Review Round 21 - Freo Edged by the Dons.

[Schauermann]

Heh - 11 page Review thread after we dismantled the Demons by 50.

20 pages after a loss against the Don's though.

This place loves misery.

Sorry I didn't post it back then: Only 50 point after beating them by 92 away? Should have been 120+...

Generally and serious: In the end is always the way that there is more to talk about directly after losses. But in the end I think more wins are remembered long term then losses.

 

[Grape Bear]

Sorry, a bit of gallows humour - feels like Spain was us yesterday..

 

[FreoRicci]

I’m still struggling to understand how in the space of 15 minutes, 22 blokes forget how to play football. Like - forget how to do their job. The job they were quite competent at 15 minutes earlier, quite good at even. I mean - seriously how?

The intensity dropped. The centre clearances were horrific.
Darcy is such a ****ing lump. He honestly doesn’t look like he wants to be a star. He should’ve asserted himself in the contest. Didn’t.
Couldn’t believe how it goes from 25 points to 6 points down.

 

[Daddoo]

The general gist of what I've heard from a couple of ex-AFL players/current commentators is that it's safer to set up with one player free on the defensive side of the ruck contest and let their other player free on the other side (I guess that's dependent on the other player), so as to be able to block the opposition player (Merrett in this case), and prevent him from running into clear space. And I guess the other thing is to have the wingers on the defensive side of square and run in.

That's if you're saving the game, although in this case we would only be trying secure 2 premiership pts. I guess the young fellas we have in there decided to risk trying to win the 4pts.

I kind of get what you’re saying but there’s no way a winger could have run in fast enough to stop Merrett. Had young been on the defensive side of the contest by himself he may have been able to stop Merrett from having a clear run forward. But if you let him free then you risk the possibility of loosing the hit out and having it go directly to the opposition. Regardless, clearly we didn’t get the job done, which cost us two points.

 

[EastcoastDocker]

I kind of get what you’re saying but there’s no way a winger could have run in fast enough to stop Merrett. Had young been on the defensive side of the contest by himself he may have been able to stop Merrett from having a clear run forward. But if you let him free then you risk the possibility of loosing the hit out and having it go directly to the opposition. Regardless, clearly we didn’t get the job done, which cost us two points.

They would run that risk too, it's who blinks first and we did. Even if Darcy won that tap it was going to be a struggle to score in that time given how things were setup.

How much of a luxury was it having sandi in these situations.

 

[Dockeroo]

They would run that risk too, it's who blinks first and we did. Even if Darcy won that tap it was going to be a struggle to score in that time given how things were setup.

How much of a luxury was it having sandi in these situations.

We should have committed a deliberate 6-6-6 infraction to generate a ball up instead of a bounce.
Darcy is better in ball ups he’s never been great at centre bounces as he can’t leap.
We only needed 2 points Essendon had to win. Our percentage compared to direct competitors would have meant 2 points were as good as 4.
No footy smarts again. Just take the draw and GTFO of there. We didn’t deserve the win anyway.

 

[freo84]

We should have committed a deliberate 6-6-6 infraction to generate a ball up instead of a bounce.
Darcy is better in ball ups he’s never been great at centre bounces as he can’t leap.
We only needed 2 points Essendon had to win. Our percentage compared to direct competitors would have meant 2 points were as good as 4.
No footy smarts again. Just take the draw and GTFO of there. We didn’t deserve the win anyway.

We deserved the win. We were way more efficient going forward. Shouldn't punish ourselves for being efficient.

That last center bounce was atrocious. Why we didn't have someone on the defensive side of that stoppage will haunt me. Why? We needed to defend and win the ball back.

A few players will definitely want their time back. Clark with what ever that handball was...Shocking kicks and stupid attempts at goal.

One player that can hold his head up is Amiss. What a clutch shot on goal. Seriously delicious.

 

[Cobbler]

We should have committed a deliberate 6-6-6 infraction to generate a ball up instead of a bounce.
Darcy is better in ball ups he’s never been great at centre bounces as he can’t leap.
We only needed 2 points Essendon had to win. Our percentage compared to direct competitors would have meant 2 points were as good as 4.
No footy smarts again. Just take the draw and GTFO of there. We didn’t deserve the win anyway.

We have done some dumb things in ruck contests in close games.

Carlton - Jackson hitting to space in defensive 50 = dumb
Swans - leaving the one man open, Blakely, who had been tearing us a new one = dumb
Essendon - no one goal side defensively letting them run into space = super duper dumb

Not learning = dumb

 

[Madas]

maybe its the purple glasses on me, but it seems as if our mids get scragged and held at every contest, super evident in the last quarter for mine where often a player would recieve the ball already having their arm held. if the dons are able to get away with that we need to start doing it right back to them. dont give them the space or opportunity for those clean clearances they had all day.

but just have to reiterate, the first chance we have at touching the ball is the ruck contest and darcy was pushed around like a child, did not jump at the ball and gave up the contest straight away. really really poor performance

Serong was being held off the ball so blatantly right in front of us and the umpires were right there

We let them know what we thought in no uncertain terms

The general gist of what I've heard from a couple of ex-AFL players/current commentators is that it's safer to set up with one player free on the defensive side of the ruck contest and let their other player free on the other side (I guess that's dependent on the other player), so as to be able to block the opposition player (Merrett in this case), and prevent him from running into clear space. And I guess the other thing is to have the wingers on the defensive side of square and run in.

That's if you're saving the game, although in this case we would only be trying secure 2 premiership pts. I guess the young fellas we have in there decided to risk trying to win the 4pts.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing but how about this for the final bounce Sunday

Swap out Serong for Jackson in the middle

That extra reach and body surely couldn’t be a disadvantage when all you want to do is create a stoppage and close out the game ?

 

[Stinky Lomax]

That last centre bounce was a mindset thing. Essendon definitely wanted to score & were committed to it & it looked like we were set up hopefully win the clearance, but also not let them win it by going 1v1.

Serong & Brayshaw were both in a defensive sweeper position & got pulled from that spot to allow Merrett to run out the front door. If Serong held his position, which would normally be the case & Young went to the other oppo mid, then they would have stopped it there.

But because we also had a bit of an attacking mindset & on top of trying to stop them, Serong went man on man & lost his structure. We were set on beating them 1v1 at the stoppage.

Essendon definitely had to roll the dice & we were in 2 minds. The bounce was perfect for what they wanted to achieve.

 

[Cobbler]

That last centre bounce was a mindset thing. Essendon definitely wanted to score & were committed to it & it looked like we were set up hopefully win the clearance, but also not let them win it by going 1v1.

Serong & Brayshaw were both in a defensive sweeper position & got pulled from that spot to allow Merrett to run out the front door. If Serong held his position, which would normally be the case & Young went to the other oppo mid, then they would have stopped it there.

But because we also had a bit of an attacking mindset & on top of trying to stop them, Serong went man on man & lost his structure. We were set on beating them 1v1 at the stoppage.

Essendon definitely had to roll the dice & we were in 2 minds. The bounce was perfect for what they wanted to achieve.

All of it looks great if they win the tap. Darcy wins the tap to Brayshaw, Merret has gambled leaving Young open through the front door. We’re off.

The fact Darcy got beat in the actual tap is what annoys me most. At least halve it.

 

[Stinky Lomax]

All of it looks great if they win the tap. Darcy wins the tap to Brayshaw, Merret has gambled leaving Young open through the front door. We’re off.

The fact Darcy got beat in the actual tap is what annoys me most. At least halve it.

Nah, Essendon had coverage. They had more intent with their plan, definitely agree on Darcy.

 

[ilikepotatoes]

I don't think I have ever seen a team play for a draw before in this sport - I genuinely don't think it's something the players or coaching staff even consider.

So I don't get the criticism of the team for trying to win the game instead of hold on for a draw.

 

[malpaso]

I don't understand why we didn't play Jackson more in the ruck, his leap and ground game would have won us more ball in there.

 

[Cobbler]

Nah, Essendon had coverage. They had more intent with their plan, definitely agree on Darcy.

View attachment 2070195

One still shot doesn’t tell the picture.

Hit to Brayshaw. Merret has gambled and is gone.

Brayshaw has 2 options. Either Serong who would keep coming through or Young over the top out the front. Probably would go to Serong. Where it’s 2v1. Parish would go to Brayshaw.

It’s basically 3v2 if we win the hit to Brayshaw. Their coverage would’ve been sliced through but at least somewhat better than an open field in front of you, which is what Bombers had.

 

[dominguez]

He was having to sit forward while Treacy was off the ground.

Easy in hindsight but send Darcy to FF to tie up McKay and have Amiss and Sturt as the leading forwards while Jackson is in the ruck and Treacy on the bench.

 

[Stinky Lomax]

One still shot doesn’t tell the picture.

Hit to Brayshaw. Merret has gambled and is gone.

Brayshaw has 2 options. Either Serong who would keep coming through or Young over the top out the front. Probably would go to Serong. Where it’s 2v1. Parish would go to Brayshaw.

It’s basically 3v2 if we win the hit to Brayshaw. Their coverage would’ve been sliced through but at least somewhat better than an open field in front of you, which is what Bombers had.

No I’ve watched the clip a few times & broke it down with my midfield group on our group chat. Serong & Brayshaw were not on the move, we’re pretty much stationary & would have been closed down.
We allowed Essendon to have attacking & defensive options by going 1v1 & not being aggressive enough with our plans.
Our plan was to hit to Serong, Brayshaw receive in the sweeper position & kick forward from there or use Young depending on what Merrett had done, remembering the plan is made prior to the bounce with Young covering their most dangerous mid so he likely is following Merrett wherever he goes. But if he reacts quick enough could receive off Brayshaw if he was able to receive from Serong.
Our midfield group & coach would still be feeling pretty sick about this stoppage as we went in 50/50 attack/defence & left the front door wide open for them.

 

[Snuffaluphagus]

No I’ve watched the clip a few times & broke it down with my midfield group on our group chat. Serong & Brayshaw were not on the move, we’re pretty much stationary & would have been closed down.
We allowed Essendon to have attacking & defensive options by going 1v1 & not being aggressive enough with our plans.
Our plan was to hit to Serong, Brayshaw receive in the sweeper position & kick forward from there or use Young depending on what Merrett had done, remembering the plan is made prior to the bounce with Young covering their most dangerous mid so he likely is following Merrett wherever he goes. But if he reacts quick enough could receive off Brayshaw if he was able to receive from Serong.
Our midfield group & coach would still be feeling pretty sick about this stoppage as we went in 50/50 attack/defence & left the front door wide open for them.

And Darcy simply can not let Draper of all rucks beat him like that. If he is underdone enough for that game on the weekend he shouldnt be playing. Darcy plays at like 80% of his best and we win that game comfortably

 

[Stinky Lomax]

And Darcy simply can not let Draper of all rucks beat him like that. If he is underdone enough for that game on the weekend he shouldnt be playing. Darcy plays at like 80% of his best and we win that game comfortably

100% & if we’re serious about winning that game then Jackson goes in as the ruck/extra mid. Essendon did to us what Jackson & Melbourne kept doing to the Bulldogs in the 3rd quarter of the gf a couple of years ago.

Drawing the sweepers away from the protected defensive area & then just have to get the ball forward of the contest with a runner going through. Doesn’t always work, particularly if Darcy gets any sort of hand on it, but Essendon had good coverage anyway.

Essendon needed to win, looked like we were hedging our bets.

 

[Cobbler]

No I’ve watched the clip a few times & broke it down with my midfield group on our group chat. Serong & Brayshaw were not on the move, we’re pretty much stationary & would have been closed down.
We allowed Essendon to have attacking & defensive options by going 1v1 & not being aggressive enough with our plans.
Our plan was to hit to Serong, Brayshaw receive in the sweeper position & kick forward from there or use Young depending on what Merrett had done, remembering the plan is made prior to the bounce with Young covering their most dangerous mid so he likely is following Merrett wherever he goes. But if he reacts quick enough could receive off Brayshaw if he was able to receive from Serong.
Our midfield group & coach would still be feeling pretty sick about this stoppage as we went in 50/50 attack/defence & left the front door wide open for them.

I actually disagree. Serong is following his man through. He actually realises too late and attempts to cover Merrett.

Serong was never option A IMO. Brayshaw is stationary because he was the one hoping it was placed in front.

Just my opinion, but I haven’t run it past my midfield group chat group yet!

 

[arsesmart]

The flat-footedness of the midfield at stoppages in the (second 2/3's of the) last quarter is a fair concern...across a number of games now. The Sydney, Hawthorn and even the Suns a bit were the same as we saw on the weekend. That needs to be fixed ASAP.

 

[Stinky Lomax]

I actually disagree. Serong is following his man through. He actually realises too late and attempts to cover Merrett.

Serong was never option A IMO. Brayshaw is stationary because he was the one hoping it was placed in front.

Just my opinion, but I haven’t run it past my midfield group chat group yet!

They’re all opinions & I was making the point about the midfield group as you insinuated that I was forming an opinion off a photo.
You just need to look at Darcy’s hand to see where he was trying to hit the ball, Serong had created separation & was in the receive position with Brayshaw ready to support by receiving from Serong.
Serong was exactly where he wanted to be for Freos plan, his lunge to cover is well after the ball leaves the rucks contest.

 

[Cobbler]

They’re all opinions & I was making the point about the midfield group as you insinuated that I was forming an opinion off a photo.
You just need to look at Darcy’s hand to see where he was trying to hit the ball, Serong had created separation & was in the receive position with Brayshaw ready to support by receiving from Serong.
Serong was exactly where he wanted to be for Freos plan, his lunge to cover is well after the ball leaves the rucks contest.

Agree that Serong lunges well after the fact.

I think we can both agree we didn’t prepare for a scenario where we’d lose the tap. Everything is downhill from there.

 

[mattis117]

It's actually humiliating that Draper showed us up. He's a total crab, why do the footy gods punish us so?

 

[FreoRicci]

All of it looks great if they win the tap. Darcy wins the tap to Brayshaw, Merret has gambled leaving Young open through the front door. We’re off.

The fact Darcy got beat in the actual tap is what annoys me most. At least halve it.

At least jump in with a knee, at least try and outbody, push Draper. What does he do? Goes in a body to body grab contest, which Draper absolutely loves. Darcy then contests the tap in a 50/50 situation.