Autopsy Belted by Brisbane

[meima]

Plus an away before and after the bye , both long trips.

No excuses please.

 

[noise36]

Only saw the first part of the game but seems like we dont tackle much/well anymore. No pressure on the opposition so they can execute their skills no problem..yet when we have the ball its always under pressure and we cant execute our skills. Every team we play seems to have free man to kick to at any time yet we are always kicking to a contest.

Our midfield seems to be allergic to leather...cant seem to win a clearance or extract the ball.

 

[Big Animal]

when it came to playing the youf it is a fine balancing act and i believe we have tipped the scales too far. to quote tropic thunder we "went the full rtard"

 

[theGav56]

You've totally missed Mike91's point but to compare Tabs and English, Tabs 5 years on an AFL list built like Tarzan, 50 games of experience. English in his first year on an AFL list and only 2 games.

Yeah, I must have missed his point. My point is that playing English in a non specific part time relief ruck role is nowhere near as challenging as playing Darcy as our #1 ruck with only nominal back up.

 

[Proud SJW]

when it came to playing the youf it is a fine balancing act and i believe we have tipped the scales too far. to quote tropic thunder we "went the full rtard"

Not sure about "too far", just yet. But we're in danger of getting to that point.
Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

I actually (mostly) like the way they're going about it.
We don't want to be GWS or GC in the early years, getting belted around the park for years waiting for them to get the experience and physicality necessary to become a regularly successful team. But on the other hand, we have some obvious gaps that are crying out to be filled.

A fine balancing act, indeed.

 

[salim malik]

No excuses please.

Not an excuse but a fixture anomaly that always seems to be a part of Freo's season.

 

[ROGS]

That's one rather soft way of looking at it. Here is another way:

Beveridge drops players if they're playing poor footy and rewards the players playing well in the 2s. Hes dropped Roughead, Stringer, Biggs, Boyd, Daniel and Libba. He lets players know that it doesn't matter how good you are, you play poor and you're dropped. That right there is a coach with balls. Those dropped players come back into the side and play good footy. The players in the 2s all believe that if they play well, they'll get a chance, they wont be ignored.

Now we have Ross, the opposite when it comes to team selections and setting double standards. Took him years to drop D. Pearce and Dawson, from memory he never dropped Mayne or Ballas, took his time to drop Sutty and Suban and continually gifts Sheridan games when he doesn't deserve them. We're in a REBUILD, yet Ross makes the decision to play a 30+ Griffin over our next number one ruckman Darcy, who is going well for Peel. It defies all logic to not play Darcy when you're in the middle of a REBUILD, we're not trying to win a flag, we're suppose to be rebuilding, Ross just doesn't get it. Nyhuis and Deluca performed well for Peel last year and so far this year, together they have a total of 0 afl games, while the proven spuds like Sheridan and Sutty continue to get picked ahead of them.

It took til Round 12 for Ross to play Collins, he should of rested Johnson at least once by now, yet he refused to rest a 30+ defender and give Collins a go. Beveridge has balls and it's working, Ross is piss weak at selection and it shows.

 

[ROGS]

you are 110% correct. Ross has his favoured players like Sheridan (29 possessions for PF last week but most of them uncontested running in from the back of the square) I for one doubt Lyons judgement as to a players ability ie wouldn`t SCOS be handy down back at the moment but he never got a real chance under Ross
Nyhuis and Deluca are both competitors and should be in next game BUT let me guess Ross will bring back Ibbo & D Pearce as he will argue experience is needed down at Geelong

 

[malpaso]

Had a day to digest this game.

1. We make really bad decisions (hand-balling to a worse position, kicking to the disadvantaged side)
2. Not enough options are provided to the ball carrier
3. Why are opposition players all over our players yet we are nowhere to be seen when they get the ball?
4. Our forwards don't work hard enough to get away from their man.
5. We have shit ruck depth.
6. We need better small forwards (not counting Walters as he goes up the field now).

Liked Brennan Cox a lot, he's got smarts and moves well.
Liked Luke Ryan, he got stuck in.

Stephen Hill - Where are you?
Nat Fyfe - Are you purposely driving down your asking price? I think he should play CHF after the bye.
Sutciffe - so many opportunities to do something and you failed.
Sheridan - just not a footballer, go run cross country and sell sunglasses.
Spurr - needs to finish up, liability once he gets the ball in his hands. Pearce MkII.
Mundy - for a really good player makes some bonehead disposal decisions.

 

[Mudd]

Fair enough.
I'm inclined to agree with most of what you say, and I've just had a bit of a chuckle behind the scenes because in the light of some recent disappointments of my own, I've come in here and had a go at y'all - as an outlet, of sorts.
Somewhat hypocritical, yes? Heh.

The nagging thought remains, though, that at the end of the day there are those who think Tom Swift left football because he thought he had greater opportunities elsewhere, and those who suspect there was a fair bit more to it than that.

Where anyone stands on this is probably a reflection of which particular camp they stand in.
And then there'll be those who are more apt to simply think WTF... this is a footy forum!

It just might pay in the long term, however, to remember that those are actual people out there on the ground.
Some of them are no doubt thinking a lot about where they want to be next year. And if anyone thinks "fan" feedback isn't a crucial factor in both long term decisions and immediate performance, I'd suggest you think again.

I'll drop it now though.

I'm certainly thinking WTF after reading that

 

[darkshines]

I just wanna know what the farque is going on at the centre clearances. The Sandi excuse doesn't wash, teams have won clearances with likes of Lin Jong rucking this year.

The first quarter was just incredible, Zorko Beams and Rockliff literally waltzing away from the centre, it all started there. Seems to be a trend if you have a gun, speedy midfield you can crack us open for fun. I just cant understand how we have periods where we cant defend a pure stoppage exit. Crouch & Crouch in the Crows game the same, WCE Q1, Port. Overall clearance stats can be misleading, but pure centre clearances are a dagger and we are just coughing them up week after week.

Are our elites (used to getting it their way) like Fyfe, Neale and Hill just not delivering defensively at centre clearances? Is it time for a coaching change at the stoppages?

 

[theGav56]

you are 110% correct. Ross has his favoured players like Sheridan (29 possessions for PF last week but most of them uncontested running in from the back of the square) I for one doubt Lyons judgement as to a players ability ie wouldn`t SCOS be handy down back at the moment but he never got a real chance under Ross
Nyhuis and Deluca are both competitors and should be in next game BUT let me guess Ross will bring back Ibbo & D Pearce as he will argue experience is needed down at Geelong

the SCOS you refer to was injured early in the game today and faces yet another stint on the sidelines. Did you want us to hang onto Morabito too?

 

[theGav56]

I just wanna know what the farque is going on at the centre clearances. The Sandi excuse doesn't wash, teams have won clearances with likes of Lin Jong rucking this year.

The first quarter was just incredible, Zorko Beams and Rockliff literally waltzing away from the centre, it all started there. Seems to be a trend if you have a gun, speedy midfield you can crack us open for fun. I just cant understand how we have periods where we cant defend a pure stoppage exit. Crouch & Crouch in the Crows game the same, WCE Q1, Port. Overall clearance stats can be misleading, but pure centre clearances are a dagger and we are just coughing them up week after week.

Are our elites (used to getting it their way) like Fyfe, Neale and Hill just not delivering defensively at centre clearances? Is it time for a coaching change at the stoppages?

I think all of Fyfe, Neale and Hill have fitness issues.

 

[PurpleEyes]

Freo's (inside) midfield has lately been made up of Griffin (and a non ruck specialist), Fyfe, Neale, Blakely, S.Hill, Mundy, Walters.
Fyfe is not at his best, Neale is getting back to his best, Blakely is promising (but still developing), S.Hill is out of form since returning from injury and learning to be an inside mid, Mundy spends most of his time forward and Walters is still in development. Brisbane had Martin rucking, Zorko, Rockliff and Beams who are all gun midfielders and were all back together and rested after their bye. That is, prior to the start of the match, Brisbane's leading clearance players for 2017 were; Rockliff averaging 10 clearances per game, Martin 5.9, Zorko 5.7 and Beams 5.2. Freo's were Neale 6.18, Fyfe 5.36, Sandilands 4.11 (missing) & Blakely 4.09.

Nevermind the fact that Brisbane had 3 clearances out of the middle, in the first quarter, from dodgy free kicks.

I keep saying, Freo's midfield with Sandilands is very good to Elite ... without him, it's just ordinary, especially since moving Mundy forward, delisting Barlow, and using (inside) midfielders who are still developing their trade in the form of Blakely, Walters and S.Hill. Add to that injury hangovers for Fyfe, Neale and S.Hill and Freo's midfield is a long way from it's best.

I think most would agree Freo's strongest area (out of Forward, Mids, Defence) is their midfield. If that is not firing on all cylinders and it comes up against another quality midfield team, then it's going to get messy ... and it did.

 

[mike91]

Freo's (inside) midfield has lately been made up of Griffin (and a non ruck specialist), Fyfe, Neale, Blakely, S.Hill, Mundy, Walters.
Fyfe is not at his best, Neale is getting back to his best, Blakely is promising (but still developing), S.Hill is out of form since returning from injury and learning to be an inside mid, Mundy spends most of his time forward and Walters is still in development. Brisbane had Martin rucking, Zorko, Rockliff and Beams who are all gun midfielders and were all back together and rested after their bye. That is, prior to the start of the match, Brisbane's leading clearance players for 2017 were; Rockliff averaging 10 clearances per game, Martin 5.9, Zorko 5.7 and Beams 5.2. Freo's were Neale 6.18, Fyfe 5.36, Sandilands 4.11 (missing) & Blakely 4.09.

Nevermind the fact that Brisbane had 3 clearances out of the middle, in the first quarter, from dodgy free kicks.

I keep saying, Freo's midfield with Sandilands is very good to Elite ... without him, it's just ordinary, especially since moving Mundy forward, delisting Barlow, and using (inside) midfielders who are still developing their trade in the form of Blakely, Walters and S.Hill. Add to that injury hangovers for Fyfe, Neale and S.Hill and Freo's midfield is a long way from it's best.

I think most would agree Freo's strongest area (out of Forward, Mids, Defence) is their midfield. If that is not firing on all cylinders and it comes up against another quality midfield team, then it's going to get messy ... and it did.

I think our midfield is overrated with or without Sandilands. Blakely and Neale can barely stick a tackle, Blakely is our only midfielder that knows how to defend an opponent.

 

[stax on the mull]

The unexpected thing I saw was that Brisbane showed up with an attitude of acting tough and looking like they wanted to pick a fight.

There was a bit of verbal around the stoppages and a bit of push and shove - what I thought would be just a bit of bravado that would soon be stamped out with some authoritative play by some of our older heads - but it was allowed to have some substance. Brisbane attacked the contest harder and several times I saw our players showing they were in pain after tackles.

We got bullied by the youngest team in the AFL and we whimped out.

 

[Scham]

The unexpected thing I saw was that Brisbane showed up with an attitude of acting tough and looking like they wanted to pick a fight.

There was a bit of verbal around the stoppages and a bit of push and shove - what I thought would be just a bit of bravado that would soon be stamped out with some authoritative play by some of our older heads - but it was allowed to have some substance. Brisbane attacked the contest harder and several times I saw our players showing they were in pain after tackles.

We got bullied by the youngest team in the AFL and we whimped out.

Not sure about whimping out. More that they just didn't care.

 

[Dormammu]

Actually I very enthusiastic and interested but must admit that changed as the game went on. Yes, I did expect us to win.

I think that when he said "you" he meant the team, not yourself personally.

 

[Lach72]

Not sure about "too far", just yet. But we're in danger of getting to that point.
Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

I actually (mostly) like the way they're going about it.
We don't want to be GWS or GC in the early years, getting belted around the park for years waiting for them to get the experience and physicality necessary to become a regularly successful team. But on the other hand, we have some obvious gaps that are crying out to be filled.

A fine balancing act, indeed.

I'm not sure I agree with too far in any sense.

Two hills, Hamling, McCarthy, Spurr, Sandilands, Fyfe Neale, Walters, Kersten, Johnson, Mundy is enough of senior rump to glue the young pieces on to.

 

[Freo Dr]

What can you say, tired players with not enough contributors either due to fatigue/form (McCarthy), general lack of ability or because they are still young and learning.

Cox was a positive and will play again. Ryan started to show something.

I expect we will lose a fair number of games more before the end of the year and just have to keep playing the younger kids. Expect Darcy and Nyhuis to play soon, Logue probably as well. McCarthy might need a spell in the WAFL. Sutcliffe was very very poor and needed to stand up more in that backline given his experience. He will be dropped for sure. Still not sure why Hughes was dropped.

 

[PapaJ]

What can you say, tired players with not enough contributors either due to fatigue/form (McCarthy), general lack of ability or because they are still young and learning.

Cox was a positive and will play again. Ryan started to show something.

I expect we will lose a fair number of games more before the end of the year and just have to keep playing the younger kids. Expect Darcy and Nyhuis to play soon, Logue probably as well. McCarthy might need a spell in the WAFL. Sutcliffe was very very poor and needed to stand up more in that backline given his experience. He will be dropped for sure. Still not sure why Hughes was dropped.

Lace out passes to Collingwood players would have been a good part of it.

But, yeah. Thought he was building a game of sorts before that. Should be back in sooner than later.

 

[Dormammu]

Without exception we all agree that it was at best a disappointing result. At worst, deplorable and totally unacceptable. In reverse order of importance I'd like to make the following observations.

Ruck Woes: I understand and agree with the club policy of easing debutantes into the team by having them as a travelling emergency. So why was Darcy omitted in favour of Nyhuis when the most critical problem is improving midfield output?

Flat First Quarters: Mounting stirring comebacks in the second half is a well you can go to only so often. The one player who is consistently bursting out of the blocks is Deluca. From the Peel watchers comments it's clear his interrupted pre-season means he struggles in the second half but that's when the likes of Blakely and Neale seem to be clicking into gear. I get that it's a band-aid solution and not likely to alter the outcome of a match but it will at least slow the scoreboard haemorrhaging.

Blakely: Yes, he had 7 tackles but it seemed most occurred from the second quarter onward. He still fails to play accountable football and doesn't bring the same quantity and consistency of pressure acts that Barlow, Crowley and DeBoer have established as the benchmark.

Back Six: I'm absolving them of blame. It's hellish to defend when the ball is coming in quickly and utterly impossible when it's coming in quickly and cleanly. To a lesser degree the same absolution can be extended to the front six for, with the exception of Brad Hill, there was little quality ball being delivered.

Midfield: THIS is the crux of the problem and which encompasses the earlier comments. "Obliterated" scarcely describes the problem - "massacred" or "annihilated" seem more apt. Distinguishing whether it's personnel or structure seems moot as both are lacking. Clearly hard questions need to be asked of Eastaugh and Rock, our midfield coaches, and by implication RTB as he oversees them. A quick and ugly remedy would be to bring in Crowley, the video king, as a consultant to see if he can devise solutions.

Fyfe: Here it is, the most controversial recommendation I have and am likely to ever make - drop him to Peel. Before breaking out the pitchforks and flaming torches, hear me out. He's struggling to get back from a serious long term injury and bursting through the pack and contested marking, his two major weapons, have deserted him. This is impacting not just his confidence but those of his fellow mids as they strive to adjust their games to make up for his reduced output. Giving him a week in teal for 100% of the game will allow him to play at a slightly lower pace whilst helping him restore his aerobic base which is also down. More importantly, beating up some WAFL nufties will restore the infectious, confident arrogance that characterises the man.

I know, not gunna happen as he's in contract re-negotiations. Therefore consideration needs to be given to something left-field, like switching MJ into the forward line and playing him as a sweeper with reduced time as a mid. Other teams have successfully adopted this approach - from memory Ziebell and Cotchin have done so, I'll wager there's more.

 

[Square Peg]

Fyfe at Peel? meima likes this

 

[meima]

Fyfe at Peel? meima likes this

On current form I am not that keen anymore. I am hoping for T and Harley bennell combo. Fyfe is not Hodge , rioli type that willing to play for box hill to regain fitness.

 

[Dormammu]

Fyfe at Peel? meima likes this

Like I said, not gunna happen.

But I can dream. And can anyone think of a more powerful, uncompromising message that could be sent, not just to the players, coaches, management and fans, but to the football public at large, that so forcefully demonstrates the club's unwavering and uncompromising commitment to excellence?