Training 2022 Training Reports

[Bastyy]

"Fremantle have a good looking midfield but what if the whole team perishes in a plane crash? That's going to hurt their chances of making the 8."

Didn't think about it like this! May as well tip us for the spoon now!

 

[anchor man]

Blakeley and Meek included in our top liners but Sonny and Tabs don't get a mention???. I stopped reading at that point.

Totally agree.

 

[CapitalA]

Didn't think about it like this! May as well tip us for the spoon now!

Who's in your display pick? Freo's first pick in 2022 draft?!

 

[Bastyy]

Who's in your display pick? Freo's first pick in 2022 draft?!

lost a bet so I'm now stuck with a jackson callow pic

 

[Piggy Smalls]

lost a bet so I'm now stuck with a jackson callow pic

I was really enjoying your previous one too

 

[Vintage]

Idiotic. Three injuries and they look in trouble?

Name a team that wouldn't be in trouble with 3 injuries to their starting mids.

Melbourne without Petracca, Oliver and Viney are bottom 4.

Richmond are Exhibit A - How did they go without Dusty again?

How about the Hawks without Mitchell and Lewis?

Gobsmacked.

We have a developing midfield, but we don’t yet have a midfield that’s in the top 8 in the league - there are plenty that run deeper and with higher quality than ours.

maybe we have a top 12 midfield. Maybe.

I’d be upset if they didn’t rate our backline top 4-6.

 

[wakojako]

We have a developing midfield, but we don’t yet have a midfield that’s in the top 8 in the league - there are plenty that run deeper and with higher quality than ours.

maybe we have a top 12 midfield. Maybe.

I’d be upset if they didn’t rate our backline top 4-6.

If we don't have a top 8 midfield than this has been all for nothing. I disagree and say that our midfield is between 7-10 at full strength. Really need to cement our wings though and add someone like Brodie to stop bullying us.

 

[SHill Shall]

If we don't have a top 8 midfield than this has been all for nothing. I disagree and say that our midfield is between 7-10 at full strength. Really need to cement our wings though and add someone like Brodie to stop bullying us.

I disagree to. I say we have a top 8 midfield and it’s on the up.

 

[Jezzitizle]

We have a developing midfield, but we don’t yet have a midfield that’s in the top 8 in the league - there are plenty that run deeper and with higher quality than ours.

maybe we have a top 12 midfield. Maybe.

I’d be upset if they didn’t rate our backline top 4-6.

It’s a moot point, if they are rating they 2021 Freo midfield sure, but the 2022 Freo midfield hasn’t played yet.

We have 3 top 10 draft picks, a dual Brownlow medalist, along with a club legend with what is looking to be the best young ruck in the league.

Or you could say we have a couple of young mids yet to hit consistent form, a Brownlow medalist with a delayed preseason off a serious injury and who some say is past his best, an old gun who surely can’t perform at a high level again and a young ruckman who is constantly carrying niggles into games.

But that’s part of the fun.

 

[WilloTree]

We have a developing midfield, but we don’t yet have a midfield that’s in the top 8 in the league - there are plenty that run deeper and with higher quality than ours.

maybe we have a top 12 midfield. Maybe.

I’d be upset if they didn’t rate our backline top 4-6.

I get what you're saying but Freo rank 7th for clearances and 9th for inside 50s. That was with a 20-year-old Serong and Fyfe only playing 15 games.

We're not as far away as you think.

 

[Piggy Smalls]

Brisbane, GWS, Melbourne, Bulldogs, Port, Geelong, Richmond, Sydney off the top of my head all have more proven midfields than us. You could then throw West Coast, St Kilda, Carlton into the mix and make a case their midfields trump ours too or is no worse. (Eagles don’t bat very deep though). Kangaroos also building a very good midfield with some early picks.
Ours has some freakish potential but we don’t have one of the top 8 or even 10 midfields in the comp IMO. We don’t even have a single standout player that screams wingman yet. We also don’t as a midfield collective lay enough tackles or pressure the ball carrier consistently enough.

 

[Channels]

Also have to consider our midfield in context of longevity.

If I compare Geelong vs Freo, I think Selwood, Danger, Guthrie, Duncan etcwould have Fyfe, Brayshaw, Serong and Tucker covered. Maybe only just for this year though.

I can see our midfield dominating for the next 10 years though.

 

[CapitalA]

Brisbane, GWS, Melbourne, Bulldogs, Port, Geelong, Richmond, Sydney off the top of my head all have more proven midfields than us. You could then throw West Coast, St Kilda, Carlton into the mix and make a case their midfields trump ours too or is no worse. (Eagles don’t bat very deep though). Kangaroos also building a very good midfield with some early picks.
Ours has some freakish potential but we don’t have one of the top 8 or even 10 midfields in the comp IMO. We don’t even have a single standout player that screams wingman yet. We also don’t as a midfield collective lay enough tackles or pressure the ball carrier consistently enough.

This is based on what? Your opinion of the players they have? Meanwhile statistically we were ranked 3rd for clearance differential (+3.7) 7th for average clearances, 6th for average hitouts. That's with Fyfe missing a bunch of games/hampered with injury, Brayshaw playing a decent amount of wing time and Serong tagging for 3/4 of the season...

 

[Square Peg]

I think we had a top 8 midfield last year which is why I think we should have made finals.

Bigfooty is a strange place, some of the people on here very bullish in the last couple of pages about how good our squad is were the same ones that argued black and blue in the JLo thread a few months back that even though we missed finals again, he wasn't underachieving as a coach

 

[blue shark]

Our wings are average at best and our forwardline is not top 8 worthy.

This is where the coaching group have to get creative with too many HB.
No one has cemented a wing position, and our only medium forward is Sturt

Also have to consider our midfield in context of longevity.

If I compare Geelong vs Freo, I think Selwood, Danger, Guthrie, Duncan etcwould have Fyfe, Brayshaw, Serong and Tucker covered. Maybe only just for this year though.

I can see our midfield dominating for the next 10 years though.

Not surprising with Darcy, Brayshaw, Serong, Erasmus, Johnson and some of the HB playing midfield.
Nobody knew that Fyfe, Mundy, were elite mids, and you can expect one or two players to be in the exact same boat.

 

[Piggy Smalls]

This is based on what? Your opinion of the players they have? Meanwhile statistically we were ranked 3rd for clearance differential (+3.7) 7th for average clearances, 6th for average hitouts. That's with Fyfe missing a bunch of games/hampered with injury, Brayshaw playing a decent amount of wing time and Serong tagging for 3/4 of the season...

You’re right, this is based solely off my opinion. Although to counter your argument I’d say that there’s a hell a lot that goes on after the hitout and clearance and the fact we don’t have elite wingmen, ranked dead last for tackles and can’t connect with our forwards would bring us back down to the pack.
I’m not trying to piss on anyone’s parade and I truly believe our rebuild is going along on point. I’m just worried it is starting to looking like a Carlton board meeting in here. There’s still a lot of potential to be delivered on.

 

[CapitalA]

You’re right, this is based solely off my opinion. Although to counter your argument I’d say that there’s a hell a lot that goes on after the hitout and clearance and the fact we don’t have elite wingmen, ranked dead last for tackles and can’t connect with our forwards would bring us back down to the pack.
I’m not trying to piss on anyone’s parade and I truly believe our rebuild is going along on point. I’m just worried it is starting to looking like a Carlton board meeting in here. There’s still a lot of potential to be delivered on.

We do need to find a replacement for Acres on the wing, Aish is decent. I think Henry could be a revelation. I still think were are a top 8 midfield.

Our biggest weakness was actually turning the ball over in really bad spots, making it very easy for teams to score against us.

 

[theGav56]

This is based on what? Your opinion of the players they have? Meanwhile statistically we were ranked 3rd for clearance differential (+3.7) 7th for average clearances, 6th for average hitouts. That's with Fyfe missing a bunch of games/hampered with injury, Brayshaw playing a decent amount of wing time and Serong tagging for 3/4 of the season...

Fyfe missing games due to his 6th shoulder issue isn't a plus. And we also lost Cerra. Another issue we have is lack of goals from our midfield. I can understand why there are reservations from outsiders.

 

[Purpletown]

It’s a moot point, if they are rating they 2021 Freo midfield sure, but the 2022 Freo midfield hasn’t played yet.

We have 3 top 10 draft picks, a dual Brownlow medalist, along with a club legend with what is looking to be the best young ruck in the league.

Or you could say we have a couple of young mids yet to hit consistent form, a Brownlow medalist with a delayed preseason off a serious injury and who some say is past his best, an old gun who surely can’t perform at a high level again and a young ruckman who is constantly carrying niggles into games.

But that’s part of the fun.

I like your first scenario more than the second.

Hopefully those high draft picks, experienced veterans and developing young stars can continue to develop some strong chemistry in the midfield.

Equally important is no injuries or players losing form or young players not making progress.

The reality will probably be somewhere between the two.

 

[theGav56]

This is where the coaching group have to get creative with too many HB.
No one has cemented a wing position, and our only medium forward is Sturt

Not surprising with Darcy, Brayshaw, Serong, Erasmus, Johnson and some of the HB playing midfield.
Nobody knew that Fyfe, Mundy, were elite mids, and you can expect one or two players to be in the exact same boat.

Banfield, Brodie and Erasmus can play medium forward.

 

[Dockeroo]

Fyfe missing games due to his 6th shoulder issue isn't a plus. And we also lost Cerra. Another issue we have is lack of goals from our midfield. I can understand why there are reservations from outsiders.

Agree about the lack of goals from midfield. Real Contenders all have lots of goal kicking mids. Cerra for all his good points had pretty ordinary record in terms of scoreboard impact.
Fyfe is still our biggest threat as a goal kicking mid despite his problems with accuracy.

 

[WilloTree]

I think we had a top 8 midfield last year which is why I think we should have made finals.

Bigfooty is a strange place, some of the people on here very bullish in the last couple of pages about how good our squad is were the same ones that argued black and blue in the JLo thread a few months back that even though we missed finals again, he wasn't underachieving as a coach

The Longmuir thread was about our performance in 2021

This one is about our hopes for 2022

Just my opinion, but I'm expecting incremental improvement from our players 24 and under, which could (hopefully) translate into a couple more wins.

We are pretty heavily invested in that age bracket. Brayshaw, Serong, Darcy (and Meek), Logue, Cox, Young, Henry, Fredericks, Sturt, O'Driscoll, Clark, Chapman and Treacy are all in that group. We also added Brodie as depth, and Amiss, Erasmus and Johnson at the draft, who have elite qualities.

2 more wins across the season (12 wins) should see us in the mix for a spot in the 8.

 

[wayToGo_]

I think we had a top 8 midfield last year which is why I think we should have made finals.

Bigfooty is a strange place, some of the people on here very bullish in the last couple of pages about how good our squad is were the same ones that argued black and blue in the JLo thread a few months back that even though we missed finals again, he wasn't underachieving as a coach

Yep, the analysis is nuts.

We were 4th for Clearance differential last year (despite plenty of key injuries and having the youngest midfield by a fair margin). I still think it is one of the most useful metrics in determining the best midfields because it is about how well you do against other midfields. Not surprisingly the midfields I thought were the best last year were the top ones in this metric... Bulldogs, Cats, Lions, Demons etc.

I wouldn't claim we were a top 4 midfield last year (because other midfield metrics weren't as good comparatively) but you'd have to be pretty inept at interpreting data to have ours as bottom 4. I'd be shocked if we don't end up showing we are in the top group of midfields this year - Darcy, Brayshaw and Serong have so much more improvement to go, as do the many other options we might run through there. And I'd be surprised if Fyfe had another underwhelming year given he looks nothing like he did last year.

Hopefully defence and midfield top 4 and top 6 respectively. The forward line has been bottom 4 since the dawn of time though, so really that's where we need to improve to middle of the road to not only make finals but be semi competitive.

 

[WilloTree]

ranked dead last for tackles

Actually, Eagles are. But it's certainly an area we need to improve.

18​

Eagles​

23​

215.9​

122.6​

338.5​

102.7​

11.2​

7.6​

47.4​

9.2​

46.6​

38.5​

17.0​

16.6​

34.6​

50.6​

34.5​

1467.4​

1536.6​

 

[wayToGo_]

Nothing to get excited about here...