Review Freo defeat the Crows at Optus Stadium

[eastfreo75]

I can see us upgrading most or all of Banfield, Nyhuis, Duman and Giro at the end of year - all look decent role players that deserve a senior list spot to me. Leaves only Strnadica and there is no reason he can't earn his way off it as well. Pretty happy with how all our rookies are going atm. Should help a heap with the list of players we need to let go and the weak draft hand we have to begin with (ie only a 1st and 5th rounder).

great idea.

Upgrade Banfield, Nyhuis, Duman and Giro and replace Johnson, Spurr, D Pearce, and Ballatyne off the main list. Then use the rookie list to go after mature age rookies.

 

[StingBitten]

Anyone see Giro’s darting in and out of the contest?

He was in the same situation as Crowden was several times and instead of trying to force his way through he made weaved in and out - very composed.

Different players naturally but it’s encoraging to see Giro adapt to the lightning speed of the big time so quickly.

 

[Tbonefreo]

Anyone see Giro’s darting in and out of the contest?

He was in the same situation as Crowden was several times and instead of trying to force his way through he made weaved in and out - very composed.

Different players naturally but it’s encoraging to see Giro adapt to the lightning speed of the big time so quickly.

Earned 18 disposals and ran hard. Good player

 

[freoextra]

Nyhuis was very solid down back with equal high 9 marks . A tallish defender who can lock down on the small forwards is gold and he does look the goods. Nyhuis was cool and calm in those hectic last minutes. Really pleased for him.

Same, but he does not appear to be rated by our selection panel.

Should get 4 more games in a row to see if he can nail down a role.

But he will be first dropped when someone comes back.

 

[Alfonz]

Nah no papering over the cracks. It wasn’t great. Something to learn from.

It's not papering over the cracks. Just an observation on the conditions and it was simply a much bigger advantage to go to one side. It was a tight game the whole way, with inside 50s and the run of play fairly similar in each quarter. Each side kicked 1.7 to the left of screen. Each quarter was about 7 shots to the right. The second quarter wasn't really that anomalous, even if the scoreboard looks terrible.

If we want to learn stuff, the Betts goal from the first quarter was far worse than anything we conceded in the second quarter.

 

[Taylor]

That hit out to empty space goal side was quite poor.

 

[believe_it]

Can anyone remember which commentator vehemently claimed that - if a player has possession of the ball while in contact with the behind post it was out of bounds. I thought at the the time, gee that's a rule that has eluded me all these years. Today i was thinking that it didn't make sense. You can have most of you body outside the boundary, and so long as the ball doesn't cross the line its not out. Turns out the said commentator was full of it.

 

[Taylor]

In that case the ball touched the post so it didn't matter

 

[believe_it]

Yeh the point I was trying to make was that the commentator was strongly asserting a rule existed that didn't. Some people watching might now have an incorrect view of the rule. Might have been BT as I recall it was said with some gusto.

 

[FreoRicci]

Same, but he does not appear to be rated by our selection panel.

Should get 4 more games in a row to see if he can nail down a role.

But he will be first dropped when someone comes back.

He's better physically and mentally then Duman. Prepared to spread, and calm under pressure.
I'd give Duman a few games for Peel to really develop. But needs a big pre season to bulk up, he gets pushed off and tackled easily.

 

[yyou]

"That was amazing dear but who is Cerra that you kept calling out?"

Or alternatively,
“That was amazing dear, but why do you love Cox? Is there something you’re not telling me?”

2 highlights for me, the Cox tap, not meant to be naughty, that led to Sherro’s Ripper goal.
The Jones tackle near the end reminded me of the Hannath game-saving mark.

 

[Admiral Byng]

Or alternatively,
“That was amazing dear, but why do you love Cox? Is there something you’re not telling me?”

2 highlights for me, the Cox tap, not meant to be naughty, that led to Sherro’s Ripper goal.
The Jones tackle near the end reminded me of the Hannath game-saving mark.

Neale's mark and play-on was the highlight for me.

 

[stax on the mull]

Yeh the point I was trying to make was that the commentator was strongly asserting a rule existed that didn't. Some people watching might now have an incorrect view of the rule. Might have been BT as I recall it was said with some gusto.

Think it was a FOX game yesterday so that would rule out BT.

 

[LeftFootBanana]

Dwayne Russell I suspect. A rather excitable chap who regards every shot at goal as "HUGE". In fairness I get the impression that most commentators have only a vague understanding of the rules but they never let that get in the way of a strident opinion.

 

[eastfreo75]

Anyone see Giro’s darting in and out of the contest?

He was in the same situation as Crowden was several times and instead of trying to force his way through he made weaved in and out - very composed.

Different players naturally but it’s encoraging to see Giro adapt to the lightning speed of the big time so quickly.

I do rate players who don't get caught with the ball

 

[Okinakashi]

highlights for me, the Cox tap, not meant to be naughty, that led to Sherro’s Ripper goal

That was an amazing passage of play. Cox and T train both had posessions in the back half (sherro caused a turnover) and then sprinted 75-100m to get involved again in the F50 after a bit of Blakely and Neale magic.

 

[Taylor]

There might be a correlation between those creative taps and winning, it seems like clubs that get that working well do well

 

[Bicco]

Loved Nyhuis's attacking game but damn he was lucky Eddie's radar was off.

I think we need to celebrate and accept good luck as much as we bemoan bad luck. Would Nyhuis have been unlucky is Betts had got the goals?

 

[Bicco]

There might be a correlation between those creative taps and winning, it seems like clubs that get that working well do well

Absolutely. It breaks up a pattern doesn't it? Just like a player that can evade/break a tackle, all of a sudden the game opens up infront of them. Key is to not do it all the time. Then it becomes the pattern.

 

[wayToGo_]

Neale's mark and play-on was the highlight for me.

I'm just finishing watching the replay... agree that was a special moment, as was the Cox tap and then Walters being just as special to Sherro. There were so many highlights though. Banfield's vision from half back to hit an open player on the wing. The very first play of the game where Brayshaw controlled the situation under a ton of pressure, eventually got it to Giro who did a great kick down the wing. Blakely hitting Apeness long on a lead that opened up the ground. Alex Pearce making the decision to just run through Mackay would have to be right up there as well. Luke Ryan's tackle that somehow wasn't htb but then followed up with an even better tackle that was rewarded. Hamling owning JJ more than once. Jones doing a couple of deft out of the pack taps to advantage around half forward, and his final minutes tackling. Apeness clunking a couple of rippers. If these kids of ours can continue to improve and become more consistent I can see them challenging some very good sides very quickly. I'm satisfied with glimpses for the moment and we had a truckload in that game to get us excited about the future.

 

[Square Peg]

I'm just finishing watching the replay... agree that was a special moment, as was the Cox tap and then Walters being just as special to Sherro. There were so many highlights though. Banfield's vision from half back to hit an open player on the wing. The very first play of the game where Brayshaw controlled the situation under a ton of pressure, eventually got it to Giro who did a great kick down the wing. Blakely hitting Apeness long on a lead that opened up the ground. Alex Pearce making the decision to just run through Mackay would have to be right up there as well. Luke Ryan's tackle that somehow wasn't htb but then followed up with an even better tackle that was rewarded. Hamling owning JJ more than once. Jones doing a couple of deft out of the pack taps to advantage around half forward, and his final minutes tackling. Apeness clunking a couple of rippers. If these kids of ours can continue to improve and become more consistent I can see them challenging some very good sides very quickly. I'm satisfied with glimpses for the moment and we had a truckload in that game to get us excited about the future.

I haven't watched the replay yet, and couldn't work it out in the replays at the ground, but did Walker push Hamling into Pearce to cause that collision? It looked suspicious in real time and he could have caused serious injury if so.

 

[Frigate]

My 2 cents. I think we out-coached Adelaide to generate the win - you need a lot of things to go right, but they did. Sometimes taking out your best player also allows others to step up. Certainly all the young mids went in hard at the contest.

On the coaching point, from where I was sitting, in the second quarter - there was a lot of shouting "kick the bloody thing". As I pointed out, we have gone with an extra small team, so the handballing and running was the key, not the long kicking. They certainly went back to that in the 3rd quarter. It reminded me of the good old days with Neesham!

To finish up, Cam Mac has shown a lot this season, however he has not produced many goals. Cox may come out and have some poor games in a row, and this is what will happen with key forwards. I think with Cox, McCarthy and Fyfe in the forward line, then McCarthy will go a lot better. He is an elite thumping kick and hits the contest extremely hard.

You would hope we can notch up a win against Carlton, then the bye, then the Hill boys and Bennell potentially come in. Sandi comes back, allowing Apeness to play forward - suddenly the second half of the year might bring some excitement! Taberner comes back - it may be hard to pick a starting 22. I am excited.

 

[Glaucus]

I haven't watched the replay yet, and couldn't work it out in the replays at the ground, but did Walker push Hamling into Pearce to cause that collision? It looked suspicious in real time and he could have caused serious injury if so.

I thought it was Jenkins losing balance, then deciding to give Pearce a shove into Hamling-haven't seen an after game replay though.
It wasn't at the same level of Reiwoldt's push when Alex broke his leg though.

 

[Arcassius]

Rewatching the game (first quarter) -

• the guys are definitely backing off chasing the same guy, with one guy hovering to chase the receiver. saw it in action a few times, and in one instance both players going for the ball thought the other guy was going to go for it (Ballas and Giro) and neither did. It's a sign they're not all ball hunting, and holding space better
• there are heaps of examples of one of our guys shepherding when another guy is streaming towards goal to slow down opposition chasers - as soon as one guy is clear, the players trailing behind try slow down chasers. If Jones had nailed Doedee, or Walters had kicked a split second earlier that missed opportunity would have been a non issue
• the guys are bouncing up and chasing a second or third time if they miss their first tackle
• loving the soccer work of our guys to backheel the ball, and the little taps to advantage (it is way too cute to against a high pressure team though)

In the second quarter, it looks like we weren't playing as close checking as in the first - and a few brain fades allowed a player to sneak forward for the Crows. Gibson once, Betts once. If you watch what happens with the Betts goal, one Docker stopped to see if the other (I think on Walker) needed support while Betts continued towards goal. He got on the end of the handball and kicked an easy one. It was that loose checking, and in some cases not enough communication. Definitely fixable and a good learning lesson for the boys.

In the third and fourth quarters we were back to shepherding more - getting in the way of players running towards our guy with the ball, and generally blocking first, then moving. Doing more work to protect one another.

 

[mike91]

0% chance of happening, but I'd be happy if Blakely got dropped. Dreadful kick, dead set horrendous and hes managing to somehow get worse by the week.