On 27/07/2024 at 23:14, Storm Boy said:

Yes, I'm very worried about 2025 as well. Firstly I'm stressed about our list profile and List Management. Gawn 32 years old, May 32 years old, Melksham 32 years old, McDonald 31 years old, Ben Brown 31 years. Viney and Tomlinson both 30 years old. We are heading towards the edge of the cliff and it doesn't look good at all. 

Woewodin, Sparrow and Bowey have all gone backwards in development this year. I'll put my hand up and say we should trade our first rounder in 2025 to get another midfielder in this year's draft. However there is so much risks associated with it. 

We didn't have a ready made ruckman to replace Max Gawn when he got injured this year. I'm not trying to poke the bear but maybe it's time we need another new set of eyes and Tim Lamb should go. There are some positives however the negatives outweigh the positives. 

Christian Salem can't get his body right since the 2021 premiership. We should be worried about next season, but I hope I'm wrong and we do make Finals in 2025. 

And the most or near to it players 22 or under in the team for the past 2 weeks. You can relax.

  On 27/07/2024 at 22:29, Oxdee said:

Clarry had 13 contested possessions. Probably his best game of the year. You do realise he doesn’t have superpowers? 

Yes I know and have posted how good Clarry was last night.  Real signs of his prior self, winning contested footy. But the last quarter, Giants won Centre clearance 8-0.  That last bounce was crucial and there was a disconnect between Gawn and the mids.  

  On 27/07/2024 at 23:08, 3183 Dee said:

I agree - he clearly has ability, otherwise why would his contract be extended? He hasn’t particularly shone in his senior outings to date, but should be given these next few games to get some time under his belt.

They extended him right after preseason when he looked good over summer. Slimmed down, fitter, was darting around getting the ball in match sim training and using it well.

Was dropped by round 2 and hasn’t had or really deserved much of a go since.

Im happy to give him the rest of the year but I saw little last night to suggest he’s going to make it. 

  On 27/07/2024 at 23:48, Redleg said:

I am not a fan of Bill, but agree with your post. He was just ok yesterday and deserves a run at it to build confidence and a sense of belonging. He could be another mid that we so desperately need more of. He is already our player so let’s see what he has.

We are a bottom 4 side if Laurie is getting a game. 

  On 28/07/2024 at 00:27, spirit of norm smith said:

Yes I know and have posted how good Clarry was last night.  Real signs of his prior self, winning contested footy. But the last quarter, Giants won Centre clearance 8-0.  That last bounce was crucial and there was a disconnect between Gawn and the mids.  

Clarry was somewhat good for 3/4’s then totally spent in the last. Gawn barely lasted a half and we looked better with JVR in the middle who at least provided follow up. Max and the mids haven’t been on the same page all year.

  On 27/07/2024 at 13:50, Bowserpower said:

When you play nearly 20 games, yes it is.

There is a misconception that Oliver's lack of preseason is the problem (despite being our best tonight without having Trac to take some of the load)

It has hindered him and he hasn't gone about it like the greatest MFC player of the modern era normally does but it's the hand.

We focused on the premiership window and Oliver was a key piece of that. He was playing when he shouldn't have.

I've personally had surgery on my hand after a footballing injury and it cripples you. 

Oliver has had surgery on both shoulders and we got that right, they don't pop out anymore. Let's hope we haven't bungled his hand becase that would be a travesty.

 

I know I was a fair distance away but did no one else see the giants player running through the goal square prior opportunity, drops the ball tackled no free. Would've been certain last quarter goal. Was I just imagining it?

Fun Fact

Both us and Gws have had four close games by one goal or less.

The difference being we lost three of ours and they won three of theirs.

Inaccuracy costs games. We still have this as a problem.

It's been with us for three seasons now. Is the club making progress here? Not sure.

  On 28/07/2024 at 00:17, Binmans PA said:

Yep, he was good. And we have to give him some continuity. Team high score involvements too.

4 games to go with nothing to lose. If he can go into the back end of the year playing good footy then that'll give him the confidence to attack pre season and hopefully consolidate his spot in the best 22 next year.

Fritta our highest goal scorer with two goals was very lacking in his pressure acts for me.

In the last quarter there were a couple of times where he was only jogging after a player. Didn't look remotely interested in catching him. Zero tackles too.

He's a classy player but he's seems either on or off at times. 

Needs to work a little harder perhaps.

  On 28/07/2024 at 00:36, loges said:

I know I was a fair distance away but did no one else see the giants player running through the goal square prior opportunity, drops the ball tackled no free. Would've been certain last quarter goal. Was I just imagining it?

Ash caught.  Green caught.  Idun caught.  All had prior opportunity and the umps put their whistle away.  🤬🤬🤬

  On 27/07/2024 at 23:10, Engorged Onion said:

This is the reasons EVERY team loses. I know you know this :)

And for those that are unclear - and use this as THE reason to make sense of it to blame the FD or the athletes - this has happened to every single team, every single season.

What's with some supporters disconnect with understanding how fine the margins are to winning and losing, within each club within the competition that is designed to be  equal (forgetting the draw,) and then the outrage towards players the the FD - that occurs when we lose, it's seriously [censored].

Aside from being Freo's bunnies - > we're a team that has had a lot of adversity this year, a lot - and had to patch things up on the fly...and have been quite valiant and shown lot of resilience considering the context of injuries and other missing athletes.

It's as if this knowledge evaporates to some people when focusing on single game outcomes, and is such a shallow binary analysis.

Still, from a club perspective - I'd rather be us than Essendon at least... 😎

The afl media landscape has trained us to be incredibly shallow and binary in our analysis. We should be surprised when people show depth in their analysis, not the other way around. It takes a brave man to look for context in this modern afl world. 

  On 28/07/2024 at 00:01, Demonsone said:

Goodwin in his presser said we lost clearance 8-0 in the last qtr who’s responsible for this as this has been a theme all season, our inability to also hold the ball in our fwd 50!

Injuries and retirements are responsible for this. 

Yeh well im [censored] off we lost

I must admit when we went to the game I hoped for a win but expected a loss, yet we came out firing 10 shots on goal but only converted 50%, our pressure was right up there. The Giants have a lot of tools in their bag of tricks, their handballing is creative and their short passing is accurate and hard to stop, they run in waves and have a lot of very good players and stagers but when it came down to it in the end we’re their forwards (bloody Hogan) kicked at 72% accuracy for set shots and we kicked at 62%, they kicked straighter and all our hard work and sometimes quite brilliant team work went unrewarded. The conditions were so cold and damp but both sides adjusted pretty well, at the end of the game we just all looked at each other and thought we should have won it. Demon Army were great all night, the people around us were quite vocal and we enjoyed hot jam donuts as we walked back towards the city to get the car. No parking at the G not even for Permits, outlandish really.

  On 27/07/2024 at 23:59, Dee*ceiving said:

Bill should get a run of games and might do ok but won't help our midfield balance. We are already one paced at the contest.  

For mine Sparrow is the superior footballer, bigger, faster, longer kick and proven to be a handy mark but just hasn't been himself this year.  Hopefully some time and Casey and a decent preseason will see him back to form. 

Sparrow is a mystery. Oliver and Viney we understand. Petracca didn't come on like we thought he would at the same stage as Sparrow in his career until some off field stuff clicked. Who knows.

  On 28/07/2024 at 00:29, Oxdee said:

We are a bottom 4 side if Laurie is getting a game. 

Do you think he played well yesterday?

If he played like that every week he would be a regular.

We actually improve with hungry footballers, instead of too many very comfortable ones.

I think there's a quick bounce for this list if we get the draft and trade absolutely spot on. We should be working at this behind the scenes as we speak.

1 good mid + a couple to add to depth, half decent ruckman/forward with Verell hopefully getting his chance in 25.

We just need to absolutely nail this area.

  On 28/07/2024 at 00:32, Wrecker46 said:

There is a misconception that Oliver's lack of preseason is the problem (despite being our best tonight without having Trac to take some of the load)

It has hindered him and he hasn't gone about it like the greatest MFC player of the modern era normally does but it's the hand.

We focused on the premiership window and Oliver was a key piece of that. He was playing when he shouldn't have.

I've personally had surgery on my hand after a footballing injury and it cripples you. 

Oliver has had surgery on both shoulders and we got that right, they don't pop out anymore. Let's hope we haven't bungled his hand becase that would be a travesty.

 

I feel pretty confident saying it’s his fitness and his mindset not his hand. It’s been weeks since the hand surgery and there’s been plenty of good pick ups and handballs in those weeks and probably 100+ tackles.

What there hasn’t been is clear decision making at times - although that’s never been his greatest strength.

And more than anything there hasn’t been the usual and sustained explosive burst and repeated change of directions, nor is he linking up away from the contest. Not to mention being completely spent by 3/4 time.

  On 28/07/2024 at 01:03, Redleg said:

Do you think he played well yesterday?

If he played like that every week he would be a regular.

We actually improve with hungry footballers, instead of too many very comfortable ones.

I thought that Bill was OK last night, his pass to Fritta was sublime.

  On 28/07/2024 at 00:51, von said:

Injuries and retirements are responsible for this. 

Comparativelywe have had few injuries. It highlights our lack o f depth, particularly in the midfield. We also can’t maintain effort and concentration for 4 quarters. ? Fitness ? Mental. The c o aches and recruiters have got a lot of thinking to do because it has been a wasted season.

  On 28/07/2024 at 01:23, chook fowler said:

Comparativelywe have had few injuries. It highlights our lack o f depth, particularly in the midfield. We also can’t maintain effort and concentration for 4 quarters. ? Fitness ? Mental. The c o aches and recruiters have got a lot of thinking to do because it has been a wasted season.

Comparative to what? Our whole midfield is injured, retired, underdone. Except maybe Viney. Rivers doesn’t count cause he just became a midfielder 

  On 27/07/2024 at 12:23, dazzledavey36 said:

Back on the coaching with this one. Hogan is the premier full forward in the game and we have the premier fullback playing on Jake Riccardi until they made the move late in the last quarter.

Horrid coaching

This makes sense but I was at the game and May could barely walk - it looks to me like a back injury. My guess is that's why they put him on Riccardi. Gawn was the other player who clearly played under duress and struggled to get around.

  On 28/07/2024 at 01:32, Roger Mellie said:

This makes sense but I was at the game and May could barely walk - it looks to me like a back injury. My guess is that's why they put him on Riccardi. Gawn was the other player who clearly played under duress and struggled to get around.

Wasn't there some rumour that may and Lever were both carrying something and in doubt to play?

  On 27/07/2024 at 13:32, Jaded No More said:

He was battling hard. I think he’s got a bit of a sore groin but his willingness to compete is something else. I love him. 

Windsor got a hit in the goolies and dropped like a stone.  Then a foot injury in the dying seconds of the game.