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- if that game is any indication, i don't think either West Coast or Freo are going to feature very close to the bottom of the ladder this year. Anyway, it was excellent to hear the Eagles themesong reverbating around Subi, here's hoping we hear it many many more times this year.

 

[jod23]

LOL...you can hear the crickets....Freo fans are not happy jan!

 

[TheRealBuzz]

Originally posted by jod23
LOL...you can hear the crickets

Pretty much the same over at Dockerland.

They seem to quiten down a bit when the "WingedF@ggots" open up a big can of whoop ass.

Bring me the pouting, sulky head of Trent Croad !!!!

 

[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.
Bell had a great game, but many of his posessions were gained backward of centre, where he was unable to set up good scoring oppertunities. I think this is the main difference between the peter bell of north and the peter bell of freo, at north bell would kick alot more goals and was constructive in setting up forward moves. Haselby looks to be getting some fitness back and gained heaps of posessions in the midfield. Cook and Carr had good games as well as Seigert who looked good on debut. McManus played better than he had played in a long time, not in terms of posessions, but the thought processes he used during the game were encouraging, hopefully he can carry it into next week.

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 off 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 years shambles at least (especially round 19, probably one of the worst games skill wise I've seen in a long time).

 

[Mead]

The skill level certainly was heaps higher than previous years. On Bell not sending the ball forward, part of that is just where the game was played- the ball spent a lot of time around the eagles HF line, thus, when Bell got the ball, he couldn't send it forward simply because he was too bloody far away. If freo's midfield can handle his absence, i think they should consider doing what we did with Cousins- give him five minutes or so in each quarter playing on the HF line- gives a running player a chance to have a breather, and increases their dangerousness running into attack.
On Wilson- to put it quite simply, if he can continue to kick straight this entire season, he is going to be a real threat for the coleman- he leads faster and harder than any other forward, and he's just too big to match up on. The scary thing is he doesn't *need* space to lead into- he just leads straight at the ball, and if anyone gets in the way, look out. Even if he hits a pack, it generally works to our advantage because in the confusion (and mass of tangled bodies!) the ball usually hits the ground, and plays into the hands of our crumbers- Phil matera got most of his goals today after Wilson had hit packs. Frankly I'm yet to see any FB that can handle BB.

Originally posted by 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.
Bell had a great game, but many of his posessions were gained backward of centre, where he was unable to set up good scoring oppertunities. I think this is the main difference between the peter bell of north and the peter bell of freo, at north bell would kick alot more goals and was constructive in setting up forward moves. Haselby looks to be getting some fitness back and gained heaps of posessions in the midfield. Cook and Carr had good games as well as Seigert who looked good on debut. McManus played better than he had played in a long time, not in terms of posessions, but the thought processes he used during the game were encouraging, hopefully he can carry it into next week.

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 off 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 years shambles at least (especially round 19, probably one of the worst games skill wise I've seen in a long time).

 

[jod23]

Im yet to see a FB beat Wilson, he either beat himself by not kicking straight or he beats his opponent by kicking straight. Havent seen a FB stay with him and spoil his leads...