Opinion Despite our current form and ladder position our intention should still be to contend for the 2021 Premiership

[WestCoast05]

I don't agree with all the sentiment that we should give up on contending for the 2021 flag and 'plan' for the future.
What a loser mentality, especially when we are still in the 8 (or even if we were out of the 8 but fighting for a spot in the 8).
What a loser Freo Dockers way of thinking. Our thinking should still be 100% about how we go about winning this season's flag.
Even if we had worse form and a worse list we still could Bradbury a premiership, and should be throwing everything at it.
I couldnt give a @#$% if peeps be talking about "the best team didnt win it" - that's for the losers to debate whilst winning teams bat deep into september and hold up silverware.

In fact this very mentality is what we are all hating about our current form.
That our players give up to easily whilst other teams fight on for the win.
Our coach and club (and supporter base) need to hold a never-say-die mindset.
And that goes for our season as well as individual games, because the mindset will end up permeating everything.

Btw I'm not saying we don't play the kids or blood new talent. In fact we did that the most in our last premiership (equal highest debutants in 2018).
But all this talk of giving up on this year is defeatist.
Our organisation has a history of winning and history of Success.
We are a proud club. Giving up should not be a part of our DNA or speech.
Fair enough our players are giving up right now far too easily - but let's not validate it.

By all means melt hard at the club. Spit that poison and let them know as supporters what we think is acceptable or not.
But that should come from a place of still holding hope and having the expectation that we're bloody effin West Coast.

 

[Agent93]

I don't agree with all the sentiment that we should give up on contending for the 2021 flag and 'plan' for the future.

I mean sure, what are you going to do? Get games into the next tier? We're doing that anyway with the injury list we have.

The list is built to have a tilt in '21 so why the * not?

 

[Doashuey]

We are in a position on the table where we are still a chance and if we hold most of our home games until we can get Shuey, Kelly, Gov and Duggan back without losing anymore top shelf then we have the talent to pinch a flag.
What we dont seem to have is a) an alternative game plan that 17 other teams haven't worked out how to negate b) the attitude required to be resilient and grind out wins. These 2 aspects have been sorely lacking for the past 2 years and neither is an easy mid-season fix.

We should always try to contend and win games of footy, but I would rather show some risk and dare of playing young up and comers like Edwards or Trew over blokes that have no future winning flags such as Ahchee and Hutchings. If that means we lose an extra game or 2 through the season, so be it. It will hold us in good stead for future seasons as I dont see us getting past the aforementioned issues to a point where we can make a sustained 2016 Bulldogs assault on the flag this year. If we are to have a big turn around in the attitude stakes then I see it being sparked by these young fellas- just need Simmo to come up with some alternative moves.

 

[HoneyBadger35]

Yeah agreee. It might look a long way away now, and it might (probably won’t) eventuate, but you don’t stop having a crack.

People saying I hope we miss finals to send some sort of message is something I won’t understand. Similar sentiment in 2017, with people saying well the window is shut so why are they still pushing, just pump games into the kids and miss finals for a better pick.

Do we win the 2018 Grand Final without the 2017 extra time final pressure and experience? Starting down five goals to none, with 2015 in the back of everyone’s mind, I’ve always thought the Port final the previous year would have held them in great stead.

Keep pushing. That doesn’t mean don’t make any changes or don’t try to mix up the approach, but any semblance of tank this year and force games into “x” even if it costs us wins...nah.

 

[Ambrose Burnside]

UP THE ******* COASTERS!!!

 

[Luuuc]

The lower down the ladder a team finishes, the slimmer their realistic chances become. But even from 8th spot the chances aren't zero.

Right now just making the 8 is far from a given.
But with good management and a bit less bad injury luck, by the back end of the season we should at least have a group that is capable of doing some real finals damage.
No reason whatsoever to stop trying to maximise what we can get out of this season. So much can happen between now and then.
Only once finals are out of the question should the focus shift away from just winning games.

 

[The Magenius]

What we dont seem to have is a) an alternative game plan that 17 other teams haven't worked out how to negate b) the attitude required to be resilient and grind out wins. These 2 aspects have been sorely lacking for the past 2 years and neither is an easy mid-season fix.

I don't see any external signs these things are improving. Our injuries are bad but a system that relies on having limited injuries isn't a good system.
Now is the perfect opportunity to try some different things.

 

[06Premiers]

any semblance of games into “x” ...nah.

But he kicked that goal that time.

 

[DanWCE]

Can we get some ******* jubilant Mastos up in here???!

 

[kaiserchief13]

Yeah that's fine but unfortunately unless the midfield drastically improves it is no chance. The issue I see is the midfield flops so many games this year and the coaches do nothing about it.

 

[FKASC]

Whilst I agree, am I the only one who thinks our season is on the line this week against Carlton?

 

[squashface]

Whilst I agree, am I the only one who thinks our season is on the line this week against Carlton?

Came here to make this joke

 

[FKASC]

Came here to make this joke

 

[squashface]

 

[Jootube]

If we get anywhere near our full strength team in September we're a huge chance of going all the way.
Hold the faith.

 

[Jiggyman]

Yeah that's fine but unfortunately unless the midfield drastically improves it is no chance. The issue I see is the midfield flops so many games this year and the coaches do nothing about it.

Not just the mids, I reckon our backline has underperformed as well. Missed some important players at stages and we haven't been able to get much continuity, which is so important for an organised defence.

 

[RookiePick]

Not just the mids, I reckon our backline has underperformed as well. Missed some important players at stages and we haven't been able to get much continuity, which is so important for an organised defence.

The backline has not been able to cover for the midfields sins at all well this season. A mixture of personnel, form and teams breaking down our system imo.

 

[Bacchus]

The backline has not been able to cover for the midfields sins at all well this season. A mixture of personnel, form and teams breaking down our system imo.

Although some love to hate him, Gov is a ‘big out‘ in more ways than one. He is the backline general.

 

[Footfalcon]

The backline has not been able to cover for the midfields sins at all well this season. A mixture of personnel, form and teams breaking down our system imo.

Opposing sides accuracy aside, Our back line have gone above and beyond their required performance. More pressure would be relieved from them if we were able to move the ball out of our back line (without bombing it down the line) as easy as oppositions move it out of our forward.

 

[Jiggyman]

Opposing sides accuracy aside, Our back line have gone above and beyond their required performance. More pressure would be relieved from them if we were able to move the ball out of our back line (without bombing it down the line) as easy as oppositions move it out of our forward.

In the past our stellar defense could account for the midfield's shortcomings, but they've come back to the pack this year.
Constantly rotating key defenders has not helped, but that's largely been outside of our control. We're missing Duggan, and Witho looked great before doing his groin. Can't catch a break.

 

[Coasters7]

Yeah it’s never over till you’re walking down that race after an elimination final.

History is obviously not on your side from outside the top 4 but plenty of sides have had to play all 4 games even after finishing top 4. The only side that has done it also conveniently brought back a whole heap of best 22 players on the eve of finals too so it can (although extremely unlikely) be done.

If we manage to make the 8, which is still up in the air at this stage, the best we can hope for is Port and Brisbane to make top 4. A top 4 of perennial bottlers Melbourne, Bulldogs who we’ve been toe to toe with already, and two interstate sides is really our only opportunity. Plus as many interstate sides as possible in the bottom half of the 8 ideally.

Requires both Brissie and Port to travel week 1 and not having to play Melbourne sides who get their “away” games in the same city. Huge ask, but you’ve gotta be in it to win it. History is there to be made, as unlikely as it might be.

 

[eaglesnutcase]

As stated we had a lot of debutantes in 2018 but the quality coming in was pretty good.New players knew they had to perform as we were going places.
The players coming in now arent that good.Langton,AhChee,Rotham,Jones,Nelson are all 50-50.We get glimpses but none of them set the world on fire or demand to be picked week to week.
Its like the whole club has gone back into its shell.No urgency,no hunger.
Simmo as the head honcho must realise that marking time whilst waiting for returning players is a recipe for disaster.Its allowing a complacency to creep into the whole club;supporters included.
Rioli,Yo,Shuey,Witherden etc have all missed and will miss big chunks of the season.To expect all them to come back in and dominate is i think wishful thinking.
Coming into a team finals bound they need to have a tough,battle hardened team to support them not a team riddled with fear who drop their bundle when a team threatens them.
I understand that no team can lose the amount of quality that we have and still function smoothly but if we pick players who are slightly below par then pick players with grit.Id rather play a 8/10 player who gives 100% than a 9/10 who gives 85%.
Its much easier for a star player to come back into a team thats having a real dip than one that turns up the toes at the first sign of pressure.

 

[The Dodger]

Whilst I agree, am I the only one who thinks our season is on the line this week against Carlton?

Was just missing a "as the title suggests"

 

[Rowan18]

I find every football season to be an emotional roller coaster. Unless it is obvious we are in the middle of rebuild (which doesn't happen often), I start the season optimistically and dream of a flag. Of course, winning flags is quite rare, so at some point in the season, reality hits and all hope is lost.

This year, I was a bit nervous after the St Kilda game, but put it down to one of those losses that happens every year (remember when Bombers smashed us at home in 2018?). Then the Geelong game happened, but that's OK because we don't win at Kardinya Park. Then we went on a winning streak. All good.

GWS loss made me nervous and frustrated, we would really have to win the next 2. Sitting in the stands on Saturday, watching the Bombers, I felt pretty good toward the end of the second. I said to my mate that we had to kick one more to extend our 30 point lead, as Bombers are one of those teams that won't go away if you don't break their spirit. Then Waterman gave up two goals and we folded like a deck of cards.

That was it. Hope squashed, premiership over. To make matters worse, we have even more injuries this week. There is no way we can contend.

Then something odd happened, I started feeling optimistic again. There was no burden of expectation anymore. One of the things I've found so boring this year, is we have lost to the teams that are hard to beat (Port the only exception) or either had a soft win against easy teams or a shock loss. It has not been fun. Where are the joyful surprise wins against the odds?

Now we are underdogs. Now I can watch our young players. What if Trew or Edwards comes in and tears it up? What if we actually beat some of these teams? How good would it be to screw Carltank over? Imagine gutsing out a win against Tigers, killing their top 4 hopes and three-peat dreams?

I still think the premiership will have to wait for next year, but let's see what we can do in the meantime. Who knows, things might just conspire for Port to finish 5th and us to finish 8th again.....

 

[DieSwans]

Watching Brisbane V Melbourne....no way we have any chance lol

Also highlights how soft we are as a team