Autopsy Freo lose to Sydney

[yakamoto]

Major fail at selection table omitting D Pearce from the team. We missed his run through the middle of the ground.
Criticism of our low forward area tackle count has been misguided. If I recall correctly a high proportion of our I50 entries were marked by Sydney. Not allowed to tackle players who have marked the ball.

 

[scon]

I agree Danyle played reasonably well and was unlucky to be dropped.
If our front half DE% stayed around the 37% quoted at half time you are condemned to chase largely uncatchable shadows.
I don't check stats but believe I've heard we are 18th for tackles and not flash on contested possession either.
Lyon specifically commented that we lacked a physical presence in the forward 50 if Sandi wasn't up there but I'm with the Admiral that it's not Sunshine's fault or role.Defensive mark and rebound has seen us chase a lot of tail.
If Cox keeps improving, Tab gets back, Dix keeps coming and gets some gametime before season's end, Cam will show us his stuff in a different mix I'd guess.

 

[Bicco]

^ This. What's worse is we are severely deficient in marking power in our forward line which makes a normal 50/50 contest heavily weighted to the defense. We need to run the ball in more rather than kicking.

My comment in the game day thread was that we should kick the ball along the ground into F50. At least a defender can't mark it.

 

[StingBitten]

Despite the result we played damn well in the first quarter. Won every clearance, quick handballs and playing on at lightning speed. All forwards had reasonable shots on goal and we could have been in front by quarter time.

Can’t figure out the rest of the game but

 

[Freomaniac]

Not much to say that hasn’t already been said.

I think the only positive here is that everyone is melting and frustrated not because we are just s**t (like Carlton), but we know we can play so much better. We’ve got a decent list, but I really don’t think they are being given the proper directions.

Incorrect. We have a decent best 18 (maybe 22). We have **** all depth so as soon as a few key players (say Hills + Tabs) go out we can't cover them at all.

It was weird at the start of the season.

It was stated by AFL experts that Freo had the worst best 22 if no AFL teams had injuries and Carlton had the worse depth. Or it was the other way round., Carlton had the worst best 22 and Freo had the least depth.

It was one of those stats freo was involved with.

I know freos best available 22 with no injuries would be competitive. No doubt freos depth has been tested

 

[Joao]

It was weird at the start of the season.

It was stated by AFL experts that Freo had the worst best 22 if no AFL teams had injuries and Carlton had the worse depth. Or it was the other way round., Carlton had the worst best 22 and Freo had the least depth.

It was one of those stats freo was involved with.

I know freos best available 22 with no injuries would be competitive. No doubt freos depth has been tested

They were half right IMO, Carlton have the worst B22 and the worst depth. Ours just isn't much better (both teams depth is just spuds or kids).

Our best 22 is pretty competitive and you'd have to only have had a passing look at it to think it was bad. By the same token you only have to look at the names of the 20-22 player in it to see there is not much after that. Lazy analysis if "experts" said that.

 

[malpaso]

It was weird at the start of the season.

It was stated by AFL experts that Freo had the worst best 22 if no AFL teams had injuries and Carlton had the worse depth. Or it was the other way round., Carlton had the worst best 22 and Freo had the least depth.

It was one of those stats freo was involved with.

I know freos best available 22 with no injuries would be competitive. No doubt freos depth has been tested

Our record is 4-5 having faced finals team in all our road games (yes I know GC was a road game). We are competitive without having our best 22 just not in all games at the moment.

 

[Freomaniac]

I’m not talking about gifting games to youngsters, I never mentioned that?

We’ve got a few seniors in McCarthy and Tucker that seem to just go through the motions. I think Crowden should be the only 1st year player omitted this week.

It’s not our stars or the draftees playing poorly. It’s the middle tier.

Its strange to think bout that. Random thought coming out of this. You look at the saints list in 2011-13, It was made up of the Ageing over 30 star players in riewoldt, Montagna, Hayes and Dal Santo and a bunch of young guys aged 22 or under. Their players in that 23-29 year old as age group had a lot of average players in Gwilt, Gram, dempster and ray.

Freos 22 consists on the ageing stars in Sandi and Mundy and Johnson. There are some talented players aged 22 or under in Tucker, Cox, Brayshaw etc.

Freos talent in that 23-28 year range is the likes of Fyfe, the Hill brothers, Wilson, Bennell etc despite some of our talent injured at the moment.

 

[Freomaniac]

Remember the pressure and droppings Croad got when he came over? He was the same age as cam is now!

McCarthy is a bloody protective species! He needs to be dropped for bad performances.(I know it won’t happen)

Cam McCarthy is a good forward at his best but he isn't a type of guy that should be the focal point of our forward line. Cam would thrive as a 2nd or 3rd tall.

 

[malpaso]

Cam McCarthy is a good forward at his best but he isn't a type of guy that should be the focal point of our forward line. Cam would thrive as a 2nd or 3rd tall.

Duh. And how is he supposed to do that at the moment?

 

[freo1997]

Cam McCarthy is a good forward at his best but he isn't a type of guy that should be the focal point of our forward line. Cam would thrive as a 2nd or 3rd tall.

So he’s an average player that needs 2 good Fwds around him?

 

[awaremind]

My comment in the game day thread was that we should kick the ball along the ground into F50. At least a defender can't mark it.

Sounds silly but Might seriously be a reasonable strategy given our lack of marking power, the "chaos ball" entries have been when when we look our most dangerous for a while now, and even if we don't do it all the time it adds a dimension of unpredictability.

 

[Dump Truck]

So he’s an average player that needs 2 good Fwds around him?

No, he's a brilliant footballer who's terrible at being a traditional FF. Which is what we've forced him to do most of last year and this year since the Tabs injury. He's got a good lead, good set shot (bar last 2 weeks), good goal sense and genuine X-Factor. The problem is our current team is devoid of any traditional FF. Tabs was doing a very good job until his injury.

Cams problem is he needs space and time to do what he does best. And what he's great at is something most AFL players can't do. Tony Modra would struggle in our forward line these days (then again he did back then too) because we can't seem to understand that.

 

[Admiral Byng]

Reminds me a bit of Sumich if anyone else is old enough to remember watching him play. Tall guy but rarely took an overhead mark. Kicked over 500 career goals because he was great on a fast lead and he had blokes that could hit him lace-out with a pass.

 

[Bicco]

Reminds me a bit of Sumich if anyone else is old enough to remember watching him play. Tall guy but rarely took an overhead mark. Kicked over 500 career goals because he was great on a fast lead and he had blokes that could hit him lace-out with a pass.

Sumich was much better on the lead than Cam is but your last sentence is the key.

 

[Freomaniac]

Duh. And how is he supposed to do that at the moment?

If Tabs wasn't injured, Tabs would be our FF. Right now, Give Strnadica or Apeness a game. Or at least throw sandi at FF.

So he’s an average player that needs 2 good Fwds around him?

Think of the Des Headland effect. Des Headland was brilliant at Brisbane as he had elite players in Voss, Black, Lappin and Akermanis etc working with him. At Freo, he had the likes of Peter Bell, Shaun McManus, Paul Hasleby and the carr boys to work with.

Cam McCarthy at GWS was a 3rd or 2nd tall behind Patton and Cameron. Cam as our main FF doesn't work.

No, he's a brilliant footballer who's terrible at being a traditional FF. Which is what we've forced him to do most of last year and this year since the Tabs injury. He's got a good lead, good set shot (bar last 2 weeks), good goal sense and genuine X-Factor. The problem is our current team is devoid of any traditional FF. Tabs was doing a very good job until his injury.

Cams problem is he needs space and time to do what he does best. And what he's great at is something most AFL players can't do. Tony Modra would struggle in our forward line these days (then again he did back then too) because we can't seem to understand that.

This!

As I said....Gutted that Tabs is injured. Had Tabss Played all 22 games this year, he would of Kicked 25-30 goals. Cam would of kicked 35-40 this year as a 2nd tall

 

[Freomaniac]

Reminds me a bit of Sumich if anyone else is old enough to remember watching him play. Tall guy but rarely took an overhead mark. Kicked over 500 career goals because he was great on a fast lead and he had blokes that could hit him lace-out with a pass.

Chris Tarrant was good on making leads too. He had good years at Collingwood from 2001-6

 

[Admiral Byng]

Sumich was much better on the lead than Cam is but your last sentence is the key.

Yeah, I guess I'm just not sold on this modern concept of repeat forward 50 entries and locking the ball in the firward 50. I like swift forward 50 entries with the ball being slowly carried back to the centre circle by the umpire after it sailed through the big sticks.