Ballantyne shouldn’t play unless the others are unfit or injured
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Preview Fremantle 2019 Season Preview
- May 3, 2007
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Ballantyne has been a good servant for freo for 10 years. Theres going to be rotations with those small forwards. As long a Ballas works hard, theres always a chance to for him to play games. Matera is likely to be rotated from forward pocket and bench. We have seen Walters play a fair bit on the wing. If either of the Hill brothers gets injured, don't be surprised if Walters plays on the wing. If Walters plays 50% up forward and 50% on a wing and still kick 25-30 goals from 20 games, that's a good effort and its possible too. Switkowski could be anything. Stefan Giro looks like he can be half decent. Only 19 years old. Probably play another 5-10 games this year rotating off a forward flank and midfield and bench too.
I am more worried if Walters gets injured for a month in the middle of the season to be honest,
Hoping Bewley has the wing covered and Walters can play 80% fwd and 20% mid
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No , WTG is just considering the facts in an objective way (not to take anything away from a decent read) as opposed to the jaded hacks trying to make a living from sensationalism and innuendo.
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Awesome, just finished reading it.
It looks like some one has been Squiggling some dirty words on the wall about RTB though.
It looks like some one has been Squiggling some dirty words on the wall about RTB though.
- Thread starter
- #58
It might just be completely unfounded optimism but Fremantle just feels different this pre-season (than the past few). The banter and relationships between our players seems so much stronger and more positive than this time last year:
Prediction: 11-13 wins
tl;dr - It's that time of the year for optimism to peak. For those disappointed, don't worry, there'll still be plenty of opportunity for pessimism once the regular season starts
- Lyon looks healthy and relaxed... certainly nothing like a guy under massive pressure the media portrays him as.
- Fyfe has come on leaps and bounds with his leadership. Hardly a training day goes by without seeing a picture or someone mentioning him taking the time to help another player (normally several) with something. He'll always be a victim of tall poppy syndrome but I'm loving seeing Fyfe evolve as a leader using past legends like Pav and McPharlin as role models.
- The new recruits (Hoges, Lobster, Cuddles and Trav) seem to have been great pickups for culture. Lobb is spending a heap of time off the field integrating with his new team. Cuddles coming in and slotting straight into the leadership group says everything you need to know about him. And Hogan is the biggest surprise of all for me - he looks a genuine leader from what I've seen. He is taking control (of the forward line) and taking the time to build strong relationships and on field chemistry with our other players. Will not be surprised to see him in the mix for the leadership group next year. Up close he appears nothing like the personality the media describes. Brereton recently said he needs to grow up and become a superstar - all signs point to him doing that.
- We're now seeing some genuine competition for spots and all the players seem to be handling it the right way. They are encouraging each other but also owning what they need to do to earn their spot. Really liked Logue coming out and saying he wants to play 20+ games this season. He knows others are gunning for that defender spot but he's not shying away from what he needs to do to make it his.
- The players are just as excited about a new look forward line as we are. I suspect Ross looking less stressed is kind of related as well. I don't think most people fully comprehend how abysmal our forward line has been for years. Even when we were winning a few years back it was really Pav, Walters and our midfield making it seem better than it was. Cox (a 19yo) was our primary target up forward for most games last season! Ballas and Matera were gifted games because we literally had no other options. Now it's pretty hard to fit in anyone who played the majority of games in the forward line last year. Walters probably the only one and we're keen to push him into the midfield because we are confident in others applying more pressure up forward. It's insane to think our B22 forward line this time last year may be made up of entirely different personnel in 2019.
- A quick skim of players' social media reveals plenty of banter between teammates. It's a bit like the recent influx of new haircuts, some of it is a bit cringeworthy but it's also a strong sign they are all prioritising the importance of team over themselves. Clearly they are all very driven to get back to playing finals this year or next. There seems to be a sense of urgency to perform as a team, and that's generally a precursor to success in my experience.
- There's also been a noticeable diet/conditioning improvement across the playing group. Last year guys like Hughes or Tabs really stood out with their muscular physiques but this year the whole squad looks in really good condition and now the skinny 1st year is the one who stands out as the odd one out most. The advantage isn't so much the improved conditioning (all teams should be better year on year), but it's the clear improvement in discipline I think we are seeing. Nobody is taking their spot for granted this season - slackers won't be getting games.
Prediction: 11-13 wins
tl;dr - It's that time of the year for optimism to peak. For those disappointed, don't worry, there'll still be plenty of opportunity for pessimism once the regular season starts
- May 3, 2007
- 36,265
- 21,005
- AFL Club
- Fremantle
- Other Teams
- Man City, Valencia, Lazio, Panthers
I don't mind that. but if Walters kicks 30-35 goals from 20 games then that's fine by me.
I don’t mind being the underdog this season, dismiss us at your peril.
Actually hoping its the opposite now 80mid 20 forward. If Swita, Bennell (zero idea on that one obviously) Shultz and Colyer step up and if both Fyfe and Mundy are rotating foward as well then I think Walters may be more use mid to cover the loss of Neale. His contested football rate when playing mid has been outstanding in recent time. Plus he kicked more goals when his midfield time went up in 2017 then he was playing forward early on that year.
https://www.couriermail.com.au/spor...d/news-story/2857ae4b527df83008383feb84849d5c
Yeah I remember he seemed to struggle up forward that year. But I’m hoping our rejigged forward line will provide enough crumbs for him to fill his boots. I think he’s capable (and proven previously) of kicking 40+ goals as a small forward. Our other options are exciting (Switta, Schultz, Matera) but probably aren’t in that league yet and could learn a heap playing alongside Walters.
Let the midfielders do the midfielding and the small forwards do the small forwarding. The best teams beat you with what you know.
Plus his body doesn’t seem cut out for too much midfield time
- Thread starter
- #64
Definitely lots of reasons to be positive atm... I'm an optimist but also a realist so I'm expecting a few performances lower than expectation are still coming (hopefully not next week) but offset plenty by some more better than expected ones throughout the season. Overall I think our win/loss is what we should have expected at this point (anyone expecting more is crazy) and we had a chance to win the two we lost. What's a lot better than expectation is we sit 3rd on the ladder with our percentage currently the 2nd best and we've played two of the hot favourites, won against one (away) and probably should have won against the other if we'd kept our heads. Queensland in March is a tough assignment (ask West Coast) and the win over St Kilda is underrated as they are clearly a lot better than given credit for prior to the season start (like us).
Any talk of finals is way too premature (don't be a snake baker) but just 5 rounds in and we're starting to see some improvement in all of the areas I listed in my Season Preview (OP) from back in December so I'm a happy camper.
Winning the Contested Ball
We lost one of the best contested ball winners (Neale - who is 2nd in AFL this season so far) and Blakely has been injured yet we've gone from 16th to 4th for contested possessions. Fyfe is still winning the same amount as last season, so how have we improved so much? Well everyone else has improved incrementally and the load is being shared across the team and across the ground so much more. We're winning it in the air and on the ground and it's making a massive difference. Unlike last season, we're getting to contests better, rarely being outnumbered and not all going up together nearly as much. Instead, we're often the ones leaving players around the contest to mop up when it comes to ground.
Pressure Around the Ball
Our midfield accountability has unquestionably been superior so far this year than last. Our back line has been superb but the pressure upfield has helped them a lot. Tucker is our most improved player and has been instrumental defensively (almost always #1 for defensive work rate) and has coupled that with good composure with ball in hand as well. There are also a bunch of guys who cop a lot of heat for making mistakes with ball in hand but many of them have been incredibly important for their defensive work rate as well. If you fill a B22 with nothing but flashy players that don't work hard defensively their talent will be completely wasted. No doubt we can inject some more skilful players but it's critical they run both ways (it's why we've been competitive in every game so far this season). Our defensive zone is arguably the best we've ever had - and we're setting it up extremely fast.
Intercepts, Intercepts and More Intercepts
We've gone from one of the worst intercepting teams (16th) last year to the 2nd best so far this year, due a lot to Luke Ryan and Alex Pearce both being in the top 5 interceptors in the AFL currently but also because others like Hughes and Cerra have stepped up with their intercepting. You only have possession if you win it at a stoppage or intercept it from the opposition - we've been pretty good at both this season. If we can reduce our turnovers (worst of all teams) our intercept to turnover differential will go through the roof and we'll increase our i50 supply by plenty. We were certainly a lot more composed against GWS so hopefully we can build on that confidence and composure over the coming rounds and take full advantage of our newly found intercepting prowess.
Attacking from Kick-Ins
An underdone Wilson has meant this is very much still a work in progress but we've still seen some good quick end to end ball movement in our games (mostly off the back of intercepts though). The new kick in rules have made teams adapt defensively - giving up a bit of space i50 but zoning beyond that (see i50 Pressure and Tackles section below) to slow down ball movement. I do think we have the weapons to break lines from kick ins and we're building confidence each week to take the game on - so hopefully we see more as the season progresses.
Less Borrowing from the Midfield
Mundy and Walters have been massive inclusions to our midfield and we've been able to do that because we have injected talent into our forward line. McCarthy stepping up and delivering in the role Mundy played last season, whilst Matera and now Switkowski have provided scoreboard and forward pressure respectively. Taberner is building into that dominant KPF we need and Hogan is all important key piece that most don't even realise yet - both have been great in both directions, and have meant other forwards can play in their natural positions.
The intent is clearly there with the back line as well but injuries have hamstrung us a little with this. We've already seen the benefit of Duman coming in to release Conca (and sometimes Cerra) into the middle a bit but Blakely and eventually SHill returning (plus perhaps Logue) will give us more versatility.
Inside 50 Pressure and Tackles
We've gone from dead last for i50 tackles to 9th. You don't need to see the stats to tell you our forwards have been very disciplined and quick at transitioning into a defensive zone for a kick in against. Our forward pressure has been far less chaotic imo. In general play we apply the heat to create opportunities on the ground or to intercept the quick bomb out of there (lock the ball in). But at kick ins (and after a f50 turnover) we don't mind so much if the opposition move the ball within our f50 but then try and force the long kick down the line from then onward so we can get numbers to the contest. As illustrated by Hurn's 'BOG' disposals in Rd 4 against us (how many of his kicks from kick ins and his 13 intercepts really penetrated our team defensive zone? - didn't give the corridor at all):
[IMG='width:345px;']https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D4CMoWKU8AEqZ2W.png:large[/IMG]
More Marks Inside 50
In 4th place and just one i50 mark off 2nd, it's a vast contrast to what we've put up in recent seasons. What's exciting is our forward line is still a construction site. We had 20 marks i50 on the weekend against GWS (were 6th most stingy defence before round 5). Only Collingwood have had higher this season (25 - also in Round 5 v Brisbane). This is a great sign we are building a dangerous forward line.
Increasing Supply and Efficiency Inside 50
From 16th for inside 50s and 14th for i50 efficiency to 8th and 6th. Still some work to do with both supply and our efficiency once we get it in there but for a brand new forward line and some young faces in the midfield it's a pretty good starting point to build from as the season progresses. We were #1 for i50 efficiency in Round 5 - a clear indication our forward line is starting to gel and our connection between mids and fwds is improving quickly. We're also 4th for Goal Assists so far this season - so we've been sharing the ball around well. Not surprisingly we've got some improvement to do being 10th for goal accuracy - perhaps highlighted even more because the mob down the road are clear #1 in this category. To give it some perspective, if we kicked as straight as them in front of goals we'd be the highest scoring team this season so far (alongside likely having the lowest score against*).
* GEE v HAW haven't played this round yet but should have minimal impact on the whole analysis above given team averages were used as the comparison.
Any talk of finals is way too premature (don't be a snake baker) but just 5 rounds in and we're starting to see some improvement in all of the areas I listed in my Season Preview (OP) from back in December so I'm a happy camper.
Winning the Contested Ball
We lost one of the best contested ball winners (Neale - who is 2nd in AFL this season so far) and Blakely has been injured yet we've gone from 16th to 4th for contested possessions. Fyfe is still winning the same amount as last season, so how have we improved so much? Well everyone else has improved incrementally and the load is being shared across the team and across the ground so much more. We're winning it in the air and on the ground and it's making a massive difference. Unlike last season, we're getting to contests better, rarely being outnumbered and not all going up together nearly as much. Instead, we're often the ones leaving players around the contest to mop up when it comes to ground.
Pressure Around the Ball
Our midfield accountability has unquestionably been superior so far this year than last. Our back line has been superb but the pressure upfield has helped them a lot. Tucker is our most improved player and has been instrumental defensively (almost always #1 for defensive work rate) and has coupled that with good composure with ball in hand as well. There are also a bunch of guys who cop a lot of heat for making mistakes with ball in hand but many of them have been incredibly important for their defensive work rate as well. If you fill a B22 with nothing but flashy players that don't work hard defensively their talent will be completely wasted. No doubt we can inject some more skilful players but it's critical they run both ways (it's why we've been competitive in every game so far this season). Our defensive zone is arguably the best we've ever had - and we're setting it up extremely fast.
Intercepts, Intercepts and More Intercepts
We've gone from one of the worst intercepting teams (16th) last year to the 2nd best so far this year, due a lot to Luke Ryan and Alex Pearce both being in the top 5 interceptors in the AFL currently but also because others like Hughes and Cerra have stepped up with their intercepting. You only have possession if you win it at a stoppage or intercept it from the opposition - we've been pretty good at both this season. If we can reduce our turnovers (worst of all teams) our intercept to turnover differential will go through the roof and we'll increase our i50 supply by plenty. We were certainly a lot more composed against GWS so hopefully we can build on that confidence and composure over the coming rounds and take full advantage of our newly found intercepting prowess.
Attacking from Kick-Ins
An underdone Wilson has meant this is very much still a work in progress but we've still seen some good quick end to end ball movement in our games (mostly off the back of intercepts though). The new kick in rules have made teams adapt defensively - giving up a bit of space i50 but zoning beyond that (see i50 Pressure and Tackles section below) to slow down ball movement. I do think we have the weapons to break lines from kick ins and we're building confidence each week to take the game on - so hopefully we see more as the season progresses.
Less Borrowing from the Midfield
Mundy and Walters have been massive inclusions to our midfield and we've been able to do that because we have injected talent into our forward line. McCarthy stepping up and delivering in the role Mundy played last season, whilst Matera and now Switkowski have provided scoreboard and forward pressure respectively. Taberner is building into that dominant KPF we need and Hogan is all important key piece that most don't even realise yet - both have been great in both directions, and have meant other forwards can play in their natural positions.
The intent is clearly there with the back line as well but injuries have hamstrung us a little with this. We've already seen the benefit of Duman coming in to release Conca (and sometimes Cerra) into the middle a bit but Blakely and eventually SHill returning (plus perhaps Logue) will give us more versatility.
Inside 50 Pressure and Tackles
We've gone from dead last for i50 tackles to 9th. You don't need to see the stats to tell you our forwards have been very disciplined and quick at transitioning into a defensive zone for a kick in against. Our forward pressure has been far less chaotic imo. In general play we apply the heat to create opportunities on the ground or to intercept the quick bomb out of there (lock the ball in). But at kick ins (and after a f50 turnover) we don't mind so much if the opposition move the ball within our f50 but then try and force the long kick down the line from then onward so we can get numbers to the contest. As illustrated by Hurn's 'BOG' disposals in Rd 4 against us (how many of his kicks from kick ins and his 13 intercepts really penetrated our team defensive zone? - didn't give the corridor at all):
[IMG='width:345px;']https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D4CMoWKU8AEqZ2W.png:large[/IMG]
More Marks Inside 50
In 4th place and just one i50 mark off 2nd, it's a vast contrast to what we've put up in recent seasons. What's exciting is our forward line is still a construction site. We had 20 marks i50 on the weekend against GWS (were 6th most stingy defence before round 5). Only Collingwood have had higher this season (25 - also in Round 5 v Brisbane). This is a great sign we are building a dangerous forward line.
Increasing Supply and Efficiency Inside 50
From 16th for inside 50s and 14th for i50 efficiency to 8th and 6th. Still some work to do with both supply and our efficiency once we get it in there but for a brand new forward line and some young faces in the midfield it's a pretty good starting point to build from as the season progresses. We were #1 for i50 efficiency in Round 5 - a clear indication our forward line is starting to gel and our connection between mids and fwds is improving quickly. We're also 4th for Goal Assists so far this season - so we've been sharing the ball around well. Not surprisingly we've got some improvement to do being 10th for goal accuracy - perhaps highlighted even more because the mob down the road are clear #1 in this category. To give it some perspective, if we kicked as straight as them in front of goals we'd be the highest scoring team this season so far (alongside likely having the lowest score against*).
* GEE v HAW haven't played this round yet but should have minimal impact on the whole analysis above given team averages were used as the comparison.
cardamon
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Hmm I wonder what our stats were like round 5 last season when we were going ok?
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Why? How different do you think we are this season with 4 new recruits including a forward line, or do you discount that? Rebuilding clubs are all about the future.
- Thread starter
- #68
The first 5 rounds that included a 50 point spanking by Port and a 31 point spanking by GWS? Middle of the pack in some of the areas above but miles off away from home. My analysis isn't intended to explain win loss - it's there to show the pieces are coming together better than they have the past few seasons. It's an indicator to future success if we can continue improvement and fix the outstanding bits - at some point you hit the tipping point. For us turn overs is the big flashing red light that we need to address now - do that and everything else looks pretty solid imo. This time last year it was a much longer list of things we needed to fix to be consistently competitive both at home and away. Hence why we got smashed away regularly.
cardamon
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Nah, just that lots of teams are on 3-2 after 5 rounds. We had new recruits last year as well, change is a constant. Fwiw im an optimist re this season but i recall some pretty good wins early on last year and 2018, at least this year we have reinforcements to come in later on
Change is a constant but not at the rate of change we have been involved in. We lack stability in the make up of our midfield and forward lines, but come next season, that will settle right down.
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