Rounds 1-5.

[Kickett Punches Read]

Ballantyne won a Sandover and kicked 50 of his 70 odd goals from the midfield.

Reckon he knows what he's doing in the midfield.

But I agree, an extra clearance mid would do wonders for our midfield group. I think Lower will improve dramatically under Lyon.

Lower, Mundy, Fyfe, Barlow as extractors isnt too bad.

Broughton can find the ball in the middle as well.

What improvement we get from Hill and Morabito will be pivotal IMO.

Oh balla can play, but the Richmond game was the perfect example, in play... He simply can't kick. I'm surprised actually that more wasn't made of it... One in two kicks was a clanger. We can't afford that these days where possession retention is all Important. I also think he is too small around the clearances, although his speed helps. Mzungu is another who simply burns the ball too much

11 wins won't get you 8th in an 18 team comp.



What's Kepler Bradley?



What's Ballantyne.



How many games are they guaranteed miss at worst? 1? 2?



Who says they'll be full time mids this season?



11 wins is not sixth. Take out GWS and it's actually 10 wins, and that is slim improvement, if not going backwards, not success.



Sheridan is unlikely to be ready until 2013, and I think its strange that every vanilla skinny player gets compared to Pendlebury. We'll be lucky if these future Pendleburys are as good as Mundy.

Who said Ballantyne and Broughton will be midfield stars?

Who said Mzungu or Morabito will be stars at all?



Gwilt is about as talented as Duffield.



Maybe. Maybe not. It's his fourth year, so he better start producing something. Highly overrated, though.

Bradley is an average plodder at best

Ballantyne can't kick

Nobody I got those names off a previous quote, and judging by what I saw in the nab cup

Re-read my post, I said 11 wins with quite a few other games that we have a good chance in, I think we should/could make 8th..... Which spin it whichever way you want is an improvement
Have you been to training and see him move? Of course you haven't... I have, very similar.. There is no other player I could liken him too.

Everyone on here raves on about morabito except me.... Look at any random ten posts on any random threads on here and you will see morabito being proclaimed the next coming

Broughton and ballantyne are top 3 in the league I think when they are played in their correct position, that in my eyes makes them stars, in the middle they are average to good.

gwilt has a better defensive game

We will see on suban no point discussing that anymore

 

[Clay Davis]

So what if Bradley is an 'average plodder at best'? We only need a foil, as you said. Not a superstar. That average plodder got 25 goals from 15 games in a crap forward line (as you say). Put Pav down there and Bradley gets the second best defender.

Ballantyne can kick. He's excellent around goal. His field kicking needs work, but that's only because he tries to do too much.

Prior to injury, Morabito was a better player than Suban. Easily. Averages more possessions, more contested possessions, more goals.

Why is Suban so highly rated? I don't get it. He's never had a dominant game, his highlights clips would be patchy at best. There is very little about him that screams talent, aside from his left foot when in space.

Compare him to Morabito's great goals in big games against Geelong and Hawthorn. Seriously.

Average plodder? Suban screams average plodder.

 

[Kram]

Why is Suban so highly rated? I don't get it. He's never had a dominant game, his highlights clips would be patchy at best. There is very little about him that screams talent, aside from his left foot when in space.

Gotta agree with this, he has to be the most overrated Fremantle player on this board. Not saying that he's crap or anything but imo will just be a good average player at best, currently wouldn't have him in the starting 18 with a full list to pick from.

 

[E Shed]

I've been a little disappointed with what I've seen from Suban this year but he deserves a clear run at it to see what he's got. Lyon rates him, said in radio he'd be good dream team value as he wins his own ball and uses it well.
Mzungu took a while to get up to speed at AFL but he's a very neat ball user, deft & tidy and makes good decisions. Will be very handy.
Morabito is he comes back from his knee unscathed will be a superstar. Along with Hill & Fyfe will be in our best 3 once Pav,Sandi & Macca are gone.

 

[Clay Davis]

Did Lyon actually say Suban wins his own ball? Because he doesn't.

Morabito needs to show a lot more before he looks as good as Fyfe & Hill, but he's got far more talent than most of the players recruited in the past four years. Just needs consistency. The knee injury won't help him.

 

[E Shed]

Did Lyon actually say Suban wins his own ball? Because he doesn't.

Morabito needs to show a lot more before he looks as good as Fyfe & Hill, but he's got far more talent than most of the players recruited in the past four years. Just needs consistency. The knee injury won't help him.

I tend to agree but yes. Said something like he's tough, talented, wins his own footy and uses it well. It was in response to a dream team question on Radio in Adelaide before the Port game.

 

[free at last]

Oh balla can play, but the Richmond game was the perfect example, in play... He simply can't kick. I'm surprised actually that more wasn't made of it... One in two kicks was a clanger. We can't afford that these days where possession retention is all Important. I also think he is too small around the clearances, although his speed helps. Mzungu is another who simply burns the ball too much




Bradley is an average plodder at best

Ballantyne can't kick

Nobody I got those names off a previous quote, and judging by what I saw in the nab cup

Re-read my post, I said 11 wins with quite a few other games that we have a good chance in, I think we should/could make 8th..... Which spin it whichever way you want is an improvement
Have you been to training and see him move? Of course you haven't... I have, very similar.. There is no other player I could liken him too.

Everyone on here raves on about morabito except me.... Look at any random ten posts on any random threads on here and you will see morabito being proclaimed the next coming

Broughton and ballantyne are top 3 in the league I think when they are played in their correct position, that in my eyes makes them stars, in the middle they are average to good.

gwilt has a better defensive game

We will see on suban no point discussing that anymore

KPR what is your knock on mora?

I remember Leigh Matthews criticizing mora on a few issues halfway through his debut season.At the end of the season, Lethal had nothing but praise for mora ,on how mora hadn't tapered off,which is what normally occurs with first year players.Mora actually started getting a whole heap better at seasons end.Mora's final against the hawks was outstanding, don't you think?

What I can see and alot others obivously see, is huge upside in mora.
We just saw glimpses of it in 2010.

 

[Nickos66]

KPR what is your knock on mora?

The same could be asked - why rate him? He hasn't played footy in almost 2 years, which is almost an eternity in this game. Why nt just wait and see how he goes before having to pigeonhole him as star or B grader.

 

[free at last]

The same could be asked - why rate him? He hasn't played footy in almost 2 years, which is almost an eternity in this game. Why nt just wait and see how he goes before having to pigeonhole him as star or B grader.

I didn't say he was going to be a star. I said the kid obviously has talent.
Mora basically is like a new recruit again, so I won't have any real expectations other than that of a first year recruit.

 

[Tommo]

Oh balla can play, but the Richmond game was the perfect example, in play... He simply can't kick. I'm surprised actually that more wasn't made of it... One in two kicks was a clanger. We can't afford that these days where possession retention is all Important. I also think he is too small around the clearances, although his speed helps. Mzungu is another who simply burns the ball too much

Well considering he had 18 kicks and only four clangers total i'm not sure how you have come to this conclusion.

I understand your pessimism, but I thought Balla was quite good that night.
As someone else said I think he may have just been caught out doing too much at times. Most of his field kick I thought was awesome. In fact a number i times I saw him turn around a slot someone on a lead and they didn't even have to break stride.

 

[caterina]

Hey guys, to get back to rounds 1-5, one thing I might have overlooked in my pessimism vs sydney round 2 is that they will be coming off a 14 day break between a soft hitout vs GWS in round 1 and meeting us. Hopefully works like the early round byes last year that did no one any favours

 

[Kickett Punches Read]

So what if Bradley is an 'average plodder at best'? We only need a foil, as you said. Not a superstar. That average plodder got 25 goals from 15 games in a crap forward line (as you say). Put Pav down there and Bradley gets the second best defender.

Ballantyne can kick. He's excellent around goal. His field kicking needs work, but that's only because he tries to do too much.

Prior to injury, Morabito was a better player than Suban. Easily. Averages more possessions, more contested possessions, more goals.

Why is Suban so highly rated? I don't get it. He's never had a dominant game, his highlights clips would be patchy at best. There is very little about him that screams talent, aside from his left foot when in space.

Compare him to Morabito's great goals in big games against Geelong and Hawthorn. Seriously.

Average plodder? Suban screams average plodder.

Bradley is below "foil" level. I think he had some servicable games last year, but in general he was ordinary. Put pav there and bradley wont get the ball at all. He is slow and drops too many marks, he does though have a good set shot at goal. IMO if we are to be moving forward as a team, we need a better second option.

ballantyne has great skills when he is kicking at goal, as is mentioned in another post, he may have had a only 4 registered clangers, but those statistics arent accurate IMO. he often makes his teamamates wait with his kicking, he loops it up too high as well, under pressure his kicking falls away dramatically, trying to do too much may be a part of this, if he can know his limits then he may improve..... but really, why waste the time.... get him in the forward line where his insticts, niggle and goal savyness (is that a word?) can kick in..... we may lack midfielders, but we really have one other goal kicking forward, its crazy to take out one of our two effective forwards.

suban is a tough whole hearted footballer who has a fantastic left boot. your being ridiculous when you say he has never had a big effect on a game.... see the home game against the bombers a year or so ago where he got 30-odd touches and kicked 2 or 3 goals.. he was magnificent that game and i think is capable of playing that well on a regular basis... if he gets a clear run at it.

KPR what is your knock on mora?

I remember Leigh Matthews criticizing mora on a few issues halfway through his debut season.At the end of the season, Lethal had nothing but praise for mora ,on how mora hadn't tapered off,which is what normally occurs with first year players.Mora actually started getting a whole heap better at seasons end.Mora's final against the hawks was outstanding, don't you think?

What I can see and alot others obivously see, is huge upside in mora.
We just saw glimpses of it in 2010.

Morabito is a dumb footballer, and im not sure how you change that. yes his game against hawthorn was good, but he regularly bombs the ball forward without looking, he tackles, but he almost never goes inside the defensive half of the ground and i dont think he reads the game well. I have watched him for years through his time at Harvey, then at Peel and then again for us, he is athletically very gifted, but i dont think he has the footy brain to be the star many on here think. I have often compared him to trent croad.. he could have a very good long career, but will he ever be in the leagues best 40 players? i highly doubt it

 

[Clay Davis]

Bradley is below "foil" level. I think he had some servicable games last year, but in general he was ordinary. Put pav there and bradley wont get the ball at all. He is slow and drops too many marks, he does though have a good set shot at goal. IMO if we are to be moving forward as a team, we need a better second option.

25 goals from 15 games is a better rate of goal scoring than Geelong's foil options in all their premierships. Considering we had Michael Johnson as the second key forward in 2010 (when we made finals), you don't think this is an upgrade? You're spouting garbage.

ballantyne has great skills when he is kicking at goal, as is mentioned in another post, he may have had a only 4 registered clangers, but those statistics arent accurate IMO. he often makes his teamamates wait with his kicking, he loops it up too high as well, under pressure his kicking falls away dramatically, trying to do too much may be a part of this, if he can know his limits then he may improve..... but really, why waste the time.... get him in the forward line where his insticts, niggle and goal savyness (is that a word?) can kick in..... we may lack midfielders, but we really have one other goal kicking forward, its crazy to take out one of our two effective forwards.

More garbage. Ballantyne will play most of his time in the forward line.

suban is a tough whole hearted footballer who has a fantastic left boot. your being ridiculous when you say he has never had a big effect on a game.... see the home game against the bombers a year or so ago where he got 30-odd touches and kicked 2 or 3 goals.. he was magnificent that game and i think is capable of playing that well on a regular basis... if he gets a clear run at it.

WTF? He had 25 touches. Not 30-odd. 25. To this day, that is his best ever game. In 2009. Well over a year or so ago. That's like rating Clayton Hinkley highly because he received a Brownlow vote.

Jay Van Berlo has had better games than that.

 

[free at last]

Bradley is below "foil" level. I think he had some servicable games last year, but in general he was ordinary. Put pav there and bradley wont get the ball at all. He is slow and drops too many marks, he does though have a good set shot at goal. IMO if we are to be moving forward as a team, we need a better second option.

ballantyne has great skills when he is kicking at goal, as is mentioned in another post, he may have had a only 4 registered clangers, but those statistics arent accurate IMO. he often makes his teamamates wait with his kicking, he loops it up too high as well, under pressure his kicking falls away dramatically, trying to do too much may be a part of this, if he can know his limits then he may improve..... but really, why waste the time.... get him in the forward line where his insticts, niggle and goal savyness (is that a word?) can kick in..... we may lack midfielders, but we really have one other goal kicking forward, its crazy to take out one of our two effective forwards.

suban is a tough whole hearted footballer who has a fantastic left boot. your being ridiculous when you say he has never had a big effect on a game.... see the home game against the bombers a year or so ago where he got 30-odd touches and kicked 2 or 3 goals.. he was magnificent that game and i think is capable of playing that well on a regular basis... if he gets a clear run at it.



Morabito is a dumb footballer, and im not sure how you change that. yes his game against hawthorn was good, but he regularly bombs the ball forward without looking, he tackles, but he almost never goes inside the defensive half of the ground and i dont think he reads the game well. I have watched him for years through his time at Harvey, then at Peel and then again for us, he is athletically very gifted, but i dont think he has the footy brain to be the star many on here think. I have often compared him to trent croad.. he could have a very good long career, but will he ever be in the leagues best 40 players? i highly doubt it

Points taken KPR.If mora has a long career, and is ranked in the top 40 - 60 players in the league.I'd settle for that now considering he's had an ACL.

 

[Seppo]

Jay Van Berlo has had better games than that.

You've gone too far Clay...

 

[SupersonicDocker]

Morabito is a dumb footballer, and im not sure how you change that. yes his game against hawthorn was good, but he regularly bombs the ball forward without looking, he tackles, but he almost never goes inside the defensive half of the ground and i dont think he reads the game well. I have watched him for years through his time at Harvey, then at Peel and then again for us, he is athletically very gifted, but i dont think he has the footy brain to be the star many on here think. I have often compared him to trent croad.. he could have a very good long career, but will he ever be in the leagues best 40 players? i highly doubt it

I don't know if i would call him a dumb footballer. He is so often judged as simply a midfielder by everyone when it is clear he will always be a hybrid type player. Hence the masses of Adam Goodes comparisons. Even goodes you could argue has an athletic based game... seems to have served him well

Tom Hawkins and Travis Cloke are two of the dumbest human beings let alone footballers in Australia, yet as we saw on GF day and throughout the season, when they are on they are unstoppable and can change a game. Ben Cousins wasn't a "Smart" footballer, he just worked and worked and worked at his game.

Fact is, Morabito has a boom kick, great tackling strength and can break the lines in any amount of traffic. That is a hard to come by commodity in this business. He also has the "X" factor and game changing play ability.

Give him time, but in 2-3 years i could easily see him being a competition gun. As for his role this year, half forward pressure and line busting.

 

[Freomaniac]

ok then, fine, i dont think we have as good a list as what everyone else does. I think lyon is a very good coach and we have done a great job in getting him here, but i think our guns are a year older, we have a very weak forwardline and our midfield is underdone. I think we effectively need everything to go right in order for us to be a top 6 side.

We can have the best game plan in the league, but if we have no decent mids to get the ball, and a horrible forwardline it isnt going to mean much... we desperately need the following:

1. our midfield to be fit- at the moment they simply arent

2. decent forwardline options- we have pav.... that is all, but we have discussed this in another thread, we need balla to go forward, and hill/fyfe to kick 30+ goals like say bartel and chapman do... will they? im not sure

3. 2012 in november... draft day... every pick to be a forward with size... or a midfielder with pace.

As i have said time and again, i will be disappointed if we dont make the 8... which would not be going backwards, it would bea n improvement on last year.... but i certainly dont think we have the unbelieveable list that lots on here seem to think we do... which comes back to the argument... bondd and lloyd are not the saviours that is often being said

Execellent and a very Accurate Post. Easily Some of your best Work champ.

KPR has a good Point on where Fremantle Stands now and a fair analysis of our Playing Squad.

1st off I dont know why so Many Freo fans on here are thinking why Freo are going to get a top 4 spot this Season.

Go Compare Fremantles list to The Likes of Collingwood, Hawthorn and Geelong. All three teams have got at least 12-14 guys with 100 or more games under their Belts while Freo have only got 9 guys.

Freos Biggest Strength is easily our Defence as we have got a Depth of Tall defenders (Silvagni, Dawson, Johnson and McPharlin) and Running defensive Flankers (Duffield, Deboer and Broughton).

Foward line is ok but needs improvement hence im Hoping guys like Pav, Ballas and Mayne have a big year.

Midfield is a concern though. We got some good guys From the 2008 and 2009 drafts entering their 3rd and 4th year. My concern is that we dont have enough experienced guys with 100 games under thier belt.

 

[Freomaniac]

Also KPR has another good point with the realistic view.

As I said on here, How are freo going to get 15 wins to get top 4?

I can see them get 12 or 13 wins.

Looking at our Fixture I can see Freo win at least 9 games at Subiaco. Geelong and Carlton are not certain wins. Beating West Coast is not certain either. I expect us to beat West Coast at least once this season. Rest of the Games at subi I expect to win.

As for the away games I dont expect to beat Collingwood at the MCG or the Hawks at tassie. However there are 7 away games I would consider winnable at these venues: both games at AAMI Both games at Ethiad against the Roos and dogs, richmond at the MCG, Swans at SCG and Gold Coast at GCS. I expect at least 3 or 4 wins to bring our win total to 12 or 13 wins.

In the 1st 5 rounds Brisbane are our best chance of a win. Swans away and Carlton at home I consider 50-50. If and thats a big if we get 3 wins from 5 rounds, we only need 9 wins from 17 games to get 12 wins to make the 8.

And yes I will be very angry if we dont pinch at least my Predicted 7th spot.

At least grabbing 8th Spot would show a sign of improvement.

 

[Kenny_01]

Looking at fixtures is pathetic IMO. If it were so simple, we would all dominate tipping and football would be predictable and boring.

The fact is that a good system and structures makes players. You may look at our list and not see much quality but just look at the Eagles. Players who were thought of as rubbish merely 12 months ago are now respected. Did they suddenly get talented over the off season? No. The Eagles structure which took a while to implement was beginning to shine through and it made the players look better.

Look at what Ross did at the Saints. There were a lot of players playing above their weight range because of the structure and discipline. If we had the likes off Eddy and Mcqualter playing at Freo, we would have booed them off Subi and moaned that we will never go anywhere with them in the side. Ross took a side with a handful of stars but a lot of plodders to consecutive grand finals.

I think we have developed a mentality of failure. While I think it will take the players 12 - 24 months to adjust to the new game plan and structures, there is little doubt in my mind we have the talent in our list to succeed. It's the hard work, discipline and desire to win which has cost us more than anything.

 

[chinggis77]

KPR if you think Balla's disposal is below par in the midfield - then what do you make of Fyfe?

Fyfe was below 60% disposal efficiency last year and still is during the preseason this year. He is No 1 for clangers at our club. Fyfe has often said in interviews he needs to work on his disposal - as did Harvs. So often we look in amazement at what Fyfe does to get the ball and his vision to spot a target that we overlook the fact that he stuffs his disposal up so often.

Barlow was pretty shocking last year as well but will be excused as he didn't have a pre-season/was coming off injury.

We should give Balla's time. He has shown in the past he has very good disposal - not just around ground, but up the ground whenever he has ventured there. His off-disposal could just be early season lack of touch.

I wouldn't say Mora is a dumb footballer, I have seen him do a lot of great things and display very good vision as well at times. He also has a bit of a strange kicking action that leads him to kick it high a lot also. He never went much to the defensive side because he lacks the stamina to run the ground as do most mids. I think its great that he has got his weight down to 93kg's. The year before he was 190cm and 97kg - for a midfielder that is way to heavy, you're not going to cover the ground with that weight. One could say he was too fat. Hopefully the loss in weight has translated into increased stamina for Mora.

One thing is clear we cannot have Balla, Fyfey, Barlow, Lower and Crowley all in the midfield stinking it up with their disposal with only Mundy and Hill as our elite users. So much for the elite skill midfield that has been the focus of our recruiting if that is the case.

Mora is the big missing link. He could be our Martin/Zeibell from that draft putting the finishing touches on our midfield.

 

[Kickett Punches Read]

Execellent and a very Accurate Post. Easily Some of your best Work champ.

KPR has a good Point on where Fremantle Stands now and a fair analysis of our Playing Squad.

1st off I dont know why so Many Freo fans on here are thinking why Freo are going to get a top 4 spot this Season.

Go Compare Fremantles list to The Likes of Collingwood, Hawthorn and Geelong. All three teams have got at least 12-14 guys with 100 or more games under their Belts while Freo have only got 9 guys.

Freos Biggest Strength is easily our Defence as we have got a Depth of Tall defenders (Silvagni, Dawson, Johnson and McPharlin) and Running defensive Flankers (Duffield, Deboer and Broughton).

Foward line is ok but needs improvement hence im Hoping guys like Pav, Ballas and Mayne have a big year.

Midfield is a concern though. We got some good guys From the 2008 and 2009 drafts entering their 3rd and 4th year. My concern is that we dont have enough experienced guys with 100 games under thier belt.

Also KPR has another good point with the realistic view.

As I said on here, How are freo going to get 15 wins to get top 4?

I can see them get 12 or 13 wins.

Looking at our Fixture I can see Freo win at least 9 games at Subiaco. Geelong and Carlton are not certain wins. Beating West Coast is not certain either. I expect us to beat West Coast at least once this season. Rest of the Games at subi I expect to win.

As for the away games I dont expect to beat Collingwood at the MCG or the Hawks at tassie. However there are 7 away games I would consider winnable at these venues: both games at AAMI Both games at Ethiad against the Roos and dogs, richmond at the MCG, Swans at SCG and Gold Coast at GCS. I expect at least 3 or 4 wins to bring our win total to 12 or 13 wins.

In the 1st 5 rounds Brisbane are our best chance of a win. Swans away and Carlton at home I consider 50-50. If and thats a big if we get 3 wins from 5 rounds, we only need 9 wins from 17 games to get 12 wins to make the 8.

And yes I will be very angry if we dont pinch at least my Predicted 7th spot.

At least grabbing 8th Spot would show a sign of improvement.

Why thank you

KPR if you think Balla's disposal is below par in the midfield - then what do you make of Fyfe?

Fyfe was below 60% disposal efficiency last year and still is during the preseason this year. He is No 1 for clangers at our club. Fyfe has often said in interviews he needs to work on his disposal - as did Harvs. So often we look in amazement at what Fyfe does to get the ball and his vision to spot a target that we overlook the fact that he stuffs his disposal up so often.

Barlow was pretty shocking last year as well but will be excused as he didn't have a pre-season/was coming off injury.

We should give Balla's time. He has shown in the past he has very good disposal - not just around ground, but up the ground whenever he has ventured there. His off-disposal could just be early season lack of touch.

I wouldn't say Mora is a dumb footballer, I have seen him do a lot of great things and display very good vision as well at times. He also has a bit of a strange kicking action that leads him to kick it high a lot also. He never went much to the defensive side because he lacks the stamina to run the ground as do most mids. I think its great that he has got his weight down to 93kg's. The year before he was 190cm and 97kg - for a midfielder that is way to heavy, you're not going to cover the ground with that weight. One could say he was too fat. Hopefully the loss in weight has translated into increased stamina for Mora.

One thing is clear we cannot have Balla, Fyfey, Barlow, Lower and Crowley all in the midfield stinking it up with their disposal with only Mundy and Hill as our elite users. So much for the elite skill midfield that has been the focus of our recruiting if that is the case.

Mora is the big missing link. He could be our Martin/Zeibell from that draft putting the finishing touches on our midfield.

fyfe's disposal is somewhere between ordinary and good, it definitely needs work. but he is another that I think we are giving the big wraps to that really is only on the back of one season. I think he looks very hird-like, but he does need to better his kicking.

I'll excuse barlow, because prior to his leg, his skills were first rate.

your right his (balla) disposal may get better, but my whole point with this is why wait? why bother when we are screaming for effective forwards..... I just hope that come round 1 I am pleasantly surprised and balla spends 85% forward and 15% up the ground, because he is much more efffective hanging around the big sticks, with both disposal and on the scoreboard.

on balla, i draw some sort of similarities with buddy franklin and him going up the ground.... I know as an opposition supporter it makes me feel a hell of a lot better thinking about franklin getting touches across half back then it does thinking of him getting them 40-50 meters out.... im sure a lot of opposition coaches will be hoping ballantyne is getting his touches away from the goals.

my thoughtss on morabito are well documented and are based on seeing him play at different levels. I really dont think he will be a star... if he does, then fantastic, nothing would make me happier. I think he should be a half forward/center half forward.

 

[Patty_Moz]

Morabito is a dumb footballer, and im not sure how you change that. yes his game against hawthorn was good, but he regularly bombs the ball forward without looking, he tackles, but he almost never goes inside the defensive half of the ground and i dont think he reads the game well. I have watched him for years through his time at Harvey, then at Peel and then again for us, he is athletically very gifted, but i dont think he has the footy brain to be the star many on here think. I have often compared him to trent croad.. he could have a very good long career, but will he ever be in the leagues best 40 players? i highly doubt it

I think I have to stand in for my buddy here.
So as far as I can tell the way you see it is that from the games that you have seen him play all as an 19 yr old or younger, playing under far inferior coaches, you have decided that the because Mora bombs a few balls long he is a dumb footballer and can never improve the decision making part of his game?

If you saw the hawks game I think Hill's game highlighted how important fast running players are to breaking the press and Mora is definitely one of those players that can break lines and like Hill he can roost the ball 60m. To be honest I dont care if Mora never goes into the defensive 50, not everybody in the team has to flood the backline to get cheap possesions and I think we have enough of those players eg. Duff, Ibbo, Subes and Pitt etc and I also think Mora's disposal can get more exposed in the backline and he is way more dangerous in the forward half.

As you say Mora is an athletic freak. He's very fast, a good tackler and can break tackles. As soon as he shows any sort of form he will be straight back in our side because he has more strings to his bow than spotting up a few 25m passes off the half back flank and I think Subes axing shows that you need a few strings to your bow. He's not the perfect player but the weapons he does possess will force opposition coaches to pay attention to him which will probly mean more leeway to players like Fyfe but particularly Hill and that is a good thing for the side.

His first yr was ok without being stunning and I dont think he will set the world alight this season, especially early and he may at times find himself needing to find form in the WAFL but eventually if he can get some more consistency in his game and avoid injuries he really does have the potential to become a very good afl player.

 

[more_of_bito]

I've been a little disappointed with what I've seen from Suban this year but he deserves a clear run at it to see what he's got. Lyon rates him, said in radio he'd be good dream team value as he wins his own ball and uses it well.
Mzungu took a while to get up to speed at AFL but he's a very neat ball user, deft & tidy and makes good decisions. Will be very handy.
Morabito is he comes back from his knee unscathed will be a superstar. Along with Hill & Fyfe will be in our best 3 once Pav,Sandi & Macca are gone.

The best part of this is that they're all mids, so like the great teams of recent times like the lions (black/ power/ voss), Cats (selwood, ablett, Bartel) are built on A1 engine rooms.

 

[Kickett Punches Read]

I think I have to stand in for my buddy here.
So as far as I can tell the way you see it is that from the games that you have seen him play all as an 19 yr old or younger, playing under far inferior coaches, you have decided that the because Mora bombs a few balls long he is a dumb footballer and can never improve the decision making part of his game?

If you saw the hawks game I think Hill's game highlighted how important fast running players are to breaking the press and Mora is definitely one of those players that can break lines and like Hill he can roost the ball 60m. To be honest I dont care if Mora never goes into the defensive 50, not everybody in the team has to flood the backline to get cheap possesions and I think we have enough of those players eg. Duff, Ibbo, Subes and Pitt etc and I also think Mora's disposal can get more exposed in the backline and he is way more dangerous in the forward half.

As you say Mora is an athletic freak. He's very fast, a good tackler and can break tackles. As soon as he shows any sort of form he will be straight back in our side because he has more strings to his bow than spotting up a few 25m passes off the half back flank and I think Subes axing shows that you need a few strings to your bow. He's not the perfect player but the weapons he does possess will force opposition coaches to pay attention to him which will probly mean more leeway to players like Fyfe but particularly Hill and that is a good thing for the side.

His first yr was ok without being stunning and I dont think he will set the world alight this season, especially early and he may at times find himself needing to find form in the WAFL but eventually if he can get some more consistency in his game and avoid injuries he really does have the potential to become a very good afl player.

Ive never once said he wont be a good player. all ive said is that i dont think he has a footy brain, and that comparrisons to adam goodes i think are far fetched.... I compare him more to trent croad than goodes... croad was a very good player... I think the hype on morabito is unwarranted and premature at this stage, I qualified my opinion by the many games i have seen him play in 3 different grades, and each time i have been very impressed with his athleticism, his ability to "break the lines" etc... but ive also been equally unimpressed with his stupid bombing of the ball forward often to nobody, his unwillingness to help his teammates by running back to the backline when required, and his awkward positioning when trying to read the play.

Your right not everybody has to run back, but as a midfielder you do, as a half forward you do, albut to a lesser degree.

Nobody wants morabito to be the player that many on here think more than me... but I dont really see it. Everyone has their own opinion, his athletic qualities are undeniable, or they were up until his knee (hopefully he can get back to where he was).

 

[Freomaniac]

Bradley is below "foil" level. I think he had some servicable games last year, but in general he was ordinary. Put pav there and bradley wont get the ball at all. He is slow and drops too many marks, he does though have a good set shot at goal. IMO if we are to be moving forward as a team, we need a better second option.

ballantyne has great skills when he is kicking at goal, as is mentioned in another post, he may have had a only 4 registered clangers, but those statistics arent accurate IMO. he often makes his teamamates wait with his kicking, he loops it up too high as well, under pressure his kicking falls away dramatically, trying to do too much may be a part of this, if he can know his limits then he may improve..... but really, why waste the time.... get him in the forward line where his insticts, niggle and goal savyness (is that a word?) can kick in..... we may lack midfielders, but we really have one other goal kicking forward, its crazy to take out one of our two effective forwards.

suban is a tough whole hearted footballer who has a fantastic left boot. your being ridiculous when you say he has never had a big effect on a game.... see the home game against the bombers a year or so ago where he got 30-odd touches and kicked 2 or 3 goals.. he was magnificent that game and i think is capable of playing that well on a regular basis... if he gets a clear run at it.



Morabito is a dumb footballer, and im not sure how you change that. yes his game against hawthorn was good, but he regularly bombs the ball forward without looking, he tackles, but he almost never goes inside the defensive half of the ground and i dont think he reads the game well. I have watched him for years through his time at Harvey, then at Peel and then again for us, he is athletically very gifted, but i dont think he has the footy brain to be the star many on here think. I have often compared him to trent croad.. he could have a very good long career, but will he ever be in the leagues best 40 players? i highly doubt it

I actually Dont mind Bradley. But I agree he has been much maligned as they say. As bad as Bradley was, he did, along with Chris Mayne were our joint leading goal kickers. both of them are capable of kicking 30-40 goals each if they play all 22 games. Hes a good kick at goal but He cant do the aerial marks like Zac Clarke.

Speaking of Zac Clarke, hes easily one the most underated players at our club. Yes hes our 2nd ruckman to Sandilands. But he impressed me last season. After playing 8 games in his 1st 2 seasons, in his 3rd season at the dockers last year he played 13 games.

He covers alot of the ground and he has a good pair of hands. I would like it if Clarke spends some time in the forward line this season. If he can take some aerial marking in the Forward line, he can easily kick a few goals.