thoughts on the derby

[Mead]

Woo... Ok i'm very very proud of West Coast for winning that one, mainly because in all fairness, Freo did not play a poor game by any stretch of the imagination- made for one of the hardest fought derbies ever. I think the final margin is a pretty fair reflection of the differences between the teams on the day. So, here are my thoughts on the game.
The Midfields- Arrogant chardonnay sipper that i am, i was a little bit shocked by how good freo's ball-getters actually were- indeed, i don't think there was much between the two teams in this area. Where we dominated, was in the speed and efficiency in which West Coast delivered the ball once they got it. Freo showed hints of last years tendency of playing around with it, whereas West Coast went hard, fast, and direct into the forward line.
Forward/Back Lines. Our predictions proved correct, in that Croad was convincingly and consistently beaten by Milli. It was only after Croad was moved out of full forward that he managed to kick the goals he did, with Macintosh dominating him, Freo lacked a single hard leading target. At the other end, Wilson dominated all day long- marked everything, hit the packs, and kicked straight (thank god). Indeed, the only serious criticism of freo that i can muster is their backline- Embers, Matera and Wilson all had field days. At the other end, Medhurst provided the focal point for the Dockers- and to be frank, had one of the best AFL debuts i've ever seen- fast, great mark, excellent kick- farmer and medhurst will make an awesome combination.
Best on ground- Wilson has to be given props for what was a awesome performance in the forward line, whilst Medhurst certainly carried his weight. In the midfield Cook and of course Bell were great for the Dockers, whilst Cousins, Fletcher & Kerr took care of business in a very satisfying fashion. The other freo player worth a mention is hazleby, who seems to have shed some of those spare tires, and had a reasonably impressive game. Pavlich had hardly any of the ball (don't sign the contract just yet!), whereas in the Eagles defence, Jako and Milli once again answered the 'too old' critics- indeed, Macintosh was in rare form.
Well thats about it, it was a great derby whichever way you looked at it- excellent to hear the Eagles themesong reverbating around Subi, here's hoping we hear it many many more times this year~

 

[FreoDocker]

Great assessment of both teams there Mead.
I think you've got it pretty much right.

From a dockers point of view I was really impressed with medhurst and his ability to attract the ball, he missed a few easy marks late in the game, but his sheer ability to produce a good options was great as well as his 1 on 1 contests.

Looking at the Eagles I was really impressed that wilson had managed to kick fairly straight, something he lacked for most of last year. Embley looked like he could show a bit this year, but most of all I was impressed with chad fletcher and his ability to deliver the ball very well to the eagle forwards.

I think at the end of the day that was the main difference between the two teams, the eagles finished their posessions a bit better and delivered the ball very well to their forwards.

But this was one of the best derbies I've seen, compared to last year at least.

 

[iceman]

agree with most of what you said mead

the midfield battle was a lot closer than i think any of us imagined, the thing that got us over the line was the straight kicking of Wilson and the fact that multiple players stood up and contributed

best derby ive seen so far and good to see both teams going full out for 4 quarters

 

[ONE EYE]

I am eating humble pie. That is the most affective I have seen Fletcher play. Whereas I was saying that we have too many little blokes and he was the one to leave out now I am grateful that we have an abundance of riches in that area. But I am taking it one week at a time. Its only R1.

GO EAGLES!

 

[TheRealBuzz]

I too have to eat some humble pie.

Well done Willow, you were fantastic today.
But please, please back it up next week against the Pies.

I thought it was a great win. Cousins was a bit down, and we proved that we are no longer a one man band.
Fletcher was brilliant, while Kerr, Matera and Braun all put in solid games as they were rotated through the middle.

Gardiner didn't play CHF nearly as much as I thought he would.
It was probably the way to go, as he dominated the ruck all day, with good support from Cox.

Embly again proved he has the potential to win matches off his own boot. He was pivotal in our good start. He's fast, tough and very hard at the ball. He just needs to do it more often now.
Phil Matera was also brilliant. He is such an important player and looks set for a big year.

Milli, Jako, Banners and Roo were, as always, terrific.
Champion players who are great leaders out on the field.

Collica and Glass were also solid, and will be better for the run.

Bring on Collingwood.
And that hack named Cummings.

 

[iceman]

One good thing that i noticed about Woosha was that when Cox / Tuckey started getting beaten in the ruck and Freo started getting on top, he sent Gardiner into the ruck straight away

IMO, thats the best move to make as there is no doubting that Gardiner is still of a higher calibre than Cox. Last year when Cox used to start getting beaten in the ruck, Judge used to leave him there and the opposition would start gaining momentum and would eventually kick our butts

Smart move by a smart coach, so far he seems to be moving players around and getting the best out of them so far

 

[Mead]

Hit outs:
Longmuir- 16
Cox - 17
Gardiner -22.

Woosha's intelligent use of Gardiner going in and out of the ruck pretty meant we dominated there.

 

[Thrawn666]

Yeah I thought the ruck rotation was worked very well too, whenever Cox looked to be losing it, Gardiner was shuffled in and vice versa if Gardiner was fatigued. Its very handy to have Brent Tuckey availaible to rotate through CHF too. I think he will prove invaluable throughout the season.

 

[jod23]

Originally posted by TheRealBuzz


Cousins was a bit down

Thats what i love....Cousins had a down game yet still collected 29 possesions. How good is he??

Now that the Derby is out the way and we've got the 4 points and the $20 bucks Im looking to next week straight away, Bucks V Cuz should be great but im really anticipating a great clash between Cummings and Milli.

 

[Goldenblue]

After reading some of the threads, some of the shocker supporters were complaining that Farmer was missing along with Simmonds and that was the reason why they lost.

Get real!


Try getting the ball into your forward line. Even if Farmer did play today, I dont think the result would have been much difference. Take away what Medhurst kicked as he would not have been there if Farmer did play and give that same score to Farmer.

Those who think Farmer will kick 5 goals a game are dreaming. The Frockers will be lucky to have him play another 10 games this season if he does not watch his temper or falls to injury.

Croad looked a mess, though he did kick a couple, he was not the shining light in this game as he was made out to be. Polak out injured could not be judged, but Medhurst played well.

One man does not make a side, nor shall 2 in Croad and Farmer. There are still some problems to be sorted out at the Frockers, but thinking they are capable of making a top eight position under the recruiting they did this year are false dreams.

I wonder if there is some kind of mentality problem at the Frockers, such as the anchors on the jumpers weighing them down, the expectancy of the club to be non successful.......just a thought.....

 

[Geonet]

Mead your assessment of the game is fair though I think that our midfield may have not played to full potential today. Ben Cousins at his best and the inclusion of Judd in the near future will strengthen that area. I'm taking nothing out of the Freo midfield which, at least today, was stronger than we expected, but I suspect we have the players that in the near future can rival the best midfields in the country. On the other hand we're finding out that we have a better attack than we first thought.

 

[FreoDocker]

Originally posted by Goldenblue
After reading some of the threads, some of the shocker supporters were complaining that Farmer was missing along with Simmonds and that was the reason why they lost.

Get real!

Nah I think what we are trying to say is that it will be handy for the rest of the season when they come back.
I'm a big believer that you put out the best team available at that time and regardless of who is out, if your beaten, your beaten.
After all you can only beat the team who is sent out to play you and not the players who are sitting in the stands

 

[Eagle_Fan]

First up, i'm very happy (read: thrilled) with a win. All too rare now unfortunately.

But as I left the ground and walked the 10km to my car (but thats a rant for another time ), the overwhelming feeling I got was that they almost had more to take from todays game than us. We had a near fullstrength team, and although some of the boys seemed underdone, the team couldn't have been much stronger. Freo on the otherhand were missing several players, many of whom would've made a difference to the scoreline. They can't blame the loss on that, but when considering the result it has to be taken into account.

Skill level today, better than the last derby, but still a fair way from where it ought to be. I think both teams were pretty nervous to begin with (gawd, I know I was ), and that contributed to the mistakes -how on earth did Wirra kick that OOF? in the first??? - but there is certainly room for serious improvement, especially when it comes to not stuffing around with the ball!

Overall, a win's a win, and we were far more tough and accountable -manning up was the best in years... except on Croad- and there were several other positives, most of which have been mentioned above

EF

*didn't those jumpers just look superb??? Was Troy Cook really wearing a different jumper in the first quarter to his teamates? I seem to recall him doing that once before?

**To the complete f*ckwit of an ignorant, chauvenistic, loud, fat, smelly and fairweather dockers supporter who sat next to me today (although it was more on me since he didnt fit in his own seat) Grow a brain will ya? And learn your players names if you're going to make very loud smartarsed comments about them for all to hear...... What a pr*ck. (btw.... block 417, anyone here? Too old for sabe... Keup maybe? )

 

[Geonet]

I looks like Chris Connolly admits our midfiled won the game after all. He says that the Freo forwards had a tough day because they didn't get the delivery they wanted. That can only be attributed to the Eagles better midfield. The journalist Mic Cullen who is a Richmond supporter also agrees that the midfield was where the game was lost for the Dockers.

In another matter, most of us didn't seem to agree with Frodo when he said that the Eagles (quote) "skilfully used the accelerator and brake". Well Woosha agrees with Frodo because in an interview he said that the Eagles took their foot off the accelerator when they were leading by 33 points.

 

[Mead]

Originally posted by Geonet
In another matter, most of us didn't seem to agree with Frodo when he said that the Eagles (quote) "skilfully used the accelerator and brake". Well Woosha agrees with Frodo because in an interview he said that the Eagles took their foot off the accelerator when they were leading by 33 points.

If that was part of the plan, thanks, woosha, you almost gave me four heart attacks. I was sitting in an area which was 50-50 eagles/dockers supporters.. We'd be going absolutely nuts for most of the quarter, then Freo would start to storm back and the dockers supporters would be screaming and waving those inflatable anchor thingies (I mean, what are they, some sort of sex toy? Do they signify the supporters desire to have sex with their players?), while we took a breather. Worked out quite well, actually.
After the game, Woosha said that although it was a great win, they still could have payed a lot better. I think the key issue to work on is disposal.

 

[Captain Random]

Originally posted by Eagle_Fan
(btw.... block 417, anyone here? Too old for sabe... Keup maybe? )

Geez, you've got good taste in seating - I'm in 415, which was pretty quiet anchorwise

Lot of crowd noise from the Dockers supporters when they were well in it. Probably the best Freo support at an Eagles derby yet

 

[FreoDocker]

I was in block 108 subi end on the flank
anyone here around there?

 

[Thrawn666]

I was in block 119, closer than the 400's but still not real close.

 

[GoEagles]

Block 106 (near FreoDocker by the sounds of it) lower section of the 2 tier stand (gate 26 is the entrance)