Review Derby Post-Mortem

[imperial_oz]

In the gun: Anthony, Pearce, Lower, Johnson, JVB, Pitt
In the mix: Ballantyne (Test), Walters (Test), Palmer, Mitchie

Pav to CHF
Mitchie in as sub
Palmer in the middle
Hoping one of either Walters or Ballers gets up
Bradley FF

I think it is likely that Johnson, Lower and JVB will stay due to injuries/depth issues, but if Johnson has an injury as has been suggested by Haze on the radio then Faulks can have a run.

Anthony, Pitt and Pearce to be relegated to WAFL.

Faulks is injured. 2 - 3 weeks is likely from memory then he'll need to come back through the WAFL

 

[Avid_Avenger]

Palmer.

When the upside includes having Pavlich forward I struggle to see a downside.

Pav in the midfield is a weak decision by the coaching staff. While leaving Palmer out in favour of Pitt was an extremely dumb decision.

Pav in middle = bland ineffectual stopgap and a makeshift forward line.

Even if Harvey and co actually change things for next week the damage is done. Waiting until the wheels fall off before fixing a glaringly obvious issue is the quickest way to dent the team's collective confidence.

Cannot believe Harvey didn't even try pushing Pav forward for the second half. Mundy, Fyfe and De Boer were our only mids doing anything effectively - we wouldn't have missed Pav in there at all.

Is it Harvey being too scared or not having any Plan B'c or C's?

Also, subbing Lower for Pitt was a horrible decision. Lower was one of about 4 players willing to win the hard ball.

Lower into the guts, Pav forward and Crichton or JVB subbed out would have made some sense.

 

[apuchar]

There is a kid called Morabito who would be handy, also another by the name of Barlow - missing these 2 is really hurting us.

most teams are missing quality players from their teams, it doesn't mean the whole team has to turn to Jelly. This is a team that has always been soft and last year was an anomaly. I didn't listen to much of the game but every time I turned it on we we kicking backwards and sideways and the backwards again. Usually means you have nothing up forward to kick to or you have no run in the team. Probably both with us. We were totally run off our feet by Richmond and it didn't sound much different today.

 

[Silent Alarm]

I remember last season, we'd press hard and put on massive amounts of pressure. I'd watch boys like Hill push hard. Every ball was chased down. We'd have these intense pack moments - it'd be five purple onto four opposition on the half forward line, and we'd just keep going. That fight was here this season. The Richmond game was really when that intensity dropped.

Pavlich is under performing. He's got a pretty average psyche. The set-shots he's missed and the quality of his possessions are a bit suss. He's the icon of the club and he needs to perform. Drop him to center half forward and see how he goes. I agree that we should chuck him into the centre in spurts. Chop and change to confuse the opponent and add some penetration.

This next game is the definitive match.

 

[FD2646]

This comes bacK to the question a few of us have been asking all year. Are we just killing time until some key players return? A lot of the structures/tactics that have been in place since the as early as the pre-season seem to suggest we are...

I can't help but think that this is the case, however as another has mentioned, there is no guarantee that when they eventually return they will even be near the standard they previously set...this is the worry.

Also, for all the good our recruiters have done, I think to miss a young, quality KPP local (not to mention West Perth boy!) lad in Darling is very disappointing. Pitt has generally pleasantly surprised me, but he has the body of a 10 year old and not a KPP which is what we need most now and certainly into the future. We have no avenue without Pav forward and Darling would have been ideal....hopefully our recruiters take note and can come up with some options in this draft.

 

[Avid_Avenger]

Last year we were the hunter. Now we are acting like the hunted - without the right to be so. When have the Eagles wanted a derby win more than Freo? Cannot believe that we did not take this game on like it was our last.

I do not share the popular view that everthing will be fixed once our players come off the injury list. I predict that Michael Barlow will not play anyway near what we are missing this year to make a major difference. Neither will Silvangi - heck he was never an A or B+ grader anyway - and the amount of footy he has missed will limit his capacity to capture any sustained form and make a difference. I don't rate Hayden and wouldn't put him into our best 22. Of those out, I would only count on Ballentyne (and he is still an emerging player) and Suban (who finally found form this year after two pretty bad years).

So what is the cure? That's what the coaches are paid the big bucks for. Get back the hunger which sees Freo boys first to the ball everytime. Get back confidence which is clearly lacking. Make it a requirement for every player to play at 100% for 120 minutes or they are dropped the next week. I think back to last year when Harve's dropped Duffman for shirking a contested mark. He was sent back to the WAFL and came back to play his best season yet. If we wouldn't tolerate it then, why now?

I say drop all our main underperformers - MJ, Crowley etc - and play some kids who while lacking in skill and experience, will make up for it with the hunger to seize their opportunity.

I think the lack of reward of WAFL form and the lack of punishment for poor form has killed our pressure tactics this year. Harvey has been slightly hamstrung by injuries but he has also been happy to let poor performance slide while we managed to sneak home for a few wins. Not fixing issues becoz you are winning is the quickest way to start losing. And not rewarding WAFL form/punishing poor form has let our senior players know there isn't any pressure for spots.

Unlike last season, Harvey has been too scared to back in young players. And he has been too scared to back in our midfielders to cover Barlow and Mora. Playing Palmer and Lower out of position so we can also play Pav out of position week in, week out is scared, defensive coaching.

 

[Masto]

I'm surprised there hasn't been more talk about your forward line. With Ballantyne out you just looked like you had no one up there to kick any goals. You're not going to win many games kicking less than 10 goals.

 

[apuchar]

Pav in the midfield is a weak decision by the coaching staff. While leaving Palmer out in favour of Pitt was an extremely dumb decision.

Pav in middle = bland ineffectual stopgap and a makeshift forward line.

Even if Harvey and co actually change things for next week the damage is done. Waiting until the wheels fall off before fixing a glaringly obvious issue is the quickest way to dent the team's collective confidence.

Cannot believe Harvey didn't even try pushing Pav forward for the second half. Mundy, Fyfe and De Boer were our only mids doing anything effectively - we wouldn't have missed Pav in there at all.

Is it Harvey being too scared or not having any Plan B'c or C's?

Also, subbing Lower for Pitt was a horrible decision. Lower was one of about 4 players willing to win the hard ball.

Lower into the guts, Pav forward and Crichton or JVB subbed out would have made some sense.

Agree with just about all of it Avid Avenger. I'm sure we picked up Lower because he was getting the hard ball in his SANFL side. It was stupid not to play 2 ruckmen against WC we knew what they were going to do to Sandi with their 2 ruckmen. I hope our admin isn't going down the jobs for the boys path again. I certainly hope we chose the best coaching staff available.
But we have won 4 with half a team out and we might just be going through a flat patch (although I don't really remember any high patch this season).

 

[Higs]

I just don't see why Harves is refusing to play Pavlich forward, even for small amounts of gametime!! Surely when you're 5 goals down and need to change things up to snatch a win, playing the clubs leading goalkicker for the last umpteen years up forward might be something to try out??

 

[Lach72]

Faulks is injured. 2 - 3 weeks is likely from memory then he'll need to come back through the WAFL

Played for Peel yesterday

 

[Silent Alarm]

Palmer out was a good decision. He's been under performing all season. There were even signs last season of his possible demise. He just can't kick and he's not getting enough of the ball. That was one of our (only) good coaching decisions.

 

[apuchar]

I just don't see why Harves is refusing to play Pavlich forward, even for small amounts of gametime!! Surely when you're 5 goals down and need to change things up to snatch a win, playing the clubs leading goalkicker for the last umpteen years up forward might be something to try out??

I think Barry Mitchell wears the pants in that relationship

 

[apuchar]

Palmer out was a good decision. He's been under performing all season. There were even signs last season of his possible demise. He just can't kick and he's not getting enough of the ball. That was one of our (only) good coaching decisions.

I would agree with that if he had been underperforming in the midfield.

 

[TheLoris]

Palmer out was a good decision. He's been under performing all season. There were even signs last season of his possible demise. He just can't kick and he's not getting enough of the ball. That was one of our (only) good coaching decisions.

Last season he was coming back from an acl!! Then was played as a sub/was subbed before getting shifted to half forward. The guy is a pure midfielder and should play there.......not saying he won't make a few clangers but what was our kicking efficiency today?? At least he can win the footy..

 

[wild side]

1. They suffocated us around the stoppages nullifying Sandis advantage
2. We didn't react to this tactically and thus we let them control the game.
3. Our skills under pressure were poorly executed.
4. They were far more desperate and outnumbered us when the ball was
being contested. Individually they worked harder. quote]

Indeed ! It looked like there were three or more Toast players around stoppages, and everytime we tried to break we got tackled. Even Sideshow Bob(who admittedly palyed a good game) caught Mundy as he was breaking away. We were slow to react, and we were more than not under pressure. Very poor performances from most of our mid tier.

 

[Lach72]

I'd like to chuck Paul Duffield's name into this discussion.

Has no run, has not been willing to compete at all, has been shit in the body on body stuff.

When Mzungu is fit and firing I'd have his **** on the block.

 

[Coledinho]

Thread needs more Jack Anthony hate. One of the most lazy uninspired performances i have ever seen. Glass pretty much had a week off playing on him. He barely broke out of a jog all game

 

[Lach72]

Thought he competed well, given the shit that was our delivery.
Thanks for dropping by though Embers

 

[TheLoris]

I'd like to chuck Paul Duffield's name into this discussion.

Has no run, has not been willing to compete at all, has been shit in the body on body stuff.

When Mzungu is fit and firing I'd have his **** on the block.

Yup, you'd hope he's carrying something because he's a shadow of his former self, is he still shagging Chad Fletcher's ex because maybe he's just exhausted before he gets to the ground??

We seriously miss run off half back and he was awesome year, Broughton also getting less of it. Bring back Muz and Roger and at least there'll be some competition for spots.

But he's not offering much, no run atm and not good overhead(although didn't he start on Darling FFS???).....could be back at souths if he doesn't lift his game.

 

[Clay Davis]

Thread needs more Jack Anthony hate. One of the most lazy uninspired performances i have ever seen. Glass pretty much had a week off playing on him. He barely broke out of a jog all game

You and your boyfriend Big Cox should start a thread on the rumours board.

 

[Coledinho]

Thought he competed well, given the shit that was our delivery.
Thanks for dropping by though Embers

What delivery? I dont think he made a single lead all game . You got to be there to receive delivery to complain about it. He was easily WOG

Clay Davis, Id rather drag up that thread on the mainboard where you berated me for thinking we were a finals chance. Thatd be more fun

 

[believe_it]

On reflection my concern is that teams have worked us out. If we have space to move the ball around our link up play is very good. Take that space away and its like pulling the battery pack out of Stephen Hawking's wheelchair. Todays footy requires teams to be tactically innovative and we may have a problem to deal with. This week was very similar to last week in how the game panned out. Still I am sure the people behind the scenes will be able to recognize where deficiencies lie and remedy them

 

[raffrox]

Hill is playing hurt. No doubt. Too many injuries have shown up the cracks we had two seasons ago.

No excuse for today but imagine if Morabito was running through guys, Barlow was gut running into open space and using the ball efficiently, Suban actually got the guys fired up and Balantyne actually applied some pressure. Silvagni would be handy. Crowley on Darling? Johnno needs a rest and Jack Anthony needs a game or two (looked more mobile than I thought he was).

The early wins have tricked us all into thinking we were ahead of where we were at. We need all our guys up and firing to be a top 4 threat and we aren't going to make the 8 unless we get some more players back.

 

[im_a_lazy_sod]

A mate said he heard on 720 that 19 of the last 21 frees of the games went one way

Given we only got 14 frees for the day, take a guess who got the 19

We played crap and there's no need to blame the umpires, but a goal given here and there for them and a goal denied or shot at goal denied here and there makes a difference

27 to 14 is ridiculously one sided

Our work-rate wasn't great and we got killed (seemingly) in the clearances and inside 50s - though we appeared to have far better accuracy than we have done other weeks

 

[Lach72]

They were favored, but getting a spanking will do that