Teh Itty Bitty Goodbits

[BeinPurplenGreen]

Well, OK, not so little or itty bitty...

1. Once again, our backline stood up under wave after wave after wave of pressure. Antoni Grover, I doubted your decision to play on this year, especially once Silver went down, but by Jingles you are proving me wrong, game after game. What a great start to the season, faster and fitter than I can ever remember at the ripe old age of 33ish...

2. Broughton was a (late) rookie pick. How good will he be once we get Barlow and Ibbo back??

3. We kept the lead out to 5 goals even with Sandi off for nearly a whole half

4. Our skills were still very average, yet our endeavour, desire and application to the task were first rate

5. Forward line structure got better as the game wore on, even after Sandi went off

6. Pitt, Walters and Roberton all played key roles well at different stages - how good will they be once they get to 60 games??

7. Ballas and Mayne really pumped the forward pressure up a couple of notches - and got rewards for it too...

8. Hill showed what happens when you don't tag him.

9. McPhee, Keps and Lower gave it their all throughout the game. Really happy with their efforts, if not always perfectly executed, always perfectly passionate...

10. Pav. You are us. You will make 300+ games. You will win a premiership with us. You will be a surgeon saving lives when you are 50.

11. MJ, Crowley and Duffman stepped up in intensity. They all still have a way to go, and MJ and Duff both still shirked some contests, but they rebounded from their poor starts to the season. Would help if all three were set performance pay based on marks and tackles instead of tiddly pats "to advantage"

12. The gorgeous, sensational girl at my local with the short haircut, white trainers and stunningly amazing satin Freo jacket. Hope you are back for next week's game, we need all the Freo fans we can get over here..

 

[E Shed]

Bit rough on the skills BIPG. Tough conditions and I thought we moved it well considering. Our disposal efficiency was miles ahead of Adelaides.

 

[E Shed]

Also a bit rough on Duff. He doesn't do tough but there is simply no one better when the ball is in dispute on the deck. He manages to run right beside his man and keep touch without giving away frees, taps and nudges it to advantages, wins way more than he loses in those situations. Plus he's one of the competitions premier rebounders.

And I'll add Suban's return to form as a BIG positive. He's a great little player that has fallen off the recognition radar a bit due to injuries and form.

 

[docker_champ29]

I'd just like to say what a legend Ballantyne is. He sprints 75% of the ground on numerous occasions on the slight chance that he'll get a tackle on or pressure a turnover.

 

[masai]

I'd just like to say what a legend Ballantyne is. He sprints 75% of the ground on numerous occasions on the slight chance that he'll get a tackle on or pressure a turnover.

He is one hellva pest ..... I can imagine him in Grade 1 going up to the Grade 7's and telling them they are pansies !!!!.

Love his & Mayne's forward pressure.

 

[BeinPurplenGreen]

Bit rough on the skills BIPG. Tough conditions and I thought we moved it well considering. Our disposal efficiency was miles ahead of Adelaides.

That's BpG thanks E. And fair enough actually, I did fail to take account of the conditions I guess - but I'm still not convinced it is OK for a professional senior AFL player to miss 8 targets in a row by foot, even if it is breezy...

Also a bit rough on Duff. He doesn't do tough but there is simply no one better when the ball is in dispute on the deck. He manages to run right beside his man and keep touch without giving away frees, taps and nudges it to advantages, wins way more than he loses in those situations. Plus he's one of the competitions premier rebounders.

And I'll add Suban's return to form as a BIG positive. He's a great little player that has fallen off the recognition radar a bit due to injuries and form.

My #1 plus was our defensive efforts under pressure, which Paul was a key part of. Sorry if I wasn't clear enough about that. I didn't say Duff was poor - I said his efforts were great, albeit a bit behind his execution and skill. His effort was missing last week, but it was surely there this week, and (before the game) Harvey singled him out for a 5 minute chat on positioning and effort. That chat, and Duffman's desire and second efforts, really showed in improvements for Paul's return today. Next week, he should be even better.

Suban was, I thought, awesome, but every time I praise him a certain poster feels the need to derail threads, so I left Suban out. IMHO Suban is close, along with Hill, Kep and Mayne, to the "Gen Y soul" of our new generation. Regardless of what heroes on here say, his younger teammates all look up to Suban, and Zac and Mora. All 3 will be our future leaders if we let them learn from their mistakes instead of expecting perfection from 20 year olds.

 

[Nickos66]

Still 0 tackles for Crowley according to the stats sheet??

 

[The Matt]

Won the game with Sandy gone for nearly half a game. The Crows started to get some real mileage out of the stoppages after he went down but we continued to pressure them out of the contest.

Palmer is starting to show some of the ball winning ability we know he has, his use of it will improve the more of it he gets.

 

[chinggis77]

Some of my thoughts

• Fyfe, Hill and Suban = class. All three were fantastic. Not enough Suban love on here, he has been really good this year and yesterday was a step up. Close to our most efficient with the ball going on the stats this year.
• Pitt - looks like a clone of Pendlebury. Very good kick, very composed with the ball - always seems to have all the time in the world. Very good awareness.
• The Big Man - huge in the first half. We absolutely dominated the clearances as a result.
• Mayne - not enough credit for this man either. Another 7 tackles yesterday, must be our leading tackler this year. Always looks dangerours in the air when it goes forward.
• Lower - adds great depth to our inside mid options. 50% contested possessions (10) and 4 clearances.
• Mundy - All Australian this year IMO. Another great game. Best ball user in the team (much better than Hill!)
• Kep Bradley - won't win any contests for Style, but christ he gives us everthing he's got.
• Mcpharlap/Grover/Broughts et al were great as usual.

That said, Crowley - this guy is a hack. Gives us very little and still just bombs away without looking. Balla - gives his all and pressure is fantastic but what is with all the fumbling and falling over all the time when he has the ball? Always ran himself/the team into trouble. Hopefully he's just rusty, but we can definitely get a lot of improvement out of him.

Looking good though.

 

[Freodoc]

Some of my thoughts

• Fyfe, Hill and Suban = class. All three were fantastic. Not enough Suban love on here, he has been really good this year and yesterday was a step up. Close to our most efficient with the ball going on the stats this year.
• Pitt - looks like a clone of Pendlebury. Very good kick, very composed with the ball - always seems to have all the time in the world. Very good awareness.
• The Big Man - huge in the first half. We absolutely dominated the clearances as a result.
• Mayne - not enough credit for this man either. Another 7 tackles yesterday, must be our leading tackler this year. Always looks dangerours in the air when it goes forward.
• Lower - adds great depth to our inside mid options. 50% contested possessions (10) and 4 clearances.
• Mundy - All Australian this year IMO. Another great game. Best ball user in the team (much better than Hill!)
• Kep Bradley - won't win any contests for Style, but christ he gives us everthing he's got.
• Mcpharlap/Grover/Broughts et al were great as usual.

That said, Crowley - this guy is a hack. Gives us very little and still just bombs away without looking. Balla - gives his all and pressure is fantastic but what is with all the fumbling and falling over all the time when he has the ball? Always ran himself/the team into trouble. Hopefully he's just rusty, but we can definitely get a lot of improvement out of him.

Looking good though.

How do you solve a problem like Balla?
Love his chase and pressure on both man and ball... did you see his jumper hanging off by the end of either 1st or 2nd quarter? Yet sometimes it seems as tho he tries too much, knows he's going to get pinged and goes to ground. Perhaps a one on one with him and Harves ( or forward coach), reviewing the replay would help. Having said that, he is who he is and I'm sure we wouldn't want him to change too much as he is one player who certainly gets the crowd going anytime he gets the ball.

 

[malpaso]

Still 0 tackles for Crowley according to the stats sheet??

Yeah only disappointing player for mine. It's possible he may make way for Ibbo, which doesn't bother me.

He may be doing some things that we as viewers are missing but the coaches are ticking off however I'll be stumped if I can figure out what it is...

 

[Selggad]

I think the biggest improvement will come from Balla with experience. He does over do things sometimes gets himself tied in knots, but yesterday was only game 30. He has missed a bit of footy along the way as well. Bit of mentoring, bit more experience and he will get better at understanding his limitations and the ability of the opposition.

 

[Freo4life]

Something else to add- Adam McPhee could have had a bag today if not for the conditions, I thought he made a decent fist of all his shots and has defiantly shown us where he can do damage and solves our over abundance of negating players

 

[greatgatsby]

Spot on BPG, especially Grover. I too thought this year might be a stretch but he's looking mean, lean and fantastic. Also thought McPhee stood up as a veteran in the first term. Gave us confidence in a target.

On Ballantyne, he's an unusual case in so many ways. Sometimes I think his defensive efforts detract from his day job - kicking goals. Just needs to find the balance.

Let me know the location of your local - I'll confirm your good taste

 

[Whatname]

I think Nick Suban is a future club captain, it has always peeved me that he is never mentioned when our young stars are discussed. Personally after there first season I had Nick on a par with Hilly. Obviously Hilly has taken his game to another level but I think Nick will become just as valuable to us. Not only does he have fantastic kicking skills but his pressure skills are also top class. The chase and tackle yesterday where he caught the crows players jumper, cant remember who, dragged him into the tackle and won the free was just first class.