 25% ruck gives flexibility to play another runner.

 

[MC_9]

I'd be inclined to keep Scrim in ahead of Sicily on this seasons form.

Not the be all and end all, but a pretty good indication Champion Data player ratings has Sciliy at 64 and Scrimshaw at 364. Fair difference between the 2.

 

[SammyC]

Not the be all and end all, but a pretty good indication Champion Data player ratings has Sciliy at 64 and Scrimshaw at 364. Fair difference between the 2.

yeah i don’t get this narrative. Scrim has played one good game and several poor ones. Sicily has played a couple of poor ones (injured last week was one) & got suspended but has generally been very good, close to his best.

 

[The Golden Glenferrie]

I reckon we get a bit of a thumping tonight.
Freeo are a very settled team with guns all over the field, they'll be looking to make a statement at home.
We've got a few cracks showing and the Dockers are well equipped to expose our backline the way the Pies did, but worse.
Reality check inbound.

Yep, expecting a nice reality check. Probably needed tbh

 

[jumpingjai]

He isn’t getting dropped due to errors with ball in hand.

It’s what he isn’t doing when he doesn’t have the ball - and that has been his problem for nearly 10 years in the system.

I also think his lack of intensity at some contests doesn't help his cause.

 

[Mojo]

Gosh, I just wish Ramsden was more aggressive/assertive - it's the missing link between VFL & AFL selection.

 

[hawksfan71]

It's a Win Win game, if we lose then the media and flogs get off our back and stop saying we are favourites and gives us more fire in the belly. If we win well it shows everyone and ourselves we mean business with day and chol still out! How are they going to stop the unstoppable, wizard? We have X factor players all over the ground and bullet proof back line interesting how people just say we are gonna get beaten all of a sudden. Pies was inaciracy, we need to be more accurate for sure.

 

[ahhhhhh]

Why is Whately going on about Ramsden being a ruckman not forward with such authority. He played a large majority of last year at Box Hill as primarily a forward.