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wayToGo_

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I don't think most people truly appreciate how well WCE have been list managed for the past decade in comparison to Freo. Simpson inherited a really balanced and experienced list. To his credit, he's made the most of it.

In their premiership team they used experienced players that were traded in and then either one or two players from every draft from 2005 to the 2017 excepting 2009 (Brad Sheppard would have played if not injured) and 2011 (GWS impacted draft - Yeo was originally from that draft though).

Their key positions and midfield are filled solely by experienced players traded in (Kennedy, Cripps, Yeo, Redden, Jetta, Vardy, Hickey) or those drafted prior to 2014 (ie with 5 or more years in the system). Barrass was the only one in their B22 spine drafted or traded in after 2010. And their key distributors off half back are also two of their most experienced (Hurn and Jetta). The players in their B22 who were drafted after 2013 are all small forwards or small defenders (Duggan, Cole, Venables, Rioli, Ryan). In their GF team Venables was the only one under 20 - and he was their least important GF player (2 effective disposals and 2 clangers). Even with injuries to key players during the season their key spots were filled by experienced players (Naitanui > Lycett+Vardy, Sheppard > Schofield, Gaff > Sheed). Their youngsters may have played a couple of games but they were never KPPs (third talls at most - Waterman, Allen, Brander) nor played in the midfield.

Then we take Freo, whose spine (sans 35yo Sandi) is Darcy (a 20yo ruck), Hamling (traded in 2016), Pearce (drafted 2013, missed over a year with injuries), either Cox (a 20yo) or Taberner (a rookie from 2012 who is still not guaranteed B22), Hogan (only just traded in) and Lobb (only just traded in). Their spine has been playing together for years, ours isn't even settled (and is yet to play a regular season game together). Our midfield is Fyfe, Mundy (33yo) and then a bunch of youngsters drafted from 2014 onwards (most of our mids were in their 1st season last year) or players traded in the past 3 years (eg BHill).

We only have 8 players on our list that we drafted/traded in prior to 2014. West Coast has 16. 2 of ours are perpetually injured (Sandi and Hill) and 2 probably shouldn't be B22 (Ballas and Tabs). 14 of theirs are B22. All our trade ins have been in the past 4 years. 11 players in total - 5 are either injured (Bennell) or fringe (Kersten/McCarthy/Matera/Colyer). WC have 8 traded in players on their list, 7 of those over the past 7 years (1 each year except none in 2014 and 2 in 2015). 7 are B22 (Ah Chee the exception).

When your spine and midfield (plus immediate depth) has mostly been together for 5 years+ it makes it so much easier to coach and have the players execute a game plan effectively. I don't think West Coast are a skilled team because they are all amazing kicks. I think Simpson has turned them into an incredibly disciplined team and they move as one to give the person with the ball high percentage options (eg a short kick to a lead whilst the others draw away their defenders). And they do the same when the opposition has the ball - moving in unison. Something that can be achieved far more easily with a team that is experienced and has played together a lot.

Lyon inherited a not dissimilar list in 2012. We had an experienced and established spine (McPharlin/Johnson/Sandi/Pavlich) and a strong midfield (Mundy/Fyfe/Barlow/Hill/Crowley). Perhaps not coincidentally both Lyon and Simpson took their teams to a GF in their second year coaching (2013 and 2015 respectively) and both lost to a more experienced, skilled and disciplined Hawthorn. Freo's 2014 and WC's 2016/17 seasons weren't dissimilar either - both playing finals but not threatening. In 2015 Ross had Freo hobble in to the end of season finishing minor premiers (again losing to the Hawks in the finals), whilst in 2018, Simpson got his team to the GF, took advantage of Richmond getting ahead of itself, and won the big dance. The major difference between Freo's 2015 list and WC's 2018 list? One had the depth to cover key injuries whilst the other didn't. Some will say it was development, I'm saying it was list management.

People will argue Ross' game style wearing the players out was also a major reason for the collapse but the reality was, when key injuries happened, Freo had no-one on the list to replace them. Freo's 2015 list simply wasn't even close to as deep and balanced as what West Coast had last year. Freo were incredibly reliant on veterans to be competitive (hence the plummet in 2016), and due to massive gaps in prior drafting we had no choice but to rebuild. Our list was in a dire predicament but the past few seasons we've turned it around (with good trading and conservative drafting). We've traded in to fill key gaps and add depth, plenty of our youngsters are producing beyond their years but need more time (especially the midfielders) and we've backed them in by playing them in key roles at the expense of our competitiveness. We can't expect immediate coordinated perfection from a list where 32 players have been turned over in 3 seasons. I'm not sure if Ross is the right coach to take Freo forward but I think sometimes people forget the context he is working in. If he goes, someone will inherit a good list come 2021.

And don't even get me started on the player availability issues we've had on top of the list management farce in recent seasons. We need to take immediate action like we did with list management. This season could be a complete write off if we don't (will only take a couple more injuries early) and if we head into next season's first round with a similar 14 or so injured players we'll completely waste all the good list management work we've done of late.
 

Scham

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Re our 2015 and WC’s 2018.

We fell foul of Lyon continually backing the same (or pretty much) 22 players through 2013 - 2015. WC rotated their team exposing more players to the game at the top level. That’s how you build depth. What we did caused us to fall off a cliff when the 22 that Ross was ultra faithful to started to age, tire, or get exposed for their lack of ability. There were a few posters who voiced their concern in 2015 at how a few players continued to get an easy ride and the young guys weren’t getting a go. They should’ve and I have it on good authority that Ross admitted that at seasons end.

Re list management, as said above, Ross would have had a big say in it when he joined Freo and to this day.

Re availability, I totally agree but why hasn’t Ross done anything about it? As head coach, surely he’s getting sick of not having his best players available. If it was me I’d be going crook to my bosses that a change needs to made. My guess is that Ross is backing him in.
 

wayToGo_

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We fell foul of Lyon continually backing the same (or pretty much) 22 players through 2013 - 2015. WC rotated their team exposing more players to the game at the top level. That’s how you build depth. What we did caused us to fall off a cliff when the 22 that Ross was ultra faithful to started to age, tire, or get exposed for their lack of ability. There were a few posters who voiced their concern in 2015 at how a few players continued to get an easy ride and the young guys weren’t getting a go. They should’ve and I have it on good authority that Ross admitted that at seasons end.
I agree in an ideal world we'd have played more youth but who were those players? Where are they now? Have any of them gone on to do anything since? Pitt, Michie, Mellington, Forster, Schloithe, Simpson, Duffy, Howson, Moller, Ballard, Wood, Vandeleur, Lower, Roberts? None are on AFL lists. Neale, Sheridan, Crozier, Sutcliffe, Spurr, Grey, APearce all got opportunities, so it's not like we didn't play any youth. Anyone else that we wanted to give opportunities to was always injured. Pretty much leaves Menegola as the only one who we didn't give opportunities to and we've covered his going back to Subiaco and turning his attitude and life around (his own words) a million times.

Re list management, as said above, Ross would have had a big say in it when he joined Freo and to this day.
But he's not responsible. The list manager doesn't report to the senior coach. He has his say but it's as crazy as saying the Finance Manager is responsible for a company's operations - sure they might discuss it regularly with the Operations Manager but they're not accountable or assessed on the performance of a department that doesn't report to them. And you look at the drafting since Ross came in and he did influence it correctly. In 2013 we prioritised a couple of KPPs - Apeness and Pearce in 2013. In 2014 we added complimentary mids -> Weller (class), Blakely (ball winning), Langdon (speed). We wanted more class in 2015 so we traded in Bennell, took a chance with two sliders in Tucker and Balic using later picks, plus Yarran later. Lots of risk but class is normally reserved for early first rounders - and we had none. Ross wanted KPPs, hence why we were linked with every possible KPP trade for years. It was more the drafts before Ross arrived that were flawed and a reason our list became so unbalanced.

Re availability, I totally agree but why hasn’t Ross done anything about it? As head coach, surely he’s getting sick of not having his best players available. If it was me I’d be going crook to my bosses that a change needs to made. My guess is that Ross is backing him in.
Again it's not his responsibility. Weber gets the pay cheque for it, he's the one accountable for it. Ross also had a blow up last year at S&C - he might be towing the party line publicly atm but I'm fairly confident he's not as glowing about S&C behind closed doors. Him coming out and blasting Weber publicly certainly wouldn't help the recruitment of a new Head of S&C ;)

BTW I'm not giving Ross a free pass. I want to see him proving he can take us forward this season or else I join the chorus that we move him on. But list management and S&C should be blamed directly on the people who are directly responsible (not lumped in and hidden away with Ross) - they should wear the full brunt of it.
 

wild side

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Fair call, its easy to heap all the s**t on Ross, but its patently unfair.
He's got his weaknesses no doubt, playing favourites etc
But its S & C that should be blamed wholly and solely on availability.
I reckon Bond got turfed coz he was against Yeo coming to Freo, big mistake that one.
People are getting moved on, its just the main dudes are still there Rosich, Lyon & Weber
 
Nah, I’m not buying that. Yes it would get more in sync the more you play together but that’s a minute part of it. It certainly can’t be blamed for our state of play. These guys come to our club as highly talented footballers so the instinct that you talk about, they already have. That’s what separates them from the ones that don’t quite make it. They don’t need to be taught how to read the play (using your examples above) they just need to learn gameplan and set plays.

It is not about the individual talent but about knowing your team mates in game situations. If I know Player X is more likely to get stepped on his left than right I position myself differently. If I know that Player Y can be relied on to make a smother at a particular time I will go to that contest rather than to where the ball might fall. Real life examples, if I Tabs is going for an uncontested mark, how confident are you that you can break into space rather than waiting that split second to see whether he takes the grab. Or from the past, if I know Danyle Pearce is the distributor who is going to kick it 50m down the line for another contest, I'm going to handball it to him rather than shanking it 20m out of bounds myself (my name is:_______).

As wayToGo_ has eloquently put, WC have a team of experienced players who have been together for years. They can trust each other. When NN is rucking they can "cheat forward" knowing that he will win the tap more often. When you see McGovern heading to intercept you can leave your player and break into space. All of that develops over game time. You can't train for it you need to play with your team mates.
 

blue shark

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I don't think most people truly appreciate how well WCE have been list managed for the past decade in comparison to Freo. Simpson inherited a really balanced and experienced list. To his credit, he's made the most of it.

In their premiership team they used experienced players that were traded in and then either one or two players from every draft from 2005 to the 2017 excepting 2009 (Brad Sheppard would have played if not injured) and 2011 (GWS impacted draft - Yeo was originally from that draft though).

Their key positions and midfield are filled solely by experienced players traded in (Kennedy, Cripps, Yeo, Redden, Jetta, Vardy, Hickey) or those drafted prior to 2014 (ie with 5 or more years in the system). Barrass was the only one in their B22 spine drafted or traded in after 2010. And their key distributors off half back are also two of their most experienced (Hurn and Jetta). The players in their B22 who were drafted after 2013 are all small forwards or small defenders (Duggan, Cole, Venables, Rioli, Ryan). In their GF team Venables was the only one under 20 - and he was their least important GF player (2 effective disposals and 2 clangers). Even with injuries to key players during the season their key spots were filled by experienced players (Naitanui > Lycett+Vardy, Sheppard > Schofield, Gaff > Sheed). Their youngsters may have played a couple of games but they were never KPPs (third talls at most - Waterman, Allen, Brander) nor played in the midfield.

Then we take Freo, whose spine (sans 35yo Sandi) is Darcy (a 20yo ruck), Hamling (traded in 2016), Pearce (drafted 2013, missed over a year with injuries), either Cox (a 20yo) or Taberner (a rookie from 2012 who is still not guaranteed B22), Hogan (only just traded in) and Lobb (only just traded in). Their spine has been playing together for years, ours isn't even settled (and is yet to play a regular season game together). Our midfield is Fyfe, Mundy (33yo) and then a bunch of youngsters drafted from 2014 onwards (most of our mids were in their 1st season last year) or players traded in the past 3 years (eg BHill).

We only have 8 players on our list that we drafted/traded in prior to 2014. West Coast has 16. 2 of ours are perpetually injured (Sandi and Hill) and 2 probably shouldn't be B22 (Ballas and Tabs). 14 of theirs are B22. All our trade ins have been in the past 4 years. 11 players in total - 5 are either injured (Bennell) or fringe (Kersten/McCarthy/Matera/Colyer). WC have 8 traded in players on their list, 7 of those over the past 7 years (1 each year except none in 2014 and 2 in 2015). 7 are B22 (Ah Chee the exception).

When your spine and midfield (plus immediate depth) has mostly been together for 5 years+ it makes it so much easier to coach and have the players execute a game plan effectively. I don't think West Coast are a skilled team because they are all amazing kicks. I think Simpson has turned them into an incredibly disciplined team and they move as one to give the person with the ball high percentage options (eg a short kick to a lead whilst the others draw away their defenders). And they do the same when the opposition has the ball - moving in unison. Something that can be achieved far more easily with a team that is experienced and has played together a lot.

Lyon inherited a not dissimilar list in 2012. We had an experienced and established spine (McPharlin/Johnson/Sandi/Pavlich) and a strong midfield (Mundy/Fyfe/Barlow/Hill/Crowley). Perhaps not coincidentally both Lyon and Simpson took their teams to a GF in their second year coaching (2013 and 2015 respectively) and both lost to a more experienced, skilled and disciplined Hawthorn. Freo's 2014 and WC's 2016/17 seasons weren't dissimilar either - both playing finals but not threatening. In 2015 Ross had Freo hobble in to the end of season finishing minor premiers (again losing to the Hawks in the finals), whilst in 2018, Simpson got his team to the GF, took advantage of Richmond getting ahead of itself, and won the big dance. The major difference between Freo's 2015 list and WC's 2018 list? One had the depth to cover key injuries whilst the other didn't. Some will say it was development, I'm saying it was list management.

People will argue Ross' game style wearing the players out was also a major reason for the collapse but the reality was, when key injuries happened, Freo had no-one on the list to replace them. Freo's 2015 list simply wasn't even close to as deep and balanced as what West Coast had last year. Freo were incredibly reliant on veterans to be competitive (hence the plummet in 2016), and due to massive gaps in prior drafting we had no choice but to rebuild. Our list was in a dire predicament but the past few seasons we've turned it around (with good trading and conservative drafting). We've traded in to fill key gaps and add depth, plenty of our youngsters are producing beyond their years but need more time (especially the midfielders) and we've backed them in by playing them in key roles at the expense of our competitiveness. We can't expect immediate coordinated perfection from a list where 32 players have been turned over in 3 seasons. I'm not sure if Ross is the right coach to take Freo forward but I think sometimes people forget the context he is working in. If he goes, someone will inherit a good list come 2021.

And don't even get me started on the player availability issues we've had on top of the list management farce in recent seasons. We need to take immediate action like we did with list management. This season could be a complete write off if we don't (will only take a couple more injuries early) and if we head into next season's first round with a similar 14 or so injured players we'll completely waste all the good list management work we've done of late.
Ross isn't to blame for everything as you have highlighted, but the things in his control, had a hand in are. Even in our
greatest period of success, he has never rested sore players or developed youth as much as others.
Elvis playing most of the year only to miss all of the finals series is damning, same with the 2013 GF.
Our S&C has been a concern, the gameplan against the Hawks, Clarkson's the forefather of modern footy, and they
always seem to have players available for finals.
The fact that we still struggle against teams who play uncontested ball, means we haven't evolved just tinkered around
the edges.
That and we have very little experience, differences in the coaching box, Ross expects excellence from the players but
off the field we are mediocre at best.
The club need to remove the Ross is Boss, and lay down some home truths, improve the assistants, S&C, it' a team
game.
 

stax on the mull

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Herald Sun has a small story saying Eastern Rangers midfielder Chayce Black is a possible Freo father-son draft selection. I read it briefly before the paywall came up as I tried to refresh the page.
 
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[COLOR=var(--emphasis-color)]NAB League 2019: Eastern Ranges midfielder Chayce Black looms as Fremantle’s first possible first father-son pick

MARCH 13, 2019[/COLOR]

Eastern Ranges midfielder Chayce Black could become Fremantle’s first father-son draft selection this year after being named on the club’s list for 2019.
Black is entering his top-age year at the NAB League club and is eligible to be recruited to the Dockers after his father, Heath, played 138 games for the club across two stints during his 12-year AFL career.
Eastern has finalised its 50-player squad for this season ahead of the season-opener against Oakleigh Chargers on April 23.
Ranges talent manager Sean Toohey said Black, a Waverley Park Hawks junior, was one of the fittest players on the club’s list.
He said Black, who also made four senior appearances for Mazenod in the VAFA Premier B competition last year, was being monitored by Fremantle.
“They definitely have their eye on him,” Toohey said.
“It’s a good opportunity for him, definitely there’s some interest there from their perspective and keeping an eye on him and his progress. Hopefully that works out for him.”
Black made his Eastern debut in 2017 and has played 16 games with the club across the past two seasons.
Toohey said Black was adding forward and defensive bows to his game after playing his junior football through the midfield.
“Chayce is very courageous, natural ball-winner, he’s a really good strong tackler as well and defensively he is strong,” he said.
“We played him down back to teach him a bit of that last year and he took to that quite well — the defensive aspect of his game. Before that he was a bit too attacking.
“He’s probably a bit more balanced now as a midfielder and as a forward, but if he wants to play small forward he needs to be relentlessly defensive and when the opposition have the ball to try and keep that in.
“He’s learnt a lot over the summer and he’s pretty well-rounded. He’s not the tallest, he’s only about 175cm … but hoping for a big year for him.”
59d5d1e23431a4943c357cc8dee81332

[COLOR=var(--figure-color)]
Mihaele Zalac flies for a mark last year. Picture: Valeriu Campan​
[/COLOR]
Toohey listed Donvale junior Mihaele Zalac as a player to watch during the season.
“He’s strong, fit and fast and has some explosive power, some real athletic ability, around the 197cm mark, covers the ground really well so he is very good in the air, very courageous,” he said.
“He’s one to watch. He really stands out with his intensity and his aerial capabilities, especially for someone who will play on a wing.”
Mooroolbark product Zakery Pretty could also catch the eye with his work inside the contest after coming into Eastern’s side late last year.
James Blanck, Cody Hirst, Riley Smith and Joel Nathan return as 19-year-olds this year, and Vermont junior James Ross has been named captain.
 

Purpletown

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[COLOR=var(--emphasis-color)]NAB League 2019: Eastern Ranges midfielder Chayce Black looms as Fremantle’s first possible first father-son pick

MARCH 13, 2019[/COLOR]

Eastern Ranges midfielder Chayce Black could become Fremantle’s first father-son draft selection this year after being named on the club’s list for 2019.
Black is entering his top-age year at the NAB League club and is eligible to be recruited to the Dockers after his father, Heath, played 138 games for the club across two stints during his 12-year AFL career.
Eastern has finalised its 50-player squad for this season ahead of the season-opener against Oakleigh Chargers on April 23.
Ranges talent manager Sean Toohey said Black, a Waverley Park Hawks junior, was one of the fittest players on the club’s list.
He said Black, who also made four senior appearances for Mazenod in the VAFA Premier B competition last year, was being monitored by Fremantle.
“They definitely have their eye on him,” Toohey said.
“It’s a good opportunity for him, definitely there’s some interest there from their perspective and keeping an eye on him and his progress. Hopefully that works out for him.”
Black made his Eastern debut in 2017 and has played 16 games with the club across the past two seasons.
Toohey said Black was adding forward and defensive bows to his game after playing his junior football through the midfield.
“Chayce is very courageous, natural ball-winner, he’s a really good strong tackler as well and defensively he is strong,” he said.
“We played him down back to teach him a bit of that last year and he took to that quite well — the defensive aspect of his game. Before that he was a bit too attacking.
“He’s probably a bit more balanced now as a midfielder and as a forward, but if he wants to play small forward he needs to be relentlessly defensive and when the opposition have the ball to try and keep that in.
“He’s learnt a lot over the summer and he’s pretty well-rounded. He’s not the tallest, he’s only about 175cm … but hoping for a big year for him.”
59d5d1e23431a4943c357cc8dee81332

[COLOR=var(--figure-color)]
Mihaele Zalac flies for a mark last year. Picture: Valeriu Campan​
[/COLOR]
Toohey listed Donvale junior Mihaele Zalac as a player to watch during the season.
“He’s strong, fit and fast and has some explosive power, some real athletic ability, around the 197cm mark, covers the ground really well so he is very good in the air, very courageous,” he said.
“He’s one to watch. He really stands out with his intensity and his aerial capabilities, especially for someone who will play on a wing.”
Mooroolbark product Zakery Pretty could also catch the eye with his work inside the contest after coming into Eastern’s side late last year.
James Blanck, Cody Hirst, Riley Smith and Joel Nathan return as 19-year-olds this year, and Vermont junior James Ross has been named captain.

No way will we take this guy because he has been taught to reign in his overly attacking nature by spending time on the hbf last year.
 

Square Peg

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Again it's not his responsibility. Weber gets the pay cheque for it, he's the one accountable for it. Ross also had a blow up last year at S&C - he might be towing the party line publicly atm but I'm fairly confident he's not as glowing about S&C behind closed doors. Him coming out and blasting Weber publicly certainly wouldn't help the recruitment of a new Head of S&C ;)

BTW I'm not giving Ross a free pass. I want to see him proving he can take us forward this season or else I join the chorus that we move him on. But list management and S&C should be blamed directly on the people who are directly responsible (not lumped in and hidden away with Ross) - they should wear the full brunt of it.

Nah, can't agree with this bit. Sure Weber may be a dud, but his dudness is compounded by what Lyon demands of his teams. Lyon would be sitting there telling Weber what he wants his teams to produce. Has Lyon embraced the ethos of what the AFL is trying to do with 6-6-6 and interchange limitations and changed his gameplan, or has he decided to stubbornly double down and demand even more of the fitness team to push the limits?
I am not pasing judgement on Lyon's coaching based on JLT, I'll wait til the season starts. But to say he is zero responsible for injuries is wrong.
 

tonygeeks

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Sounds like he wishes he was back in Melbourne , he's never understood the West or even seemed like he wanted to bet he spent the next 20 mins after the camera's were off shitcanning the joint

He's here cause we're the best payers and his markets shrunk away to nothing . Pack him off and let's get on with it with someone who wants to be here


On iPad using BigFooty.com mobile app
 

wayToGo_

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Nah, can't agree with this bit. Sure Weber may be a dud, but his dudness is compounded by what Lyon demands of his teams. Lyon would be sitting there telling Weber what he wants his teams to produce. Has Lyon embraced the ethos of what the AFL is trying to do with 6-6-6 and interchange limitations and changed his gameplan, or has he decided to stubbornly double down and demand even more of the fitness team to push the limits?
I am not pasing judgement on Lyon's coaching based on JLT, I'll wait til the season starts. But to say he is zero responsible for injuries is wrong.
If Weber doesn't have the spine to push back at requests that will put our players at high risk of injury then he is s**t at the main purpose of his job and should be moved on immediately. Or if Bell can't oversee both his subordinates (Ross and Jason) and make sure the coach's requirements are negotiated with S&C to minimise the risk of injury then he should be ****ed off as well. Seems like in your world a lot of people get paid without having any accountability. Hey George, don't worry about doing your job properly, if everything screws up we'll just say it was Mary from down the corridor's fault for bombarding us with too many requests. Nobody likes her so should be an easy sell.
 

arsesmart

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Nah, can't agree with this bit. Sure Weber may be a dud, but his dudness is compounded by what Lyon demands of his teams. Lyon would be sitting there telling Weber what he wants his teams to produce. Has Lyon embraced the ethos of what the AFL is trying to do with 6-6-6 and interchange limitations and changed his gameplan, or has he decided to stubbornly double down and demand even more of the fitness team to push the limits?
I am not pasing judgement on Lyon's coaching based on JLT, I'll wait til the season starts. But to say he is zero responsible for injuries is wrong.
That's certainly the perception, but are Freo an outlier on the work rate stakes? I'd love to see some stats on that.

I just tried searching for some on distance covered in game, but all I found from a brief look is an article that listed the top five meterage in a game from last year (no Freo players).

Port also had that rep for running further a few years back, but with minimal injury list.

Freo haven't been a big tackling side for years now either.
 
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Square Peg

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If Weber doesn't have the spine to push back at requests that will put our players at high risk of injury then he is s**t at the main purpose of his job and should be moved on immediately. Or if Bell can't oversee both his subordinates (Ross and Jason) and make sure the coach's requirements are negotiated with S&C to minimise the risk of injury then he should be ****ed off as well. Seems like in your world a lot of people get paid without having any accountability. Hey George, don't worry about doing your job properly, if everything screws up we'll just say it was Mary from down the corridor's fault for bombarding us with too many requests. Nobody likes her so should be an easy sell.

And it seems like in your world, a control freak like Lyon doesn't interfere with list management, fitness, trading, contracts, board meetings or maybe even budding boobs.
See, we can each impugn the other's view of the world. I jut happen to believe there is reasonable evidence to think Lyon thinks he is smarter than anyone, tries to micromanage and doesn't like to listen to alternate views.
Besides hoping that it's true, what is your evidence that he isn't?
 

arsesmart

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And it seems like in your world, a control freak like Lyon doesn't interfere with list management, fitness, trading, contracts, board meetings or maybe even budding boobs.
See, we can each impugn the other's view of the world. I jut happen to believe there is reasonable evidence to think Lyon thinks he is smarter than anyone, tries to micromanage and doesn't like to listen to alternate views.
Besides hoping that it's true, what is your evidence that he isn't?
The club made a big thing when Lyon came on board about keeping his role to coaching, so's he could concentrate his energies on his prime role. Another bit of corroborative evidence is that one of Lyon's favourite sayings is something about allowing cobblers to do their thing. That's what I would think would be evidence I could see, beyond my own story of events.
 
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Sully90

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Sounds like he wishes he was back in Melbourne , he's never understood the West or even seemed like he wanted to bet he spent the next 20 mins after the camera's were off shitcanning the joint

He's here cause we're the best payers and his markets shrunk away to nothing . Pack him off and let's get on with it with someone who wants to be here


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You must be talking about Dal Santo or Riewoldt because you sure as hell can't mean Ross.
 

LeftFootBanana

All Australian
Aug 7, 2017
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https://www.perthnow.com.au/sport/w...-keys-to-andrew-gaffs-recovery-ng-b881135022z

Great to see the true victim of the Gaff/Brayshaw saga is doing well.

You know what's more traumatic than punching someone and having to miss a Grand Final? Eating through a straw for months.

Ridiculous.

Gaff owes Brayshaw a massive debt for the gracious way he dealt with the matter. Unfortunately the article skims over that while acting like Gaff was the subject of a grievous injustice.

Watching the Lyon interview it's obvious the former players actually loathe him and only put on a front of being friendly. Lyon is also clearly a Duerte style dictator who has built Freo into his own personal empire riding roughshod over Rosich, the board and everyone else while stripping the place of everything including the silverware.

While he said he won't coach for ever, I think this is just a cover for a Putinesque maneuver that will see him installed as emperor for life.

The rest of it seemed alright though.
 

Outshined

Norm Smith Medallist
Jul 12, 2009
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They're more critical of the regime in the North Korean Daily Worker

I think we're all keen to move on, regardless of what we think of Gaff. What we don't need is puff pieces like this garbage detailing his "recovery" and how tough it was for him watching on for the rest of the season. My heart bleeds.

You'd honestly think from reading their coverage that the roles were reversed. I'm expecting another article soon about how "brave" Gaff was accepting Andy's hand shake.
 
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