Prediction 2017 Analysis and Prediction

[jerms]

In a perfect world:
Downgrade pick 3 for pick 7, 15 and McCarthy.
Straight swap Langdon for Hill
Receive pick 4 for Mayne. (Okay that bit is a complete fantasy - I'll be realistic and say we get pick 21).
Get another second round pick by trading Suban and/or Ballantyne.

Sam PS lasts till 7, we pick him up. English lasts till 15 and Logue lasts till 21. We pick both of them up.
With our remaining second round pick we pick up a superstar who has drifted in the order for some speculative and incorrect reason, and who takes just one season to establish himself.

We start slowly in 2017, winning games by just a few points each time, before demolishing the Eagles by 47 points in the first derby and 147 points in the second. Jack Darling is cited for staging, and publicly humiliated again.
The season ends with two finals at the new Perth Stadium and a comfortable grand final win, and the cup is presented by Matthew Pavlich to the Freo captain.
Ross Lyon is accused of destroying football (again).

This is almost pornographic.

 

[Freomaniac]

Michael Johnson in 2015 & 2016 has gone the same way as Luke Mac did in 2014 & 2015 ie good for first third to half of season then he's done. If he plays more than 10 games will be a bonus. We need a ruckman because Sandi is good for 2017 if he stays fit. 2018 and beyond re ruckman????

I think dockers are really re- assessing Clarke's worth. His performances in peel's two finals games have been good. If he leaves then we only have griff whose an honest toiler as backup but no match winner.

Top sides have ruckman who gives their midfielders on most occasions first use of ball. No coincidence we went well in 2015, with Sandi in AA form feeding Fyfe Mundy Neale hill etc

I have spoken about freos ruck stocks...

Sandi and Griffin are here til 2017. Hannath and Clarke are out of contract. Apeness has played only 5 games.

Potientially we could be seeing Apeness as our most experienced ruck at 20-25 games.

I say at least one of Hannath/clarke has to stay with us in 2017.

Tim English and Hugh Goddard have been mentioned on here as good WA rucks. I wouldnt mind either one. If we dont get one of them, I hope we get Luke Strnadica.

 

[Freomaniac]

And to be honest.... Freo will finish amywhere between 5th-14th. Dont ask me which exact spot.

 

[mike91]

I'll be highly surprised and annoyed if we actually play Weller in the back line

 

[Alfonz]

I'll be highly surprised and annoyed if we actually play Weller in the back line

Why? It's where he has had most impact from the games I've seen him play. We desperately need good movers/kickers to transition the ball out of our backline. I'd be happy to see us playing with Weller, Crozier and Tucker as our playmakers from defence.

 

[mike91]

Why? It's where he has had most impact from the games I've seen him play. We desperately need good movers/kickers to transition the ball out of our backline. I'd be happy to see us playing with Weller, Crozier and Tucker as our playmakers from defence.

He should be playing midfield/forward. Great goal sense, can hit players inside 50, great speed and tackling pressure. When he has the ball on the wing sprinting forward, something happens. Put him next to Bennell and Walters forward and that's dangerous, put him on a wing with the Hill brothers and he will learn plenty. I honestly believe playing him in the back line wont work.

 

[Tommo]

But if we have say SPS, Bennell, Walters and Yarren FWD does Weller need to be there.
I'd love say, Weller, Tucker, Croz distributing of half back with assistance from a midfield of Hill, Mundy, Neale, and Fyfe to a forwardline with SPS, Bennell, Walters and Yarren.
Some special ball movement there!

Of course there is nothing to stop players rotating through different positions either.

 

[Freo Quokkas]

Finish 14th to 18th.
It will take until at least 2018 to finish in the Top 8.

 

[go_the_dockers]

But if we have say SPS, Bennell, Walters and Yarren FWD does Weller need to be there.
I'd love say, Weller, Tucker, Croz distributing of half back with assistance from a midfield of Hill, Mundy, Neale, and Fyfe to a forwardline with SPS, Bennell, Walters and Yarren.
Some special ball movement there!

Of course there is nothing to stop players rotating through different positions either.

If you had a start midfield of Neale, S. Hill, Bennell.
2nd Midfield of Fyfe, Weller and B Hill
3rd Line up Mundy, SPS, Walters
Players who can also run through their include Crozier, Sheridan, Tucker etc

I think this shows our midfield depth is pretty good especially once a few players add size. The quality does start to drop off, so if we get a lot of injuries we will struggle. (Depth will be improved once we replace 8-10 players this year)

We are crying out for a 190cm defender with elite skills, I would love for us to rookie Bootsma so that he can play in this role.

I don't think Hughes is capable of this role as his foot skills keep letting him down.

 

[meima]

If you had a start midfield of Neale, S. Hill, Bennell.
2nd Midfield of Fyfe, Weller and B Hill
3rd Line up Mundy, SPS, Walters
Players who can also run through their include Crozier, Sheridan, Tucker etc

I think this shows our midfield depth is pretty good especially once a few players add size. The quality does start to drop off, so if we get a lot of injuries we will struggle. (Depth will be improved once we replace 8-10 players this year)

We are crying out for a 190cm defender with elite skills, I would love for us to rookie Bootsma so that he can play in this role.

I don't think Hughes is capable of this role as his foot skills keep letting him down.

I agree , why dont need defender muck around too much in your defensive half. One long bomb to the midfield , instead of handball to your teamate in your defensive half ( you can do it if your skills is perfect like gws)

 

[PowerToThePurpl]

Analysis and prediction eh?
Well age wise, at the start of the year, we were ranked 2nd (to North Melbourne of course) in the league for the oldest best 22 after Round 6 with a 26.1 average age.

The top 3 oldest (according to The Age) was:
1st. North Melbourne (27.3)
2nd. Fremantle (26.1)
3rd. West Coast (25.9)

While the bottom 3 was:
1st. Brisbane (23.7)
2nd. Melbourne 23.9)
3rd. Gold Coast 24.3)

Now with a bold prediction of what our 2017 Best 22 will look like, I came up with this squad, after predicted trading/drafting/FA.

B. L. Spurr - A. Pearce - G. Ibbotson
HB. T. Sheridan - Collins/Silvagni - Crozier
C. S. Hill - N. Fyfe - B. Hill
HF. H. Bennell - C. McCarthy - M. Walters
F. S. Yarran - M. Taberner - M. Apeness
R. A. Sandilands - D. Mundy - L. Neale

I/C. C. Blakely, C. Suttcliffe, L. Weller, D. Tucker/Pearce

Obvious omissions are C. Mayne, Z. Clarke, M. Pavlich, N. Suban, M. Barlow, J. Griffin, M. Johnson, Z. Dawson, H. Ballantyne. If we decide against B. Hill then D. Pearce replaces him.

With this team lineup, with Collins and Tucker picked, it drops our best 22 age roughly to a low 24.5, which in this season would rank 5th youngest behind Brisbane, Gold Coast, Melbourne, and GWS.

Now I'm not sure about you, but I reckon this is a very solid lineup that's just oozing talent, a few years with this same personnel I have no doubt we'll be back in the premiership mix.

 

[TheMcManusNose]

Who the **** knows?

We either get Bennell, Fyfe, Sandi and Johnson all back at 100%, they play the majority of the year, and we get consistent meaningful contributions from Weller, Blakely, Tucker, Langdon and Pick 3. Finals.

or

We lose Johnno and Sandi to injury for most of the year, Fyfe and Bennell aren't 100%, we still can't move the ball out of defence and we play too many sub-50 game players in the team to maintain any kind of consistency. 12-18.

 

[freo84]

Analysis and prediction eh?
Well age wise, at the start of the year, we were ranked 2nd (to North Melbourne of course) in the league for the oldest best 22 after Round 6 with a 26.1 average age.

The top 3 oldest (according to The Age) was:
1st. North Melbourne (27.3)
2nd. Fremantle (26.1)
3rd. West Coast (25.9)

While the bottom 3 was:
1st. Brisbane (23.7)
2nd. Melbourne 23.9)
3rd. Gold Coast 24.3)

Now with a bold prediction of what our 2017 Best 22 will look like, I came up with this squad, after predicted trading/drafting/FA.

B. L. Spurr - A. Pearce - G. Ibbotson
HB. T. Sheridan - Collins/Silvagni - Crozier
C. S. Hill - N. Fyfe - B. Hill
HF. H. Bennell - C. McCarthy - M. Walters
F. S. Yarran - M. Taberner - M. Apeness
R. A. Sandilands - D. Mundy - L. Neale

I/C. C. Blakely, C. Suttcliffe, L. Weller, D. Tucker/Pearce

Obvious omissions are C. Mayne, Z. Clarke, M. Pavlich, N. Suban, M. Barlow, J. Griffin, M. Johnson, Z. Dawson, H. Ballantyne. If we decide against B. Hill then D. Pearce replaces him.

With this team lineup, with Collins and Tucker picked, it drops our best 22 age roughly to a low 24.5, which in this season would rank 5th youngest behind Brisbane, Gold Coast, Melbourne, and GWS.

Now I'm not sure about you, but I reckon this is a very solid lineup that's just oozing talent, a few years with this same personnel I have no doubt we'll be back in the premiership mix.

You said what I was going to say....only you did it better

 

[heavho]

Our 2017 season will be determined in the draft and free agency period and how big of a clean up we do of the list. If we can get some good trades done and get say 3-4 quality players added to the 22 there isn't any reason why we can't improve from 2016. You look at what the likes of what geelong,Sydney,hawthorn do during trade period anything is possible if we can lure some talent.

 

[blue shark]

Have to get our pre-season, injuries sorted, otherwise we will have the same year as 2016. The same with
Sandi, Johnson, management is the key.
We will need time to gel with new personal, tinkering with game plan, but bottom eight is achievable with luck,
get on a roll.
Plenty of X factor with Freo for 2017, especially the off season.

 

[manpurple]

AS always injuries determine so much.

Assuming that Johnson, Bennell, Fyfe and Sandi play more than 11 games. And that we can get McCarthy, Tabs, Yarran, Walters and Apeness to play together for more than 15 games. I anticipate that we will be knocking on the finals door.

 

[go_the_dockers]

I have spoken about freos ruck stocks...

Sandi and Griffin are here til 2017. Hannath and Clarke are out of contract. Apeness has played only 5 games.

Potientially we could be seeing Apeness as our most experienced ruck at 20-25 games.

I say at least one of Hannath/clarke has to stay with us in 2017.

Tim English and Hugh Goddard have been mentioned on here as good WA rucks. I wouldnt mind either one. If we dont get one of them, I hope we get Luke Strnadica.

Next we have two experienced rucks and apeness. I would rather play Apeness or someone we drafted next year than Hannath.

He must go.

 

[salim malik]

A midfield of Fyfe, Mundy, Neale, Bennell, Hill x 2 , Blakely, Walters, Weller, Tucker, Langdon ,Sheridan with Sandi rucking will play finals.

 

[beetz]

Has anyone else resigned to the fact that Johnno is effectively done?

 

[clivenator26]

Has anyone else resigned to the fact that Johnno is effectively done?

It doesn't look good, he has had a serious back, hamstring, knee & achilles injuries in the past few years. I hope we can get a few games out of him but wouldn't be surprised if he is an early retirement in 2017.

 

[beetz]

It doesn't look good, he has had a serious back, hamstring, knee & achilles injuries in the past few years. I hope we can get a few games out of him but wouldn't be surprised if he is an early retirement in 2017.

Yeh I agree. He was arguably the most missed player this year.

 

[wayToGo_]

I'm in the Johnson will be fine camp - it may be wishful thinking but given he hasn't retired I'll back him in. He'll be managed but effectively having a year off can do wonders for veterans. From the few games he did play this year, I still rate him as double the impact/importance of any other defender on our list. Losing him in 2015 was a massive turning point in that year. Really hope there is a Johnson replacement somewhere up North we can pick up in the coming year or two.

 

[Wally Walpamur]

Random observation, but we will have quiet a few indigenous players on our list next year (Bennell, D. Pearce, Son Son, Griff, B. Hill*, S. Hill, MJ, Yarran, SPS*). Pace, skill and bags of talent... Now to fix up that forward line for them to kick to and crumb.

*Not official but talk of being traded & drafted.

 

[Clems Knee]

Random observation, but we will have quiet a few indigenous players on our list next year (Bennell, D. Pearce, Son Son, Griff, B. Hill*, S. Hill, MJ, Yarran, SPS*). Pace, skill and bags of talent... Now to fix up that forward line for them to kick to and crumb.

*Not official but talk of being traded & drafted.

Plus A. Pearce, Gray.

 

[freo_leo29]

Plus A. Pearce, Gray.

and Liam Ryan