Prediction - How many days ...

[Purple_Oz]

... will the press in Perth (eg The Worst) start the usual Freo-bashing to dirvert attention from the GF loss?

My Prediction - Wed

 

[Borry]

I'll be getting and reading The Daily Telegraph tommorrow for their GF coverage.

 

[iscah]

... will the press in Perth (eg The Worst) start the usual Freo-bashing to dirvert attention from the GF loss?

My Prediction - Wed

The last 3 years we have gone 14-8, 11-11, 11-11. And whether we are a year late or not we are ready to take a step into the top 4 very soon. more importantly with a gameplan that actually stand up to games in Melbourne (11 wins in our last 18 games there).

That is more than can be said for the lot next door who have just played in the lowest scoring AFL grand final of all time (I think) without any decent forward structure, no real game plan on how to kick goals and no inclination to want to improve. They have played a Sydney team who have been travelling thousands of miles in this years finals campaign whilst WC stayed at home all the way through and had a rest, and still beat them !!

Next year Saints won't have the same injury list and teams such as Geelong, Adelaide and Bulldogs will be even more improved. They will all go past Sydney. West Coast cannot make the top 4 with their current side and will never win so many close games in a season again.

The Worst will get stuck into Freo even if we won all 22 games in a year, it is in their blood, but the answer is simple, you don't buy it and just read the national press. The WC fans can keep reading how their club is so wonderful, how their captain is not shady and whatever other garbage they want, that is why they have only made one top 4 in 11 years, they live in disneyland.

And we should not try and change that coverage by getting the Worst to change their policy (or even 6PR for that matter). It leaves them perenially complacent and helps us in the long run.

 

[Rob]

The last 3 years we have gone 14-8, 11-11, 11-11. And whether we are a year late or not we are ready to take a step into the top 4 very soon. more importantly with a gameplan that actually stand up to games in Melbourne (11 wins in our last 18 games there).

I reckon that has more to do with the fact that most Melbourne teams are sh*t. Our gameplan has shown far more often than not that it fails when the going gets tough. I shudder to think what would have happened if we played finals this year.

 

[Geoff]

There are only two attributes that take you all the way and they are Heart and Testicles. Sydney showed how to use them yesterday. We have a resonable amount of both but we can learn from the Swans that its got to be 100% or nothing.

 

[iscah]

I reckon that has more to do with the fact that most Melbourne teams are sh*t. Our gameplan has shown far more often than not that it fails when the going gets tough. I shudder to think what would have happened if we played finals this year.

I agree that a few teams in Melbourne struggle but this year we beat

Melbourne - when they were flying and had Neitz etc
Carlton - who cleaned up West Coast in the Wizard cup final
Collingwood - in Buckleys big match and of course they cleaned up West Coast
Geelong - At Shell Stadium, and they smashed WC

Point is that these teams showed some form at times and we beat them all away . 11 wins in 18 games in Melbourne when that used to be our place of worry is a good sign. If we had matched it up with a game plan for Subiaco then we would have been 14/15 wins.

I don't want to be like the mob next door who can only win at home and then embarrass themselves on their travels. I want a team that can adapt to the conditions and the facts are that you have to be able to play the MCG to win the GF and usually another lead up final somewhere along the way.

What do you think we have to do to improve our Subi game plan to complement our away game ??

 

[Rob]

I agree that a few teams in Melbourne struggle but this year we beat

Melbourne - when they were flying and had Neitz etc
Carlton - who cleaned up West Coast in the Wizard cup final
Collingwood - in Buckleys big match and of course they cleaned up West Coast
Geelong - At Shell Stadium, and they smashed WC

Point is that these teams showed some form at times and we beat them all away . 11 wins in 18 games in Melbourne when that used to be our place of worry is a good sign. If we had matched it up with a game plan for Subiaco then we would have been 14/15 wins.

I don't want to be like the mob next door who can only win at home and then embarrass themselves on their travels. I want a team that can adapt to the conditions and the facts are that you have to be able to play the MCG to win the GF and usually another lead up final somewhere along the way.

I agree. But I don't think it was any co-incidence that our 2 best away wins came against the 2 softest sides that finished in the 8. Those wins show that we have the talent to just about win anywhere. But when the opposition plays a 1 on 1 game based around being hard at the ball we wilt like a piece of 2 week old lettuce. Why is it that on paper we have one of the best midfields in the comp yet just about every week we get smashed in the clearances?

What do you think we have to do to improve our Subi game plan to complement our away game ??

Develop a culture of tough, hard, no compromise footy that will not be intimidated by anyone. Anything less should not be tolerated by the coaching staff under any circumstances.

 

[iscah]

Develop a culture of tough, hard, no compromise footy that will not be intimidated by anyone. Anything less should not be tolerated by the coaching staff under any circumstances.

Do you really think that is the way to play Subiaco though ? Sure you need numbers at the ball but you also need a lot of pace through the middle (not a kick in front of the contest though).

My theory is that our away game plan is not too bad (Also had close losses against St Kilda and Adelaide) if we can pick up 5 wins interstate then should not be too hard to pick up 9 home wins out of 12 to finish top 4.

 

[Dr Ralph Dagg]

Do you really think that is the way to play Subiaco though ? Sure you need numbers at the ball but you also need a lot of pace through the middle (not a kick in front of the contest though).

My theory is that our away game plan is not too bad (Also had close losses against St Kilda and Adelaide) if we can pick up 5 wins interstate then should not be too hard to pick up 9 home wins out of 12 to finish top 4.

I'm with Issy on this one. Our game plan isn't too bad provided we can get our hands on the ball. The question is what will be the circuit breaker that will generate a decent midfiled.

I think a consistent injury free season from Hasleby is one of the keys. Remember he started well in 2004 but fell off the pace and look what happened. His 2005 was very up and down.

I think Schammer will start producing more consistently. I know he's young but he was fast tracked. It'll be his fourth season and he has 50 games uder his belt. He racks up the disposals but needs to deliver more precisely to hurt the opposition.

Improvement in Peake and Crowley might also help. Crowley is apparently 91kg (which seems far fetched) but having him around the ball might help out. I reckon Josh Carr was also carrying an injury -- he has had surgery on a hip.

There are probably more options which you can all discuss. I think there is hope for the team.

 

[Rob]

Do you really think that is the way to play Subiaco though ? Sure you need numbers at the ball but you also need a lot of pace through the middle (not a kick in front of the contest though).

Not much good having pace through the midfield when you're getting smashed in the clearances. That's the fundamental problem. Even at home we generally get well beaten in the clearances. We generally manage to beat the ordinary sides because our rebound from half back is first class, and our forward line can usually function well against a crap opposition backline.

You are right in that we couild use more pace, but I don't think that's what's stopping us from going from 11 wins to 14 or 15.

My theory is that our away game plan is not too bad (Also had close losses against St Kilda and Adelaide) if we can pick up 5 wins interstate then should not be too hard to pick up 9 home wins out of 12 to finish top 4.

And then we get murdered come finals time because we're too soft. Surely you must have noticed that the intensity of finals is light years ahead of regular season games, and that sides that have players that pike it in hard ball contests get found out. That was us in our only final, it was us in the 2nd half of Round 22, and was us in the first 3 quarters of Round 20. Weak footy where too few players were prepared to put their body on the line. Sydney won the flag because 15-20 of their players were prepared to consistently. We have 3 or 4. Tops. And when you've got so many squibs, the players that could go either way go for the soft option. The coaching staff need to set the example by not tolerating gutless footy, even if it means dropping talented players in the short term and giving less talented players that are prepared to play with no fear a run instead.

 

[Purple_Oz]

Umm... so how many days are you predicting guys?

 

[iscah]

Umm... so how many days are you predicting guys?

Not sure of the local rag but will be sooner for 6PR.

Hardie will run out of any ideas of what to talk about after a week as he can only talk about Aussie rules (why do they keep him on in summer). He will then progress to lets talk about all the great footballer starting with the letter A, then B etc Will be riveting stuff for the next 4 months. I think the knocking of Freo will happen just before he gets to the D's ..