Mega Thread 2026 Media & Miscellaneous Thread

[FreoGirl]

Really good point, humorously made, on Fireball this morning, re Serong traveling to Brisbane

They just don’t get its

 

[FreoGirl]

Perhaps it weighs the performance at the MCG, we don't have an exceptional run of form there.

We hardly get to play there

 

[ubiquitous226]

Im guessing the Premiers prediction is weighted so heavily against us because its played 'away'? Cant see any other reason to ha e such a massklive disparity between premiers and runners up

It's clearly a factor, Sydney is the favourite to make the grand final, with us, Hawthorn and Geelong about the same.
Wheelo predicts the winning percentage if they make the GF as;

• Geelong 59%
• Hawthorn 57%
• Sydney 49%
• Fremantle 39%

So there's a clear outlier there which is us, and the 2 Melbourne teams are judged much higher chance.
Unclear how much the MCG vs direct match up affects this.

 

[Minz]

I hate this because a. It is the wrong time of the season to be the best team in the league and b. Would much prefer the team to fly under the radar. But yeah, the team is getting some love!

‘Flagmantle’ is no longer a joke. The Dockers are a team to love, fear and trust | Jonathan Horn

Brisbane threw a lot at Fremantle but the visitors had the answers. There’s a whiff of history about this side

www.theguardian.com

 

[Stevooo3940]

I hate this because a. It is the wrong time of the season to be the best team in the league and b. Would much prefer the team to fly under the radar. But yeah, the team is getting some love!

‘Flagmantle’ is no longer a joke. The Dockers are a team to love, fear and trust | Jonathan Horn

Brisbane threw a lot at Fremantle but the visitors had the answers. There’s a whiff of history about this side

www.theguardian.com

I wouldn't stress it. The team is winning but i wouldnt say we have even hit our straps yet. We are beating teams by playing 1 or 2 good quarters. We are building to full strength and doing it with some of our best on the sidelines. I think a few of the boys are keen to get to the bye for a rest and by about round 16 or 17 you will see a team that is vastly different and much more powerful than we see right now. Other teams will improve also but dont for a second think this is as good as we get. We are going to explode if we can get a little luck with injuries.

 

[Minz]

I wouldn't stress it. The team is winning but i wouldnt say we have even hit our straps yet. We are beating teams by playing 1 or 2 good quarters. We are building to full strength and doing it with some of our best on the sidelines. I think a few of the boys are keen to get to the bye for a rest and by about round 16 or 17 you will see a team that is vastly different and much more powerful than we see right now. Other teams will improve also but dont for a second think this is as good as we get. We are going to explode if we can get a little luck with injuries.

Oh, I am having a giggle at myself… all these years just wanting a team that is good in all areas, sweeping all before them… now have that team at least partially, and it makes me nervous!!

 

[Spirit Level]

Squiggle predicts scores for games based on the teams positions on the matrix with a little adjustment for home ground advantage.

Teams move on the board based on their for/against compared with what was predicted. That's why sydney scoring 170 odd will move them alot, even if its against Richmond.

 

[Stevooo3940]

It might seem arrogant, but this team just has it. They can baton down the hatches when they need to. They can release the shackles and put a team away in 10 mins. Or they can wear a team down for 2.5 qrts and then pull away. They can pluck a win in the dying seconds and they can smash a team in the opening qrt then put the cue in the rack. It's not about wins anymore; they are being banked, and there are enough easier games to come that it's ok to drop one here and there. What I'm keen to see is how we go when challenged by the best sides. It's exciting. We failed the first test against the cats in round 1 but I'm giving us a pass on that. We ran over the Hawks recently, but they were missing some quality players. Although I just feel like we match up well against them, even at full strength.
I'm super keen to see how we go against Sydney because they are masters of clogging up the corridor. They will go head-to-head with us, and that will be something to behold. They bullied us around the ball a bit in round 17 last year. I think the boys will have that one in the back of their minds.
This team feels like it's playing with the freedom of the tigers teams between 2017 and 2020. The approach was to live in the moment. Don't stress about moments that have passed or moments that will come later. Just apply yourself to the moment you are in and the result will take care of itself. You'll lose some but you'll win more. It's a great approach and we are starting to see the players really inject some x-factor into their game style as a result. What a time to be a Freo fan. We might not win them all in the next 5 year, but we will win a few

 

[LongSerong]

Dan Does Footy gave us the pump up we've been talking about internally for ages. Was so good to hear a couple VICs just froth us.

 

[BStaff17]

Oh, I am having a giggle at myself… all these years just wanting a team that is good in all areas, sweeping all before them… now have that team at least partially, and it makes me nervous!!

Nerves are all gone for me at least until september.

I am enjoying the ride and have since the crows game when i knew we were headed deep into september.

 

[SupermanCapes]

The boys have shown that they can beat anyone, anywhere and while we will of course likely (maybe) lose games again this year we will always go in with a realistic chance of winning. In the past we would have dropped games against teams missing some B23, this year we're not only winning those but also getting it done when we're missing some key cogs. It's super fun, whether the media recognise it or not doesn't change the belief the team appears to have.

 

[Purple Pills]

Yeah, been following our squiggle evaluation this year (which collects all the algorithms), some weird things happen. Hawks went up points a few weeks ago after losing to us, same with their loss to Melbs. Whereas we've won 11 in a row and are still ranked 4th in their seedings.

I follow squiggle too and generally feel disrespected by it. Im starting to think squiggle is Victorian.

 

[mattis117]

They're starting to notice now. First ten minutes on us just now On the Couch.

 

[CapitalA]

Great call in hindsight

Jenkins, since the first time I heard one of his analysis I have known he is the worst analyst in the media by a country mile.

 

[Vimal Anand]

I obviously don't know why Sydney got such a boost from pumping a injury hit Richmond team, but I have done a little digging around the edges around why we've remained relatively low on the power rankings or equivalent of most algorithms.

I find it particularly interesting as I'm still a little sceptical of our ability to perform in September, yet, given our inability to build the experience in what I still consider very different footy.

Taking a look at the Wheelo predictions/simulations, which is just one small example and also output and not input based, but it does suggest a couple of things.
Essentially it is very confident we'll finish high on the ladder, and also rates us as a high chance to reach a prelim, but then a higher chance of crashing out at the prelim stage.

I doubt it or most other models are putting additional emphasis on September results, but it's in the head to head against the top teams that I suspect we're getting discounted.
So this next little run and how it's treated by the algorithms will be interesting.

View attachment 2626804

View attachment 2626803

Interesting... we are last of the top 4 to be premier but 2nd in other 3. Runner up possibility we are 2nd.Basically means cats and hawks may not make GF but if they make against us they will win... So at the moment a GF loss predicted

 

[Daddoo]

Some love from espn.

“And I think we're now at the point where any remaining scepticism about the idea of a Fremantle flag is more about denial than reality.”

No weaknesses? This is the best version of Fremantle ever, and here's why

The 2026 version of Fremantle is the best in the club's nearly 32-year history, and, Rohan Connolly argues, it's one that can absolutely win the premiership.

www.espn.com.au

 

[stax on the mull]

That Colgate ad with Patrick Cripps

9

Patrick Cripps

Age

31

Ht

195cm

Wt

93kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

25.9

5star

K

9.8

4star

HB

16.1

5star

M

3.4

3star

T

5.8

5star

CL

7.4

5star

D

21.0

5star

K

10.1

4star

HB

10.9

5star

M

2.5

3star

T

3.8

4star

CL

6.3

5star

D

12.6

4star

K

4.8

2star

HB

7.8

5star

M

2.0

3star

T

3.2

5star

CL

1.4

4star

is gilding the lily saying that Northampton is 100's of kms away from the nearest dentist. Like Geraldton is a 25 minute drive.

 

[LongSerong]

Pretty pissed off Treacy got fined for staging, players do far worse each week and don't get cited.

 

[mightymouse75]

WAFL 2026: Top Fremantle draft pick Adam Sweid reveals his Dockers mentor | The West Australian https://share.google/AXnHTm9iseLdtWkIU

Sweidi giving some JT love

 

[Daddoo]

Do it for Fyfe. Do it for Pav. Do it for Mundy, Sonny, Sandi, Neesham, and all the former players, coaches, and people involved with the club. Do it for the Anchor. ️️️

We are building. The players are embracing the significance of this season so far. What a fun time to be a dockers fan!!

 

[Purpletown]

Watching First Crack and On the Couch last night there was more detailed coverage of Freo and some of our players.
I think it was Jonathan Brown who highlighted Tracy's work rate showing a clip of JT following the ball from our forward line to the Brissy forward line and then sprinting the last 10 metres to nail a great tackle and a htb free.
The difference between Freo's willingness to work hard and Brisbane's conditional efforts was stark.

 

[Grape Bear]

 

[oldgoat]

Oh, I am having a giggle at myself… all these years just wanting a team that is good in all areas, sweeping all before them… now have that team at least partially, and it makes me nervous!!

Superstition is now rampant amongst the aficionados!
Our apprehension or confidence makes no difference to the result!
Unless we all ROAR together, thats just physics.
Oh...and WHARFIE TIME of course!

 

[DeadEyeJye]

Pretty pissed off Treacy got fined for staging, players do far worse each week and don't get cited.

He is challenging it according to afl.com.au, and so he should.

 

[Cappy71]

From Whateley morning