Mega Thread 2025 Media & Miscellaneous Thread

[Tonga Bob]

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.

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

Thanks for your understanding.

 

[Piggy Smalls]

This is my favourite,

‘He may consider assigning Jaeger O'Meara the Marcus Bontempelli responsibilities, although good luck with all planning on that front’

WTF!

Piggy Smalls seriously?

I've read worse articles, NGL

 

[fnerd]

This is what the sycophantic WA media does to supporters. We actually get challenged in the media and everyone is getting their goat up about it. We were putrid on Friday night and we deserve the whack for it.

Actually reminds me of how WC supporters used to carry on towards duff when he was at the west and the eagles could still football.

Just because he wasn’t cupping their nuts every week like the rest of the fan boi seven west media co hort, he was dubbed a “hater” and “had it in for the club” etc

 

[Piggy Smalls]

VIC media doesn't watch us enough to challenge us. They're not criticising with any knowledge.

An article saying JL needs his defenders to defend and his midfield to beat the other midfield really isn't good analysis. You have random North fans writing better analysis of our games.

It's like that **** ass David King where his only thing is fast=good, slow=bad.

A) All games are on Foxtel so that's a complete assumption on your behalf for starters.

B) Defenders defending and our midfield beating their midfield were both absent from our most recent game, so fair enough to point out IMO.

C) We 100% revert to slow footy when teams bully us. All exposed evidence suggests it doesn't work out for us against the better teams.

I've supported JL and challenged his critics all year without fail. I really don't think there's much to be upset about with this article.

 

[s_wd6]

A) All games are on Foxtel so that's a complete assumption on your behalf for starters.

B) Defenders defending and our midfield bearing their midfield were both absent from our most recent game, so fair enough to point out IMO.

C) We 100% revert to slow footy when teams bully us. All exposed evidence suggests it doesn't work out for us against the better teams.

I've supported JL and challenged his critics all year without fail. I really don't think there's much to be upset about with this article.

When you have commentators talking about how we love to chip it around the back half all game when that hasn't been part of our game all year then yeah it tells me they haven't been watching us.

 

[Piggy Smalls]

When you have commentators talking about how we love to chip it around the back half all game when that hasn't been part of our game all year then yeah it tells me they haven't been watching us.

I'm pretty sure chipping around in the backline was an issue when we dropped 4 of our first 7 games (which is ultimately where our season was lost).

Even so, Champion Data have recorded us as the slowest team to dispose of the ball even during our winning run.

 

[Piggy Smalls]

This is my favourite,

‘He may consider assigning Jaeger O'Meara the Marcus Bontempelli responsibilities, although good luck with all planning on that front’

WTF!

Piggy Smalls seriously?

It's a bit over the top, but I'd rather see the Bont on a pedestal than the usual Nick 'boy wonder' Daicos. He's probably the hardest player in the comp to stop, and we are his bitch recently.

 

[s_wd6]

I'm pretty sure chipping around in the backline was an issue when we dropped 4 of our first 7 games (which is ultimately where our season was lost).

Even so, Champion Data have recorded us as the slowest team to dispose of the ball even during our winning run.

We're last in the league for uncontested marks per game. Over 20 down from last year. Chamption data also had us as the most direct team at the start of the year, meaning we had most forward meters gained per disposal. So doesn't that go against the chip it in the back half narrative?

Anyway, slowest team during a period of 11/12 wins...doesn't that tell you that theres a flaw in the fast/good slow/bad discourse?

 

[Piggy Smalls]

We're last in the league for uncontested marks per game. Over 20 down from last year. Chamption data also had us as the most direct team at the start of the year, meaning we had most forward meters gained per disposal. So doesn't that go against the chip it in the back half narrative?

Anyway, slowest team during a period of 11/12 wins...doesn't that tell you that theres a flaw in the fast/good slow/bad discourse?

There's a time to go slow and a time to go fast. I'd say 99% of supporters were screaming at their TVs for us to go faster when we were 5 goals down in the last quarter on Friday and Lukey Ryan was bombing it down the line.
We've gotten a lot right this year but we've completely imploded 3 times now as well.

 

[Docker82]

We're last in the league for uncontested marks per game. Over 20 down from last year. Chamption data also had us as the most direct team at the start of the year, meaning we had most forward meters gained per disposal. So doesn't that go against the chip it in the back half narrative?

Anyway, slowest team during a period of 11/12 wins...doesn't that tell you that theres a flaw in the fast/good slow/bad discourse?

FWIW on Friday I saw one team able to create targets by moving in to space and players able to hit them. Most uncontested marks taken by Brisbane you could see before the player kicked the ball. We let them move it far too easily. There wasn't many wow moments from Brisbane but what they were doing worked brilliantly.

We've got to get way better at spreading the field before we can rely on skills. Our players don't seem to want to take on kicks they can hit most of the time - We wait for an easier option or bomb it down the line. An extra few metres of space might change that.

 

[Paracleet]

Sometimes it seems up is down and down is up in here. WTF people complaining about us chipping it about the backline?? It was Brisbane chipping it about the blasted backiine! They were like +100 uncontested marks or something.

The fact we were broadly unable to deal with that simple 2018 era tactic is another story. Maybe we wouldnt be talking about it if we hadn't lost the non centre bounce clearance battle, but we did.

 

[s_wd6]

Anyway you guys take one thing and go off on a tangent. I didn't come here to argue about that shit. My point is theres way too many Vic people in the media that stick to one narrative when it comes to criticism of the club and jump on it whenever we lose, but are quiet whenever we win doing the same thing. So I don't value a lot of what they say.

David King and his fast obsession, Cornes and his two ruck obsession. It's all the same thing.

 

[Paracleet]

We've got to get way better at spreading the field before we can rely on skills. Our players don't seem to want to take on kicks they can hit most of the time - We wait for an easier option or bomb it down the line. An extra few metres of space might change that.

Not having good WAFL players on the wings might help

 

[Piggy Smalls]

Anyway you guys take one thing and go off on a tangent. I didn't come here to argue about that shit. My point is theres way too many Vic people in the media that stick to one narrative when it comes to criticism of the club and jump on it whenever we lose, but are quiet whenever we win doing the same thing. So I don't value a lot of what they say.

David King and his fast obsession, Cornes and his two ruck obsession. It's all the same thing.

100% agree but like I said, Barrett has backed us in all year and seems genuinely frustrated at our inability to get up for big games. He's the one who wrote the article that started this conversation.

 

[Docker82]

Not having good WAFL players on the wings might help

Absolutely but this is also a whole of midfield problem IMO.

Just my opinion but it was far worse defensively than offensively. The amount of times I saw Brisbane hit an open player in the corridor after chipping it around for 3-4 kicks was quite grim tbh.

When we hit that corridor kick, it's really the only time we actually look good offensively IMO. Good teams see that and don't let that happen easily - its exactly what Brisbane did. But if we're much better defensively and nail a few gettable set shots, we're probably at worst talking a game that was pretty even at 3/4 time.

 

[Piggy Smalls]

Absolutely but this is also a whole of midfield problem IMO.

Just my opinion but it was far worse defensively than offensively. The amount of times I saw Brisbane hit an open player in the corridor after chipping it around for 3-4 kicks was quite grim tbh.

When we hit that corridor kick, it's really the only time we actually look good offensively IMO. Good teams see that and don't let that happen easily - its exactly what Brisbane did.

Using the Champion Data metrics, the corridor use is the only real redeeming factor for our 'speed on ball' rating. Take away the corridor and Friday night is what you get.

 

[Paracleet]

Absolutely but this is also a whole of midfield problem IMO.

Just my opinion but it was far worse defensively than offensively. The amount of times I saw Brisbane hit an open player in the corridor after chipping it around for 3-4 kicks was quite grim tbh.

When we hit that corridor kick, it's really the only time we actually look good offensively IMO. Good teams see that and don't let that happen easily - its exactly what Brisbane did.

That's on the forwards and the entire midfield collectively. Zone is too inflexible. Unable to respond to strategic changes

 

[malpaso]

A) All games are on Foxtel so that's a complete assumption on your behalf for starters.

B) Defenders defending and our midfield beating their midfield were both absent from our most recent game, so fair enough to point out IMO.

C) We 100% revert to slow footy when teams bully us. All exposed evidence suggests it doesn't work out for us against the better teams.

I've supported JL and challenged his critics all year without fail. I really don't think there's much to be upset about with this article.

Brisbane played slow footy, hands off shit..

 

[malpaso]

Absolutely but this is also a whole of midfield problem IMO.

Just my opinion but it was far worse defensively than offensively. The amount of times I saw Brisbane hit an open player in the corridor after chipping it around for 3-4 kicks was quite grim tbh.

When we hit that corridor kick, it's really the only time we actually look good offensively IMO. Good teams see that and don't let that happen easily - its exactly what Brisbane did. But if we're much better defensively and nail a few gettable set shots, we're probably at worst talking a game that was pretty even at 3/4 time.

The problem is allowing the chipping around before the big outlet.. very obvious. What's weird is we ******ed it in the 2nd quarter and then lost the plot again..

 

[swanny1234]

This is what the sycophantic WA media does to supporters. We actually get challenged in the media and everyone is getting their goat up about it. We were putrid on Friday night and we deserve the whack for it.

100% this, some of our supporters need to stop listening to cheerleaders like Ryan Daniels and Will Schofield and instead embrace being challenged.

 

[Stinky Lomax]

Absolutely but this is also a whole of midfield problem IMO.

Just my opinion but it was far worse defensively than offensively. The amount of times I saw Brisbane hit an open player in the corridor after chipping it around for 3-4 kicks was quite grim tbh.

When we hit that corridor kick, it's really the only time we actually look good offensively IMO. Good teams see that and don't let that happen easily - it’s exactly what Brisbane did. But if we're much better defensively and nail a few gettable set shots, we're probably at worst talking a game that was pretty even at 3/4 time.

Sorry late to this discussion.
We very rarely hit the corridor kick because we don’t have the players to do it consistently without turning it over.

I’m sure people realise our fast ball movement comes from turnover & stoppages? That’s why we look like we up a gear in last quarters when teams are tightening up through tiredness & are prone to missing targets or kick down the line.

It’s also the reason why we’ve improved our wet weather game.

But it’s the very reason why Brisbane chose the uncontested game as their skills allowed it & they knew on turnover they’re in trouble. They were lucky we were off.

The second quarter in particular & parts of the first we were able to create more turnovers but absolutely bottled it in the 2 ways when we could have got in front & settled.
- by kicking goals, not 0.8.
-composure on turnover going inside F50. We just crapped the bed every single time when a goal was there for the taking.

Defensively we had control in the first half, offensively we were the worst we have been all season & kept giving them back the ball.

 

[gaskin]

 

[Docker82]

Sorry late to this discussion.
We very rarely hit the corridor kick because we don’t have the players to do it consistently without turning it over.

I’m sure people realise our fast ball movement comes from turnover & stoppages? That’s why we look like we up a gear in last quarters when teams are tightening up through tiredness & are prone to missing targets or kick down the line.

It’s also the reason why we’ve improved our wet weather game.

But it’s the very reason why Brisbane chose the uncontested game as their skills allowed it & they knew on turnover they’re in trouble. They were lucky we were off.

The second quarter in particular & parts of the first we were able to create more turnovers but absolutely bottled it in the 2 ways when we could have got in front & settled.
- by kicking goals, not 0.8.
-composure on turnover going inside F50. We just crapped the bed every single time when a goal was there for the taking.

Defensively we had control in the first half, offensively we were the worst we have been all season & kept giving them back the ball.

Some of our best ball movement comes from half back. The handball game and hitting the corridor are when we look exciting offensively - when it's working its bloody good too.

On Friday I was at the game. The options simply weren't there compared to them. The movement of our players (i.e running into space) compared to theirs was grim. It's far easier to hit someone in five metres of space than one metre of space.

I firmly believe if we played all faster game plan it'd only leave 2-3 of our best 22 behind.

 

[Stinky Lomax]

Some of our best ball movement comes from half back. The handball game and hitting the corridor are when we look exciting offensively - when it's working its bloody good too.

Very rarely is it from a stop play. It’s usually from a stoppage or turnover & if it’s deeper in D50 we don’t have the players to kick it out as Brisbane did.

Yes they worked hard to create the space but when our backs tried to hit the short kick we invariably missed & put pressure on ourselves or turned it over completely. We don’t have that game in us with our back 7.

I’d be surprised Simpson doesn’t come in & with Clark are given a licence against a much less disciplined defence to try & slice through the middle a bit more often.

But Longmuir always talks about our team defence, which is all about creating turnover & getting speed off that.

 

[Docker82]

Very rarely is it from a stop play. It’s usually from a stoppage or turnover & if it’s deeper in D50 we don’t have the players to kick it out as Brisbane did.

Yes they worked hard to create the space but when our backs tried to hit the short kick we invariably missed & put pressure on ourselves or turned it over completely. We don’t have that game in us with our back 7.

I’d be surprised Simpson doesn’t come in & with Clark are given a licence against a much less disciplined defence to try & slice through the middle a bit more often.

But Longmuir always talks about our team defence, which is all about creating turnover & getting speed off that.

Name the elite kicks in Brisbane's backline.

Outside of perhaps Zorko I don't see any of them tbh. Calling any of the others named in their back six elite kicks would be borderline laughable. There's no Banfields (ie all the smalls/mediums are passable kicks) but we're not as far off it that area as you think.

I agree we need to bring another good kick into the backline but lack of movement was clearly the biggest issue on Friday night.

Actually thought the skills in the forward half were way worse from players missing kicks they'd hit 9 times out of 10.

 

[Stevooo3940]

Name the elite kicks in Brisbane's backline.

Outside of perhaps Zorko I don't see any of them tbh. Calling any of the others named in their back six elite kicks would be borderline laughable. There's no Banfields (ie all the smalls/mediums are passable kicks) but we're not as far off it that area as you think.

I agree we need to bring another good kick into the backline but lack of movement was clearly the biggest issue on Friday night.

Actually thought the skills in the forward half were way worse from players missing kicks they'd hit 9 times out of 10.

Suggest you watch the game again man. Their backline kicks it so much better. low flat passes taken in most cases in front of the eyes by the receiver. Gardiner probably the only ordinary kick.