Changes vs Melbourne

[The Night Shift]

Rhys' goose is cooked.

He's off somewhere...whether GWS or not, he's done with us

Certainly seems that way.

Rather sad end between club and player after such a promising start that had big potential.

Still, he has those rad shades....

 

[prattsta]

Not according to Ross Lewis (The Worst).

That's been updated on his Twitter account now.

Ross Lewis



Confirming Fremantle took 24 players to Melbourne. Mellington and van Berlo the travelling emergencies. Doubts over Chris Mayne (knee). https://twitter.com/#!/search?q=#AFL

1 hour ago

 

[esquilax]

That's been updated on his Twitter account now.

Ross Lewis



Confirming Fremantle took 24 players to Melbourne. Mellington and van Berlo the travelling emergencies. Doubts over Chris Mayne (knee).

1 hour ago

OK thanks, who'd have guessed the first report was wrong.

Good for JvB, I like him.

The current Sunday forecast is;

Cloudy. Isolated showers in the early afternoon, increasing to areas of rain during the afternoon. Winds north to northwesterly averaging up to 25 km/h increasing to 20 to 35 km/h during the morning. Min 10 Max 16.

Rug up!!

 

[electricfeel]

Such a shame regarding Rhys. Will always be my favourite

On a plus side, can't wait to see Barlow and also Bucovaz! Where will he be lining up? I read the WAFL report and they said he's been good down back but also up forward? Sorry for the ignorance.

 

[Freo4life]

I know it hurts to lose a young player with potential but if he goes at least it removes a butcher from the team...

 

[BeinPurplenGreen]

So Rhys didn't fly with the team? We'll I haven't put too much stock in that sort of talk to this point, but gees it must be getting close:

1. He can't get a game in a team that needs at least somebody who could pinch-hit in the middle with their No. 1 mid out.
2. He can't get a game in a team that is missing it's first and second small fwds (Walters) while Palmer has been groomed as that high small fwd/mid position.
3. There's no WAFL game for him to play so you can't even use the 'match-fitness' thing.

Never saw this coming earlier in the season, and who would have guessed at the end of 08 we'd be sitting here.

An outrageous outcome. Surely, especially given the WAFL games on this weekend, Rhys would be first emergency?

Is Harvey seriously saying either or both of his choices from Bucovaz, MJ, Crichton, JVB or even Clarke (who has been good) would be better than Palmer in the guts as a midfielder for the whole game??? Surely not???

So Mellington in if it's wet maybe, as neither JvB or Palmer travelled (apparently).

JVB travelled, Palmer was left behind DESPITE HIS WAFL FIXTURING and as such only JVB is available if Keps, Mayne or Fyfe/Hilly pull up sore. P*ss pore by Harves if you ask me.

Rhys' goose is cooked.

He's off somewhere...whether GWS or not, he's done with us

He's certainly done with Harvey. If he wins a Brownlow or two (which I think he just might) over the rest of his career surely Harvey and the two Steves will go down as the worst coaching and development "managers" of the last 15 years?? Perfect successors to Schwabbollonolly really - thank goodness we have Simon Lloyd, Brad Lloyd, Bondy, and (until this season) C Scott, as without them the true force of Harvey would have been much clearer much sooner.

Of course MJ, Crowley and Hinkley will save us all...

Dear God, please, please bring back Barlow safe and sound, and have him beat Mundy's consecutives games record over the next six years. Please...

Oh, sorry, I forgot, Barlow is god!!

It is a stunning and tragic thing isn't it. For me it brings big question marks to our player development. You can't afford to have a young player slide so rapidly from saviour to outcast.

Very true. Can any side afford to dump a Rising Star winer in the next 3 years - especially a side that largely lacks inside mids such as Freo?? Very poor coaching by Harvs to have allowed it to publicly get to this point.

JVB travelled with the team as well as Mellington so there's a good chance of atleast one late change you' think, maybe Mayne/Kepler?

Mayne is seriously under the weather due to a knee, he should not even have flown to Victoria. If he plays he'll be at best 70 percent fit. Would have preferred him to be rested and Palms in. Or even Scham in.

I know it hurts to lose a young player with potential but if he goes at least it removes a butcher from the team...

This is just bulldust, Palmer is absolutely not a butcher.

In fact, his inside work, handballs and extraction are the sort of rare skills that will secure multiple finals runs. We let him go, we better have a much stronger insider to replace him. At the moment, we have jack crap that is even close, even if Barlow is back to his best, he is very different to Rhys and without Rhys next t him will not be anywhere near as effective.

Though there is now doubt Herr Harvey is aggressively promoting this view (via "media backgrounders") that Palmer is a butcher, unfit, not following instructions and unreliable. Oh, he also has seven heads, and his sunnies are not Harvey approved...

Mark, every one of these assertions is garbage, and if you had any core values you'd at least explain to us Freo fans why you are playing Hinkley, Jesse and flog MJ ahead of Rhys. No doubt, you won't explain it now, nor will you ever do anything except offer vague slags at Rhys.

Palmer's disposal over his career is on par with "guns" or "young stars" like Pav, Fyfe (actually on the last 3 games each has played Fyfe has far more unforced errors and clangers than Palms), Mundy (yes Mundy - he turns it over, ineffectively disposes of it, and fails to lead his fellow players more often than Palms), Balla, Mayne, Duff, Mora, Kep and Mzungu. Only Sandi, Elvis, Hayden, Broughts, and (WTF???) Grover have consistently better error results in the same time frame. Harvey's faves (MJ, Ibbo, Crowley, Crichton, Pitt, and especially McPhee) all have a level of both error rates and lack of effort that is far below Rhys, on both an overall effectiveness and a games played basis for the last 19 months.

In short, even if he is totally disobedient, completely unfit, extremely unpopular with his playing team-mates, and not racking up huge numbers of kicks (all of which I completely reject based on comments from actual Freo players), surely Palms in our side makes us better than when we have Crichton, MJ or Ibbo as first 22 players??

Surely??

Or, Mark, are you just too stubborn to accept that your "genius" coaching "strategies" are just not up to it on a gameday, core midfield basis?? Don't forget to blame injuries for why you haven't picked Rhys, 'cause of course all those injuries we have mean a fully fit Rhys is so much less pickable...

 

[GordonGecko]

. If he wins a Brownlow or two (which I think he just might)

I laughed out loud here.

Palmer will never win a brownlow. He is a poor kick, a terrible decison maker and has lost his pace for some reason.

He is also a negative influence around the club, right up there in the shit bloke stakes.

Walks around with an underserved whiff of self importance, attempted to hold Fremantle hostage with contract demands and has now been told he will be last considered given his position with GWS.

He sets a bad example off the field and adds little on it.

I applaud Harvey for removing a malignant cancer within the club.

 

[BeinPurplenGreen]

I laughed out loud here.

Palmer will never win a brownlow. He is a poor kick, a terrible decison maker and has lost his pace for some reason.

He is also a negative influence around the club, right up there in the shit bloke stakes.

Walks around with an underserved whiff of self importance, attempted to hold Fremantle hostage with contract demands and has now been told he will be last considered given his position with GWS.

He sets a bad example off the field and adds little on it.

I applaud Harvey for removing a malignant cancer within the club.

What an absolute steaming heap of dung of a post.

Oh, and by the way, if you or anyone who was important to you had ever been through the actual process of trying to deal with actual cancer, you would realize how inappropriate the last part of your post is.

Of course, because you are a pathetic internet troll, lacking in even the humour stakes,who has never experienced anything of the real ups and downs of a true family life, you can't appreciate how pathetically poor taste your reference to "cancer" is. How dare you suggest that any AFL player (whether a Brownlow winner or not, whether a first grade champion or not) is equivalent to a "cancer".

Palmer may or may not be your cup of tea. He is hardly deserving of the sort of slagging and abuse that you have dished up. He is most definitely only an AFL footballer, which is surely in a different category to the "cancers" that those of us who have family members with medical conditions must face??

Surely, you didn't mean to suggest that the club losing Rhys is the same as me losing my mum to cancer? Surely??

Or are you just a troll looking for attention and West Coast applause??

 

[Lach72]

Jesus Christ. Have a Bex and a lie down

 

[GordonGecko]

What an absolute steaming heap of dung of a post.

Oh, and by the way, if you or anyone who was important to you had ever been through the actual process of trying to deal with actual cancer, you would realize how inappropriate the last part of your post is.

Of course, because you are a pathetic internet troll, lacking in even the humour stakes,who has never experienced anything of the real ups and downs of a true family life, you can't appreciate how pathetically poor taste your reference to "cancer" is. How dare you suggest that any AFL player (whether a Brownlow winner or not, whether a first grade champion or not) is equivalent to a "cancer".

Palmer may or may not be your cup of tea. He is hardly deserving of the sort of slagging and abuse that you have dished up. He is most definitely only an AFL footballer, which is surely in a different category to the "cancers" that those of us who have family members with medical conditions must face??

Surely, you didn't mean to suggest that the club losing Rhys is the same as me losing my mum to cancer? Surely??

Or are you just a troll looking for attention and West Coast applause??

Ahahahah, really?

That's what you took from my post?

Laughable. We're talking about football, here I'll temper it for you.

Rhys is a negative influence in and around the club, one which needs to be removed, similar to a cancer.

That better?

 

[Chris25]

Really looking forward to seeing Bucovaz play on Sunday. Unless there was a late change though, he would be my substitute. Hinkley deserves a full game, and without Ballantyne his pace will be handy against a fast Melbourne team.

 

[Avid_Avenger]

It is a stunning and tragic thing isn't it. For me it brings big question marks to our player development. You can't afford to have a young player slide so rapidly from saviour to outcast.

I agree.

Rhys isn't the first player to have an ego (if the rumours are true) and he won't be the last. I hope we deal with our next cocky star better than we have dealt with Rhys.

And if the problem is that he's going to GWS, I'd prefer we put our team's season ahead of a personal vendetta - winning a flag is hard enough without getting childish when someone slight's you. How the hell are we going to operate when free agency comes into play?

Rhys in the middle and Pav mainly forward with short stints on the ball could have won us a couple of extra games and given us a shot at the top four.

As it is, our great white hope of 2008 is going to go on to be a handy player in some other midfield next year while we'll still be forced to play Pav in the guts, waiting for Mora to get over his knee.

 

[Avid_Avenger]

By the way...

Stoked to see Bucovaz get a gig - really deserves it after extended WAFL form. I'd actually prefer to see him play a full game but agree that Hinkley doesn't deserve to be the sub again. Not sure who that leaves though...

I hope they don't bring in JVB but not looking good if his father is flying over especially. Much rather they brought in Mellington to offset the loss of Ballas creativity.

 

[theGav56]

Woe, love the passion in the post BPG. I have never been a Harvey fan. I just don't see the smarts, and for someone with as much experience in the coaching arena as he has I think he has had some big blunders. But, he definitely has guts in some of his decisions, and the turn-around he has brought to the club after the first disasterous season is quite spectacular. In my dream world we would have someone like Eade sitting alongside him.

Re him and Palmer, it seems certain that he is GWS bound, but wasn't it a request that we are told if a deal has happened? And anyway with the injuries we have had you need to use every available resource, and Palmer is one of those resources. We entered the year with some sort of silly shot at playing serious finals, but failing to use Palmer in the midfield is not going to help that.

 

[BeinPurplenGreen]

I agree.

Rhys isn't the first player to have an ego (if the rumours are true) and he won't be the last. I hope we deal with our next cocky star better than we have dealt with Rhys.

And if the problem is that he's going to GWS, I'd prefer we put our team's season ahead of a personal vendetta - winning a flag is hard enough without getting childish when someone slight's you. How the hell are we going to operate when free agency comes into play?

Rhys in the middle and Pav mainly forward with short stints on the ball could have won us a couple of extra games and given us a shot at the top four.

Exactly. Could not have said it better myself.

Also, the failure to play Rhys will also likely adversely affect our compensation when Rhys leaves as he will be regarded as "having had a down year"...

As it is, our great white hope of 2008 is going to go on to be a handy player in some other midfield next year while we'll still be forced to play Pav in the guts, waiting for Mora to get over his knee.

And also, because we have overplayed Fyfe, Ballas and Pav in the middle, each will have more injuries over the next two years than if we had just picked and played Palms and Lower in the guts all game every game!! Even if he is off to GWS, why burn up Mundy, Fyfe, Ballas and the other younguns in the midfield when Palms and or Lower could be in there for us taking the hits??

 

[tacopavlich]

at this point i hope he IS off to GWS cause he clearly doesn't have a future with us at all.

 

[electricfeel]

I feel sorry for him, if he is GWS-bound I genuinely hope he does really well. Will always be one of my favourites.

I'm just glad we have other players (Fyfe, Barlow, Hill etc) to compensate for his loss. I mean surely we could do with another tough, inside midfielder...but whatever. We'll just have to see what happens.

 

[westy1]

as far as rhys is concerned none of us know what the dynamics are regarding his relationship with harv's .if all the indicators are correct and he is off to gws i take my hat off to harv's
bear in mind ,last year most of the players who were linked with gold coast actually ended up going for the cash,fair play to them too
maybe if rhys showed the same sort of loyalty and passion for the club that those defending him on here do for him,he would be staying ,and playing good footy for us too
its a bit like the brett peake thing all over again
and if we have a coach who is prepared to draw a line in the sand and ask for %100 commitment from his players,then we are heading in the right direction

 

[Avid_Avenger]

Exactly. Could not have said it better myself.

Also, the failure to play Rhys will also likely adversely affect our compensation when Rhys leaves as he will be regarded as "having had a down year"...




And also, because we have overplayed Fyfe, Ballas and Pav in the middle, each will have more injuries over the next two years than if we had just picked and played Palms and Lower in the guts all game every game!! Even if he is off to GWS, why burn up Mundy, Fyfe, Ballas and the other younguns in the midfield when Palms and or Lower could be in there for us taking the hits??

Yep and yep.

Palmer and Lower are inside mids. If they're used as inside mids, our elite mids like Mundy and Fyfe can concentrate more on getting attacking and punishing the opposition. You'd at least have one of them resting up forward creating headaches ala Dane Swan as their workload decreases. People need to get smarter - Harves vendetta against Palmer is hurting our side in more ways than one.

Selection (including rewarding poor performance) and playing players out of position has had a massive detrimental impact on our stuttering season IMO.

Last year you could count them on one hand - like picking Zac Clarke as a forward vs St Kilda, and playing an injured Sandi and Headland in the semi-final - but this year, with the injuries, every poor decision stands out so much more and is far harder to overcome on match day.

 

[E Shed]

Interesting how expectations have changed. 2 years ago we were one of the worst teams on the comp and the idea of winning a game away from Subi was the stuff of fantasy. Now we expect to win anywhere with half our best team out and if we don't Harvey is an arse clown.

 

[bfff]

An outrageous outcome. Surely, especially given the WAFL games on this weekend, Rhys would be first emergency?

Is Harvey seriously saying either or both of his choices from Bucovaz, MJ, Crichton, JVB or even Clarke (who has been good) would be better than Palmer in the guts as a midfielder for the whole game??? Surely not???

No, 5 of those aren't midfielders. Crichton is improving week by week. Have you watched Buco play this year? He has been excellent. He will play a role that Rhys can't. If Mayne is out would you replace him with Palmer?

JVB travelled, Palmer was left behind DESPITE HIS WAFL FIXTURING and as such only JVB is available if Keps, Mayne or Fyfe/Hilly pull up sore. P*ss pore by Harves if you ask me.

Two emergencies travelled. JVB & Mellington. Where has it been suggested that Fyfe or Hill are sore?

He's certainly done with Harvey. If he wins a Brownlow or two (which I think he just might) over the rest of his career surely Harvey and the two Steves will go down as the worst coaching and development "managers" of the last 15 years?? Perfect successors to Schwabbollonolly really - thank goodness we have Simon Lloyd, Brad Lloyd, Bondy, and (until this season) C Scott, as without them the true force of Harvey would have been much clearer much sooner.

Bond is Head of the Football Department, Simon Lloyd is senior development coach and Brad Lloyd is manager of player development. The CEO and President are hardly coaching and development managers. I thank the stars that they aren't involving themselves in footy decisions like Schwab.

Of course MJ, Crowley and Hinkley will save us all...

And Rhys would? Give me a break.

Dear God, please, please bring back Barlow safe and sound, and have him beat Mundy's consecutives games record over the next six years. Please...

Oh, sorry, I forgot, Barlow is god!!

Very true. Can any side afford to dump a Rising Star winer in the next 3 years - especially a side that largely lacks inside mids such as Freo?? Very poor coaching by Harvs to have allowed it to publicly get to this point.

Yes we can, rising star means jack shit. We are going to lose some good players at some point. It happens to every team. We are better equipped to deal with this than in the past.

Mayne is seriously under the weather due to a knee, he should not even have flown to Victoria. If he plays he'll be at best 70 percent fit. Would have preferred him to be rested and Palms in. Or even Scham in.

Schammer in, what are you talking about?

This is just bulldust, Palmer is absolutely not a butcher.

In fact, his inside work, handballs and extraction are the sort of rare skills that will secure multiple finals runs. We let him go, we better have a much stronger insider to replace him. At the moment, we have jack crap that is even close, even if Barlow is back to his best, he is very different to Rhys and without Rhys next t him will not be anywhere near as effective.

Palmer hasn't shown enough to prove he will be any more than an average AFL footballer.
Barlow is in a different league to Palmer. He plays inside and can kick. Do you honestly think he needs Rhys there to perform?

Though there is now doubt Herr Harvey is aggressively promoting this view (via "media backgrounders") that Palmer is a butcher, unfit, not following instructions and unreliable. Oh, he also has seven heads, and his sunnies are not Harvey approved...

Has Harvey said any of this?
Media backgrounders? Do you mean BF posters? That's where I have heard this stuff.

Mark, every one of these assertions is garbage, and if you had any core values you'd at least explain to us Freo fans why you are playing Hinkley, Jesse and flog MJ ahead of Rhys. No doubt, you won't explain it now, nor will you ever do anything except offer vague slags at Rhys.

I agree with this to some degree. They should come out and clarify what is going on with Rhys because it isn't doing anyone any favours by dragging it out. Not to Rhys, not to the club and it is annoying the bejeezus out of a lot a supporters. However, Harvey doesn't have to justify his week-to-week selections to the general public.

Where has Harvey slagged off Rhys?

Palmer's disposal over his career is on par with "guns" or "young stars" like Pav, Fyfe (actually on the last 3 games each has played Fyfe has far more unforced errors and clangers than Palms), Mundy (yes Mundy - he turns it over, ineffectively disposes of it, and fails to lead his fellow players more often than Palms), Balla, Mayne, Duff, Mora, Kep and Mzungu. Only Sandi, Elvis, Hayden, Broughts, and (WTF???) Grover have consistently better error results in the same time frame. Harvey's faves (MJ, Ibbo, Crowley, Crichton, Pitt, and especially McPhee) all have a level of both error rates and lack of effort that is far below Rhys, on both an overall effectiveness and a games played basis for the last 19 months.

What? McPhee, despite his clangers, is one of hardest workers we have.
Pav, Mundy, Fyfe, Balla, etc. bother to get their own ball. It's easy to have good DE if you don't get much of the footy.

In short, even if he is totally disobedient, completely unfit, extremely unpopular with his playing team-mates, and not racking up huge numbers of kicks (all of which I completely reject based on comments from actual Freo players), surely Palms in our side makes us better than when we have Crichton, MJ or Ibbo as first 22 players??

Disobedient means out IMO. It's a ****ing team sport. Play by the team rules or don't play at all. It's called discipline. That is how you build a cohesive unit and a side that will be successful for more than 1 or 2 years.

Surely??

Or, Mark, are you just too stubborn to accept that your "genius" coaching "strategies" are just not up to it on a gameday, core midfield basis?? Don't forget to blame injuries for why you haven't picked Rhys, 'cause of course all those injuries we have mean a fully fit Rhys is so much less pickable...

Has he said that?


I'm happy to see Rhys stay. Please can we have an announcement one way or the other this week? At very least come out and give a deadline for finalising contracts.

 

[tacopavlich]

good post bfff

 

[dont bowl there]

Interesting how expectations have changed. 2 years ago we were one of the worst teams on the comp and the idea of winning a game away from Subi was the stuff of fantasy. Now we expect to win anywhere with half our best team out and if we don't Harvey is an arse clown.

It was the same during the CC years on here, if we won it was Harveys doing if we lost it was CC's fault. Now last year gets credited to Scott and this years losses go to Harvey.

 

[Scham]

good post bfff

Yes, too right. Showed great compsure answering/rebutting all the crap that was put up by BPG. He has officially lost the plot with some of those comments! Rhys an inside mid! Pfft...Rhys never has been an inside mid nor will he ever be.

 

[silverscope]

It was the same during the CC years on here, if we won it was Harveys doing if we lost it was CC's fault. Now last year gets credited to Scott and this years losses go to Harvey.

Yep. It's pretty sad really. But then I guess the masses have to blame someone when they skip over some facts.


Also IIRC Rhys was our #1 mid in 2008 and was playing mainly inside that whole year.