BeinPurplenGreen
Freo Football Foci
- Apr 8, 2008
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I was so excited when this fixture was announced. It would be the return of our great talismanic hero Mr Barlow. I even had a detailed post worked up called "The Return of Mr Barlow". Not that Mr Barlow
but this Mr Barlow
Then, disaster struck. History repeated. The sky fell in. A great chill went down everyone's spine, just like hearing the snap of a twig stomped on by a wild boar resonate across an empty, cold, foggy, windswept and distant forest.
(But wait, if there is a boar and a twig, how can the forest be empty??)
Grown men cried (including me). All my careful planning to come over on a pilgrimage to see the great man was derailed in an instant.
So, weeks later, and after many mournful sighs, I have to turn to a Barlow-free preview.
Inspired by the form shown by the new generation, I was excited to see our new ruckman, and watch our ever improving young brigade test their skills against a strong midfield, featuring one of the greatest footballers to play the modern game. So I started developing an up beat preview around "Renewal and Revival".
And then selections are announced tonight, and I find myself with the joy of previewing Jon Griffin and Danyle Pearce returning to the purple power is now my task. Yay. Allright, so I'm a bit bummed. But, what about the two teams?
Well, both clubs:
Seeing some parallels?
Add to that the two most forgettable mascots in the AFL -
Sunny Ray
and Johnny Doc
apparently live in Mascot Manor with all the rest of the AFL mascot crew - and seem to spend more on hair dye and gym memberships than all the other mascots combined...
And both teams have four letter nicknames!! Amazing, right??!!?!
Comparisons
Well, based on the selected teams, we are shorter, fatter, older and slightly more experienced than them. Kind of like the slightly older contestant on the dating show... Both teams have picked 9 players with under 50 games, but we have two more players with 150 games or more of experience. Thank you Suban and D Pearce for skewing the stats.
There is plenty of WA talent in the Suns squad, with Steven May, David Swallow and Jack Martin all playing this weekend. We have Lach Weller, who officially was recruited from Southport (even though he is originally from Tassie).
Player most like each other - Brad Hill -v- Aaron Hall
Both are pacy, aggressive and have been under the radar for a few years. Both love the bounce, and also cover huge meters almost every game.
Most intriguing players for this game
Suns - Much hype all season has been focused (and rightly so) on the efforts of Jarrod Witts in the ruck. However, in the offseason, many rated Dan Currie as the best recruit the Suns had brought in for the ruck. Now he finally gets to play in 2017, and against a team with a single, less mobile and more worn down ruckman. Will he be as dominant as expected?
Freo - Sutcliffe - will he revert to type? Or have we got a decent midfielder who has been able to discover a new lease on AFL life? Oh and D Pearce - how many times will he be the subject of BF rants in the gameday thread??
Tactical focus
The Suns are equal best in the comp at centre clearances. The Dockers are second best in the comp at shutting down other teams centre clearances.
The Suns drop to 15th in stoppage clearances. If Sandi or Darcy had been playing, this could have been a real area for us to focus on, with the aim being to restrict their centre clearances and use stoppages to drive effective possessions. Without the big rucks, we will need to keep the pressure on at centre bounces, and try to shark Currie's taps at stoppages around the ground.
As well as being very good at centre clearances, the Suns are #1 in the comp in bounces - so look for plenty of effort from them to spread the ball and take long runs across the expanses of Subi. This tactic of retaining possession and bouncing was also used by Rocket Eade at the Bulldogs. It aims to open up space for repeat leads from the forwards, and can be really effective at Subi if the backs don't have the discipline to stay back and clog the holes.
The Suns average over 250 uncontested possessions per game, whereas we only just get over 230 per game. If we let them ease into their flowing chains of uncontested possessions, we won't do well. These are the two worst tackling teams in the league, averaging just on 63 tackles per game. My bet is the team that tackles best wins this one...
Predictions
First goal
Freo - H Ballantyne
Suns - J Martin
Most possessions
Freo - Neale
Suns - Ablett
Most Tackles
Freo - Suban
Suns - D Swallow
Most turnovers
Freo - D Pearce
Suns - GAJ
Result: Suns by 35 points.
So, get along to the game folks. Hopefully Micky is over there on the sidelines - if so tell him he is a legend (even though the leg end the season).
Savour the return of Dean Solomon and Ash Prescott to Subi, and enjoy the great GAj running around on Subi one last time. Gaze in awe at Tom Lynch, Two metre Peter and the amazing talent that is Jack Martin. And see if you can get me a snap of those two mascots together!
but this Mr Barlow
Then, disaster struck. History repeated. The sky fell in. A great chill went down everyone's spine, just like hearing the snap of a twig stomped on by a wild boar resonate across an empty, cold, foggy, windswept and distant forest.
(But wait, if there is a boar and a twig, how can the forest be empty??)
Grown men cried (including me). All my careful planning to come over on a pilgrimage to see the great man was derailed in an instant.
So, weeks later, and after many mournful sighs, I have to turn to a Barlow-free preview.
Inspired by the form shown by the new generation, I was excited to see our new ruckman, and watch our ever improving young brigade test their skills against a strong midfield, featuring one of the greatest footballers to play the modern game. So I started developing an up beat preview around "Renewal and Revival".
And then selections are announced tonight, and I find myself with the joy of previewing Jon Griffin and Danyle Pearce returning to the purple power is now my task. Yay. Allright, so I'm a bit bummed. But, what about the two teams?
Well, both clubs:
- won't make finals;
- feature experienced head coaches with finals success but who have never won grand finals coming under growing pressure as they try to manage list rebuilds;
- have been dominated by media talk of their best player leaving the club; and
- have been hit by injuries.
Seeing some parallels?
Add to that the two most forgettable mascots in the AFL -
Sunny Ray
And both teams have four letter nicknames!! Amazing, right??!!?!
Comparisons
Well, based on the selected teams, we are shorter, fatter, older and slightly more experienced than them. Kind of like the slightly older contestant on the dating show... Both teams have picked 9 players with under 50 games, but we have two more players with 150 games or more of experience. Thank you Suban and D Pearce for skewing the stats.
There is plenty of WA talent in the Suns squad, with Steven May, David Swallow and Jack Martin all playing this weekend. We have Lach Weller, who officially was recruited from Southport (even though he is originally from Tassie).
Player most like each other - Brad Hill -v- Aaron Hall
Both are pacy, aggressive and have been under the radar for a few years. Both love the bounce, and also cover huge meters almost every game.
Most intriguing players for this game
Suns - Much hype all season has been focused (and rightly so) on the efforts of Jarrod Witts in the ruck. However, in the offseason, many rated Dan Currie as the best recruit the Suns had brought in for the ruck. Now he finally gets to play in 2017, and against a team with a single, less mobile and more worn down ruckman. Will he be as dominant as expected?
Freo - Sutcliffe - will he revert to type? Or have we got a decent midfielder who has been able to discover a new lease on AFL life? Oh and D Pearce - how many times will he be the subject of BF rants in the gameday thread??
Tactical focus
The Suns are equal best in the comp at centre clearances. The Dockers are second best in the comp at shutting down other teams centre clearances.
The Suns drop to 15th in stoppage clearances. If Sandi or Darcy had been playing, this could have been a real area for us to focus on, with the aim being to restrict their centre clearances and use stoppages to drive effective possessions. Without the big rucks, we will need to keep the pressure on at centre bounces, and try to shark Currie's taps at stoppages around the ground.
As well as being very good at centre clearances, the Suns are #1 in the comp in bounces - so look for plenty of effort from them to spread the ball and take long runs across the expanses of Subi. This tactic of retaining possession and bouncing was also used by Rocket Eade at the Bulldogs. It aims to open up space for repeat leads from the forwards, and can be really effective at Subi if the backs don't have the discipline to stay back and clog the holes.
The Suns average over 250 uncontested possessions per game, whereas we only just get over 230 per game. If we let them ease into their flowing chains of uncontested possessions, we won't do well. These are the two worst tackling teams in the league, averaging just on 63 tackles per game. My bet is the team that tackles best wins this one...
Predictions
First goal
Freo - H Ballantyne
Suns - J Martin
Most possessions
Freo - Neale
Suns - Ablett
Most Tackles
Freo - Suban
Suns - D Swallow
Most turnovers
Freo - D Pearce
Suns - GAJ
Result: Suns by 35 points.
So, get along to the game folks. Hopefully Micky is over there on the sidelines - if so tell him he is a legend (even though the leg end the season).
Savour the return of Dean Solomon and Ash Prescott to Subi, and enjoy the great GAj running around on Subi one last time. Gaze in awe at Tom Lynch, Two metre Peter and the amazing talent that is Jack Martin. And see if you can get me a snap of those two mascots together!
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