Autopsy Freo lose to Collingwood at Subi

[meima]

I really like Brady Grey, like a lot, but lets get real. He needs to offer up a bit more if we wants to be part of our next finals side.

You either like or don't like no in between.

 

[PowerToThePurpl]

As for the game. I think we just got outplayed by a better team. Simple as that. We aren't challenging for a premiership this year so losses on the board don't warrant as big of a melt but some on here seem to think otherwise. The main thing you want to see in a rebuilding team is promise for the future, and I think this young Fremantle team have that in a big way.

Assessment of the young players;

- Hamling tried his best to keep us in the game during that final term taking fantastic marks and beating his opponent.
- Weller I thought was one of our best with his head-turning speed and above average kicking skills.
- Hughes was good defensively with his marking ability and attack on the ball but lacked the polish to make good, quick decisions and often turned the ball over with his disposal by foot.
- Ryan didn't see much of the footy but I was surprised with defensive pressure when he didn't have possession judging by his low tackle count in his Peel games this year. Although when he was put under pressure he was calm and collective with his disposal and has all the tools to make a great rebounding defender. Reminds me of early Rory Laird.

- Blakely loves a contested possession and is silk whilst in possession of the ball, just lacks that composure to make good decisions and execute at this stage of his development, but none the less love the way he goes about his footy.
- Tucker didn't get much of an opportunity today with only 57% TOG but was composed with possession.
- Langdon looked like he still had a bit of knee niggle which isn't ideal. Worked hard to kick 2 goals but didn't have much of an impact as an outside runner.

- McCarthy didn't have a massive impact but in saying that none of our forwards really did. My view on Cam is that he's still a developing player and needs a break, the calls to drop him are ridiculous.
- Taberner had a shocker and couldn't buy a mark today. He had way more opportunities to mark the footy compared to McCarthy and Kersten and still only ended the day with 3. Calls for his omission are warranted and won't be surprised if he gets the chop.
- Grey I thought had a great game and provided some much needed presence and X-factor. Love what this guy brings to the team.

 

[jedi mind tricks]

Tucker is going OK for the game time he receives - he had 14% less game time than Hughes who received the 2nd most bench time. To put Tucker into perspective only 3 of his 8 games has he received more than 59% game time - he consistently receives the least amount of playing time in the AFL for any player that hasn't had a game affected by injury and this includes debutants and first year players. Last week for the final term, Ross ditched the training wheels and played him like a normal midfielder and he was arguably the best player for that quarter.

Yep agree with this

 

[jedi mind tricks]

I really like Cam McCarthy however his ball drop needs to improve during set shots. If you look at his arms he often sways them. Freo needs the forward line coach or skills trainer to sort this out.

 

[PurpleReign]

I can't be F'ed finding the "positives" thread but B Hill's goal and his smarts in that situation was sensational and Weller's effort from the centre of the ground to almost kick that goal was unbelievable. Would surely have been goal of the year if it went thru.

 

[westy1]

Dunno what son son has done to upset the umps but he was deadset hung out to dry today
The one where he used his body to perfection and outmuscled his opponent on the half fwd line in the 3rd quarter only to be penalised for a push was ludicrous
Absolute disgrace

 

[Fat Nyfe]

You either like or don't like no in between.

That's a pretty simplistic view don't you think.

I love the aggression and passion that Grey brings to the side, but he has got to get more involved going forward, it's not just opinion it's just the truth of the AFL business. 7 disposals is fine when you kick 2 goals, but there will be times where the ball doesn't fall for him, and 7 disposal games are first on the chopping block. I want him to stay in the side, so let's hope he can find a way to get more involved.

 

[jedi mind tricks]

Dunno what son son has done to upset the umps but he was deadset hung out to dry today
The one where he used his body to perfection and outmuscled his opponent on the half fwd line in the 3rd quarter only to be penalised for a push was ludicrous
Absolute disgrace

Hash tag free kick Darling

 

[Rob]

Collingwood gave us a lesson in lowering the eyes, leading and hitting a lead. It reminded me a bit of the first loss of 2015 against Richmond where our defenders all played well behind their opponents allowing them to lead up for a short pass inside 50. Amazingly in both games we didn't adjust.

I don't agree with that at all. We lost the game because of no midfield pressure in the first quarter and (most importantly) catastrophic turnovers, mostly across half back. Collingwood didn't teach us a lesson in anything other than maybe to be a bit harder at it from the first siren. They had a heap of turnovers as well, that's how we scored.
IMO our defensive structures were fine, but there's no structure that holds up when you just hand the ball so consistently to the opposition.

 

[scon]

B Hill's goal and his smarts in that situation was sensational

Then the dribble kick miss was Mayne levels of momentum burglary.

The one where he used his body to perfection and outmuscled his opponent on the half fwd line in the 3rd quarter only to be penalised for a push was ludicrous

Then straight down the other end where Elliot shoved Spurr out of it marked and goaled.
Fecken Great.
Double umpiring thumbs up.

 

[Freoforever86]

Some of our mistakes were just so bad.

- Hughes turnover kick into the midddle
Of the ground
- Walters fumbling a clean ball to his chest then turnover leading directly to pies goal
In the 2nd
- taberners handball to grey
- greys lack of awareness from tabs handball
- Taberner ducking back into traffic for some unknowm reason
- Griffin giving away countless ruck frees
- Griffin trying to thread kicks i50
- hills missed running goal in the last
- countless miss tackles by all
- sutcliffes awesome weave through traffic then kicking it down pies throat
- some of johnsons kick outs

That's just off the top of my head

 

[Midnite65]

Tabs is simply not an AFL standard player. He's had his chances. We need a bonafide contested marking key forward up there. The mids all bomb it in like we've got Modra up there.

I'd just like us to focus on one area at a time. Starting with our structure for kickins and getting it clear of our defensive 50. We're way too reliant on kicking it wide to a wing where Sandi or Fyfe can mark or create a contest. It is such a poor strategy. Meanwhile, every week, I watch the opposition waltz it right out of theirs like it's a training drill. Infuriating.

Still need a big key forward, McCarthy, Kersten, Crozier and yes even Tabs would be so much better if a Ben Brown was the big up forward. Should make a play for Levi Casboult at year end.

 

[BeinPurplenGreen]

I really like Cam McCarthy however his ball drop needs to improve during set shots. If you look at his arms he often sways them. Freo needs the forward line coach or skills trainer to sort this out.

We have one of those??
Really??

Whoever they are, they better hope they have a good fallback career sorted out, maybe say in butchery or in placement of witches hats and traffic cones. Because on recent results they aren't much chop at skills development.

 

[Square Peg]

Our midfield just isn't elite without Sandilands. End of story. B grade only when he doesn't play, and B grade results ensue.

 

[jedi mind tricks]

We have one of those??
Really??

Whoever they are, they better hope they have a good fallback career sorted out, maybe say in butchery or in placement of witches hats and traffic cones. Because on recent results they aren't much chop at skills development.

Yes our skills are s**t. Have a look at Cam McCarthys ball drop and it's shocking

 

[estibador]

I had to head straight to work after the final siren, so I had time to cool down and reflect. Given that...

I can't really fault the effort in the last qtr. It was frenetic stuff with bodies flying in all over the place, as Pav said. Our boys looked absolutely spent by halfway through, no doubt a function of backing up from two consecutive tough slogs in the wet. It was just a lack of class and composure that cost us in the end. I can wear that as a reason for a loss from a rebuilding team, far more than I can some of our earlier 'efforts' in the year when I was starting to worry that Lyon had lost the players.

 

[Scham]

Yes our skills are s**t. Have a look at Cam McCarthys ball drop and it's shocking

McCarthy's DE was 33% today which is way below AFL standard. Even a couple of his hand passes were terrible.

 

[estibador]

Our midfield just isn't elite without Sandilands. End of story. B grade only when he doesn't play, and B grade results ensue.

It wasn't merely missing Sandi though, it was replacing him with a lumbering tackling bag who was getting absolutely pantsed.

Put someone in there who would actually provide a contest and our mids might stand more of a chance. They did have a few patches where they got on top but couldn't sustain it.

Really though, Fyfe isn't playing like an elite player in any sense of the word at the moment, Sandi or not. Lachie and Blakely are carrying our midfield at the moment. God that Blakely is going to be a seriously good player, isn't he?

 

[WilloTree]

Good points, especially about the impact of wet footy in previous rounds on a couple of other teams, not just us.

Although (as you also say) today showed with uncomfortable directness just how thin our list is at the moment.

If Balic, Bennell, A Pearce, and Apeness were fit we would have a little more depth, but our injuries aren't actually that bad compared to others.
It is just an inescapable fact that our list still has too little talent in the players in spots 20 to 40 on the list.

If games like today mean we turn over the likes of Sutty, Griff and Spur at the end of the year, then it is (for all the frustration of losing a winnable game) a good thing.

We would love to have Balic, Bennell, Pearce and Apeness to consider. I hope they can all come back at some stage this year but that is looking more and more unlikely. It's not at all out of the question we will never see 3 of the 4 play in purple again.

Sandilands and Ballentyne would probably take some pressure off some of the youngsters as well - at least in the short term.

In the long term, I agree Suttcliffs disposal is an issue, and I think Griffin may retire at the end of the season. Spurr is still best 22, but turns 30 next month. And here's the problem; we have a thin list at the moment. In 12-24 months we will also need to find replacements for Mundy, Sandilands and Johnson. We simply won't have the picks to fill spots 20-40 and replace the 6 or 7 who will retire.

Our list manager has left a hole at CHF that will require trading to fill. Then we have to find another bunch of players in the draft in the understanding that we have already traded our 2nd rounder. This is't quiet mission impossible, but it is the next closest thing to it.

 

[BeinPurplenGreen]

. God that Blakely is going to be a seriously good player, isn't he?

Indeed he will.

Now who was it again that took Baa Baa Lamb ahead of Blakely?

 

[Freofalcon]

McCarthy's DE was 33% today which is way below AFL standard. Even a couple of his hand passes were terrible.

I bet Moneyball is one of your favourite films.

 

[scon]

God that Blakely is going to be a seriously good player, isn't he?

Reckon he'll be better than Lamb?
I said to a mate at the game today he'll have a Brownlow round his neck before he retires.

 

[Outshined]

Problems are obvious...mostly fixable depending on how the youngins continue to develop and how the coaching staff adapt to the modern game.

Pagan's paddock has been concreted over with the highway of fast ball movement and intelligent kicking to a leading forward. The effectiveness of our forward entries are really only the tip of the iceberg though since we actually kicked a decent score for 41 I50s today. We have talent there, but the last couple of weeks our apparent strength in the midfield has been annihilated and the forwards have been starved. That's not to absolve them of guilt, but we have a tendency to make them the scapegoat when problems typically originate from the a source further down the ground.

I'd rather watch re-runs of Antiques Roadshow than see us try and stumble our way out of the defensive 50. On the plus side, Ryan, Weller and Hughes all have massive scope for improvement but we need to give them something more than a congested wing to kick it to.

It all comes back to the magic word, structure. It's going to suffer with a mix of new and inexperienced players, so my primary hope for the rest of the season is that we gradually start to see cohesive ball movement with a clear strategy getting us from A to B, i.e out of our back half and in to our forward half. I'll take a bloke with less than 20 games of experience butchering the ball if you can see that the offending kick or handball would have resulted in a chain of possession culminating in a shot on goal.

On to next week.

 

[estibador]

Indeed he will.

Now who was it again that took Baa Baa Lamb ahead of Blakely?

Reckon he'll be better than Lamb?
I said to a mate at the game today he'll have a Brownlow round his neck before he retires.

I don't read the eagles board, but surely they're slashing their wrists about that one by now given their awful midfield?

That's as big a drafting oversight as any they've ever tried to give us s**t about.

 

[ydraw]

I don't know why people people still think of Apeness as the great white hope.

He's been dead set ordinary the whole time he's been at Fremantle, and with his injury issues he will probably never play another game for us.