Autopsy Rd 20 - Dockers smash Sth Freo Cats by 34

[Taylor]

The supporters at the game were fantastic...they took all the s**t personally and really got behind the boys..bit of anger there at the media and others I suspect.

As soon as the crowd thought we were in the contest, tasted the blood in the water, they realised they wanted it and wanted it badly

 

[mightymouse75]

Jackie chan to the cats head.

 

[mightymouse75]

Get your hands off mundy yah feral cat. Boom to the head.

 

[Nolo180]

Things looked ominous early with the tomohawk kicking several early goals.
Credit to the boys with some hard fought footy from the likes of fyfe, walters& brayshaw and some hard running from hill, langdon and tucker.
Crowdens second quarter kept us in the game to halftime so credit goes to him also.
Everyone lifted after halftime. By rights on paper our team should of been demolished but they stood up.
Ps. I reckon if hawkins hadnt unselfishly tried dishing off a couple of goals he would of had 5 by halftime and things could of ended up differently...

 

[Purpellian Anchor]

As a Ross critic, all I can say is more of that please. Less dumb entries forward, didn't get killed on the outside for once and managed to find some space. My pass mark for the fourth year of a rebuild would have come with challenging for the 8. We might get close if they keep that up. We'll see.

Very puzzling...would suspect the criticism has to do with personality differences rather than Ross's coaching and a properly informed and objective assessment by the critic. Enjoy the win and be united...thats where success comes.

 

[Sweetback]

Player	Injury	Duration
Zach Guthrie	Ankle	Test
Nathan Kreuger	Knee	Test
Brandan Parfitt	Back	Short
Jordan Cunico	Ankle	Medium

Short - 1 to 3 weeks | Medium - 4 to 8 weeks | Long - 8+ weeks

And this is the Cats injury list. All the champs were there!

No Dalhaus, and Rohan going down hurt them.

 

[Taylor]

Not having a decent ruck hurt them too

 

[gaskin]

 

[Purpellian Anchor]

Reece Conca on a wing to close out the likes of Duncan was silently super effective

Sometimes forget he was an early first round pick by Richmond - a very intelligent and good player.

 

[Taylor]

A pick #6

 

[FreoRicci]

Darcy’s directive in the forward line must just to be a target and palm it down.

Just wanted him to hit the contest. Nullify their intercept marking. Had 3 Cats players coming in to mark only to get smashed out by Darcy. Worked wonders. Never get Sandi forward again though. Too slow for that role.
In the second half, Darcy really got it working

 

[trentjac]

Today was the best the crowd has been in years. I felt part of something as opposed to the lone soldier feeling I normally have. That level of cheering, booing sh!t calls by the umps and the camaraderie was top notch. The result was a bonus!!!!

 

[Steinfreo]

The last two weeks have been beyond perception with the WA media, the late 90s was pre-population and mining boom so the Drum era never received the same heights as what Lyon and the club have gone through recently.

I'd liken it to paranoid schizophrenia with a side dose of tinnitus, the voices shouting from every corner bounce between the walls and send Shockwaves between both ear drums. Newspapers, radio, social media, hack journalists, Eagles friends, Freo family members, you can't escape it.

Winning against this tide was sheer incredulity.

Does it mean massive changes are no longer needed? No way. Assistant coaches, medical staff and other deadwood need to be cut away wholesale at the end of the year.

There's still massive problems with this list skill wise, injury wise and off field problems.

We are still a long shot from finals this year and who knows what fans and the club will endure throughout 2020.

But tonight is special because we know this team still means something to the players, the journey of success is still so integral. Certainly, we may lose a few this year or next year that we'd prefer to keep. But tonight they played with the passion and energy of people who deeply respect their coach, their fans and more importantly each other and themselves.

Many of the older players are completely gassed, Mundy only got 8 touches but his 2 cameo goals were pure clutch. And Crowden and Carter were completely out of their depth and didn't take their foot off the pedal. Brayshaw and Cerra have been baptized by fire the last 2 years and running on less than fumes, but they've willed their teenage bodies to enter beast mode in a Man's game. Brayshaw who had his jaw shattered in a million pieces and was stuttering around like a ghost in the beginning of the year has overcome his deepest fears and thrown all of himself into each and every play he falls into.

It's worth getting a little teary over, because the club isn't going to sink into the dribbling basket case so many of us have resigned it to just yet, even though thousands have almost collectively willed it.

Just for tonight, you remember why it's too hard to bury this club once and for all.

Awesome post. It is not enough though, weve been here before. The last 3 games are our finals series and I want to see this effort every ******* week. 7 days ago we gave up after one quarter, the 4 quarter effort has to be the new norm, no compromise.

 

[Rob]

I told everyone that Mitch in = win.

Darcy was immense forward. I don't know how many 1v2 and 1v3 contests he brought to ground but if he doesn't do that, we lose.

Yep, if we're going to play a bunch of small forwards with the plan of just bombing it in, it was absolutely critical that our resting ruckman put up a contest and get it to ground. Darcy did that brilliantly.

 

[yyou]

Loved the kickouts after a point.
Loved the game

 

[westy1]

Happy to be served a piece of the humble pie dished up by Ethan Hughes today
Had a great game, hopefully more to come

 

[freodog]

I must eat humble pie. I have firmly been in the disgruntled, everything-is-s**t camp. The boys were fantastic and such perfect timing to come out with such a gutsy win and silence the haters and critics. The crowd were insane.

I am still uncertain about where to from here and if Ross really is our man but it feels bloody good after the week the club and Ross has copped to win like that. Eat s**t WA media, the West Australian, Hagdorn, Langdon and co and all the Susans at everyone's workplace.

6PR has been shocking but I’ll defend Karl Langdon he’s been about the only voice of balance & reason. He did waver a bit last week but up until then he did balance the vitriol against Lyon.

 

[E Shed]

I had to go setup at a gig at 3/4 time. I was expecting to be relieved not to have to watch anymore but I was spewing.
Checked it on my phone as soon as I got a chance and we were 5 goals up. I thought the AFL App must be broken. Watched the last 5 minutes on my phone and have just watched the whole last quarter in replay.

That. Was. Incredible.

I'm still in shock. Well done everyone and especially Lyon but (and I hesitate to be negative) why does it take having half the team out injured before he'll take some chances on players and do something imaginative. The whole thing from the team selections - leaving out McCarthy and gambling on a mosquito fleet, the gameplan and the execution were all superb. If we'd lined up something like that last week instead of playing Ballantyne and 3 rucks we might have matched them for run.

And perhaps in future instead of continuing to select injured players and running them into the ground (Wilson) why not use it as an opportunity to blood someone like Carter a.nd freshen them up so we aren't limping so badly by the end of the year.

Lyon is clearly a master at motivating players and game-day coaching. If he can continue to push his boundaries and we get the fitness, conditioning, injury stuff sorted, we could be a real contender next year.

 

[Sensei]

I told everyone that Mitch in = win.

Darcy was immense forward. I don't know how many 1v2 and 1v3 contests he brought to ground but if he doesn't do that, we lose.

You were right!!!! Being a member of the Mitch fan club has its moments, and tonight was a great one.

 

[Midnite65]

The tackling pressure was immense all game and if the umps had penalised half of the times the Cats just dropped the ball when tackled we would have won by a lot more

 

[PorcelainBus]

Congrats All - didn't expect this
Just a few Freo Observations from the game;
There were 3 beautiful taps from Sandilands to Brayshaw on the surge - showed Brayshaw's smarts
Cerra (who i thought was slowish) kept up with Dangerfield on the run during a passage
Switkowski was unbelievable with pressure as many said but also very good disposal
Duman's disposal surprised me
Hughes was Cat like in his intercepts and running play (stood up)

C'mon Freo fans - get on the Cats finals train You don't want another WC win do you?

 

[Quokka]

A couple of other positives, mostly already mentioned or completely random.

Been impressed with Logues development this year, he's already shown why he was picked with his effort and contest but thought his kicking and footy smarts was really solid today. Plenty of hope for what a season of experience could bring.
Hughes, just what we needed, no mistakes (team high DE% today) and some good grabs.
Carter, a great debut, love to see him get another couple of games to keep him keen over the off season.
Darcy and Sandi isn't the long term goal but Darcy showing anything up forward is good news for when he partners Lobb and Lobb does his stint in the ruck. He kicked a few handy goals down at Peel and still hope long term he can build a little forward craft even if he is playing 80% ruck.
Crowden and Banfield made the most of their call back.
Langdon's kicking (and hand balling today) to a target is a worry but he's great to watch running down the outside and sending the ball inside 50.
Hamling's tapping on and on was all class and Brayshaw is King .

 

[Bring back Drum]

It’s funny the whole mosquito fleet game plan & with one tall forward set up, Richmond won a flag with it a couple of years ago.

 

[dropbear101]

thanks umps for firing the crowd up with some non calls in the second really helped

 

[Bring back Drum]

Congrats All - didn't expect this
Just a few Freo Observations from the game;
There were 3 beautiful taps from Sandilands to Brayshaw on the surge - showed Brayshaw's smarts
Cerra (who i thought was slowish) kept up with Dangerfield on the run during a passage
Switkowski was unbelievable with pressure as many said but also very good disposal
Duman's disposal surprised me
Hughes was Cat like in his intercepts and running play (stood up)

C'mon Freo fans - get on the Cats finals train You don't want another WC win do you?

I’ll be on 7 other teams come finals!