Finals

[Bad Brain]

Who are you agreeing with BB? I don't think it is too big an issue and I can see there being selection dilemmas. The only depth issues I can see is if our top 3 cop an injury.

Depth has been mentioned by a few, but in this case I was agreeing with your original comment that injuries will hurt us more than most. Losing any of our top 3 would be devasting but while we unearthed some gems last year, they still couldn't contribute to the level that our mid-tier senior players like Crowley, Johnson, Solomon, Mundy, Schammer (Don't shoot, I just think his output is underrated) or Duffield do. I do like the recruitment of more senior rookies though. Here's hoping Van Berlo, Barlow and Silvagni can be the next Broughton's rather than the next Josh Head's.

 

[kp junior]

There is something on these threads that is confusing me.

SPINE
Most posters on here seem to rate our spine as being top-notch. The spine v spine thread suggest that it is awesome.

BACKS
In the MacPharlin as a defender thread, our backline gets a massive thumbs up. We have a dominant KP backman who nudged AA selection, and the promise of MacPharlin returning there. While Grover may be fading, he is covered, and we have poise and skill bringing the ball out of there.

MIDFIELD
We have a midfield mix comprising Hasleby, Crowley, Mundy, Palmer, Hill and a few other promising young players, not to mention the imminent inclusion of Mora, and the leagues best ruckman.

FORWARDS
We have possibly the best CHF going and an array of potent forwards. Clearly we are lacking a Full Forward, and the Forward line is still a work in progress, but we do have most of the ingredients including mature young players like Mayne and Ballantyne, as well as the possibility of Headland contributing. That is not too shabby.

DEPTH
Injuries will surely impact us more than most teams, but we have recruited rookies almost with that in mind and boast a rookie list which on this forum most posters think contains names who could easily be in our starting 22. In addition, they cover most of our required weak areas. Apart from Pavlich, Sandilands and Tarrant, I could see us covering injuries to most other positions, which is not to say they would not have an impact. But injuries to any teams best 3 players is likely to have an impact.

COACHING
Most posters on here rate Harvey highly, and he is the longest ever assistant coach to have attained senior coach status (I think???), and he has been at the helm for two and a half years, and at the club for 4. He has had resources pumped into problem areas such as fitness and player development, and he has good assistants. He has virtually no off-field issues to contend with apart from the fact that he is in the final year of a contract. He has a s good a home ground advantage as you can get.

But after all of that, most posters then think we will not make the finals? I would like to see the club enter the year with the attitude that playing finals is the benchmark for success in season 2010. Anything less is a failure.

Great post, I'm off to Centrebet to get on us for the 8

 

[newlander77]

It sounds like a bunch of you need to rush off and find yourself a good shrink. The negativity coming from you lot is overwhelming to say the least!

Great post by Gav! The coaches expect success this year, but most of the emo fans who post here are too scared to take off the training wheels!

 

[salim malik]

Its not the fear of failure thats inbuilt in the Freo supporter its the fear of success,

 

[Freo Blood]

I think we are a chance for the 8, but who can we remove?
Geel 18-4
St K 20-2
WB 15-7
Adel 14-8
Coll 15-7
Bris 13-8-1 (they surpirsied me but not sure they are still improving)
The above are locks I think.

Carl 13-9
Ess 10-11-1
Missed Out
Haw, WCE, NM, Melb, PA, Syd, Rich, Frem

I think the Carlton and Essendon spots are up for grabs with Hawthorn odds on to take one of those spots. If we can be better than WCE (I don't rate them and I think they now have a fair bit of deadwood on their list), Sydney (maybe), NM (don't know enough about them) we can squeeze in there. Beating those teams directly will help.

Having said all that alot of our list and players have questions over them and we are not really sure of there impact.

Will McPh, MJ, Ibbo, Mundy, Schammer, Des step up?
Will Palmer slot back in at a high level?
Will Crowley be able to pick the ball up?
Will Hayden survive the season? (injury prone)
Will Mayne continue to develop? (I love him but not sure how good he can be yet)

I feel pretty confident in getting solid/expected and important output from Pav, Sandi, Taz, Broughton, Duff, Suban, Hilly, Balla, De Boer, McPhee.

I guess those unnamed I don’t see as important other than for depth or good performance will be a bonus.

So I think I have questions over about half of my first team. If Ibbo, Mundy and Des can break out plus throw in a Mora, Suban and Hilly explosion we can really give the top 8 a shake.

Bottom line is we have always been so inconsistent for so long many of us don’t set the bar too high!!!

 

[newlander77]

I think we are a chance for the 8, but who can we remove?

We don't need to remove anyone, everyone starts off on 0 points. Freo have nothing to lose!

 

[dominguez]

I think it will take atleast another 2 years until we are a legitimate threat in the competition. This is not doom and gloom it is reality imo.

In the next 2 years we'll probably have to replace Hayden, Grover, Hasleby, Tarrant, McPharlin, Solomon and Headland.

Our 2010 squad is much stronger than our 2012 side will be unless we trade for a quality KPP or one of our young talls takes a massive stride forward.

 

[estibador]

Never fear, my buddy Sibo will step up this year to become a Riewoldt/Farmer hybrid KPP the likes of which the world has never seen.

/optimism

 

[dominguez]

Great post, I'm off to Centrebet to get on us for the 8

You should have got on before señor Dominguez, we're in from $6.50 to $5.75.

Still reasonable value, around $4.50 would be the right price IMO.

 

[kp junior]

You should have got on before señor Dominguez, we're in from $6.50 to $5.75.

Still reasonable value, around $4.50 would be the right price IMO.

I got $6, not bad. After we win the nab cup we'll shorten a bit

 

[melbournedocker]

I agree depth is a massive issue for us, but what I'm really worried about is our away form. We didn't just get beaten on the road last year, we got absolutely smashed.

That said, I think a few finals spots are up for grabs this year. And if teams like Weagles and the Bombers are considered contenders, there is no reason we shouldn't be expecting the same from Freo. the reason a lot of people were so keen on Harves was that he was known as a tough bastard who didn't except excuses. I say it's about time he delivered on that and got our promising list individuals to play hard and win as a team.

Absolutely agree with all of this but I had to focus on our away form. We generally are a tough side to beat at home but our away form has been deplorable for a few years now.

 

[dominguez]

I think we are a chance for the 8, but who can we remove?

We don't have to remove anyone, we need to win 12 games. If we do that then what the other 15 clubs do will be irrelevant.

Geel 18-4
St K 20-2
WB 15-7
Adel 14-8
Coll 15-7
Bris 13-8-1 (they surpirsied me but not sure they are still improving)
The above are locks I think.

I'm sure you would have had Hawthorn as a "lock" 12 months ago.

St Kilda are close to a lock, any the other 5 could quite easily slide IMO.

 

[Bad Brain]

I think we are a chance for the 8, but who can we remove?
Geel 18-4 - They have Drum so they'll be okay.
St K 20-2 - Had a miraculous run with injuries last year that will be hard to follow up + terrible trading.
WB 15-7 - I'd be worried if my team was relying on Murphy, Hall, Gianserascuseme and Akermanis.
Adel 14-8 - Already had some horrible injuries and the senior players like McLeod and co are getting closer and closer to concession fares on public transport.
Coll 15-7 - You'd think they're a lock. Good depth.
Bris 13-8-1 Not convinced Michael "Crazy Eye's" Voss drafting will pay off. Bradshaw worked really well with Brown. I doubt Fev can achieve the same cohesion

The above are locks I think.

Carl 13-9 - Predicting them to miss out after a much improved Yarran chokes under pressure in key games at the pointy end of the season
Ess 10-11-1 - Lost a bunch of experience which looks to be replaced with some pretty mediocre talent. Hoping to see Gumbleton get some games though.
Missed Out
Haw, WCE, NM, Melb, PA, Syd -, Rich, Frem

It's pretty speculative but that's why I think there are a few spots up for grabs.

 

[theGav56]

I think we are a chance for the 8, but who can we remove?
Geel 18-4
St K 20-2
WB 15-7
Adel 14-8
Coll 15-7
Bris 13-8-1 (they surpirsied me but not sure they are still improving)
The above are locks I think.

Carl 13-9
Ess 10-11-1

You see, there it is right there as you say. I look at those two teams and see absolutely nothing to fear from them. I'm not saying they are basket cases, in fact far from it. They both have a mix of decent players and players with upside. Plus I think Brisbane's spot is definitely up for grabs; they have gone through a massive turnover.

I guess another thing for me is, if you really want to get more out of players like Johnson, Headland, Mundy etc, I'd try making finals an expectation for the year, and then I'd try and not have the season blown away by game 5 as we have for the past 2 years. For senior players to contribute more when you are marking time with a rebuild is probably stretching it.

Plus, they are in a group of clubs we are probably not going to be seriously out-coached by. The coaches in the rest of the 8 may have his number, but if Harvey and co can't match it with Ratten, Voss and Knights then we are in some trouble.

So for me, there is almost half the final 8 in flux, and Freo is a team sitting there with a powerful spine, strong defence, reasonable forwards and a midfield which has copped a heap of attention over the passed 3 drafts.

 

[duncs]

I would say one of the biggest factors in our success is whether the midfield can continue the imrovement of last year in terms of getting clearances and utilising Sandi's ruck work. If we are regularly getting first ball forward then I would say it looks positive, if we are trying to break even in midfield it will be tougher with the number of inexperienced (but undoubtedly talented) players in there

 

[theGav56]

I would say one of the biggest factors in our success is whether the midfield can continue the imrovement of last year in terms of getting clearances and utilising Sandi's ruck work. If we are regularly getting first ball forward then I would say it looks positive, if we are trying to break even in midfield it will be tougher with the number of inexperienced (but undoubtedly talented) players in there

Yes the midfield. But think of this; since Harvey began as senior coach, there is only 1 midfielder that we have lost that has made our midfield weaker. CarrX2 did nothing, MacManus was gone already, Black barely played. Our current midfield may be much better in a few years, but they are already at the stage where I would back them now against the old midfield in their final season together.

 

[sabre_ac]

Rosey coloured offseason glasses always hit this site in a big way...Doesn't help with the media making articles mentioning how McPharlin is having his FIRST full preseason...

The difference between our best and worst is still far too big to get in the finals...Pav/Sandi/Tarrant are as good as any in the comp, Hill/Palmer/Suban are as good as any kids in the league...BUT how many teams would Schammer, Ibbotson, Bradley, Dodd or thornton get a game in and I question how many top 8 sides would play Ibbotson, Mundy or Johnson (Based on how they play for freo)

 

[silverscope]

I have to agree with Sabre, Our worst is disgusting (vs Adelaide) and our best (vs sydney, vs Geelong for 3 quarters) is very good. But that gap and espically when we travel needs to be closed.


One thing that has to happen is we need to make Subi a fortress and make it impossible for teams to win @ subi.

If we can do that it will take us to the finals.


My personal opinion is we won't make finals. But we will come close, I'd expect a finish between 9-11.

 

[kp junior]

Rosey coloured offseason glasses always hit this site in a big way...Doesn't help with the media making articles mentioning how McPharlin is having his FIRST full preseason...

The difference between our best and worst is still far too big to get in the finals...Pav/Sandi/Tarrant are as good as any in the comp, Hill/Palmer/Suban are as good as any kids in the league...BUT how many teams would Schammer, Ibbotson, Bradley, Dodd or thornton get a game in and I question how many top 8 sides would play Ibbotson, Mundy or Johnson (Based on how they play for freo)

Settle down, Ibbo would get a game in 16 teams, no question

 

[DCFCFAN84]

We wont make finals this year just look at our schedule I will be very happy if we win 8 games. The thing I am really hoping for is more wins and consistancy at Subiaco.

 

[E Shed]

BUT how many teams would Schammer, Ibbotson, Bradley, Dodd or thornton get a game in and I question how many top 8 sides would play Ibbotson, Mundy or Johnson (Based on how they play for freo)

I doubt Bradley, Dodd & Casper will get many games for is this year barring injury. I think Ibbo, Mundy & Jonno would get into most teams.

 

[Kapow!!!]

I'd settle for 8-9 wins, far better performances with a couple of wins away, some real blooding of the youngsters.

That's around about the best we should realistically be hoping for. Anything better is a bonus and probably selling ourselves better than we actually are (ala 2003 - the fact we almost took 4th was ridiculous).

 

[#29_Pavlich!!]

I doubt Bradley, Dodd & Casper will get many games for is this year barring injury. I think Ibbo, Mundy & Jonno would get into most teams.

Ibbotson would

 

[aussieviking]

I guess it is just pre season optimism but I just feel it in my water. This year we are going to surprise everyone and make the eight.If our spine players players play to their ability, Sandilands dominates and Headland,Hayden Haselby dont get injured. We have a pretty solid team.

A lot will depend on players we are waiting to take the next step such as Ibbottson Johnson Mundy Bradley Mayne Palmer Crowley and Schammer

Maybe it is the fact that I always enjoy the pre season as it it is the only time a Freo supporter enjoys life ( the first few games of season usually brings me back to harsh reality of AFL season)

Anyway I will enjoy the next couple of months, my life filled with optimism and hope that this feeling I have in my water finally comes true.

 

[bigkev bleeds purple]

A lot of misplaced doubt being pointed at Byron Schammer here... again.

A midfielder who averages 21.3 disposals under the packs and 4.2 tackles per game would walk into almost every side in the comp.