The sausage isn’t buying Freo stock;

https://www.sen.com.au/news/2023/03/01/can-west-coast-finish-higher-than-fremantle-this-season

2 hours ago, layzie said:

Midfield unit is too good to drop completely. 

I'm not convinced about that.

A bit will depend on how much time Fyfe spends in the midfield because they really lack big bodied mid in the Trac, Oliver, Bontempelli, Cripps mold.

Such players have become critical because they win so many 50-50 contests and provide the option of not having to send an extra  to each stoppage - or in our case even having one less mid at stoppage. 

They are really going to miss Mundy for this very reason. 

8 minutes ago, binman said:

I'm not convinced about that.

A bit will depend on how much time Fyfe spends in the midfield because they really lack big bodied mid in the Trac, Oliver, Bontempelli, Cripps mold.

Such players have become critical because they win so many 50-50 contests and provide the option of not having to send an extra  to each stoppage - or in our case even having one less mid at stoppage. 

They are really going to miss Mundy for this very reason. 

They are expecting O'Meara to be the new Mundy and will probably be better.

12 minutes ago, Lucifers Hero said:

They are expecting O'Meara to be the new Mundy and will probably be better.

OMeara is 29 with dodgy knees. Id be surprised if he can play more than 70-80 percent of games during H&A.

Just now, Gawndy the Great said:

OMeara is 29 with dodgy knees. Id be surprised if he can play more than 70-80 percent of games during H&A.

His dodgy knees won't stop him throwing his weight around or getting in and under.  Nor stop him protecting the young midfielders.

Also he has played 18 and 21 games in the last two seasons so his knees seem less of an issue these days.

30 minutes ago, The Jackson FIX said:

The sausage isn’t buying Freo stock;

https://www.sen.com.au/news/2023/03/01/can-west-coast-finish-higher-than-fremantle-this-season

I'd love to land a top 10 pick from Freo this year. It would be so satisfying. Top 5 would be even better. 

34 minutes ago, Lucifers Hero said:

They are expecting O'Meara to be the new Mundy and will probably be better.

Yep. But can't see him being better.

Omeara - at his third club and managing chronic injury - is at the back end of his career.

He is a long way from the elite big bodied mids like cripps et al that serious flag contenders need.

Mundy was still playing at a really high level last season- which was remarkable given his age

Arguably only Brayshaw was as important. 

I suspect freo will be thrilled if O'Meara can match Mundy's 2022 output.

By the by, i watched the first half of freo's sim.

Not sure how he went in the second half, but omeara was underwhelming in the first half. 

Edited March 1, 20232 yr by binman

6 minutes ago, Lucifers Hero said:

His dodgy knees won't stop him throwing his weight around or getting in and under.  Nor stop him protecting the young midfielders.

Also he has played 18 and 21 games in the last two seasons so his knees seem less of an issue these days.

Yes he played, but did he really play? He is in a similar boat to BBB. Also, If he was the type to protect young midfielders then why would HFC offload him? They are in dire need of some mature bodies in their midfield. 

 

10 minutes ago, Gawndy the Great said:

They are in dire need of some mature bodies in their midfield. 

 

Which is one reason I think they might struggle.

Like last season, the best midfields will monster theirs.

They need a big bodied mid somewhere near as good Fyfe in his Brownlow year.

Putting so many eggs in the Jackson basket meant having to settle for a player at O'Meara's level to try and plug the gap.

Edited March 1, 20232 yr by binman

7 minutes ago, Gawndy the Great said:

Yes he played, but did he really play? He is in a similar boat to BBB. Also, If he was the type to protect young midfielders then why would HFC offload him? They are in dire need of some mature bodies in their midfield.

HFC offloaded him for sal cap and to develop young players.

I agree FFC need big bodied midfielders but with O'Meara, (Jackson and others) so my point was they won't miss Mundy that much, which was the point of the post I first responded to.

21 minutes ago, Lucifers Hero said:

His dodgy knees won't stop him throwing his weight around or getting in and under.  Nor stop him protecting the young midfielders.

Also he has played 18 and 21 games in the last two seasons so his knees seem less of an issue these days.

 

11 minutes ago, Gawndy the Great said:

Yes he played, but did he really play? He is in a similar boat to BBB. Also, If he was the type to protect young midfielders then why would HFC offload him? They are in dire need of some mature bodies in their midfield. 

 

Exhibit A, Jack Viney played 21 games in 2019.

No sneezing on O'Meara; he's likely to be a very useful midfielder for Freo. BUT I would have thought what they needed was the support of mature bodies who can grind out the minutes to prevent overloading some of the outstanding but still young players.

Inside mid options seem to be O'Meara, Brodie, Serong and Brayshaw with Fyfe occasionally.

Ask a Carlton supporter how it feels to have a few superb midfielders but not enough meat and potatoes keeping the machinery grinding. They'll tell you one thing; "Oh, I swear, we've solved that problem now." :D

Of course, I am only speaking of this season. Next year, just as soon as we don't have all their draft picks, they will have had just enough pre-seasons in them to really dominate.

4 hours ago, binman said:

I'm not convinced about that.

A bit will depend on how much time Fyfe spends in the midfield because they really lack big bodied mid in the Trac, Oliver, Bontempelli, Cripps mold.

Such players have become critical because they win so many 50-50 contests and provide the option of not having to send an extra  to each stoppage - or in our case even having one less mid at stoppage. 

They are really going to miss Mundy for this very reason. 

You reckon they will struggle that much though Binman? 6th in contested ball and 6th in clearances (3rd in stoppage clearances) last year. Fair enough they probably lack at least another strong body in there but these numbers surely suggest they're doing something right?

Why are you saying they lack a bid bodied mid when they have Brodie? And now Jackson, who post the bounce plays this role and can stand up in a tackle and dish off? 

They run deeper than just Serong and Brayshaw. 

Mundy barely played midfield last year anyway...

12 hours ago, layzie said:

Midfield unit is too good to drop completely. Question is definitely going to be about where the goals come from, still expecting top 8 from them. 

We had Petracca, Oliver, Viney in our midfield unit when we bottomed out in 2019 after making a prelim. Freo lost a few but players last offseason that could see them struggle and some of their key players have had trouble staying on the park in recent years. I think they'll regret seeing Mundy off. 

Could they finish top 4? I think they could but I could also see a situation where they bottom out completely before rebounding to challenge for a flag. They'll have to be pretty bad to out-suck North, Hawthorn, Saints, Essendon etc but stranger things have happened.

6 minutes ago, fr_ap said:

Why are you saying they lack a bid bodied mid when they have Brodie? And now Jackson, who post the bounce plays this role and can stand up in a tackle and dish off? 

They run deeper than just Serong and Brayshaw. 

Mundy barely played midfield last year anyway...

Mundy was one of their best players last year, as were Acres and Lobb, while Logue was a decent contributor and malleable player

I’m death riding them HARD

25 minutes ago, fr_ap said:

Why are you saying they lack a bid bodied mid when they have Brodie? And now Jackson, who post the bounce plays this role and can stand up in a tackle and dish off? 

They run deeper than just Serong and Brayshaw. 

Mundy barely played midfield last year anyway...

They also have some exciting depth coming through in this department. 

Neil Erasmus 190cm big bodied inside mid. Plays similar to Elliot Yeo.

Nathan O' Driscoll 188cm midfielder who also plays half back if need.

Matthew Johnson 192cm tall inside/outside midfielder who's very similar to David Mundy.

10 hours ago, Lucifers Hero said:

His dodgy knees won't stop him throwing his weight around or getting in and under.  Nor stop him protecting the young midfielders.

Also he has played 18 and 21 games in the last two seasons so his knees seem less of an issue these days.

He's never been that sort of player though, in his prime a smooth mover never a bash and crash player.

5 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

They also have some exciting depth coming through in this department. 

Neil Erasmus 190cm big bodied inside mid. Plays similar to Elliot Yeo.

Nathan O' Driscoll 188cm midfielder who also plays half back if need.

Matthew Johnson 192cm tall inside/outside midfielder who's very similar to David Mundy.

I guess we're more concerned about what they have now, not what's coming through.

Just hoping they finish in the bottom half of the ladder.

Not likely but it would be nice.

No matter how Freo fans want to spin things, losing Mundy (22 games), Lobb (21), Acres (20), Logue (20) and to a lesser extent Tucker (14) is quite disruptive. That’s almost a quarter of the team.

It’s impossible to find like for like across all those players at Melbourne, but it would be similar to losing Brown (Lobb), Viney (Mundy), Langdon (Acres), Hunt (Logue although not a great like for like) and Harmes or Sparrow (Tucker, again not a great like for like) at the end of a year. Sure you can replace Hunt and Harmes/Sparrow using depth already on your list, but it starts to get harder and harder after that point without relying on several untried players.

Jackson and O’Meara come in and offset the loss of AFL experience, and they would be hoping Fyfe can string games together (which is unlikely given his injury past and age) but that still leaves several inexperienced players that will need to step up to be contributors ON TOP of the inexperienced players who were getting games in 2022.

Maybe it’s wishful thinking, but I reckon they need a lot to go right to repeat their 2022 finishing position, let alone to improve.

12 minutes ago, Lampers said:

No matter how Freo fans want to spin things, losing Mundy (22 games), Lobb (21), Acres (20), Logue (20) and to a lesser extent Tucker (14) is quite disruptive. That’s almost a quarter of the team.

It’s impossible to find like for like across all those players at Melbourne, but it would be similar to losing Brown (Lobb), Viney (Mundy), Langdon (Acres), Hunt (Logue although not a great like for like) and Harmes or Sparrow (Tucker, again not a great like for like) at the end of a year. Sure you can replace Hunt and Harmes/Sparrow using depth already on your list, but it starts to get harder and harder after that point without relying on several untried players.

Jackson and O’Meara come in and offset the loss of AFL experience, and they would be hoping Fyfe can string games together (which is unlikely given his injury past and age) but that still leaves several inexperienced players that will need to step up to be contributors ON TOP of the inexperienced players who were getting games in 2022.

Maybe it’s wishful thinking, but I reckon they need a lot to go right to repeat their 2022 finishing position, let alone to improve.

Luke is not going to impact as much as people are expecting. He might have a few good games but he’s not a proven forward that will replace the loss of Lobb in his first year at the club - best case is he becomes a 20-30 goal kicker and that that doubling his output from this year.

Taberner will usually be missing for 6-8 games through injury and Fyfe will probably get pulled back to the midfield to cover holes left by Mundy and an undersized midfield group. 

Prediction : Melbourne get Pick 9 from Freos F1😂

7 hours ago, layzie said:

You reckon they will struggle that much though Binman? 6th in contested ball and 6th in clearances (3rd in stoppage clearances) last year. Fair enough they probably lack at least another strong body in there but these numbers surely suggest they're doing something right?

Doing something right doesn't equate to top 4 level - which is surely their goal this year (and was my point ie to get go that level they need an ELITE big bodied mid).

I suspect if you looked at last year's ladder at the end of the home snd away, the order would look pretyy simiar as that for contested and clearances (the blues might be an oulier).

It they want to be a serious flag contender, sixth in contested ball and clearances ain't gonna cut it.

They need to be top 2 or 3 in those stats. 

 

 

 

8 hours ago, Lampers said:

No matter how Freo fans want to spin things, losing Mundy (22 games), Lobb (21), Acres (20), Logue (20) and to a lesser extent Tucker (14) is quite disruptive. That’s almost a quarter of the team.

It’s impossible to find like for like across all those players at Melbourne, but it would be similar to losing Brown (Lobb), Viney (Mundy), Langdon (Acres), Hunt (Logue although not a great like for like) and Harmes or Sparrow (Tucker, again not a great like for like) at the end of a year. Sure you can replace Hunt and Harmes/Sparrow using depth already on your list, but it starts to get harder and harder after that point without relying on several untried players.

Jackson and O’Meara come in and offset the loss of AFL experience, and they would be hoping Fyfe can string games together (which is unlikely given his injury past and age) but that still leaves several inexperienced players that will need to step up to be contributors ON TOP of the inexperienced players who were getting games in 2022.

Maybe it’s wishful thinking, but I reckon they need a lot to go right to repeat their 2022 finishing position, let alone to improve.

That's a better explanation but I think you're overrating the players who've left (all of whom are NQR) and underrating the improvement that will come from within.  Their overall list profile is terrific bar a dominant key forward (sound familiar?)

Not saying I'm entirely convinced on them either, but I think some of the discussion here is reaching and somewhat self-assuring 

10 hours ago, fr_ap said:

Why are you saying they lack a bid bodied mid when they have Brodie? And now Jackson, who post the bounce plays this role and can stand up in a tackle and dish off? 

They run deeper than just Serong and Brayshaw. 

Mundy barely played midfield last year anyway...

Lack an ELITE big bodied midfielder.

We have two.

7 hours ago, binman said:

Doing something right doesn't equate to top 4 level - which is surely their goal this year (and was my point ie to get go that level they need an ELITE big bodied mid).

I suspect if you looked at last year's ladder at the end of the home snd away, the order would look pretyy simiar as that for contested and clearances (the blues might be an oulier).

It they want to be a serious flag contender, sixth in contested ball and clearances ain't gonna cut it.

They need to be top 2 or 3 in those stats. 

 

 

 

That I agree with. This mid group needs something a bit extra to go the next step and it is probably that Cripps type that will win a ball when it's there to be won in a crucial moment.

My original point is that I'd find it hard to see them drop off completely and miss finals by a long shot due to this midfield, it still has a fair bit going for it and also a backline that will keep them in games. I don't see top 4 though.

I think they will make the 8, but honestly the competition for top 4 is fierce and they will really need to improve to finish in that part of the ladder.

They have a fantastic home ground advantage, which obviously helps them enormously, especially if West Coast have another shocking year, which I think they will.

I think they'll finish in the 6-8 range. I wouldn't be shocked if they miss the 8, but I would be shocked if they finish top 4.