The Difference?

[Geoff]

What is the difference between our end of season 2006 and the start of season 2007? Why haven't we just maintained the roll and delivered as expected? I guess there could be a number of reasons but the main I see is the competition is passing us by. Brisbane are a classic example. Matthews had a tried and successfull formula with his golden team. All he has done kept the formula and blooded the kids into that successfull system. Port Adelaide had their mix right of hardness and pace. All Choco has done blooded the kids into that successfull style. As for us we have never had a defined successfull formula. We chip kick to the flanks and go backwards. Our run has never been great hence we over use the ball. Our skills are some times suspect hence the turnovers. I am afraid the AFL world is moving at a quicker pace than we are. Time to regroup and take stock of what the others are doing and we aren't. It's going to be a long season me thinks !!

 

[Brettox]

There is no passion in their play, they all try but who besides McManus puts their body on the line week after week. Even Pavlich doesn't seem to be sweating Purple blood like they all should be.

Live like your adds say Freo, LIFT YOUR GAME.

 

[Geoff]

There is no passion in their play, they all try but who besides McManus puts their body on the line week after week. Even Pavlich doesn't seem to be sweating Purple blood like they all should be.

Live like your adds say Freo, LIFT YOUR GAME.

I reckon their (the players) hearts are in it. We are getting done over by better teams, teams that have a lot more coherrance than us. As I stated before I have a feeling it's going to be a long season.

 

[e10pizza]

The experts tipped us to be a top 4 side but were we really a top 4 side?

I thought we were a top 8 side but not quite a top 4.

Yes we have been unlucky with injury and the tribunal but the midfield were always our problem, lack of pace & clearances especially.

I think our run on last year was on confidence and good play. That is sorely lacking this year.

Confidence is a wonderful thing. Playing as a team might help too.

 

[longsuffreosupp]

Jeff Farmer

 

[Roost]

The end to 2006 was bloody great. Hard to say what the difference is. I just havent seen the confidence this year for more than a few minutes at a time.

I do like the bigger bodies this year. I cant rememebr who it was, but Sandi totally layed somebody out the other week - more of that type of clean physical stuff - not the shyte that lands us in the tribunal.

I dont know what part of the clubs DNA causes this, but when the pressure is really on, we keep going back to that fumbling bullshit, bad skill errors and either kick to a outnumbered contest, or cough the ball up and turn it over. We just never seem to have numbers around the stoppages that are effective - but when we do, and the confidence is up, we are great to watch.

Hopefully something will click during the year, and we can get on with it.

 

[sonofswift]

The experts tipped us to be a top 4 side but were we really a top 4 side?

I thought we were a top 8 side but not quite a top 4.

Yes we have been unlucky with injury and the tribunal but the midfield were always our problem, lack of pace & clearances especially.

I think our run on last year was on confidence and good play. That is sorely lacking this year.

Confidence is a wonderful thing. Playing as a team might help too.

Other teams that have less talent than Freo are winning more games because they work a lot harder. If Freo worked as hard and played on at all costs (most of the time) they would win more games and be challenging for the premiership at the end of the season. All the experts predicted it based on the hard running we did late last year and in the pre-season. We have the talent now and it will only get better when the injuries/suspensions come back into the team.

 

[Griffo]

There is no passion in their play, they all try but who besides McManus puts their body on the line week after week. Even Pavlich doesn't seem to be sweating Purple blood like they all should be.

Live like your adds say Freo, LIFT YOUR GAME.

Agree on the pav thing. Sometimes you see him watching the players run off. Not much chasing and tackling from him. Dont get me wrong he is a star but needs a little bit of improvement in this area.

 

[The Night Shift]

Jeff Farmer

Yes, missing Farmer and all the positives he brings certainly seems to be making a bit of difference to us.

 

[Purple Passion]

yep bring back the wiz he's a very very good player

 

[Borry]

Lack of intensity, discipline and skill level.

Why is that our slow midfield was good enough when we won nine in a row and 10 of our last 12 in 2006, but suddenly creating a huge problem now?

Also having a crumbing forward would help us a lot right now.

 

[Ripper]

Clangers according to Josh

I tend to agree.

 

[Phil McCreviss]

As an objective observer, I can tell you that media hype at the start of the season doesnt help. You guys flew under the radar last year and and had a great season. With that comes expectation that you will take the next step the following year.

Unfortunately some players start believing the hype and forget the hard work they put in. Same thing happened to the Hawks. In 2001 we got to a kick of the Grand Final and then didnt even make the 8 in 2002. Conolly probably needs to keep the egos in check.

 

[Plugga]

Difference IS...

Parker is old & is being carried. Great stalwart but he is becoming increasingly embarrassing.
Murphy has gone backwards instead of forwards....& I don't know why? I realise Tarrant is on board but last year he had to contend with Farmer & Longmuir inside 50m's as well.
Peake is injured. There goes the run thru player we desperately need. I can't even recall a player having 3 or 4 bounces & carrying the ball at Subi Oval this year bar Shaun McManus (& that is a worry!)
Johnson was suspended for 4 weeks...he was 2nd in B & F last year. His run from defence was sorely missed. Easily in our top 5 players at the club.
Farmer was suspended for 6 weeks - he was as good as Pav last year in 2nd half of year. We have no small forward with skills. His stupidity is costing us dearly.
Bell has had an average year. Needs to play in centre square & nowhere else...perhaps a permanent tagging role may help?
Crowley has had a poor start to the year. Has improved in last few games, but start to year was lethargic. Needs a confidence boost.
Longmuir played like a man on 1 leg & is now gone (probably for the year). His best is long past him, hopefully surgery can do the trick, otherwise ew have a player contracted for a long time who can't play. Well done Cameron Schwab!..not
Schammer is injured. There goes another pace/skill component missing. His finals series was very good when he returned to midifled/HFF role.
Browne (the replacement small forward with pace) is injured.
Heath Black missed first 3 games...& he provides alot of the run from defence, espicailly when Johnson was missing also, alot was left on the shoulders of Hayden & Mundy as other players like Dodd, Parker, Grover & McPharlin are loathe to make a risk in coming out of defence.

+ on the coaching side...

Connolly refuses to make hard decisions involing players that have been at the club for awhile, ie Parker, MCarr etc.

Connolly does not select any youth....I think Mundy was the last player to win a Rising Star nomination & that was a long time ago, priot to that I think it was Sandilands, Polak & Scahmmer in the 1 year - & that WAS a long long time ago. Why he isn't playing Collard is beyond me. Campbell, Ibbotson, Drum should be more closely looked at come selection rather than re-hashing players like Gilmore.

Comapring the run & stun game of the remaining 9 rounds compared to the crap dished up this year....is enormous...Connolly continually floods opposing attacking 50 metres.

He takes players off the ground (continually) at crucial stages of games, where we have the run....I have seen it time & time again where he would take off Sandilands when we have just hit the front, or Tarrant when he is on fire or a midfielder who just provided the spark for a goal.

I'm a Connolly fan believe it or not - BUT - he needs to rejig his thinking and take some risks instead of being so defensive in next few matches. When opposing teams flood in front of Tarrant & Pavlich it's time to play man on man & if so, play a 10 man forward line...stack it with JCarr, Cook, Webster, headland etc & have our best tacklers inside the forward 50m's so we can lock it in...I'd back Johnson, Grover, Dodd, McPharlin to win their 1 on 1 inside 50m's in defence. We need to be strong & take risks, not pathetic & weak & caving in to what opposing sides are doing with Tarrant & Pavlich.

 

[pistol17]

Difference is freo have played the oppositions game for the 5 of the 6 rounds. The one time we played our own style of footy was against melbourne. We need to play the game on our terms and not wait until we see what the opposition does and follow them.

 

[estibador]

He takes players off the ground (continually) at crucial stages of games, where we have the run....I have seen it time & time again where he would take off Sandilands when we have just hit the front, or Tarrant when he is on fire or a midfielder who just provided the spark for a goal.

This is one of the valid criticisms of CC imo. His rotations seem to be preplanned and not flexible enough in relation to whats happening on the ground.

Especially with confidence players like Dessie. I've seen games where he gets off to a good start with 5 possies in the first 5 or 10 minutes then CC takes him off and he goes cold and struggles to get into the game. Likewise when one of our forwards is running amok and they get taken off for a spell. It's these types of things that stop us building momentum in a game imo.

Sure rest a player if they've been running their guts out but not managing to attract the ball (which all our players should be doing whether they're getting the ball or not) but if a player's on a hot streak leave them out there to cause damage while they're in the 'zone'.

 

[Dr Ralph Dagg]

What is the difference between our end of season 2006 and the start of season 2007? Why haven't we just maintained the roll and delivered as expected? I guess there could be a number of reasons but the main I see is the competition is passing us by. Brisbane are a classic example. Matthews had a tried and successfull formula with his golden team. All he has done kept the formula and blooded the kids into that successfull system. Port Adelaide had their mix right of hardness and pace. All Choco has done blooded the kids into that successfull style. As for us we have never had a defined successfull formula. We chip kick to the flanks and go backwards. Our run has never been great hence we over use the ball. Our skills are some times suspect hence the turnovers. I am afraid the AFL world is moving at a quicker pace than we are. Time to regroup and take stock of what the others are doing and we aren't. It's going to be a long season me thinks !!

When Mathews defined his successful formula he didn't have a game plan other than win the ball, get it to a player better in a better positon than you and then kick it long to to advantage to Lynch and Brown. They were hard skillful and disciplined. It was a hard plan to beat given the players he had. West Coast are similar. Their game plan is simple. Beating it is difficult.

I think Mathews set standards for a culture, that was instilled by the players. I think Sydney do the same thing. And even we have to credit West Coast for their discipline.

I think Connolly is a great game day coach. I think our team plays with intensity and guts and I'm often left with that is all we are playing with.

Last year we were skillful. This year we're not. We don;t get our hands on the pill often enough, and when we do we don't use it well. Once you start kicking it directly to the opposition, everything else starts to go to hell in a handbasket. It basically means the opposition is doing circle work.

I'm not sure what any coach can do. We are down on players and good players are down on form. All we're left with is our juniors. I've not seen any of the juniors play and make an immediate impact. I think it has to come from senior players -- Parker, M Carr, Bell, Hasleby, Black, Pavlich, Solomon and MacPharlin. None of whom had great days on Sunday.

I also have a theory that Pav is relying too much on the coaches and not leading the team. At some points in games he needs to become the general and get around the field, win the ball, smash through the oposition and get the ball either to forward or actually kick the thing himself. He has to get a feel for the game and take ownership. Tell Mundy to go forward and go back himself as a spare man and save the game. I've watched the kids in the backline getting smashed and Pav's idling away at full forward.

So I reckon he might be too passive. We've all commented how he seems to go in the centre when the game is lost. Perhaps she should go in the centre when we're winning to stop any slide and to kill off the opposition.

I reckon after a three goal run he goes to spare man in defence or on the ball. Send Jonno or Mundy or McPharlin forward. forward.

 

[Plugga]

I also have a theory that Pav is relying too much on the coaches and not leading the team. At some points in games he needs to become the general and get around the field, win the ball, smash through the oposition and get the ball either to forward or actually kick the thing himself. He has to get a feel for the game and take ownership. Tell Mundy to go forward and go back himself as a spare man and save the game. I've watched the kids in the backline getting smashed and Pav's idling away at full forward.

Good point...totally agree - Pav needs to be given a free reign out on the field...& if he has that free reign...he ain't using it.

Prime example was when we were on a roll - kicked 4 goals in a row & were 8 points up or something when J Brown makes the move to put himself into the centre square. IMO, the 1st thing Pav should have done, was go in their as well...he's quicker & equally as big as bodied as Brown. He didn't...Brown got the ball out of the middle...& the game was gone from their on in with Brisbane kicking away with it.

AGAIN...no players want to take risks....are they afraid of the consequences? Are they playing selfishly....

 

[theGav56]

So Plugga (and maybe Ralph), you're saying if we are doing something really well (kicking 4 goals in a row), change it so the opposition can't get on a roll?

I agree that we do lack some on field leadership and authority, which I am very surprised at. They are a crack leadership group whose leadership qualities are out of form at the moment.

 

[dominguez]

I think Connolly is a great game day coach.

Really? I think that he decides on his structures and match ups prior to game day and sticks with them through thick and thin. He is often slow to make a change when we are struggling.

 

[ditto]

Difference is freo have played the oppositions game for the 5 of the 6 rounds. The one time we played our own style of footy was against melbourne. We need to play the game on our terms and not wait until we see what the opposition does and follow them.

Melbourne at their injury riddled best.

Remember, you only play as well as the opposition allows. On that particular day there was no opposition.