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Opinion Something else happened.

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2014? We still made top 4 at the end of the season, then went out in straight sets. We had some pretty bad injuries that year though didn't we?
No that's the year every person and their donkey could see we needed to start rebuilding. Particularly because we had the opportunity to do so with all the injuries but we didn't and kept playing no hope players such as Suban, Pearce, Sutcliffe. Hell even Ballantyne was already showing signs of being shit.

We promptly dove off a cliff the next year.

Who cares if we finish top 4 or even top of the ladder if there's no point if we didn't show up when it mattered.
 
No that's the year every person and their donkey could see we needed to start rebuilding. Particularly because we had the opportunity to do so with all the injuries but we didn't and kept playing no hope players such as Suban, Pearce, Sutcliffe. Hell even Ballantyne was already showing signs of being shit.

We promptly dove off a cliff the next year.

Who cares if we finish top 4 or even top of the ladder if there's no point if we didn't show up when it mattered.
Fair analysis, but if you are looking like finishing top end of the ladder you don't go into a rebuild in my opinion, perhaps hoping to Bradbury a premiership. But we definitely could have done more to develop the list youth and depth, and those players you highlight were giving us very little anyway, so we wouldn't have been losing much. A poorly managed year.
 
No that's the year every person and their donkey could see we needed to start rebuilding. Particularly because we had the opportunity to do so with all the injuries but we didn't and kept playing no hope players such as Suban, Pearce, Sutcliffe. Hell even Ballantyne was already showing signs of being shit.

We promptly dove off a cliff the next year.

Who cares if we finish top 4 or even top of the ladder if there's no point if we didn't show up when it mattered.

We finished 1st the next year...

I get what you're saying but continuing to push for a flag in 2015 was pretty reasonable, given the age profile of our list. It was all or nothing and unfortunately we fell short.

The bigger stuff up for me was not reinvigorating the squad with younger players in the second half of 2015 when we started spluttering.
 
2015, the writing was on the wall, with the bookends in Pav and Luke going we didn't have enough talent, particularly as we had no Pav replacement evident (Tabs wasn't looking promising, Apeness was more of a bash and crash FF than a CHF and was going to take time - and injury was already a big question mark for him).

Oh those missing first round picks... At the end of 2015, we had SHill from the 2008 draft, no one older (Aside from Pav for the extra year he stayed, but probably would have retired with Luke) then Apeness (2013), that's missing talent that should have been B22 and A or B grade, instead we'd relied on depth players as B22 even in our contending years. Sure, we had Fyfe and Mundy (draft 20 and 19) and luck with the likes of Barlow, Walters, every team gets a few lucky finds late in drafts but all teams rely on most of their 1st picks coming good.

We were going to hell in a basket, we didn't have enough talent.
 

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I think the last few years have shown you should try make the most of every opportunity you can when you're at the pointy end of the ladder. You don't have to be an all-time great team to win a premiership, you just have to be in the right place at the right time and have a few things fall your way. No point throwing away those opportunities for an early rebuild just to try get back in that position some time in the future.

Unfortunately during our period at the top we kept running into a superstar team at the top of their game and had a few things fall decidedly not our way (inaccuracy in 13, Fyfe's injury in 15, etc).
 
Unfortunately during our period at the top we kept running into a superstar team at the top of their game and had a few things fall decidedly not our way (inaccuracy in 13, Fyfe's injury in 15, etc).
Shows that we lacked the talent/skills and the depth doesn't it? Hawthorn didn't accidentally become a superstar team, just as we didn't accidentally find our way to the GF.

If I look hard at this rebuild, and squint a bit to see into the future, I think the talent and the depth are two areas that are being deliberately addressed.
 
Good post TheGav56. A much different take on the rhetoric over the past few years. It is very rare that a club does not bottom out somewhat before climbing again. Hawthorn and Geelong are the main exceptions to the rule. Lately it seems, once you do go to the bottom 4, it is extremely hard to climb out, partly due to free agency. Somehow, we have done well out of free agency lately, and we have made some gutsy decisions.

I believe we should keep drafting Lachie's. The two Lachie's may in fact be the big difference going forward. The Weller trade was a gift, and the Neale trade has a way to go yet to prove itself, but I suspect it will set us up for the next 5-7 years.

It is hard to not get excited after 1 round. I mentioned in a different thread, despite the losses in the JLT, I was happy with the direct game plan, and ball movement from defence. After watching that game the most impressive dynamic was the numbers running in waves, and the pressure we managed to apply. I am convinced North had an off day, and we exploited this, so it will be interesting how we play this weekend.

Our group is fairly young, so it will be interesting to see how we go when challenged, however I believe while we have such a strong defensive structure in PEarce, Hamling and Ryan (with others), the damage should be somewhat contained. The style is a lot more aggressive, and with that, the running in numbers we can get exposed on the counter attack, so we really want to improve our conversion rate. It is an exciting time to be a Docker, I believe we can comfortably expect 10 wins this season, and if we can manage the 3-0 start, and have a better run with injuries going forward, probably no reason we can aim for 12 wins. Could be getting carried away, however we kept hearing the group is united, and the feeling around the club is an all time high. I am believing it.

This could have been posted last year after https://www.afl.com.au/match-centre/2018/21/fre-v-carl but before https://www.afl.com.au/match-centre/2018/22/geel-v-fre

You really have to squeeze posts like this in at the right time.
 
This could have been posted last year after https://www.afl.com.au/match-centre/2018/21/fre-v-carl but before https://www.afl.com.au/match-centre/2018/22/geel-v-fre

You really have to squeeze posts like this in at the right time.
What the powers that be should be looking at is the ability of the coach to evolve the game plan into a more attacking one and to evaluate the capacity to challenge hard for a premiership in 2020, as promised.

Clearly he's done this.

Clearly the players are on board.

Sure we could lose every game from here on which would change things. But meaningless games at the end of a season won't be what a decision on Lyon's future is based on.
 
Titus O'Reilly sums it up beautifully...

"It’s important to remember that you can’t overreact to Round One.

Losing to Geelong means the Pies season is effectively over and losing Alex Rance means Richmond’s is too.

In fact, based on Round One, I firmly believe the only teams still in the hunt for the Premiership are Brisbane, Bulldogs and Port.

I’m not ruling the Giants or the Dockers out yet but coming off byes I want to see them play a game.

Hawthorn are also in the race because they always are."
 
Titus O'Reilly sums it up beautifully...

"It’s important to remember that you can’t overreact to Round One.

Losing to Geelong means the Pies season is effectively over and losing Alex Rance means Richmond’s is too.

In fact, based on Round One, I firmly believe the only teams still in the hunt for the Premiership are Brisbane, Bulldogs and Port.

I’m not ruling the Giants or the Dockers out yet but coming off byes I want to see them play a game.

Hawthorn are also in the race because they always are."
Not sure what being in the race for a Premiership this year has to do with the OP. The OP is a reaction to the ability of the coach to implement a game plan which he has advertised that we have been transitioning towards during the rebuild. O'Reilly is bringing some light-hearted realism about the implications of a Premiership this year.

In addition, of our opening 3 games the game against North looks like the most challenging with them clearly placing themselves in the frame for a tilt at finals and having bashed us at a home game last year. As an early season benchmark it is perfect.

Clearly it is a bump in the road for some with agendas, but in terms of the vision for where the club is going it is an un-ambiguous statement, and as such it is a massive endorsement of Lyon and the club's direction. If people want to look at that game and the list we have in place and decide that we are not going to be contending within the timeframe the club articulated when we entered the rebuild, then they'll keep agitating for a coaching change, or have a crack at how the club operates. Haters are going to hate.
 
Not sure what being in the race for a Premiership this year has to do with the OP. The OP is a reaction to the ability of the coach to implement a game plan which he has advertised that we have been transitioning towards during the rebuild. O'Reilly is bringing some light-hearted realism about the implications of a Premiership this year.

In addition, of our opening 3 games the game against North looks like the most challenging with them clearly placing themselves in the frame for a tilt at finals and having bashed us at a home game last year. As an early season benchmark it is perfect.

Clearly it is a bump in the road for some with agendas, but in terms of the vision for where the club is going it is an un-ambiguous statement, and as such it is a massive endorsement of Lyon and the club's direction. If people want to look at that game and the list we have in place and decide that we are not going to be contending within the timeframe the club articulated when we entered the rebuild, then they'll keep agitating for a coaching change, or have a crack at how the club operates. Haters are going to hate.

I don't think anyone is hating. Quoting Titus O'Reilly usually means your having a bit of fun.

It is completely reasonable for people to say that it's only been one game so let's see what happens next.

If we had lost by 50 against the Roos would you be calling for Ross' head? Some people would have and I'm pretty sure you would have been saying that just one game isn't enough to make a decision.
 
I'm often amazed at how people choose to recall the 2015 AFL season for Fremantle.
History shows that Freo won the minor premiership that year and was bundled out of the Preliminary Finals by the eventual Premiers.
But then there are two other stories.

Firstly the one in which the media continually told the narrative that Freo couldn't win if they couldn't score 100 points or more. Ross Lyon's defensive game plan wouldn't be good enough to beat Hawthorn. Many would argue that was what eventuated.

But the story I saw;
After 6 rounds of 2015, Freo were 6wins, top of the ladder, with a % of over 150. They had scored over 100points in 3 of those games. The total Free Kicks at that stage was 126 Frees For vs 102 Frees Against, ie. +24 Free Kicks Differential. Freo had won the Free Kicks in 4 of those 6 games. The other two were against West Coast (typical umpiring bias there) and Melbourne at the MCG.
After 8 rounds, Freo were 8 wins, top of the ladder, +150%. Freo's average first half was 56points for. Freo were jumping out of the box with effort and pressure early and then easing up ... the Ross Lyon game plan.
But, I soon noticed that after the favourable Free Kicks from the first 6 rounds, things changed.
In Round 7 vs Western Bulldogs, with Fisher, Dalgleish & Stevic as the appointed umpires, Freo gets 11 FF vs 25 FA.
From Round 7 to the end of Freo's 2015 season, Freo's Free Kicks tally was 286 FFs vs 363 FAs, ie. -77 Free Kicks Differential.
And there was a noticeable bias against Freo early in the first quarters. This was the 1st Qtr Free Kicks against Vic based teams after R6;
R7 WB 2Frees For Freo vs 6 Frees Against
R8 NM 4FF-7FA
R10 RI 2FF-5FA
R13 CO 1FF-6FA
R15 HA 1FF-8FA
Even so, by the start of Round 15, Freo were 12 Wins and 1 Loss (bye R12). Their percentage had dropped. Their early high scoring first halves had gone, at the same time the harsh first quarter umpiring had started.
In Round 15 when Freo played Hawthorn (Tassie, York), with the umpires strongly favouring Hawthorn with a 1FF-8FA 1st Qtr, Mitchell corked Fyfe in the thigh which he never recovered from for the rest of the season. This later culminated in his broken leg in the Prelim.
By the time the Finals came around, the media were well and truly pushing a narrative that Freo couldn't expect to beat the likes of Hawthorn if they couldn't score 100+ points in a game and all the hype was a Hawthorn 3peat. Yet Freo still finished the season top of the ladder with 17wins and just 5losses. Those 5 losses were to;
R10 RI Richmond got the jump on Freo with an 8 goal 1st Qtr. Plenty just went right for Richmond that game.
R15 HA Tough ask in Tassie (York) with umpiring bias, Fyfe injured 1st qtr.
R20 WC Like the Richmond game, WC got the jump on Freo with a 7 goal 1st Qtr, again assisted by some favourable 1st Qtr umpring, they got 11 Free Kicks.
R21 NM Game lost in the last minute, again against some harsh umpiring.
R23 PA Freo sent their B-Team to rest prior to the finals.
Then came the Finals.
QF SY Great display of Ross Lyon pressure football by Freo. Freo wins even with a 14-21 Free Kick tally.
PF HA Freo loses after being just two kicks down early in the 4th Qtr. This is with Fyfe playing with a broken leg and umpires strongly biased against. I posted prior to this game evidence of how the appointed umpires for this game (Dalgleish, Rosebury & Stevic) all had histories of bias against Freo. I supported my posts with statistical evidence but was ridiculed at the time. After the game, many agreed that the umpiring was strongly bias in favour of Hawthorn.

Eventually, Hawthorn thrashed West Coast in the Grand Final.

My point for this very long post is, in my eyes, Freo were very close to winning the big one in 2015. They had plenty go against them, but still got very close and in my eyes, they were very unlucky. An argument can easily be presented that if Fyfe was fit, or umpiring was fair, or even Hawthorn had not have had such a good season (again), then Freo may well have won the premiership.
I think criticisms of Ross Lyon, his game plan, or Freo's lack of youth in 2015 are unjustified when the details are considered.
 
I agree with your assessment. The 2015 was the gf that got away. It was pretty devastating after winning the minor premiership. The free kick differential was an interesting read. Thanks for that.
I'm often amazed at how people choose to recall the 2015 AFL season for Fremantle.
History shows that Freo won the minor premiership that year and was bundled out of the Preliminary Finals by the eventual Premiers.
But then there are two other stories.

Firstly the one in which the media continually told the narrative that Freo couldn't win if they couldn't score 100 points or more. Ross Lyon's defensive game plan wouldn't be good enough to beat Hawthorn. Many would argue that was what eventuated.

But the story I saw;
After 6 rounds of 2015, Freo were 6wins, top of the ladder, with a % of over 150. They had scored over 100points in 3 of those games. The total Free Kicks at that stage was 126 Frees For vs 102 Frees Against, ie. +24 Free Kicks Differential. Freo had won the Free Kicks in 4 of those 6 games. The other two were against West Coast (typical umpiring bias there) and Melbourne at the MCG.
After 8 rounds, Freo were 8 wins, top of the ladder, +150%. Freo's average first half was 56points for. Freo were jumping out of the box with effort and pressure early and then easing up ... the Ross Lyon game plan.
But, I soon noticed that after the favourable Free Kicks from the first 6 rounds, things changed.
In Round 7 vs Western Bulldogs, with Fisher, Dalgleish & Stevic as the appointed umpires, Freo gets 11 FF vs 25 FA.
From Round 7 to the end of Freo's 2015 season, Freo's Free Kicks tally was 286 FFs vs 363 FAs, ie. -77 Free Kicks Differential.
And there was a noticeable bias against Freo early in the first quarters. This was the 1st Qtr Free Kicks against Vic based teams after R6;
R7 WB 2Frees For Freo vs 6 Frees Against
R8 NM 4FF-7FA
R10 RI 2FF-5FA
R13 CO 1FF-6FA
R15 HA 1FF-8FA
Even so, by the start of Round 15, Freo were 12 Wins and 1 Loss (bye R12). Their percentage had dropped. Their early high scoring first halves had gone, at the same time the harsh first quarter umpiring had started.
In Round 15 when Freo played Hawthorn (Tassie, York), with the umpires strongly favouring Hawthorn with a 1FF-8FA 1st Qtr, Mitchell corked Fyfe in the thigh which he never recovered from for the rest of the season. This later culminated in his broken leg in the Prelim.
By the time the Finals came around, the media were well and truly pushing a narrative that Freo couldn't expect to beat the likes of Hawthorn if they couldn't score 100+ points in a game and all the hype was a Hawthorn 3peat. Yet Freo still finished the season top of the ladder with 17wins and just 5losses. Those 5 losses were to;
R10 RI Richmond got the jump on Freo with an 8 goal 1st Qtr. Plenty just went right for Richmond that game.
R15 HA Tough ask in Tassie (York) with umpiring bias, Fyfe injured 1st qtr.
R20 WC Like the Richmond game, WC got the jump on Freo with a 7 goal 1st Qtr, again assisted by some favourable 1st Qtr umpring, they got 11 Free Kicks.
R21 NM Game lost in the last minute, again against some harsh umpiring.
R23 PA Freo sent their B-Team to rest prior to the finals.
Then came the Finals.
QF SY Great display of Ross Lyon pressure football by Freo. Freo wins even with a 14-21 Free Kick tally.
PF HA Freo loses after being just two kicks down early in the 4th Qtr. This is with Fyfe playing with a broken leg and umpires strongly biased against. I posted prior to this game evidence of how the appointed umpires for this game (Dalgleish, Rosebury & Stevic) all had histories of bias against Freo. I supported my posts with statistical evidence but was ridiculed at the time. After the game, many agreed that the umpiring was strongly bias in favour of Hawthorn.

Eventually, Hawthorn thrashed West Coast in the Grand Final.

My point for this very long post is, in my eyes, Freo were very close to winning the big one in 2015. They had plenty go against them, but still got very close and in my eyes, they were very unlucky. An argument can easily be presented that if Fyfe was fit, or umpiring was fair, or even Hawthorn had not have had such a good season (again), then Freo may well have won the premiership.
I think criticisms of Ross Lyon, his game plan, or Freo's lack of youth in 2015 are unjustified when the details are considered.
 

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I don't think anyone is hating. Quoting Titus O'Reilly usually means your having a bit of fun.

It is completely reasonable for people to say that it's only been one game so let's see what happens next.

If we had lost by 50 against the Roos would you be calling for Ross' head? Some people would have and I'm pretty sure you would have been saying that just one game isn't enough to make a decision.
In the context of our rebuild you are putting up false equivalents.

O'Reilly is perfectly correct to say you can't read much into the first game of the season in terms of Premiership aspirations. That is not what this discussion is about.

The knock on Lyon is not about winning or losing this game and neither is my post. It is primarily about game plan related issues. And that has been against the backdrop of the coach saying clearly where we are headed in terms of both gameplan and timeframe. As I posted before, there is no ambiguity about that having been clearly answered.

Today you can no longer argue that Lyon does not know how to coach a high scoring, aggressive, freewheeling game. It would be the same as saying McCarthy can't kick goals or isn't fit or that Lobb and Taberner can't play in the same forward line
 
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There's a fair chance that we are heading in the right direction and that we'll have a solid season. Quite a few in this thread have agreed that it's only been one game.

Like I said, you'd be the first to have a crack at someone if they made a negative assessment of someone or something Freo related after one game. Why does something need less proof if it aligns with your opinion?

We all like to see what we want to see but it doesn't make it more right.
 
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Ross Lyon = 1
Haters = 0

The game isn’t over after one round. First to 11 wins. Everybody knows that. Need to back it up a few times, and away, and against good teams, and have a plan B ready for when teams work out whatever it is we’re doing.

I’m a Ross fan and think he’s the man to take us to the promised land. Others who don’t, won’t be swayed after one game. And fair enough. I’m not even sure we’ll see that free flowing, high scoring game regularly. We did similar against Carlton last year, but then also had that Geelong game. Games in isolation don’t really mean too much.

And the sceptic in me wonders if some of the positional changes and player selections would have happened without being forced by injury. Specifically Darcy Tucker into the guts (did SHill and Blakely injuries forced this?), Cam Mac playing more free as a forward (probably won’t have played if Hogan or Cox did), and Walters spending more time forward (does interrupted preseason mean less midfield?). Were these coaching master strokes are just lucky breaks? No sure either way yet. Hopefully we can repeat that effort a few more times and get a better indication.

Advantage, Ross is Boss.
Game on
 
Right now, based on that single game, Lyon is more likely to get a contract extension than to get the arse. If he eye-balled the Board and said "I have an offer from, say, Carlton; extend my contract, or I'm gone", he'd be more likely to get the extension than the "See ya later".

I think with that single game Lyon has laid out the evidence for the evolution of his future game plan, and the direction of our future. He has pretty much become un-sackable now through that one game. Maybe it goes somewhere this season, maybe it doesn't. But Lyon won't be going anywhere now.

In that game we saw that;
  • the fallacy about the game plan not changing (even when the entire list has been in transition) has been shown up.
  • the charge that Lyon can't run a game plan that delivers a winning score looks vacuous now.
  • the mantra that Lyon only knows dour, defensive football has been exposed.
  • he has laid out the case that the timeframe of 2020 is quite realistic.
  • that the rebuild begins with a complete overhaul of defence, a rewire and restock of the midfield, and topped off with a rejig of the forward line was planned and is being implemented is shown to be sound, logical and on track
We aren't meandering around with an antiquated game plan. We aren't held to ransom by a coach who picks sides out of blind loyalty. We aren't locked into a strategy of bomb it long at all costs. We are a club at one of the most exciting points of our evolution, prepped with an emerging list containing a mixture of flawed geniuses, exciting youth, the old guard, misfits, foot-soldiers and wide eyed hopefuls.

They looked for all the world like they support the coach, have "bought in", that they love the club. No surprises there given how few players we have leave the club, and how many we have wanting to join us.

The season may end up becoming another development year, or it may turn out to be much more if the stars align. But we definitely got a glimpse of the future on Sunday.
As always great post mate.
 
Ross Lyon = 1
Haters = 0

The game isn’t over after one round. First to 11 wins. Everybody knows that. Need to back it up a few times, and away, and against good teams, and have a plan B ready for when teams work out whatever it is we’re doing.

I’m a Ross fan and think he’s the man to take us to the promised land. Others who don’t, won’t be swayed after one game. And fair enough. I’m not even sure we’ll see that free flowing, high scoring game regularly. We did similar against Carlton last year, but then also had that Geelong game. Games in isolation don’t really mean too much.

And the sceptic in me wonders if some of the positional changes and player selections would have happened without being forced by injury. Specifically Darcy Tucker into the guts (did SHill and Blakely injuries forced this?), Cam Mac playing more free as a forward (probably won’t have played if Hogan or Cox did), and Walters spending more time forward (does interrupted preseason mean less midfield?). Were these coaching master strokes are just lucky breaks? No sure either way yet. Hopefully we can repeat that effort a few more times and get a better indication.

Advantage, Ross is Boss.
Game on

The irony is as I've said elsewhere, if Ross continues like this then I'm all for it. I hope that we have 21 more games exactly like last week. No problems with that at all.

It's just that we can't have a crack at the media for making generalised statements after one game and then do the same.

My belief is that you should hold your views and opinions to the same standards that you expect of others.
 

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The irony is as I've said elsewhere, if Ross continues like this then I'm all for it. I hope that we have 21 more games exactly like last week. No problems with that at all.

It's just that we can't have a crack at the media for making generalised statements after one game and then do the same.

My belief is that you should hold your views and opinions to the same standards that you expect of others.
The irony is that what we saw last week is exactly where we have been heading for over the past 3 years, but some still don't see it. My views and opinions are that the rebuild looks pretty much exactly like a rebuild should look.

No game will be exactly like last week. The Crows were a shambles last week, and decent this week. We could quite easily have a bad game. The unexpected happens, as expected.
 
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And the sceptic in me wonders if some of the positional changes and player selections would have happened without being forced by injury. Specifically Darcy Tucker into the guts (did SHill and Blakely injuries forced this?), Cam Mac playing more free as a forward (probably won’t have played if Hogan or Cox did), and Walters spending more time forward (does interrupted preseason mean less midfield?). Were these coaching master strokes are just lucky breaks? No sure either way yet. Hopefully we can repeat that effort a few more times and get a better indication.

Advantage, Ross is Boss.
Game on
I think how a coach reacts to forced changes is one of the things you look at when judging their performance. And I can't say that it is Lyon's strong suit. I don't think he is an in-game innovator per se, and am concerned that he does tend to have a Plan A, and that's it. But he has specifically tasked Tucker with a slightly different role which is well suited to him, and it is giving a great return on that investment. He has created the structure where McCarthy can play as the third tall, and developed his fitness to achieve it. Those examples are clear evidence of the emerging game plan, and would think those strategies and tasks have been articulated over the pre-season. There is a similar feel to when Lyon arrived at the club in that regard.
 
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I think how a coach reacts to forced changes is one of the things you look at when judging their performance. And I can't say that it is Lyon's strong suit. I don't think he is an in-game innovator per se, and am concerned that he does tend to have a Plan A, and that's it. But he has specifically tasked Tucker with a slightly different role which is well suited to him, and it is giving a great return on that investment. He has created the structure where McCarthy can play as the third tall, and developed his fitness to achieve it. Those examples are clear evidence of the emerging game plan, and would think those strategies and tasks have been articulated over the pre-season. There is a similar feel to when Lyon arrived at the club in that regard.
Yeah good points. I’ll just add two more points;

1) if ross cops most of the blame for the losses, and the manner of them, he should be praised without reservation for the round one win

2) I think the home game wins at the start of last year possibly provide a larger body of evidence of where the rebuild/ game plan is heading. Round one built on from there.

Let’s hope the boys and Ross can continue the improvement throughout the year, and many more to come!
 

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