Don't be fooled

[freo1]

Today I realised a very sad fact - we have not improved, our culture is still the same, we're still the "shockers".

I've been a positive supporter since day 1 and have always tried to see the upside, yet here we are 16 years later, and still we suffer the same old losses that we have always had, indicative of the poor culture at the club.

I was fooled, I really thought we were on the path upwards, who knows, maybe we still are???

I can live with the fact that we lost today, we had injuries, were playing a form sides, and were away from home - I didnt tip us. What saddens me is the way we lost. We rolled over, gave up, and didnt offer a fight. Our captain didnt offer yelp either, he didnt dig deep and lead from the front.

I have no idea what the answer is, but it's sad to see that it seems we've taken 1 step forward, but 2 backwards. Freo has never had a fighting spirit. I don't know where you get one, Coles? Woolies? It's sad we can't ingrain this amongst our players. Sure we show fight for patches during games, even patches during seasons, but you could never bet on Freo consistently putting up a fight.

This was just another sterotypical "Freo (with groan)" loss.

 

[Kickett Punches Read]

and yet next year when we have a crack at the GF, you will forget all about this and claim you were always on the wagon

 

[freocuz]

Culture is very overrated.

 

[BananaOnTheRun]

Too early to call, I reckon. We're still kids out there and last year we jumped out of yhe box. Today was disappointing but it was a valuable lesson, for players and coaches.

 

[muckypup]

and yet next year when we have a crack at the GF, you will forget all about this and claim you were always on the wagon

He is still on the "wagon"? What do you mean? Today was (another) debacle.

 

[Kram]

Post sounds like something from that 'Bushie/GeorgeGrljusich' d***head.

 

[freo1]

and yet next year when we have a crack at the GF, you will forget all about this and claim you were always on the wagon

I'll tell you right now i've always been on the wagon, and always will be, so if we ever actually make a GF, i'll be celebrating with the best of them. Doesn't mean i'm not allowed to voice my anger at the club.

These sort of losses are exactly what has typified our club, that fact can't be argued, we're renowned for it, and the fact that they're still happening shows we really havent improved as a club.

How a team can play so well for 2.5-3 quarters, then when met with a challenge - roll over - is pathetic, and the most pathetic thing is that Freo is the specialist at this. It happened only a few weeks ago against Richmond as well, mind you the period we played well for was a lot shorter.

I'll still be renewing my membership again next year, and still be on the wagon, but it shits me that the club can still do this to us!

 

[Nickos66]

Passionate rant, my tune's changed after today. I'm not as glass half empty as I was before this game. Things'll get better and I don't believe we're still 'the shockers'. There were some much better signs today but for whatever reason the guys couldn't handle the pressure of having the game on the line. Maybe the Hawks just wanted it more.

 

[The Night Shift]

Hey, at least there isn't relegation in the AFL....

 

[BeinPurplenGreen]

Post sounds like something from that 'Bushie/GeorgeGrljusich' d***head.

Now known as Deep Purple. With Yakamoto as an echo...

Hey, at least there isn't relegation in the AFL....

Yeah, but we don't deserve relegation, whereas your EPL mob did...

 

[Bender_]

I tend to think there is a massive upside for Freo for this season. They'll get players back towards the last third of the season in Sandilands and Barlow and the consistent wins will come.

The way I look at it, all sides have a lull in form, better to have it at this time of the year then finish the year with a gallop and a probable finals win. The peak should come at the right end of the season.

 

[sabre_ac]

Any comparison between our club now and our club of the past is laughable at no stage in our history have we had such a wealth of talented players or a coaching staff able to ensure players reach their peak.

It's been said over and over but take out the a Barlow/Sandilands/Mora etc from any other side in the competition their going to slide.

 

[Outshined]

I tend to think there is a massive upside for Freo for this season. They'll get players back towards the last third of the season in Sandilands and Barlow and the consistent wins will come.

That's assuming we don't lose anyone else or said players don't re-injure themselves. Judging by this season, that's no safe assumption. Optimism is good though

 

[freo1]

Any comparison between our club now and our club of the past is laughable at no stage in our history have we had such a wealth of talented players or a coaching staff able to ensure players reach their peak.

It's been said over and over but take out the a Barlow/Sandilands/Mora etc from any other side in the competition their going to slide.

I guess that's one of the main points i'm making - that even since there has now been a complete clean out, and that now we have so much more talent, we still throw up these heartless performances like we used to, it is still a common trend at the club and it pisses me off!

every team, every year has injuries, it's a part of footy so we better get used to that.

 

[malpaso]

I guess that's one of the main points i'm making - that even since there has now been a complete clean out, and that now we have so much more talent, we still throw up these heartless performances like we used to, it is still a common trend at the club and it pisses me off!

every team, every year has injuries, it's a part of footy so we better get used to that.

We aren't the only club having those lapses. It has nothing to with 'culture'. I believe it's a natural progression of a club.

I mean wasn't it 2-3 years ago Geelong was steamrolling everyone and then the Pies smacked them by 72 pts at Yetihead? It happens to the best and it happens more so to the worst and the others are in between..

We'll be right, just working through things atm.

 

[sumavich]

Think of the players on our list now.
Fyfe, Hill, Barlow, Mundy, Suban, Broughton, Duffield, Mzungu.
These are the players that will move us forward. Most played pretty well yesterday, and will be very good players for us.
In the old days I couldn't put a list like that together to save myself.
Its up to the older fellas to take us to the finals i.e. pavlich (super disappointing), mcpharlin, sandilands, grover. They need to make sure we make it.

 

[salim malik]

Hard to follow some of the critics on here
Pav no 1 hard ball gets again,Ibbo kept Burgoyne out of the game until the last 1/4 when Johnson for some unknown reason got the job,Ibbo was also up there in effective disposals,Jesse no one in 1%/s
We beat them in tackles
We ran out of legs the last 20 minutes
Add Sandi,Barlowe,Mcphee,Suban,Silvagni,Haydn to that squad we would have been 10 goals up by 3/4 time and no chance of being run over
Only KPR and a few others talking sense
Rest need to get a grip

 

[TheGhostOfJohnBelushi]

You guys are going to be alright. Should realistically win the next 4 games, have a bye, get key players back, get form and confidence back, and be set for finals.

 

[JoondalupJ]

We aren't the only club having those lapses. It has nothing to with 'culture'. I believe it's a natural progression of a club.

I mean wasn't it 2-3 years ago Geelong was steamrolling everyone and then the Pies smacked them by 72 pts at Yetihead? It happens to the best and it happens more so to the worst and the others are in between..

We'll be right, just working through things atm.

Keep your heads up. The team that beat you yesterday has been up and down like a yoyo for two years its natural progression and rebuild all the time. But I still worry about your skipper, he,s out of form.

 

[RIOLIUSTAR]

I tend to think there is a massive upside for Freo for this season. They'll get players back towards the last third of the season in Sandilands and Barlow and the consistent wins will come.

The way I look at it, all sides have a lull in form, better to have it at this time of the year then finish the year with a gallop and a probable finals win. The peak should come at the right end of the season.

Card him for blatant sarcasm

 

[Nickos66]

Back for more punishment mate?

 

[dominguez]

Pav no 1 hard ball gets again,

How many in the final term?

Ibbo kept Burgoyne out of the game until the last 1/4 when Johnson for some unknown reason got the job,Ibbo was also up there in effective disposals,

Ibbotson was on Cyril when he dragged them back into the game late in the first term. So apart from getting towelled up in the first and final quarters Ibbotson had a good game....

We ran out of legs the last 20 minutes
Add Sandi,Barlowe,Mcphee,Suban,Silvagni,Haydn to that squad we would have been 10 goals up by 3/4 time and no chance of being run over
Only KPR and a few others talking sense
Rest need to get a grip

How often do teams have their best 22 available? Three of those players you mentioned are fringe anyway and no guarantee to be best 18, and Barlow and Silvagni have been out for an extended period and may struggle to play their best footy at all this season.

Crichton's the only player in the side yesterday that no one would have had in their 25 at Christmas. The team that took the field against the Hawks was pretty strong IMO.

 

[tacopavlich]

at least we lost the game in the last 5 minutes, not the first 5 seconds.

 

[The Night Shift]

Yeah, but we don't deserve relegation, whereas your EPL mob did...

Yeah well, shit defence will kill in any code of football in any league especially when you only have two decent defenders, hacks for goalies and a tightarse club president that spends on players with a league two budget and was actually outbid on players by league one clubs [yeah, it happened]). Still, outside of the top 4 and Liverpool we were kilometres in front of anyone else for goals scored/attack. Put that down to a great manager in Ian Holloway.
Sucks that you lost Mark Hughes as manager. I don't mind him. Rumours have him linked with your pals up the street Chelsea.
Who do you think you'll get for your new manager??

I don't think it will ever be possible for relgation and promotions in Australian Rules football due to the complexities of the whole intial set-up of such a league, the money involved and varying standards of the second and lower tiered leagues, not to mention the difficulty of geography as well. Relegation battles do make things interesting and provide for some great matches late in a season. I just couldn't ever see a two tiered AFL league.. but then again AFL is always looking to expand and crush the other codes of footy in Australia. If they can actually become enlightened enough to bring in free agency and a mid season trade/draft who knows.

 

[Quokka]

cant see relegation ever being possible for AFL for all the reasons you mentioned which is a shame as it's great in football, the top few teams are always so dominate that I'm usually a lot more interested in the relegation battle than the top of the table particuarly as I didnt grow up following any team, enjoyed watching Hull while they were in the Premier League and glad to see they held mid table this year in the championship.

I still like to keep an eye on AFC Wimbledon and would love to see them another tier or two higher, best football fairytale ever of any code .

Back on AFL and imo culture is a bit like win-lose records when you're going back 15 years plus, more important to fans than the players, who weren't there for most of it. Assuming Harvey and co had an overall plan with the rebuild we're probably a season or two short of what it would have been and we're playing like it. Still I think the win-loss ratio for the next 100 will be a lot better than the last 100 so it's not all doom and gloom.