Positives

[cp3_jr]

Obviously the young guys were very good. De Boer was a star, Broughton was very composed, Clancee had a very solid debut, Son Son was very good even though he had no one to crumb off and Suban played hard and continued his improvement.

Tarrant down back and Sandi in the ruck also stood out tonight as they have done all year.

Duffman is nearly our best player this year and has come on in leaps and bounds.

The backline was quite good without grover, mcpharlin, hayden etc.

 

[freocynic]

Yes Matty de Boer is fast becoming my favourite player. Doesn't take a backward step, good footy brain and has good skills.

Duffman is another guy who has hung around on the fringe for a few years while we were in our so called premiership window when CC was not willing to give him much of a go. Its very pleasing to see him doing well this year. He is probably our most consistent player.

I think its a positive, even though we are losing and will finish nowhere this year, that we are blooding all these young guys. That is something i have never seen with Freo in the past, think it will hold us in good stead for the future and i find it very enjoyable to watch.

 

[Chris25]

The main positives for me were Walters, Pearce, De Boer and Campbell. They all showed that they are more than capable of playing at AFL level. With Campbell having shown more in 15 minutes, than Murphy did in all his games this year.

While the continued improvement of Tarrant, Duffield and Mundy was also a positive. So too was the form of Solomon, he is being aggressive without giving away free kicks.

 

[Ripper]

Yes Matty de Boer is fast becoming my favourite player. Doesn't take a backward step, good footy brain and has good skills.

Duffman is another guy who has hung around on the fringe for a few years while we were in our so called premiership window when CC was not willing to give him much of a go. Its very pleasing to see him doing well this year. He is probably our most consistent player.

I think its a positive, even though we are losing and will finish nowhere this year, that we are blooding all these young guys. That is something i have never seen with Freo in the past, think it will hold us in good stead for the future and i find it very enjoyable to watch.

Duff was the one Macca was keeping out of the team.

 

[Chops_a_must]

Positives -

The biggest one, that there were so many.


Out of any game this year, win or lose, it was the most positive sign (from a game point of view) as a club we have seen in a long long time.

We all got a look at the best things for next year and beyond.

 

[E Shed]

Positives -

The biggest one, that there were so many.


Out of any game this year, win or lose, it was the most positive sign (from a game point of view) as a club we have seen in a long long time.

We all got a look at the best things for next year and beyond.

Yep, take out the dum arses from tonights team and bring in Jonno, Des, Elvis, Ballas, Hayden and you've got a pretty solid unit.
DeBoer is a revelation, Pearce just carried on from what he does in the WAFL, no fuss just stepped up, Broughton has exceeded all my expectations, Walters is going to be a ripper. Our brightest star Hill is tired and hardly shone tonight and we still looked exciting.
I wouldn't drop Pearce or Walters after tonights effort regardless who else is fit. DeBoer is automatic first 22 now.
Exciting times indeed.

 

[The Purple Jesus]

Agree with all comments. I just hope we continue to blood the young fellas and dont go back to Murphy, Gilmore, Head etc. These guys have had enough chances and should only be played if all else completely fails and there WAFL form is sensational. Yeah I know Head played tonight but he was ordinary. Id rather lose with Ruffles, Zac Clarke, Hall, Ballantyne and all the the other young fellas we played tonight than by playing guys hat will ore than likely never be any good

 

[Chops_a_must]

I wouldn't drop Pearce or Walters after tonights effort regardless who else is fit. DeBoer is automatic first 22 now.
Exciting times indeed.

Yep. Was discussing with the Dad who we would drop out of the young guys on merit, based on that game. The only questionable one was Pearce, but we weren't sure how much he actually played. If Walters is dropped, I will spew.

 

[E Shed]

If Walters is dropped, I will spew.

Indeed. How good is it to see smart players with Freo jumpers on. He actually looks around & thinks about where to put the ball. His kick to Pavs advantage was poetry.
We MUST absolutely MUST keep playing players that can execute skills properly and play with heart.

 

[Chops_a_must]

Indeed. How good is it to see smart players with Freo jumpers on. He actually looks around & thinks about where to put the ball. His kick to Pavs advantage was poetry.
We MUST absolutely MUST keep playing players that can execute skills properly and play with heart.

Yep. It's early days, but his skills have the potential to be in the "elite" category, just like they were in all lower levels. He has made a seamless transition to the highest level with them. Only 2 clangers and close to 80% efficiency is superb in a first game.

Led our team in score assists, 3rd in one percenters and was up there in tackles. Not only were his skills good, but obviously his effort and work rate was fantastic. Not just for a first game player.

It's not often you see a player that immediately adapts to the level and intensity of AFL, guaranteeing they're up to it right away. I can only ever recall 3 at the Dockers - Haselby, Palmer and now Walters.

I don't think we've ever had a player quite like him. And I can't think of anyone he reminds me of. How did he slide so far?

Love him already.

 

[shark75]

Walters, Broughton and Pearce all seem to have good excution skills. Great to see some dockers players with some footy smarts and skills.

Loved Suban's and De Boer's attacked on the ball and player.

Seems to me that the "middle aged" players are the ones with lack of awareness and skills. Maybe, the likes of Schammer, Peake, Dodd, Head, bradley, campbell, gilmore, murphy need to make way for the youngstars.

Would nice to see a forward line with Walters, Mayne, Ballatyne and De Boer in it.

 

[E Shed]

We've just become accustomed to seeing the list cloggers from the days of trading away our picks. I just feel such an enormous relief that we have skillful footy players coming though the ranks. Please Harves have faith in the kids and keep playing them. I don't care if we lose when it's plain we are finally building something decent. Fortunately this year they seem to be getting the vibe with the kids. Curley said today on ABC that Hill has already become an important player to the chemistry and they were confident Pearce and Walters would bring something to the team.
I really hope Walters isn't the one to make way for Ballantyne after the break. I'd rather drop Peake (next in line after I dropped Head, Bradley, Dodd & Thornton {who wasn't that bad})

 

[Chops_a_must]

Stop being a negative nancy, E Shed.

I thought Thornton was close to our BOG in the first quarter and a bit.


Positive - Thornton's dramatic turn around of recent times.

 

[shark75]

thornton plays a defensive forward pretty well. maybe, he doesnt have the chance to turn over the ball resulting in goals.

 

[Chops_a_must]

thornton plays a defensive forward pretty well. maybe, he doesnt have the chance to turn over the ball resulting in goals.

What I have noticed he now does is he makes sure he draws the player before giving it off.

Previously, he would often just randomly stop... but he has been damaging just running straight at goals this year.

He would also just randomly pass it to a person with someone on their hammer while he was still relatively free. He is just delaying that extra bit more, making sure the player is drawn, before giving it off, which means the person he is usually giving it to has a wider margin for error to get the ball than before.

Been to the Neesham school of late I feel...

 

[DizzyHB]

I'm pretty confident after tonight that Walters and Ballas will be able to play in the same forward line, don't know what it is I can just see it up in my head, those two running rings around defenders.

Not sure what it is about Broughton but everytime he makes it up to our forward 50 with the ball he tends to pause and make a pretty poor decision. I think in future it would be better having Broughton deep in the back pocket and using Pearce off the half back linking up.

 

[Selggad]

Positives = youngsters. Six first year players and we are competitive. Suban played his best game and is becoming more comfortable at this level every week. Broughton is looks like he has been playing AFL for a few years, not a few games. Clancy's skills and composure shone through immediately. Walters is a ripper. De Boer is a ripper. His tackle in the second when he bundled the Port bloke over the line shows where he is at. Hilly was a bit down in some ways but still did a lot of good things and showed some of those brilliant evasive skills and touches of magic he will become known for.

Our the attack on the ball has gone up considerably. Harvey seems to be instilling some of his playing style. We did drop off in the last quarter a bit this time but having Dodd butcher opportunities coming inside the 50 wouldn't help much when you are 4 goals down and there is 15 minutes left in the game.

While Harvey lost it a bit in the third with the coaching I like the way he is thinking laterally and doing different things. Peake as the full forward might seem dumb now but he is quick on the lead and not bad one on one at ground level so there was some thought behind it. I like it that Harvey is throwing things around and offering possibilities to players. He is a bit like the youngsters in that he will make mistakes but by trying to take the game on he is learning.

Taz just keeps getting better each week. I don't think he has been beaten by a forward this year, though there have been a couple of break-evens.

Campbell can lead and mark and makes a contest. Although I don't think Campbell will be a long term solution for the club he deserves another go based on his fifteen minutes. Shame he wasn't there for Son-son to crumb off

 

[Kickett Punches Read]

Positives:

Deboer- has heart, his skills arent too shabby, and best of all controlled agression, how he dropped to the rookie draft is beyond me

Tarrant- this guy will be the best full back in the league by the end of the year, absolute monty for our best and fairest

solomon- this guy is as tough as nails, its all been said before, but gee he is vital to our team, his form has been sensational and i seriously hope we sign him for next year very quickly

walters- composed, has great skills and his effort was fantastic, this guy is going to be a real player

suban- who was that player we traded to get the pick that got this guy?? this guy has heart, skills, desire and hardness at the ball, could well be pur best midfielder one day


overall, i had people giving me shit that we lost again and my response to them was, im bloody proud of the way we played, with the inexperience we had, and the overall talent we showed, who among us can really complain? great effort, i have a feeling port fans, and the port coaching staff would be pretty disappointed right now

 

[Lach72]

I'm pretty confident after tonight that Walters and Ballas will be able to play in the same forward line, don't know what it is I can just see it up in my head, those two running rings around defenders.

There's a lot to be said for this.
Campbell/McPharlin/Johnson/Sandilands/Clarke at FF and these two roving.

If Rhys was still fit, Pav at CHF, Mayne and Headland on HF, doesn't look too bad.
Grover and McPharlin at the back, dumbarses out

 

[bman]

I'm pretty confident after tonight that Walters and Ballas will be able to play in the same forward line, don't know what it is I can just see it up in my head, those two running rings around defenders.

Not sure what it is about Broughton but everytime he makes it up to our forward 50 with the ball he tends to pause and make a pretty poor decision. I think in future it would be better having Broughton deep in the back pocket and using Pearce off the half back linking up.

Yeah i agree it would be an exciting prospect to see that happen. Hope they leave walters and pearce in for the cats.

 

[Kickett Punches Read]

harvey has stated (contrary to tony shaw's belief) many times that he is promoting youth, im sure the yougster will hold their place. guys like dodd, head and to a lesser extent thronton will be looking over their shoulders now with the good young guys comin through

 

[Split Personality]

Positives:

Deboer- has heart, his skills arent too shabby, and best of all controlled agression, how he dropped to the rookie draft is beyond me

Tarrant- this guy will be the best full back in the league by the end of the year, absolute monty for our best and fairest

solomon- this guy is as tough as nails, its all been said before, but gee he is vital to our team, his form has been sensational and i seriously hope we sign him for next year very quickly

walters- composed, has great skills and his effort was fantastic, this guy is going to be a real player

suban- who was that player we traded to get the pick that got this guy?? this guy has heart, skills, desire and hardness at the ball, could well be pur best midfielder one day


overall, i had people giving me shit that we lost again and my response to them was, im bloody proud of the way we played, with the inexperience we had, and the overall talent we showed, who among us can really complain? great effort, i have a feeling port fans, and the port coaching staff would be pretty disappointed right now

What he said

Broughton and Pearce look like AFL naturals also. Broughton was quite the general down back, and with a few more games Clancee will be a ripper.

 

[DockerA]

I think on the whole the young guys were a positive

DeBoer - the kid is a real goer, just doesn’t stop, tackle run tackle run. He doesn’t take a backward step. Still cannot believe we got him in the rookie draft, may never be a star, but will be a solid 100+ game player at least

Pearce - very serviceable in his first game, did not look out of place

Broughton - the guy has stepped straight out of the WAFL into AFL and is averaging 20 possessions, he seems to struggle a little when he gets closer to our forward line, but that will come as he continues to develop over the rest of the season

Walters - the kid is exciting, will be absolute class, Leon Davis type player (admittedly i am very excited but everytime he went near the ball last nite, it just seemed like something was going to happen)

Suban - I think he gets somewhat forgotten by all non-docker fans. He played the majority of the night on Motlop(?) and for a guy who is supposedly slow, he seemed to quell motlops influence quite well, and provided some great drive from down back

Hill - quiet game from Hilly last night, but it was just good to get another game into him.

Major positive, was including last nights game, we have got a combined total of 35 AFL games into seven separate first year players, and with Ballantyne and Clarke to debut soon, for the first time in a very long time, this club's future looks to be headed in the right direction.

Oh and Head is one game closer to being delisted

 

[BeinPurplenGreen]

For me, this week's positives were:

1. Walters and Pearce - both 18, both first gamers, both kick goals, both run the game out hard. As Monty Burns would say - "Eeeeexcelllent..."

2. Duffman - is this the same bloke that was a fringer for the last 3 seasons?? Jeez louise, he's really gone ahead in leaps and bounds in the last two months. Two months that might very well make a career a lot longer...

3. Taz. Just dominates that back-line in a way that I think no-one could have believed possible even three months ago. His performance is made all the more amazing when you think that he had none of Roger, Elvis or Grover around him to help out. He led the defence single handed I thought.

4. The lack of fear of our younguns - first time I've ever seen so many young Freo players keep cool and stay with the pace of the game so well. As a group, they had few if any moments where they froze like roos in the headlights - if anything, it was the youngsters who led when the pressure was on. Workmanlike, enthusiastic, resilient and courageous. The future??

5. Our team spirit. That group last night almost all wanted to be out there for the team - they looked to me like they'd throw themselves in front of a bus for each other.

6. Seeing Carr and realising how old and slow he is - if it had been a dry night he'd have been exposed all to buggery. We don't miss him one bit.

7. Seeing Pav run 80 metres and go in hard to support Hase after he got punched by that cheap sniper Lower, and then watching Hase run 50 metres himself and take few swings. Two years ago, neither of those blokes would have raised an eyebrow in the clinches. Not saying we want ill-discipline, but the willingness to push back when challenged roughly has always been one of our areas of question. Not any more.

8. Watching Campbell recover from that crunching pack crash by Sandi. Looked awful, especially on slow mo, and with our luck with injuries I was really worried for him. Hopefully with the break he'll be right to come back in a game or two.

9. Seeing how we stuck at it even though our structures were thrown to pieces by injury - we really seem to have a few players who can be used flexibly around the ground, depending on the needs of the team. Walters, Foster, Pearce and Broughton all had great impacts at various stages in the forward 50, and yet I also saw each of them running hard down back, tackling and chasing their man hard. DeBoer too seemed equally comfortable up forward or down back, and wasn't too fazed by taking on older, bigger bodied opposition.

10. Just how far we've come in only 99 days. See my other thread for details, but in short I can't believe how quick we're moving into the new era - and doesn't it look so shiny and hopeful!!


And best of all, someone else felt good enough about things to start the positives thread this week!! Out-freakin-standing!! It's a good sign that things are looking at least a little sunnier down wharfie way...

 

[dugrene]

Walters looks as good the expectation. He seems to have an awareness that you cant teach.

Pearce, will have have his own cult following just by the way he focuses on his delivery.

I think we are in for some good times in coming seasons.

Palmer
Mayne
Suban
Hill
De Beor
Broughton
Pratt
Hinkley
Foster

We still have players who will pushing for a spot next year.
Nearly half a team of players who will carry us up the ladder.