Opinion Round 12 Changes vs. Brisbane (Cox to debut)

[FreoRicci]

I not too worried to be honest , having Griffin and tab together is a disasters, is one or the other , since Ross prefer Griffin , unfortunately tab is the one that get cut.

Then hope Tabs get one or two games in the WAFL, bye, then Sandi comes in for Griff. The structure and combination would be much better. Need a key forward to help Kersten/McCarthy. They ll struggle against Geelong again

 

[tonygeeks]

Tabs is not infront on every stat that counts. Tabs had one good game was MIA for the other 4. He plays alot closer to goal yet has less shots than CMac.

Tabs has got ALOT of games. 50 games in fact. More than he has deserved on paper. Saying Ross has it in for him is complete nonsense. Tabs has played 50 games and has kicked 3 or more goals 3 times in his career. I would say he has played 5 good games out of 50.

I can't think of another player on our list who has been given so many chances for so little.

I was going to say Mayne but then I remembered he at the pies now running at a ratio of 3500 big footy posts per possession


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[meima]

Don't know where to post this , since freo got 39 on the list ( including yarren) , is freo eligible for one rookie elevation mid season.

 

[heavho]

Stoked to see Collins and cox in the team. You would have to say cox will take tabs spot up forward. Hopefully griffin still come out and Darcy comes in but I guess it's highly unlikely

 

[Moist Biscuit]

Kersten and McCarthy are much smarter footballers than Tabs. He's literally got height and strength on them and that's it.

 

[tonygeeks]

Big marking type forwards are struggling right across the league the absolute top quality ones are doing ok but even then look at the Colman I count 8 , 9 (if you count buddy which I don't really) out of the top 18 this would have to be the lowest percentage ever ( I'm not really a stats guy) the game seems to be trending towards the more mobile mid size and small fwds. Not something we are exactly flush with and our biggest need this offseason has to be a smooth moving instinctual 190 - 195 cm forward . Maybe we should cut tabs a bit of slack there are a lot of higher rated guys than him (top 10 draft pick types) not setting the world on fire this season


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[Schauermann]

Interesting. One of Cox and Collins to play forward?

 

[westy1]

The one who wasn't injured, pretty simple really. Our treatment of Taberner has been abysmal. His 50 games have come over 5 years. He hasn't been given much of a crack at all, and is pretty much always the scapegoat for our losses.

You want to talk about development?

In 2015 it was obvious we needed a 2nd key forward if we were to kick a score that could beat Hawthorn in a final. Everyone knew this, except apparently our match committee who only worked it out 3 days before the prelim. We were a 2 goal better side with Taberner playing (hence the "The Matt Taberner Effect" thread) So they brought back Taberner in the prelim after having him languish in the magoos for about 8 weeks.

Such a fundamental and obvious structural change that came months too late after the horse had bolted, because Ross Lyon couldn't stand the sight of Taberner and would rather play with no forward line at all.

Anyone who says Taberner has been given a fair go is just a liar. I can't think of a player who's been treated worse by us.

Are you Taberners mum?
Talking of finals
His 2 kicks and 1 handball in the 2014 qualifying final were quality
Or his 4 possession game for duck eggs in the 2015 preliminary stand out as well
Last week his performance was well below AFL quality, and his presence in the team was one of the reasons we lost
That's why he's out
Just let it go and enjoy the debutante

 

[westy1]

Yep that is why he rated 23 in contested marks last year.


Well if he is so s**t why does he draw the best AFL defender the opposition has each week.
Maybe our elusive game plan of long loopy s**t kicks into our forward fifty are that predictable they throw all their defenders on the tallest bloke standing in it.

Like the loopy pass that bounced of his chest?
Or the loopy handball he fed to Brady grey running into the fwd line?

 

[Dirty_banchez]

Re: Tabs - You can't handball a ball that high by accident. Truly the most bamboozling handball of all time.

That alone is enough to drop him, let alone his poor form.

 

[TheMcManusNose]

For me it's just the easy uncontested marks he drops. Does he deserve all the flak he gets with our forward set up? Probably not. Cam Mac is in a dip but has more talent in his pinky than Tabs in his whole body. Kersten i'm not sold yet either but he does get back a lot more.

Tabs just single-handedly kills a promising scoring chain at least twice a game by dropping an uncontested mark when he's at least 5m free and clear. I do that, but i'm Lachie Neale height without the football skills. You just can't keep doing that. If he did take those marks it would moderate the bad games and you'd be able to stomach the highs and lows. It's a basic skill. For a player of his position it's just inexcusable and it's something that hasn't progressed over 50 games and 5 years.

I don't think it should be the end for him, i'd be happy to see him back in after a decent WAFL run. But that's because we've got buckley's there and you do it on the off chance he puts it together. After that stinker though you just kind of have to drop him.

 

[freo_leo29]

Cox will play forward according to his interview on dockertv

 

[FreoMonocle]

Cox will play forward according to his interview on dockertv

While I personally think we need Tabs in for structure, that is only until there is someone better, the same for all players...

With Cox, there is only 5cm difference in height between him and Tabs, vs 7cm and more between the others, coupled with a basketball background so I'd expect some good vertical leap. If Cox prevents routine opposition marks of our bombed ball, or better yet marks it, then I'm all aboard the Cox replacing Taberner train.

 

[Crippa]

Our treatment of Taberner has been abysmal. His 50 games have come over 5 years. He hasn't been given much of a crack at all.

Tim O'Brien was drafted by Hawthorn at pick 28 and has been given only 23 games over 5 years. Even this year, with the Hawks at rock bottom, O'Brien was not brought in till round 4.

Here's the blurb from the Hawthorn website:

"O’Brien is entering his fifth season with the club and the time has come for him to become a regular senior player."

Draft history: 2012 NAB AFL Draft 2nd round selection (Hawthorn) No. 28 overall.

Tabs should be thanking his lucky stars he landed at Freo with a coach who has shown far more faith in him than he probably deserved or is likely ever to be able to repay.

 

[Fat Nyfe]

Can someone tell when the **** Taberner turned into Tony Modra?

During the Essendon game. Unfortunately by the next week, he turned back into Taberner

 

[Bicco]

The one who wasn't injured, pretty simple really. Our treatment of Taberner has been abysmal. His 50 games have come over 5 years. He hasn't been given much of a crack at all, and is pretty much always the scapegoat for our losses.

You want to talk about development?

In 2015 it was obvious we needed a 2nd key forward if we were to kick a score that could beat Hawthorn in a final. Everyone knew this, except apparently our match committee who only worked it out 3 days before the prelim. We were a 2 goal better side with Taberner playing (hence the "The Matt Taberner Effect" thread) So they brought back Taberner in the prelim after having him languish in the magoos for about 8 weeks.

Such a fundamental and obvious structural change that came months too late after the horse had bolted, because Ross Lyon couldn't stand the sight of Taberner and would rather play with no forward line at all.

Anyone who says Taberner has been given a fair go is just a liar. I can't think of a player who's been treated worse by us.

Depends on your definition of 'fair go' I guess. For me Tabs has not really improved since he started. He's a meek player. His attack on the ball hasnt improved, his marking hasn't improved, hes had 50 games and 5 years in the system at the top level. That's pre seasons, finals etc. and to me hes almost exactly the same player as when he started. Being interstate I don't see him live much, but when I have I've watched his leading and often he just puts up his hand and jogs in some direction. Everone expects thst with his running he can do long repeat leads. On the occasion that hes done this he's looked a million bucks, but to me he hasn't improved and I honestly doubt he will.

 

[blue shark]

0 kicks 7 hand balls 1 mark 8 hitouts. Sinclair had 31 hit outs and Naismith 35 hitouts. He was clearly out of his depth against two third tier ruckman.

Not sure if it helps or hinders his long term development but really shouldn't have been played .

Its the difference in coaching ideas between Beverage and Lyon, also lets the player know what is required to play
at the next level.
All the talk on English was that he was years away from being ready, Darcy was physically ready to debut sooner.
Even Cox, Sandilands had to start somewhere, English is a carbon copy of Dean.
With that amount of rain in Sydney, not perfect conditions for him, but look at the long term.

 

[Frank J Moose]

Its the difference in coaching ideas between Beverage and Lyon, also lets the player know what is required to play
at the next level.
All the talk on English was that he was years away from being ready, Darcy was physically ready to debut sooner.
Even Cox, Sandilands had to start somewhere, English is a carbon copy of Dean.
With that amount of rain in Sydney, not perfect conditions for him, but look at the long term.

Cox and Sandilands came off the rookie list and were in their 20s by the time they started to make an impact. And it is a lot harder to make an impact in your first year now than it was 15 years ago. English was a waste of a player last night. He shouldn't play again for a while. It is looking more and more like the Bullies fell into a lucky flag from 7th on the back of some lucky umpiring.

 

[AAACockburn]

Like the loopy pass that bounced of his chest?
Or the loopy handball he fed to Brady grey running into the fwd line?

That handball. The Sherrin had snow on it by the time it came down.

 

[salim malik]

Its the difference in coaching ideas between Beverage and Lyon, also lets the player know what is required to play
at the next level.
All the talk on English was that he was years away from being ready, Darcy was physically ready to debut sooner.
Even Cox, Sandilands had to start somewhere, English is a carbon copy of Dean.
With that amount of rain in Sydney, not perfect conditions for him, but look at the long term.

Cox is an 18 year old tall being given a game by Lyon. English is a young tall given a game by Beveridge. Please explain in more depth WTF is the difference in coaching ideas between Lyon and Beveridge re young players.

 

[malpaso]

Cox and Sandilands came off the rookie list and were in their 20s by the time they started to make an impact. And it is a lot harder to make an impact in your first year now than it was 15 years ago. English was a waste of a player last night. He shouldn't play again for a while. It is looking more and more like the Bullies fell into a lucky flag from 7th on the back of some lucky umpiring.

Just LOL. Seriously moronic statement.

 

[salim malik]

With Hughes out and Collins in hopefully Collins will play chb and Johnson will play that floating distributing defender with the occasional stint in the ruck.

 

[blue shark]

Cox is an 18 year old tall being given a game by Lyon. English is a young tall given a game by Beveridge. Please explain in more depth WTF is the difference in coaching ideas between Lyon and Beveridge re young players.

I'm Talking about two clubs that need ruck options, or at least forward/ruck options. Yes I like that Cox is
playing, but Beverage is always on the front foot, drops experienced players out of form, even when the
team is winning.
I don't think it is unrealistic to try to fix the ruck while we still have Sandi around, and we are in a rebuild.
I'm sure Ross will make the changes when he is ready, but we don't have that many options ATM.

 

[salim malik]

I'm Talking about two clubs that need ruck options, or at least forward/ruck options. Yes I like that Cox is
playing, but Beverage is always on the front foot, drops experienced players out of form, even when the
team is winning.
I don't think it is unrealistic to try to fix the ruck while we still have Sandi around, and we are in a rebuild.
I'm sure Ross will make the changes when he is ready, but we don't have that many options ATM.

The difference between the clubs is that the only option the Dogs have at the minute is English. Freo still have experience in Griff. Throwing young rucks to the wolves is usually a disaster as the English experiment showed. When Sandi returns Darcy will probably get a run in tandem with Sandi.

 

[Wally Walpamur]

Maybe this is the week where we see Fyfe spend more time as a forward to get some confidence back and keep him from getting smashed in the contest? Something needs to change after the shite performances we've put in recently. As other have alluded to, we really lack for tall forwards. I'm pretty much ready to write off Apeness and Tabs.

FB: Spurr - Collins - Hamling
HB: Ryan - MJ - Cox
C: Weller - Mundy - Billy
HF: Grey - Fyfe - Weller
FF: McCarthy - Kersten - Son Son
Foll: Griff - Neale - Blakely - Hilly
Int: Sheridan - Croz - Sutcliffe - Tucker

On a separate note, how's Griffin Logue going at Peel? Does he look like getting a game in the seniors anytime soon?