Prediction Changes v Hawks

[Rion]

This probably isn't the thread for it - but went down to the Chelsea match last night and the atmosphere was incredible. Constant chanting and singing, kids really getting into it; everyone lively and no one bothered what the man next to them thought.

This is in contrast to some more recent experiences at Freo games where the vibe has sat somewhere between genuflection and Holy Communion. Mind you, we were getting pumped in some of those games but I really think some fans need to take the chip off their shoulders and just enjoy themselves. The game's expensive enough without conning yourself into having a crap time.

I really hope we start bringing the noise for the last few home games, because we'll sitting on the sidelines in September and I want the youngsters to feel like the purple army are right behind them.

Mixture of the team not being in contention for anything and the turgid displays we put out occasionally. We were pretty up and about at the start of the season but after it became pretty obvious that we weren't playing finals I'm not sure what you can expect. Very hard to get a group of people that excited about what are essentially dead rubbers for us.

 

[Unique Name]

Ohhhhhh baby.

Harley's wait nears end as Dockers load up - http://m.afl.com.au/news/2018-07-24/harleys-wait-nears-end-as-dockers-load-up

 

[heavho]

If tabener is declared fit he should come straight in ahead of McCarthy.

 

[Taylor]

In: Sandilands, Darcy, Bennell, Brayshaw, Crowden, Taberner, Hill

Out: Hawthorn (of the 8)

 

[88mph]

I am sure Ross mentioned him by name post game and said he play at Peel first.

He was playing very well prior to injury.

Slot him straight back in please.

 

[tonygeeks]

It would be nice to get the boys up and about to play the iceberg for a few of these finals bound titanic's


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[maccamk]

We should sneak a quick game into big Hughy before he is competing with Tabs for a spot. 3 goals for Peel is a good enough reason for me. He will benefit from a taste of the big league and old mate daddy should be the man that makes way for gim

 

[Johnny Dalmas]

I’m happy for him to stay..we are rubbish going forward and don’t do him any favours kicking to our big blokes for the majority of the measly 30 or 40 odd entries each week.

Yeah, I hear you about us being rubbish going forward. But I think one of the reasons why we are rubbish at moving the ball forward is that guys like McCarthy aren't doing their bit to help link up the play.

I don't know how many I50 we got last week (it would have been low). But the poor output of McCarthy and Cox (last week) is surely a big reason for that. Forwards need to be impacting the play on the wing if we are to get it into forward 50 when they can then have another go at in order to score.

 

[Freomaniac]

We should sneak a quick game into big Hughy before he is competing with Tabs for a spot. 3 goals for Peel is a good enough reason for me. He will benefit from a taste of the big league and old mate daddy should be the man that makes way for gim

probably one game dixon should get a debut would be this week or the derby

 

[FreoRicci]

He was playing very well prior to injury.

Slot him straight back in please.

Mccarthy is barely fit/good enough for Peel. Just slot Tabs in, he can't be much worse.
Coz was underdone too, albeit because we had no one forward with Tabs etc injured. He has built up nicely though.
Don't see why not.. Tabs in for the derby after as his first game back is harsh.

 

[Cobbler]

Mccarthy is barely fit/good enough for Peel. Just slot Tabs in, he can't be much worse.
Coz was underdone too, albeit because we had no one forward with Tabs etc injured. He has built up nicely though.
Don't see why not.. Tabs in for the derby after as his first game back is harsh.

What a contradicting post.

Bring him in for Hawthorn after 3 months off, but bringing him in a week later for Derby would be harsh?

 

[Fyfster]

What a contradicting post.

Bring him in for Hawthorn after 3 months off, but bringing him in a week later for Derby would be harsh?

Yep agreed with the post up to that comment baffling

 

[Wizard]

Ross' response to the Harley question from Basil last night didn't particularly fill me with confidence that he is going to play.

 

[wild side]

Ross' response to the Harley question from Basil last night didn't particularly fill me with confidence that he is going to play.

Me neither

 

[TheLastCall]

Ross' response to the Harley question from Basil last night didn't particularly fill me with confidence that he is going to play.

Teams don't like swinging too many changes and with the potential ins this week, they may decide to delay a week or two for Harley, particularly if he did injure his ankle.

 

[Dock_king]

Ross' response to the Harley question from Basil last night didn't particularly fill me with confidence that he is going to play.

I`ll go out on a limb a say he shouldn`t play for Freo this week.
He still hasn`t put 4 quarters together, picked up an injury last week and won`t be able to run out a full game if elevated.
Give him another week or 2 for Peel so he`s better equipped when the elevation does come.

 

[Unique Name]

Ross' response to the Harley question from Basil last night didn't particularly fill me with confidence that he is going to play.

Hmmm. Your comment worried me, finally watched the segment with Basil just then. I think that's the first time Ross hasn't basically shutdown the possibility of Harley playing this year.

I thought that sounded like he's definitely in consideration.

 

[Wizard]

Hmmm. Your comment worried me, finally watched the segment with Basil just then. I think that's the first time Ross hasn't basically shutdown the possibility of Harley playing this year.

I thought that sounded like he's definitely in consideration.

I hope you are right and i'm just being pessimistic.

 

[wayToGo_]

Yeah I thought Ross sounded more open to it than recent weeks as well. If he does play and Stephen gets up it will be the first time the two Hills, Walters and Bennell play together. That was the dream 3 years ago - please can we see it this weekend? I also want to see Sandi, SHill, Bennell and Neale lining up in the middle with BHill and Langdon on the wings and Mundy and Walters at half forward at least once during the game.

 

[Wizard]

Yeah I thought Ross sounded more open to it than recent weeks as well. If he does play and Stephen gets up it will be the first time the two Hills, Walters and Bennell play together. That was the dream 3 years ago - please can we see it this weekend? I also want to see Sandi, SHill, Bennell and Neale lining up in the middle with BHill and Langdon on the wings and Mundy and Walters at half forward at least once during the game.

Would be super to get a game into him before the derby too.

 

[freoextra]

Yeah, I hear you about us being rubbish going forward. But I think one of the reasons why we are rubbish at moving the ball forward is that guys like McCarthy aren't doing their bit to help link up the play.

I don't know how many I50 we got last week (it would have been low). But the poor output of McCarthy and Cox (last week) is surely a big reason for that. Forwards need to be impacting the play on the wing if we are to get it into forward 50 when they can then have another go at in order to score.

For once Hackdorn might have had some interesting information in that he said Cox carried a slight calf strain into that game. I really Cox is over it because it is one area of the ground that we can ill afford any injuries.

 

[Joao]

For once Hackdorn might have had some interesting information in that he said Cox carried a slight calf strain into that game. I really Cox is over it because it is one area of the ground that we can ill afford any injuries.

It would make sense since Cox didn't look himself last week. Was well down on his recent performances.

Hopefully he gets a week off soon if he needs it. Tabs in a fortnight perhaps or maybe Huge can come in.

 

[mightymouse75]

2 more weeks would be good. But man it would be great to see him on the weekend

 

[mattis117]

This probably isn't the thread for it - but went down to the Chelsea match last night and the atmosphere was incredible. Constant chanting and singing, kids really getting into it; everyone lively and no one bothered what the man next to them thought.

This is in contrast to some more recent experiences at Freo games where the vibe has sat somewhere between genuflection and Holy Communion. Mind you, we were getting pumped in some of those games but I really think some fans need to take the chip off their shoulders and just enjoy themselves. The game's expensive enough without conning yourself into having a crap time.

I really hope we start bringing the noise for the last few home games, because we'll sitting on the sidelines in September and I want the youngsters to feel like the purple army are right behind them.

I admit that it's been difficult to feel cheery while my head is in my hands from all the ball butchering we were doing. The Brisbane game scarred me, that was the most insipid game of football I had ever witnessed and they honestly deserved half the stadium leaving by 3qtr time.

It's not really a fair comparison between the two codes. Soccer fans have gotten used to making their own entertainment, and the chants have become part of the atmosphere. But - you have to consider why they are chanting, and that is largely because Soccer can be seriously boring for a lot of people, particularly games of low intensity.

AFL fans are used to watching a game of high-intensity action for most of the game. People don't chant at AFL games because the sport itself is actually very entertaining.

What games do we generally see the most chanting, Mexican waves etc. at? Big wins for home teams, i.e. when the interest in the contest wanes, but everyone is in a very good mood.

If Freo were to actually play an exciting brand of football, which they have done for periods this season, the atmosphere would be right back up there.

 

[wayToGo_]

If Freo were to actually play an exciting brand of football, which they have done for periods this season, the atmosphere would be right back up there.

You can also look at it from the other way... If the crowd starts chanting and roaring before the game even begins, that might inspire our team to come out firing from the first bounce? And then each party feeds off each other. That's kind of how it felt Rd 2 for me, and also back in the first half of 2015.

Despite a bunch of 'hacks' in the media suggesting we don't play an exciting brand of football I certainly don't think it is a directive by Ross like some people seem to think so. When our players play with intensity and pressure we cause turnovers and take pressure off ourselves which leads to more confidence and better ball movement and generally more fluid scoring. When we don't we struggle, with such a young team the impact is magnified.

We started that Brisbane game like a deer in head lights possibly because Sandi went down late and threw a massive spanner in all the planning they had done through the week prior. You could see the confidence getting drained out of our players and they'd given up by quarter time. It had nothing to do with our "brand of football" imo.

A bit similar to Darcy going down just before last week's game against Essendon except we didn't drop our heads and managed to lessen what would have otherwise been a similar outcome. I think we've seen our desired "brand of football" a few times this season and all that is missing now is for us to do it more consistently, and learn from times when we don't wrestle back momentum like we didn't against the Lions.