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I agree, but from an external perspective, they are going to be an interesting one. Let's see how Ross goes when he builds his own list to his style, rather than inheriting a team and fitting them into his style.
Credit where credit is due though, he's had to reinvent his game style and coaching, which he appears on face value to be doing a reasonable job. When I saw them live against us at AO, I thought it was all over for him, it was chocoball at it's worst. However the players (and he) seem to be picking it up and building on it. They've got to do something about their ruck stocks though. Sandilands isn't going to hold much longer.
What Ross has managed to do since the AO game is get 100% buy in from his players. Sure that is driven by Fyfe, Neale, Mundy and Sandilands but I would have given my left nut if we could have just brought that same intensity around the footy in the Primus years. I feel like some of our efforts in the last two years are atleast in part a legacy of the horrendous rebuild we went through.
And to be honest there aren't too many holes in the Fremantle list. They'd love a hulking key forward (who wouldn't), a speedy half back (maybe Jason Johannisen) and they will need to continue to clear out a few muggles but they also have Harley Bennell and Alex Pearce waiting in the wings. With free agency and a fixture system biased toward struggling teams I'm not sure the Victorian 5 year rebuild model of the early 2000's will be Ross's approach. How he re-shapes the Freo list will be a fascinating case study.








