25 minutes ago, old dee said:

If you will excuse me I will believe it when I see it.

Just watch the games from last year

6 minutes ago, Redleg said:

That was my first thought. 

Yep I reckon we should have thrown caution to the wind and blooded bowey, laurie and played Chandler.  Maybe Daw. Tell you what if we lose A few players and the Head coach will and should be very Nervous

30 minutes ago, whatwhat say what said:

interesting comparative team stats:

we definitely have them on experience if not average age...

Thanks for that. For many if the past 15 years we have been on the wrong side of this analysis. The 20 games we have on average is significant. People wondering where our improvement might come from, it’s the maturity of our core group 

I like the balance of our side and that they have favoured the endurance runners like Jones and ANB.

The number of midfielders indicates Petracca will spend a lot of time in the forward line.

Freo will find it hard to score if we can win the midfield and set up a zone given their lack of height. 

It will be hot tomorrow which doesn’t favour us. 

Substitute gets announced an hour before the game. Hoping to see Bowey as the sub to potentially get a run if needed.

Take a look at the Freo forward line. 

May and Lever should dominate in the air at the back. Even if we don’t convert well, we should win this comfortably

18 minutes ago, Fat Tony said:

It will be hot tomorrow which doesn’t favour us. 

If our team can’t handle 26 degrees then we are a complete lost cause 

lack of speed, basic skills, contested ball wins, inside F50 pressure, efficiency going inside 50 - these should be the difference between winning or losing not the temperature 

Brayshaw clearly doubtful, suggest Baker plays if he doesn't get up

57 minutes ago, Lord Travis said:

Substitute gets announced an hour before the game. Hoping to see Bowey as the sub to potentially get a run if needed.

Doubtful they’d debut a kid like that. They make a big fuss about this sort of thing normally and announce a debut a few days prior to a game. 
My bet is Baker. 

Crazy that you could be an unused sub and that gets counted as a game. Imagine that as your debut.

As much as I despise the filth, it was nice to see plenty of Treloar's ex teammates give him a hug after the match.

Freo's forward line looks very small.  It will be basically Tabener as their only true tall, then Cerra (188cm) and Fyfe when he goes up there. that's great for intercepting marks but only if we are putting pressure on the kicker - and that's a significant if for our mids.  Real danger if the ball is allowed to get loose in their forward 50 too much.  Relying on the wisdom of Lever, May and Jetta to get to the best spots and kill contests before they begin.

Our forward line might look a bit makeshift (because it is the very definition of banging something together with whatever you had available) but I think it still matches Freo's defence. 

It is unlikely Meek will inherit the Earth or much of anything playing against Gawn.  Meek is a big lump of a lad so might go okay at the hitouts, but no chance at all of keeping up with Gawn around the ground.  Gawn will frequently be free to provide a relief target or able to drift forward without a direct opponent, thus creating that momentary hole and confusion as the Freo defence reorganises every time he comes their way with Meek puffing and panting fifteen metres behind.

Both sides will have their midfield depth tested.  We've got some vulnerable kids out their while they have more of the Dom Tyson types after you get past their top four or so mids/half forwards.  Can't ignore them, shouldn't be too afraid of them.

 

11 minutes ago, bingers said:

As much as I despise the filth, it was nice to see plenty of Treloar's ex teammates give him a hug after the match.

Bingers you must be a footy romantic.  I feel no joy at all from anything i watch in black & white.  Not even a reunion party.

On paper, we bat (marginally) deeper than them. 7 goals to 4 gets it done. Top of the ladder here we come.  

3 hours ago, Demon Dude said:

i would of had Chandler instead of Jones, but otherwise the team is as expected.

I would HAVE used better English, but otherwise I agree with you.

Lots of fast paced players on their team sheet. Seen it all happen before with young opposition sides cutting up our very single minded (see ball get ball) midfield, basically running rings around us on the outside while we’re still laboring behind back at the contest.

Hope we’ve addressed that but our selections don’t look particularly quick for a Saturday midday 26 degree match in March. If our ball movement is precise and flowing then I think we can overcome it with direct footy over 4 quarters but I’m not at all confident.

Hoping we learn a bit more about where we’re at as a ‘list’ tomorrow as I’ve got a fairly good idea but I don’t like it - so I’m hoping I’m proved wrong.

2 hours ago, picket fence said:

Yep I reckon we should have thrown caution to the wind and blooded bowey, laurie and played Chandler.  Maybe Daw. Tell you what if we lose A few players and the Head coach will and should be very Nervous

That’s one way to lose a game we need to win. That’s fantasy. Daw will be lucky to get one game , Chandler is a maybe, the others our teenagers who need game time at Casey 

1 hour ago, Forest Demon said:

Crazy that you could be an unused sub and that gets counted as a game. Imagine that as your debut.

Surely it only counts as a game if you get subbed in?

6 minutes ago, david_neitz_is_my_dad said:

Surely it only counts as a game if you get subbed in?

Apparently it counts even if you don't take the field. Silly I know. Good way for Jones to get to 300

I think Daw might be an excellent choice for sub when he’s a bit fitter. Can play back, forward or ruck. And unless an injury comes early in the game, he wouldn’t need to be at peak physical fitness. 

13 minutes ago, Fanatique Demon said:

I think Daw might be an excellent choice for sub when he’s a bit fitter. Can play back, forward or ruck. And unless an injury comes early in the game, he wouldn’t need to be at peak physical fitness. 

Daw’s a pipe dream. He was bog average at North and he’s now 30. It’ll take a raft of injuries for him to play. If he’s playing I’ll bet we’ll lose. That’s not meant as disrespect I just don’t rate him 

Edited March 19, 20214 yr by Roost it far

24 minutes ago, Roost it far said:

Daw’s a pipe dream. He was bog average at North and he’s now 30. It’ll take a raft of injuries for him to play. If he’s playing I’ll bet we’ll lose. That’s not meant as disrespect I just don’t rate him 

I would play Daw  anyday " I find your lack of faith disturbing" in fact I would have played Majak instead of Spargo easily!

 

 

Edited March 19, 20214 yr by picket fence

4 hours ago, Deeoldfart said:

It's a winning lineup for mine.  That will do me!

only because they are playing watson, colyer, switkowski, even conca who are all super ordinary coz they're so decimated

That's just about as good a side as you could select with the current injuries.  Salem, Brayshaw, Jordan, Neale Bullen and Picket to go through the middle with Harmes, Langdon, Petracca, Oliver and Sparrow gives you 10 pretty good runners that could make all the difference in the last quarter.   You could also add Spargo, Rivers and Hunt to that group.  Not too many sides with 13 possible midfielders.   I think Petty will be the emergency - Oscar showed the value of a tall there.   If a runner goes down you can cover it, but not if we lose one of Tomlinson, TMac, May, Lever or Jxn.   AVB is a bit unlucky as well as the other emergencies.

Edited March 19, 20214 yr by stinga

4 hours ago, Graeme Yeats' Mullet said:

Brayshaw clearly doubtful, suggest Baker plays if he doesn't get up

How do you know that?

He played lady week hit the ball a fair bit.

Or are you a clairvoyant or doctor?