Today's Press.

[Lach72]

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl/story/0,26576,23794383-19742,00.html
Mark Harvey leaves it up to players
Jay Clark | June 02, 2008 12:00am

Have your say!Add your comments or read what others are sayingEmail article Share Add to Digg Add to del.icio.us Post to NewsVine Post to Facebook What are these? Printer friendly Text size+- MARK Harvey yesterday left his players to begin cleaning up the emotional wreckage from one of the most embarrassing losses in the club's history. The Fremantle coach let his Dockers chair an open-slather player assessment session, after they surrendered a three-quarter-time lead for a record fifth straight game in its 28-point loss to Port Adelaide at Subiaco Oval.

Harvey blamed the recurring capitulation on a total lack of composure and indicated, for the first time, that his team may have forgotten how to win, after its seventh-straight defeat.

"It's been a while, put it that way," Harvey said. "It's the same script."

But the former Essendon firebrand kept his personal frustrations to himself and, instead, let his players start the soul-searching by themselves in the rooms.

"They addressed themselves, I wasn't there," Harvey said.

"I walked in at the end and said 'I'll see them at the review tomorrow', basically."

Fremantle is the only side in AFL-VFL history to surrender five-straight last-change leads, as Port Adelaide kicked six goals to one in the last term to maintain touch with the top-eight.

Port forward Daniel Motlop kicked five goals and Steven Salopek played one of the finest games of his 73-game career to turn Fremantle's 20-point second-term lead into the Power's fourth win of the season.

Port Adelaide coach Mark Williams said his club needed to win yesterday to keep its finals hopes alive.

"As far as I'm concerned the players put that on the line," Williams said.

"Fremantle will feel bad about it but the truth is we're playing a lot better than where we are. They had to play a side that was a pretty good side."

Fremantle has the oldest list in the league, but Harvey said he would refrain from making hard calls on the careers of out-of-form veterans such as Jeff Farmer, Shaun McManus and Heath Black.

"It's too early," Harvey said.

Instead, the coach coach will continue to improve his players composure levels at the death by practising decision-making under physical duress at training.

He denied the players were suffering mentally, despite the emotional buffeting they have copped in the past five matches.

"No, I don't think they are, because, statistically, we had 13 more inside-50s than them (Port) and you'll take that any day," he said.

"It's just the composure thing. We had as much of the ball as Port Adelaide but once again it was just our inability to be able to finish with it.

"They (the Dockers) are a resilient group, they do keep coming, whether you like it or not, they do.

"If we can have better composure and they keep working on their game consistently

, and do things to help our efficiency, then we will be a better side."

 

[Belnakor]

blacky had a reasonable game i thought.

 

[Lach72]

http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/news/western-debacle/2008/06/01/1212258649616.html

WA shamed by rabble masquerading as Eagles, Dockers
Rohan Connolly | June 2, 2008

HAS football in Western Australia ever been at a lower ebb than this morning? And have two top-four teams ever turned to rabble as quickly as have West Coast and Fremantle? Surely not.

It's only one-and-a-half years or so, after all, that the Eagles were hoisting a second premiership cup, a week after their crosstown rival had been stopped only a game short of a grand final appearance.

Have a look at the current ladder. Fremantle, 1-9 and only percentage away from bottom spot. West Coast a miserable 13th, a game-and-a-half behind 12th and fresh off a 100-point rout.

And what's worse for Sandgropers with any semblance of footballing pride is the complete lack of steel resonating through the pitiful performances of both this past weekend.

On Saturday, West Coast was coming off a big win over a top-eight side, Adelaide, and had two key senior players in Daniel Kerr and Beau Waters returning to the line-up. That made it 13 of 22 who ran out against Collingwood who had stood on the premiership dais on the same ground the September before last.

This made the second-half capitulation against the Magpies even more inexplicable. Only three goals to 15. In fact, take out West Coast's 15 minutes or so of decent football in the second term, in which it kicked five of its 10 goals for the afternoon, and the rest was little short of a disgrace.

Coach John Worsfold again pushed the inconsistency-of-youth line after the match. Sounds good, "Woosha", but there's just one problem. Your team isn't all that young or raw. And it was two of the greenest members of it, key forward Josh Kennedy and key defender Beau Wilkes, who on Saturday showed more steel and backbone than nearly all their teammates.

As for Fremantle, well, even as pure comic farce, the Dockers' routine would be getting a little tedious. As an allegedly professional AFL team, it, too, is a disgrace. Five losses in a row after having led each at three-quarter-time.
Yesterday's at home, in front of supporters desperate to see some sign of resilience, against a Port Adelaide side whose tendency to choke was beginning to rival its own.

Yet even that scenario couldn't inspire the Dockers rabble to gird its loins and actually emerge with some honour and the match points.

Coach Mark Harvey has his own problems to deal with, but anyone who remembers Harvey the player would have to sympathise with him right now. Such spineless hoisting of the white flag come crunch time must be making him feel physically ill.

His club remains a standing joke, one which in its 14th season in AFL company still cannot find the requisite spirit and pride to avoid the contempt of its peers for longer than five minutes.

And when Freo continues to serve up the same heartless rubbish week after week, year after year, why would they do anything else?

 

[Danlington]

harsh articls but not unwarranted id say

 

[wehavethepassion]

How long can we have the "skill errors", "lack of composure" and "poor decision making"?

The skill errors seem to have been a fact of life for the dockers since inception

Why?

 

[kidstyler]

http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/news/western-debacle/2008/06/01/1212258649616.html
It's only one-and-a-half years or so, after all, that the Eagles were hoisting a second premiership cup, a week after their crosstown rival had been stopped only a game short of a grand final appearance.

nice ... accurate article from the east!