Toast Reasons for Optimism

[freofandom]

We're screwed. You think it's a coincidence Bruce Willis gets dementia and then some asteroid conveniently starts heading on a collision course with us? If it doesn't kill us directly we'll no doubt end up being pushed off one of the earth's edges.

Optimistically Freo should win at least one premiership first though.

 

[Purple Suit]

I secretly love the way an asteroid that could wipe out earth is in the optimism thread as it means the universe has flipped and we might be a chance at winning a flag.

 

[Freomaniac]

If the asteroid hits it will be on the back of our 5 flags in 7 years run. Go out on top!

Worst thing I want is a repeat of 2015. Make top of the ladder, win one final and bundle out in the preliminary final and not make finals or win our next final 7 years later in 2022.

So make finals and win a final in 2025, then not make finals and win a final until 2032. LoL

 

[poshman]

Worst thing I want is a repeat of 2015. Make top of the ladder, win one final and bundle out in the preliminary final and not make finals or win our next final 7 years later in 2022.

So make finals and win a final in 2025, then not make finals and win a final until 2032. LoL

With our age profile, talent on list and the clubs resources that would be a tragedy beyond anything we have been through as a club.

I’m expecting a minimum of an extended time in the 8 and more. I am looking forward to your joy and celebrating it with you!

 

[theGav56]

Worst thing I want is a repeat of 2015. Make top of the ladder, win one final and bundle out in the preliminary final and not make finals or win our next final 7 years later in 2022.

So make finals and win a final in 2025, then not make finals and win a final until 2032. LoL

Will be interesting to see how the coming compromised drafts effect clubs in the medium term. I think we are positioned to do well through this period.

The list will mature and the projections suggest some handy NGA reinforcement coming our way negating the impact of whatever the draft situation is.

 

[jusjoshin]

I secretly love the way an asteroid that could wipe out earth is in the optimism thread as it means the universe has flipped and we might be a chance at winning a flag.

I'm sure I remember something about it in Revelations.

Revelations 10:2-3

And he had in his hand alittle book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth. And cried with a loud voice, as when the lion roareth: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices.

What is a docker but one who stands with one foot on the sea and one on the earth? And what would we sing after winning the flag but Thunderstruck?

 

[Quazar2]

Michael Frederick. He's one to watch I reckon. Going to EXPLODE in 2025!! * No asteroid puns intended *

 

[AstonSouffle]

I’ve been pretty polite so far. I normally appreciate your posts but over the last six months you have moved from analysis to outright pessimism. And despite how it is represented true optimism, is the superior mindset.

If you are convinced we won’t make the finals or only just scrape in then you can present that. But stay out with the conspiratorial nonsense. I will supply a list of reasons why we should aim for 15 wins this season. Interact with them and thoroughly but without the outright pessimism.

• Shia Bolton adds an A grader and makes out forward line a top 3 forward unit in the league with room for improvement.
• the games of played of our young players is right at the beginning of the window. This is huge for us because
• the players are now of afl size and not a scrawny group. We won’t be bullied for size this season.
• it is coinciding with the beginning of the peak years of our best players. This means that in five years Amiss, Treacy, serrong, Brayshaw, Young, Jackson, Darcy, Cox, Clark, Chappy, Walker, Sturt and Freddy will all be in their peak years.
• this means we will have A graders on every line.
• Bolton could still be close to his.
• I haven’t included Draper who projects as an A grader, but I think we can agree he should be. B grader at least.
• Treacy and Amiss are the most talented forward duo we have had at the club (KPF).
• financially the club is run very well. While I have concerns that a premiership is not our number on focus from a board point of view I do believe it is the teams focus. We are no longer a rabble off the field and that impacts on field in a big way.
• the extra home each season will be a big win for us. Not only in terms of W/L but less travel.
• I choose to believe one of Simpson, Murphy, Ras, Johnson or Bruce will be at least a high B grader and that we can find another contributor from that group.
• our drafting has been strong I back Walls.

It is for these reasons and more that I believe we should aim for 15 wins in 2025.

The decade of dominance has begun!!

I haven't visited this thread in a while and opened onto this post, excellent post - captures exactly how I feel as well.

Long live optimism!

 

[poshman]

I haven't visited this thread in a while and opened onto this post, excellent post - captures exactly how I feel as well.

Long live optimism!

I am reading 'The Psychology of Money' again (third time). And I am reminded again that society rewards the pessimist with a sense of prestige and the optimist as lesser. However, historically the optimist has more clarity than the pessimist. True optimism isn't a hope and pray or 'in his dreams' method. Optimism is not oblivious to risk or oblivious to the 'real world'.

I am more optimistic about our club than ever. There are a couple of things I would like to change and I don't think we are perfect. I do think we have a unique opportunity in the next 8-10 years.

 

[Quazar2]

Mate I was optimistic and positive when the 2017 season ended when we got 8 wins and 14th spot.

The year before we were 0-10 and crippled with injuries and laughed at opposition fans.

At the end the day, we build ourselves up hope we go well. By the end of the season we fall short and don't make finals.

The Victorian media has pumped us up to make top 4 and win the flag. We are hyped up to unrealistic expectations.

We miss out on finals, we will be punished, mocked and Justin Longmuir will be sacked.

We don't make finals, that is 5 years out of 6 years of no finals.

What a worry wart you are!

"We will be punished/mocked and Justin will be sacked". So what..?!?!

Firstly, if that happens...Mr. Happy Pants. Justin's problem, not ours. Secondly, who cares what the Vic media and outside perception of the Dockers is? The club will be 'mocked', maybe punished (really?) if we win a Flag, because the Dockers will always be the target of other more self-entitled, narcissistic Vic clubs (amongst other non-Vic clubs..) who have their media acolytes sucking d*** for them. That's just an industry reality, as horrible as it is.

Even if we win the flag, someone...somewhere will find excuses for why it happened, without consideration for the merits of it. Dockers aren't going to be 'gifted' anything. EVER.

I don't care what they think, the club is positioning itself, knowing full well they could end up with egg on its face, for a massive tilt at flags in the coming years. Otherwise, what's the point?!

"We're hopeful we might finish around 9th/10th the next 5+ years; continue to build our list with speculative draft first rounders and maybe snag a flag in 2042..". Does that work for you?!?!?!

Attack...now!! Doesn't mean they'll be successful, but that's philosophically what they're arranging themselves for. That's been evident for about 2 or 3 years now, with football department transitions (Rosich gone, Bell gone etc..) and the list build, the coaching reshuffles. And so forth. Last year was disappointing, and clearly some things need to change. We acquired Bolton in the off-season, immediately makes us a better team. Immediately.

I have nothing personal against you; Wigarus or anyone else comfortably (numb) planting their flag in the 'pessimistic' camp (for whatever reasons, each to his/her own..); it's nothing personal. Everyone's entitled to their opinions, even if they're grossly wrong; inflated, pompous; silly or unrealistic. But sometimes it's like certain people are just happy to drown in their own misery (probably wasting my time writing this..). "Well, it's the Dockers...what do you expect..?!". I get it, I really do...but doesn't make it right. Nor does it justify everyone living on Cloud Happy Smily-land either. At some point, this season everyone of us is going to get mad at a performance and outcome.

It's the nature of the beast. But I enjoy the thrill of the chase; the ride! I'm not concerned with past scar tissues and outside media perceptions coated in their own stultifying bias and grossly negligent handling of the club, both past and present.

Every one of us is here for our own reasons, some more.... bizarrely manifested than others. No one should feel like they have to rub someone's face in the dirt with some self-righteous "I told you so" when something happens that aligns with their particular camp's mantra. Neither the 'happy clappy crew' or the 'minky moo miserable posse'!

I think we should all 'attempt' to strike a balance between expectation, realism, (constructive) critique and hope. But this is the Optimism thread!! It doesn't entirely have to be rooted in logic or rationale!!

The opposite is the Vent thread I guess?!

But I genuinely think a big part of you is time-warped in the Ross Lyon era of back to back finals, as if that alone is some kind of achievement. Forget it, the past is the past as I said to you elsewhere. If we must revisit it - I thought we were magnificent under Ross the first 4 years - knocking out reigning Premiers Sydney in 2013 being one of the highlights, and the Purple Mexican Wave. What a night that was!! The next 4....difficult; sobering, infuriating...cringeworthy - culminating in the embarrassing saga of the 'budding boobs' controversy. Ross should have gone then, maybe even Rosich too.

But all of that is bygone shit now. It's time to see what the club has got, RIGHT HERE. Right now.

That's what I'm interested in. Does it have what it takes to back up its 'bold claims' and walk the walk?! I don't know, but as I've said before....it won't take long to find out!

 

[Purple_Turtle]

Reckon Noddy back and in form will really help our ball movement.

 

[mightymouse75]

We're screwed. You think it's a coincidence Bruce Willis gets dementia and then some asteroid conveniently starts heading on a collision course with us? If it doesn't kill us directly we'll no doubt end up being pushed off one of the earth's edges.

Optimistically Freo should win at least one premiership first though.

We still have chuck Norris.

 

[Big Animal]

Reckon Noddy back and in form will really help our ball movement.

hope so but watching the all stars game, he was frustratingly slow to make a decision as to where to kick it when rebounding and against that team which was super fast, it gave them a chance to get back and set up and put us at a disadvantage. Maybe he was instructed to do that for reasons unbeknownst to us for that game, or maybe he just took that long to pick the next kick, but either way I'm hoping I don't see that from him in the season proper.

 

[Fred Ziffel]

Michael Frederick. He's one to watch I reckon. Going to EXPLODE in 2025!! * No asteroid puns intended *

That’s fair enough; For me it’s O’driscoll to have a huge breakout season.

 

[Quazar2]

That’s fair enough; For me it’s O’driscoll to have a huge breakout season.

There could be a number of them. Hopefully that's the case

 

[poshman]

Chappy will take a leap forward this season. Helped by us not having a nuke dropped on our tall back stocks. He should get to play off the key talls rather than have to cover a young one or play as one.

 

[Joao]

Since this is the optimism thread it is worth pointing out that the asteroid on its upper size measurement is comparable to a modern nuclear bomb. So it would flatten a large city and wreck most of the surrounds, but it's nowhere near a global or even continental threat. Also, Australia isn't in its impact corridor. That goes from like Mexico to Bangladesh roughly along the equator.

TLDR: even the heavens cannot stop us!

#decadeofdominance

 

[freofandom]

Since this is the optimism thread it is worth pointing out that the asteroid on its upper size measurement is comparable to a modern nuclear bomb. So it would flatten a large city and wreck most of the surrounds, but it's nowhere near a global or even continental threat. Also, Australia isn't in its impact corridor. That goes from like Mexico to Bangladesh roughly along the equator.

TLDR: even the heavens cannot stop us!

#decadeofdominance

All well and good until the AFL get Fremantle playing a pre-Christmas exhibition game in Brazil in 2032.

 

[Quazar2]

All well and good until the AFL get Fremantle playing a pre-Christmas exhibition game in Brazil in 2032.

The AFL right now:

 

[DocT]

hope so but watching the all stars game, he was frustratingly slow to make a decision as to where to kick it when rebounding and against that team which was super fast, it gave them a chance to get back and set up and put us at a disadvantage. Maybe he was instructed to do that for reasons unbeknownst to us for that game, or maybe he just took that long to pick the next kick, but either way I'm hoping I don't see that from him in the season proper.

Part of the speed of picking your option is having obvious options present themselves. I hope theis is what JL meant by vanilla - perhaps the simple instruction, 'Don't flog yourselves boys, it's a warm-up match so let's warm-up; 90% is enough to get us through this one' went out. If so there would have been fewer options presenting themselves to facilitate fast ball movement.

 

[theGav56]

Part of the speed of picking your option is having obvious options present themselves. I hope theis is what JL meant by vanilla - perhaps the simple instruction, 'Don't flog yourselves boys, it's a warm-up match so let's warm-up; 90% is enough to get us through this one' went out. If so there would have been fewer options presenting themselves to facilitate fast ball movement.

Doc, I'm worried that our frustration with forward line entries is strategy based rather player decision based.

With the make up of our forwards we should be confident that against any defence going around individuals can at worst break even against their defender.

Against some teams we should also be aware that one of Treacy, Amiss or Jackson has the better match up, and we should actively structure ourselves so we expose that match up.

Now I watch the game on the goggle-box, so I may miss stuff, but I can't say that the above is our signature forward strategy.

The same actually applies to the likes of Bolton, Frederick and Sturt. Individually I reckon they'd be hard to cover. But I won't be shocked if what we actually end up watching is us kicking to Bolton who is double/tripple teamed while Frederick or Sturt are on their ownsome.

 

[FreoBreeze]

I believe this sums up a lot of us:

Can the Fremantle Dockers finally break the premiership curse?

Another year, another AFL season and another chance for the author to pray the curse that damns his Fremantle Dockers to only middling success will finally be expunged.

www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au

Am I optimistic? Is that what I’m feeling – and trying desperately to suppress? Am I too keen to burnish my fatalism and affect jaded resignation? Yes, yes I am. Because the damn truth is that I am optimistic, my daughter might be onto something and this could be the year Fremantle finally defies the curse – of unknown origin and mysterious in its transmission, but a curse nonetheless.

 

[DocT]

Doc, I'm worried that our frustration with forward line entries is strategy based rather player decision based.

With the make up of our forwards we should be confident that against any defence going around individuals can at worst break even against their defender.

Against some teams we should also be aware that one of Treacy, Amiss or Jackson has the better match up, and we should actively structure ourselves so we expose that match up.

Now I watch the game on the goggle-box, so I may miss stuff, but I can't say that the above is our signature forward strategy.

The same actually applies to the likes of Bolton, Frederick and Sturt. Individually I reckon they'd be hard to cover. But I won't be shocked if what we actually end up watching is us kicking to Bolton who is double/tripple teamed while Frederick or Sturt are on their ownsome.

100% agree with you Bali Brother.
JLo this year has weapons and options on every line. This mob should be a joy to coach. A no excuses football team.
LFG.

 

[Quazar2]

Murphy "Unstoppable F***ing Juggernaut" Reid.

Close the damn thread

 

[poshman]

Murphy "Unstoppable F***ing Juggernaut" Reid.

Close the damn thread

Murphy and Simpson have polish and evasiveness that could add a lot of class to the team. I am pumped to see their development. Simpson could do with a five game stretch in the team. Murphy looks like he could add a lot from a flank and occasionally in the midfield.