Strategy Changes: Round 18 Freo vs Hawks

[mike91]

I think he was better this week. I think he groin was very sore, but after surgery he may be ok

Correct. It's very well known he played injured

 

[The Feeder Club]

Early predictions are for a wet Saturday. We probably need to "manage" one tall.

 

[Taylor]

I mean, if expectations for amiss have declined to the point that we are now hoping he reaches Joel Amarteys level…. Then things aren’t looking too flash.

Every journey starts with a few steps in the right direction.

 

[rgauci]

Commentary said Amartey kicked 0.6 with 3 OOF last game he played prior to today.

Eventually it will kick again for Amiss.

Midfield let down the side, not the forwards needing to be perfect off limited supply.

Dear and Lewis are available for Hawthorn so they might spare Gunston the flight to WA.

Imagine what they’ll do to Pearce and Cox when Amartey and McLean could get hold of them.

 

[Snuffaluphagus]

Midfield is shallow without Young, no doubt. We need to either magically recruit a B grade 28 year old mature body in the next year or two or hope at least two of Johnson, Noddy and Ras make the step up. We also just aren't structuring up right because even without Young - Jackson, Darcy, Bolton, Serong and Brayshaw should be halving midfield battles at worse but it seems teams are 75% of the way to a win just by shutting out the two amigos.

Ive made it known I've always doubted playing all 5 KPPs from the centre forward is going to work. Strike 1 against a good team, let's see how it goes against Hawks (if they stick with it). This is made worse but having only one actual small running defender. I dont think any of them are doing anything wrong but while we stopped the silly idea of also playing 3 tall KPDs, we need Cooper back badly because 4 mediums in Ryan, Banfield, Worner and Chappy is also one too tall I think.

I hope the silly ideas from earlier in the season about Switta being over rated are finally in the bin. With Dudley where he's at, that forward pressure is dire.

It all comes back to the middle though, teams have figured us out in there compare to the season where we dominated clearance.

 

[s_wd6]

Our over reliance of Serong is so easy to exploit. The fact that we get demolished in clearances but still somehow find ourselves in a position to win means we must be doing some things right, but also makes it that much more frustrating that we have no one to step up when he's being tagged. Even one player steps up for a quarter and we walk away with the four points.

 

[ubiquitous226]

Our over reliance of Serong is so easy to exploit. The fact that we get demolished in clearances but still somehow find ourselves in a position to win means we must be doing some things right, but also makes it that much more frustrating that we have no one to step up when he's being tagged. Even one player steps up for a quarter and we walk away with the four points.

We need at least one, and preferably two, of Ras/Johnno/NOD to come on.
Right now none of them have broken through, although flashes from Johnson and NOD has looked reasonable coming back from injury.

In a perfect world JOM should be pushed out, but despite the hate he really hasn't been.

 

[Jezzitizle]

Calls for Omac for Cox are off the mark, Omac was poor.l before he went out.

I thought our mids didn’t work hard enough defensively in transition, Swans players got goal side too easily and it made the job for the KPDs harder.

That said, there were one or two efforts for Cox which were not at the required intensity.

He’s playing next to the captain and probably two of our most intense players in Clark and Ryan, so hopefully they give him feedback when it pops up..

 

[Docker82]

Midfield is shallow without Young, no doubt. We need to either magically recruit a B grade 28 year old mature body in the next year or two or hope at least two of Johnson, Noddy and Ras make the step up. We also just aren't structuring up right because even without Young - Jackson, Darcy, Bolton, Serong and Brayshaw should be halving midfield battles at worse but it seems teams are 75% of the way to a win just by shutting out the two amigos.

Ive made it known I've always doubted playing all 5 KPPs from the centre forward is going to work. Strike 1 against a good team, let's see how it goes against Hawks (if they stick with it). This is made worse but having only one actual small running defender. I dont think any of them are doing anything wrong but while we stopped the silly idea of also playing 3 tall KPDs, we need Cooper back badly because 4 mediums in Ryan, Banfield, Worner and Chappy is also one too tall I think.

I hope the silly ideas from earlier in the season about Switta being over rated are finally in the bin. With Dudley where he's at, that forward pressure is dire.

It all comes back to the middle though, teams have figured us out in there compare to the season where we dominated clearance.

I think we need to recruit a decent winger tbh.

Ideally NOD is a bit wing and a bit inside and Johnson is mostly inside with only small periods on the wing. On the weekend NOD was a pure wing and Johnson wasn’t playing inside nearly as much as he should be.

Until that happens and Young returns it’s hard to say whether we need another inside mid IMO. Johnson is the exact type of player we need in there - whether he’s good enough is probably something to find out in the next 12-18 months but we need him in the right role first.

 

[Footskill]

Maybe the horses for courses thing may need to apply to the midfield. Matching up with a team known to have the wood on our mids particular in regards to bullying out smaller mids, we need to get someone in there for the interim.

I think they thought Fyfe could of played that role but even if coming only as sub is not what we require. Need to impact the first half. Still not sold on JOM being the solution in there, which leaves , hate to say it...brodie..someone who can just shovel it out and get it going our way.. ugh

 

[go_the_dockers]

Midfield is shallow without Young, no doubt. We need to either magically recruit a B grade 28 year old mature body in the next year or two or hope at least two of Johnson, Noddy and Ras make the step up. We also just aren't structuring up right because even without Young - Jackson, Darcy, Bolton, Serong and Brayshaw should be halving midfield battles at worse but it seems teams are 75% of the way to a win just by shutting out the two amigos.

Ive made it known I've always doubted playing all 5 KPPs from the centre forward is going to work. Strike 1 against a good team, let's see how it goes against Hawks (if they stick with it). This is made worse but having only one actual small running defender. I dont think any of them are doing anything wrong but while we stopped the silly idea of also playing 3 tall KPDs, we need Cooper back badly because 4 mediums in Ryan, Banfield, Worner and Chappy is also one too tall I think.

I hope the silly ideas from earlier in the season about Switta being over rated are finally in the bin. With Dudley where he's at, that forward pressure is dire.

It all comes back to the middle though, teams have figured us out in there compare to the season where we dominated clearance.

Well said.

Hopefully JOM can help as a stop gap, but I am not sure you rely on him to be available and at best he has 2 years left in him.

Still don't rate Switta that highly, but he is clearly our best small forward. We were crying out of reinforcements in that area last year, and they are still needed.



Other clubs have topped up so well with players like Membrey, Mannugh, Peatling, Bobby Hill etc etc

I am hoping we can get a few players like these to solve some of these issues.

I was trying to think of a few 28 year old players from clubs St Kilda, Essendon, Carlton that may help us, but I can't think of any that would help us. I think most clubs are looking for more outside speed, and quality small forwards which make them hard to find.

 

[Mags98]

I think we need to recruit a decent winger tbh.

Ideally NOD is a bit wing and a bit inside and Johnson is mostly inside with only small periods on the wing. On the weekend NOD was a pure wing and Johnson wasn’t playing inside nearly as much as he should be.

Until that happens and Young returns it’s hard to say whether we need another inside mid IMO. Johnson is the exact type of player we need in there - whether he’s good enough is probably something to find out in the next 12-18 months but we need him in the right role first.

i think right now we need NOD full time inside, hes a real goer and is always moving forward and is physically a unit. i dont think erasmus can go with these experienced guys atm and honestly might be better off playing a bit outside as thats been the one thing hes impressed with since being in the team, inside 50 entries that is.

 

[Jezzitizle]

Maybe the horses for courses thing may need to apply to the midfield. Matching up with a team known to have the wood on our mids particular in regards to bullying out smaller mids, we need to get someone in there for the interim.

I think they thought Fyfe could of played that role but even if coming only as sub is not what we require. Need to impact the first half. Still not sold on JOM being the solution in there, which leaves , hate to say it...brodie..someone who can just shovel it out and get it going our way.. ugh

Would have been very useful this week.

Ras with just the 11 touches not holding him out surely, and we can say he had low game time - I’m not sure he would have had low game time if he was winning the ball.

Johnson not the answer, he is tall but not strong.

 

[DQ 4EVER]

I thought Chapman was our best defender yesterday & I am a big fan, but I reckon he is superfluous there.
I'd like to see what he can do upfield, in the middle.
At least he could be another option for when we are getting smashed in centre clearances

 

[dockerfemme]

I think we need to recruit a decent winger tbh.

Ideally NOD is a bit wing and a bit inside and Johnson is mostly inside with only small periods on the wing. On the weekend NOD was a pure wing and Johnson wasn’t playing inside nearly as much as he should be.

Until that happens and Young returns it’s hard to say whether we need another inside mid IMO. Johnson is the exact type of player we need in there - whether he’s good enough is probably something to find out in the next 12-18 months but we need him in the right role first.

I totally agree with you about Johnson. Without Young he seems the big bodied inside mid we need. I am not a big fan at this stage but he only had 14% cba yesterday and averages 25% across the year. He was surely recruited as an inside mid.

 

[BStaff17]

Early predictions are for a wet Saturday. We probably need to "manage" one tall.

Why is it always predicted to rain for Freo home games honestly.

 

[Taylor]

Why is it always predicted to rain for Freo home games honestly.

That 2015 season when it was sunny Sunday night until Friday afternoon, then wet all weekend, every other weekend and swapping over after the bye was very suspicious.

 

[Docker82]

i think right now we need NOD full time inside, hes a real goer and is always moving forward and is physically a unit. i dont think erasmus can go with these experienced guys atm and honestly might be better off playing a bit outside as thats been the one thing hes impressed with since being in the team, inside 50 entries that is.

NOD inside is simply not an option until we get another winger into the team unfortunately.

 

[Mags98]

NOD inside is simply not an option until we get another winger into the team unfortunately.

reckon we ca give up a bit on the wing to fix the glaring issue thats played out after every goal? weve run a ghost there for much of this season in sharp so im pretty happy to give anyone a go at this stage, also reckon erasmus could do alright there with his height and endurance, clearly not strong enough around the ball at the moment

 

[s_wd6]

NOD inside is simply not an option until we get another winger into the team unfortunately.

Im getting Sharp back in to do SFA if it means we get another player in the middle. NOD always looks good when he goes in there.

Johnson still had second most clearances for us yesterday, behind Darcy. He's not bad in there. Better than using him out on the wing.

I don't think we lose much at all swapping Sharp for Ras to be honest.

 

[Docker82]

Im getting Sharp back in to do SFA if it means we get another player in the middle. NOD always looks good when he goes in there.

Johnson still had second most clearances for us yesterday, behind Darcy. He's not bad in there. Better than using him out on the wing.

I don't think we lose much at all swapping Sharp for Ras to be honest.

Yep. Only question for me is whether JOM is a better option than Sharp in one way or another.

JOM either plays the role Johnson did yesterday or goes to the wing. Clearly doesn't have the running ability of either Sharp or NOD but is he still a better option than Sharp?

My preference would be to bring in Sharp, see how he goes and if it's shite chase a winger hard at trade time.

 

[Footskill]

Has this clearance issue been a thing all year or does it seem so glaring al of a sudden since the bye and going on the 6 game win streak. Maybe because the low level teams were still killing our mids but we still found a way to win but now with the lost yesterday seems dire.

On the one hand you don't want to over react but we now have a sample size of games that our mids can't seem to over come it themselves or we have the mix of personnel in their to overcome it. If we sort this part of the game out I feel it will put us in good stead because having oppos win the first 8 or so centre clearances puts you on the back foot all day

 

[malpaso]

We would not have a clearance deficit if Brodie played in place of Erasmus. Yes I know he's injured atm and all his negatives. But our biggest issue is not winning the ball in centre clearances.

The SCG is literally the worst ground to lose centre clearances on..

 

[wild side]

Think we get beat, then the drums will be loud again about coach.
They'll just have more grit, we are soft when it gets tough

 

[malpaso]

Has this clearance issue been a thing all year or does it seem so glaring al of a sudden since the bye and going on the 6 game win streak. Maybe because the low level teams were still killing our mids but we still found a way to win but now with the lost yesterday seems dire.

On the one hand you don't want to over react but we now have a sample size of games that our mids can't seem to over come it themselves or we have the mix of personnel in their to overcome it. If we sort this part of the game out I feel it will put us in good stead because having oppos win the first 8 or so centre clearances puts you on the back foot all day

Opposition knows it's the way to stop us. Until we even it up they'll keep doing it.