On 13/07/2024 at 23:55, Jaded No More said:

No sure Petty can ruck another week and this time against two actually great ruckmen. 
Much food for thought. 
 

 

Massive rain predicted might work in our favour to go small again

Edited July 14, 20241 yr by Garbo

Go small and maul

I love it, we beat a team in the wet for the first time since John Northey coached us and now we want all our tough games in the wet. I do however concur that rain will certainly help slow Freo's run and it strangely gives me more confidence espcially with Max out. 

I had no idea a contested knock-on is a stat. The Bont leads the league, Sparrow is 3rd...he stays in.

14 hours ago, Jaded No More said:

Anyone know what the injury to Woey is? 

Looked like a classic corkie. First approach was a strapping on the thigh. Then run-throughs, one more attempt on ground then off and ice on. Then the bike.

4 minutes ago, Dee Zephyr said:

I had no idea a contested knock-on is a stat. The Bont leads the league, Sparrow is 3rd...he stays in.

Sparrow’s are fumbles!

I like Tommy, he stays because Laurie doesn’t have the juice in the contest to demand a midfield or the outside pace or skill to own a half forward spot. But he needs a big preseason 

21 minutes ago, Dee Zephyr said:

I had no idea a contested knock-on is a stat. The Bont leads the league, Sparrow is 3rd...he stays in.

and viney is 4th

23 minutes ago, Dee Zephyr said:

I had no idea a contested knock-on is a stat. The Bont leads the league, Sparrow is 3rd...he stays in.

Must get a knock on for a fumble

5 hours ago, SPC said:

Early forecast is for wet conditions again. Do we go with a similar smaller lineup?

If it is wet, wet ... yes. If it is merely a fine dampness ... yes with a tall or two on the bench. If it is cold and drier ... yes with a tall or two on the bench, with attitudes to be 'mongrels' and blockers. Time to blood Jeffo and/or Verral (not sure about the spelling of the latter name).

I liked the wisdom of Leigh Mathews last night re Ruckman. If you don't have a solid ruck then play the most agile tall you can. WRT MFC he said they have no choice with no Gawn play someone there who is agile. Last time around Darcy actually threw his weight around and put Max off his game. Best not to engage with him at centre bounce but jump at him and join the ground contest. At boundary throw-ins Darcy's bulk and skill will pose a problem. 

Maybe Max will get up for the game!!

Weather in Perth this time of year very unpredictable. Current forecast for Sunday is 90% Chance of showers but only 40% chance during game time.

Expected rainfall for the day is 1-5mm so most likely it will be a slick track but not likely to impact talks to much

Focus is similar to last week in terms of stopping their uncontested game and ability to transition easily from the D50. Luke Ryan had a field day when we played in Alice 

Edited July 15, 20241 yr by Pennant St Dee

1 hour ago, DeeSpencer said:

needs a big preseason 

A while back Tom McDonald talked about taking a completely different approach to agility during the pre-season and it paying dividends. 

I wonder whether Sparrow needs to go down a similar path. Seems to me like he can't go sideways. Players with any kind of step go past him so easily. 

10 minutes ago, The Taciturn Demon said:

A while back Tom McDonald talked about taking a completely different approach to agility during the pre-season and it paying dividends. 

I wonder whether Sparrow needs to go down a similar path. Seems to me like he can't go sideways. Players with any kind of step go past him so easily. 

just love TMacs resurrection. Hope he gets a new contract.

The BOM has rain predicted all week in Perth. I’d be going in with almost the same line up. My only query is with Petty, he really struggled against Draper and it was only when JvR went in the ruck that the game turned. Petty got beaten quite a few times against McKay but when he did bring the ball to ground, it usually resulted in a goal for us.

A wet game would be glorious for us. Freo are the worst wet weather team in the league, yes worse than us. They can only play an outside game. If we bring it in nice and tight and make it a contested game, they will really struggle.

2 hours ago, Roost it far said:

I love it, we beat a team in the wet for the first time since John Northey coached us and now we want all our tough games in the wet. I do however concur that rain will certainly help slow Freo's run and it strangely gives me more confidence espcially with Max out. 

Appreciated Melksham saying in the post game interview that Choco had soaped up the balls at training to help our wet weather skills.  I wonder if we've done this in previous seasons or if we finally decided to address our skill deficiency in this area after one too many embarrassing losses in the wet and/or humidity!  Certainly being at the Opening Round game this season, it was disappointing how we seemed to have never met a slick ball.  Glad it's becoming a strength now!

1 minute ago, DeelightfulPlay said:

Appreciated Melksham saying in the post game interview that Choco had soaped up the balls at training to help our wet weather skills.  I wonder if we've done this in previous seasons or if we finally decided to address our skill deficiency in this area after one too many embarrassing losses in the wet and/or humidity!  Certainly being at the Opening Round game this season, it was disappointing how we seemed to have never met a slick ball.  Glad it's becoming a strength now!

Goody mentioned in the post presser that we've looked to address our wet weather footy, so I'd say it was just this pre season.

27 minutes ago, DeelightfulPlay said:

Appreciated Melksham saying in the post game interview that Choco had soaped up the balls at training to help our wet weather skills.  I wonder if we've done this in previous seasons or if we finally decided to address our skill deficiency in this area after one too many embarrassing losses in the wet and/or humidity!  Certainly being at the Opening Round game this season, it was disappointing how we seemed to have never met a slick ball.  Glad it's becoming a strength now!

Difficult playing with soapy balls.

59 minutes ago, The Taciturn Demon said:

A while back Tom McDonald talked about taking a completely different approach to agility during the pre-season and it paying dividends. 

I wonder whether Sparrow needs to go down a similar path. Seems to me like he can't go sideways. Players with any kind of step go past him so easily. 

There was a photo of Sparrow next to Rivers and his legs were far bigger and Trent isn’t a small man at all.

I suspect they’ll try to lighten a few kgs of muscle off Sparrow over the offseason and look for agility and speed if there’s any to find.

Hoping for another gutsy showing. Surprisingly confident 

18 minutes ago, kryton101 said:

Difficult playing with soapy balls.

It's very likely to deter gent.

23 minutes ago, kryton101 said:

Difficult playing with soapy balls

This is lathering it on a bit thick

32 minutes ago, kryton101 said:

Difficult playing with soapy balls.

But it does put a nice shine on them

1 hour ago, chook fowler said:

TMacs resurrection

I reckon there have been at least three. This one might be the most impressive, which is a fair effort given how good he was up until the finals in 2021. 

1 hour ago, kryton101 said:

Difficult playing with soapy balls.

Slippery when wet.

2 hours ago, Pennant St Dee said:

Weather in Perth this time of year very unpredictable. Current forecast for Sunday is 90% Chance of showers but only 40% chance during game time.

Expected rainfall for the day is 1-5mm so most likely it will be a slick track but not likely to impact talks to much

Focus is similar to last week in terms of stopping their uncontested game and ability to transition easily from the D50. Like Ryan had a field day when we played in Alice 

How is the drainage on Optus Oval? It's raining, significantly, every day from Wednesday.

Bowey looked short (which he is) on more than one occasion on Saturday. Fremantle play four forwards over 190cm, plus either Darcy or Jackson can be spending time there too. I wonder if we need Howes or Tomlinson.