Rookie ?

He was picked up at Number 4 in the draft, Morabito.

Rookie, first year player, Morabito.

There was one little patch of play near the boundary where Beamer won the ball on the ground against a couple of Freo players, with more hovering over him, then managed to tap the ball our way, along the ground towards the boundary. It looked sure to go out of bounds but Trengove did a beautiful little tap to keep the ball in and get it straight to Maric (I think), who hit Miller (I think) on the chest. Miller then slotted the goal (I think .. maybe .. I dunno, I'm tired).

Anyway, that was a positive!

The most notable positive for me was the way the team fought back late in the game prior to the final onslaught. Before I get picked up on this I do realise that Freo kicked the last 4 or 5 of the game however there is no question that our lads were very fatigued near the end - Freo mostly kept their tempo. My point is about players not dropping their heads.

IMO our players performed in the following conditions:

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No obvious forward targets.

Travel and playing on a larger ground.

No regular starting ruckmen.

A significant group of players with limited or no senior experience playing together.

Clearly not in the same condition in physique or fitness over 4 quarters as our opposition.

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It is in this context that I appreciated the commitment of many of our younger players and new recruits when things were tough. At times they "looked" like they weren't trying but they were all night. We simply have many areas to work on with manning up, clearances, ball movement, disposal etc...

Disagree mate.

Freo played some of their best senior players tonight ie. McPharlin, Mundy, Grover, Headland, Duffield, Hayden, Sandilands and of course big Pav. These players had a serious contribution to their sides win. It also helps when your side has their first choice ruckment up against a second and third year player.

Won the last quarter and our players did actually appear to run the game out, though the scoreline isn't indicitive of it.

Sadly, we didn't quite win the last quarter. Freo 3.1, Melb. 2.3.

our skills were seriously horrible....ino its the start of the season and all but seriously....blokes were droping chest marks n kicking out of bounds.....wow was that a reality check.....im actually scared for when we play a half decent side n wat their midfield will do to ours afta wat freos 2nd rate midfield did to ours....geeeezz its gonna be another LONGGG year.

Disagree mate.

Freo played some of their best senior players tonight ie. McPharlin, Mundy, Grover, Headland, Duffield, Hayden, Sandilands and of course big Pav. These players had a serious contribution to their sides win. It also helps when your side has their first choice ruckment up against a second and third year player.

Won the last quarter and our players did actually appear to run the game out, though the scoreline isn't indicitive of it.

We can only but improve when we can bring back Bate, Wonna, ,Jamar, Bruce, Davey ( For a full game -not a half), and Dunn. Also, Expect Jack Watts to show some spark this year and Sam Blease could be a useful inclusion mid season onwards. We were very ordinary today while Dockers had a real day out. They played above themselves. Watch them come back to earth with a crash next week.

Any love for Jetta? His attack on the ball and player was outstanding. Used it well, and did cough it up which happens with younger guys. The highlight for me is the fact he out worked and bumped some bigger opponents to put the footy in dispute or aided the opposition turning it over.

New Mac was very handy, and seems to like a contest.

Fetta was good, looks a player.

Overall the disposal was as major concern. If we had played a top side we could have been belted by 100+ last night.

My horse for a forward...............

we were physically more aggressive at the ball, body and contest.

not saying we were amazing, but i was very impressed with a few more of the boys willing to put the shoulder in or throw themselves on to the ball trying to win it rather than just leaving that to jones and moloney.

Rookie ?

He was picked up at Number 4 in the draft, Morabito.

Sorry Barlow was the one...

This is a positives thread, so I'll stick to positives:

Frawley - did a good job on Pavlich, and when he had the ball he wasn't afraid to attack.

MacDonald - good first outing for Melbourne

Trengove - I was pleased with his effort. Early on he waited for the ball to come to him and turned it over; the very next contest he went hard at it and won the footy. Good boy.

That's all I can think of.

Way to dent my excitement Melbourne.

Scully - at times looked a few steps ahead of his teammates and was caught because they weren't where he expected/needed them to be.

The improvement will not come from him, but from his teammates learning what he can do for them.

J. Mac was great I thought. I think our backline is as developed as any other position on the field, in that it's closer to where we want it to be. Our midfield is still growing and our forward line is a shambles. With Rivers, Joel, Garland, Frawley and Warnock down back, our backline can be impenetrable in 3 years if they all improve.

Positives in my opinion:

Overall the team ran the game out and looked for each other. Was not the best of starts but this is their second competitive hit out - so it will take a few weeks to gell together again.

overall given that we have a lot of inexperienced players in the team and no forward line and rucks i think we at least were competitive in patches

Cale Morton - worked hard and was impressed with his much stronger attack on the ball and opposition body

Addam Maric - looked up and kicked well into the forward line on a couple of occassions. Has good foot skills and can deliver, just needs more gametime.

Jetta - worked hard and his attack on the ball was very good.

Scully - have to be happy with his debut. Lighting hands way to fast for his team mates

Trengove - worked himself well into the game and makes good position

Joel Mac - excellent first up game for the Dees.

Frawley, Sylvia, - Attacked the ball well and were disappointed when beaten

Rivers - really good game, composed and moved really well. Is a class above and very valuable to our backline

Mller - worked hard and took most of his marks with one grab and kicked a couple of goals when the opportunity presented

Jones - looks much faster and love him running into the forward line.

Junior - got a lot of it

Cheney - worked hard and never stopped running

Jordie - this kid can play

Positives in my opinion:

Overall the team ran the game out and looked for each other. Was not the best of starts but this is their second competitive hit out - so it will take a few weeks to gell together again.

overall given that we have a lot of inexperienced players in the team and no forward line and rucks i think we at least were competitive in patches

Cale Morton - worked hard and was impressed with his much stronger attack on the ball and opposition body

Addam Maric - looked up and kicked well into the forward line on a couple of occassions. Has good foot skills and can deliver, just needs more gametime.

Jetta - worked hard and his attack on the ball was very good.

Scully - have to be happy with his debut. Lighting hands way to fast for his team mates

Trengove - worked himself well into the game and makes good position

Joel Mac - excellent first up game for the Dees.

Frawley, Sylvia, - Attacked the ball well and were disappointed when beaten

Rivers - really good game, composed and moved really well. Is a class above and very valuable to our backline

Miller - worked hard and took most of his marks with one grab and kicked a couple of goals when the opportunity presented

Jones - looks much faster and love him running into the forward line.

Junior - got a lot of it

Cheney - worked hard and never stopped running

Jordie - this kid can play

Good positive post. Agree on all points. Just on Cheney, he looks to have stripped fitter this year and seemed to have good closing speed on his opponent down back. He executed his kicks ok too. He was definitely a positive I thought.

My standout positives:

Frawley was impressive. My opinion, our best.

Scully looks fantastic doing exactly what has been said of him. In and under, quick smart handball clearances.

Cheney has gone up a notch. did some good things.

Morton played well.

Miller kicked straight, at times when he would normally have missed.

Sylvia is still very hard at it. He will have another big year.

Positives in my opinion:

Overall the team ran the game out and looked for each other. Was not the best of starts but this is their second competitive hit out - so it will take a few weeks to gell together again.

overall given that we have a lot of inexperienced players in the team and no forward line and rucks i think we at least were competitive in patches

Cale Morton - worked hard and was impressed with his much stronger attack on the ball and opposition body

Addam Maric - looked up and kicked well into the forward line on a couple of occassions. Has good foot skills and can deliver, just needs more gametime.

Jetta - worked hard and his attack on the ball was very good.

Scully - have to be happy with his debut. Lighting hands way to fast for his team mates

Trengove - worked himself well into the game and makes good position

Joel Mac - excellent first up game for the Dees.

Frawley, Sylvia, - Attacked the ball well and were disappointed when beaten

Rivers - really good game, composed and moved really well. Is a class above and very valuable to our backline

Mller - worked hard and took most of his marks with one grab and kicked a couple of goals when the opportunity presented

Jones - looks much faster and love him running into the forward line.

Junior - got a lot of it

Cheney - worked hard and never stopped running

Jordie - this kid can play

No love for Strauss? I thought he done a reasonable job on Ballantyne after he tore Bennell a new one.

No love for Strauss? I thought he done a reasonable job on Ballantyne after he tore Bennell a new one.

Fair enough. Although, I'm sure I saw (if I'm not mistaken) Strauss repeatedly find seat E22 with a few of his executed kicks.

I know there were a few here who have talked up his great foot skills, but (*sigh*) let's hope he "walks the walk" for them from now on.

I read with interest that people mention a positve is our backline, so it should be we play 18 players back there.

Strauss had 15 at 67%, best of the first gamers. Scully had 15 at 60%.

An inverted positive - Sylvia had 13 at 38%.

Not to ruin this positive thread but I'm surprised Cheney is getting so much love.

I think defensively he is nowhere strong or smart enough and his decision making in general play is generally woeful. He's an inexperienced kid so I'll cut him some slack but I don't see him as part of our long term future.

Bennell is similar in his complete lack of defensive pressure, which is so frustrating because he's such a good ball user and finds lots of space. But you can't be a defender if you can't defend, and I don't care how great you are at rebounding. Strauss seems to have a better balance of the two at this early stage. He was good last night.

Believe it or not I watched the game again this morning. It was worse the second time.

Warnock - disposal terrible

Bennell - killed down back, looked better going fwd

Sylvia - I reckon he is lazy & unaccountable

Jetta - too many unforced errors

MacDonald easily our best.

Frawley tried hard but was outclassed.

Umpiring was disgraceful.

Scully & JT good debuts

Maric - some really good and some really bad. If he could get rid of the bad will be really good (!)

Overall Freo was harder and put more pressure on, their fwd line functioned well.

In contrast we had too many running unattended in the middle of the ground who were unaccountable when they had it and fumbled badly when we had it.

Game plan is non-existent.

it appears most or all of our player "can play" however as they say there is no ME in Team!

Positives:

1. Joel Mac - looks like he will be solid down back and provides much needed experience.

2. Morton - Very good and showed glimpses he has taken his game to the next level.

3. Scully and JT - Showed glimpses as to why they were taken 1 & 2.

4. Rivers - showed signs he will have a big season.

5. It is only round 1 of NAB cup so no need to panic just yet!

6. Bailey's contract hasn't been extended as yet. Need to see marked improvement before that happens!

Fair enough. Although, I'm sure I saw (if I'm not mistaken) Strauss repeatedly find seat E22 with a few of his executed kicks.

Didn't they all do that?

Strauss had 15 at 67%, best of the first gamers. Scully had 15 at 60%.

An inverted positive - Sylvia had 13 at 38%.

Thought Strauss in the last 2 weeks seems to turn the ball over a touch... Over kicks targets when he is trying to hit players running onto the ball. BUT he does look like he could develop very nicely.