48 minutes ago, The Cult of Disco Turner said:

Uh…well…I was wrong. Apologies to you and good call.

48 minutes ago, The Cult of Disco Turner said:

Uh…well…I was wrong. Apologies to you and good call.

48 minutes ago, The Cult of Disco Turner said:

Uh…well…I was wrong. Apologies to you and good call.

Just as well I have a very good optometrist! Apologies accepted !

49 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Wow.. Rivers dropped.

Good fumbled and missed crucial goal. Spread the word, petform or ur out, Lindsay, Sparrow and Latrelle would want to fire. Would have preffered Moose on the Loose to Cross but what do I 🤪

Edited Friday at 07:013 days by picket fence

6 minutes ago, Dannyz said:

There is no doubt that Rivers has been dropped but I can also reveal that he’s been managing a knee injury since December. He was super keen not to de-load and wanted to take his place in Origin but no doubt this has affected his performance.

Cheers...lifts a bit of the fog 👍

5 minutes ago, ElDiablo14 said:

Why not list him as injured then? Very strange selection, far from our worst.

Because resting a body part doesn’t constitute an injury. Anyways, my point is, there is likely a reason for this decision, a reason that’s not been made known.

On 23/03/2026 at 07:40, Dannyz said:

The easy option for the coaching staff is to drop Sparrow but the real challenge lies in coaching him through increasing his production.

No.

The problem is Sparrow has now convinced yet another coach that he is a good player.

I think King likes a small forward - may be because they look up to him.

22 minutes ago, beelzebub said:

In the absence of any real knowledge or explanation about how Rivers comes to be ommitted I can only surmise there is indeed a very good reason. ( we just don't know it )

Fair to say Trent got King hit...

Aside from Rivers' fumbling, he landed ONE tackle for the entire game. In contrast, Sparrow had nine.

33 minutes ago, Garbo said:

He must have broken some team rule, I hope king will elaborate and not dodge the question if asked, his form would not warrant getting dropped over other players

Highly unlikely. I’d guess it’s more of an injury prevention type of situation than a behavioural issue.

I said this in the Freo post game thread and have said it several times in the last 12 months:

It's because the defensive side of his game in the middle is completely substandard.

Last year he had comfortably the worst missed tackle % of any player in the competition - with a big gap to the second worst.

The coaches are desperately trying to drum some defensive intent into him and he’s just not taking it on board or improving sufficiently.

This has been an issue for a long time. Clarry for those 5-6 years at his best was the perfect inside player - best ball winner in the comp but also a hunter when the opposition had it. Trac was damaging enough going forward that others covered for him. Rivers isn’t. He’s a nice player but realistically he’s never going to be an A-grader. Look at the other blokes in his draft - serong, anderson, young, rowell, green etc. He’s nowhere near that level. So if he wants to play inside he needs to be an all rounder cos we’ve already got Kozzy who’s the one bloke we can carry playing largely unaccountable footy…

2 minutes ago, AshTaafe said:

Aside from Rivers' fumbling, he landed ONE tackle for the entire game. In contrast, Sparrow had nine.

And let’s face it, our tackle execution as a team has been very poor to start the year!

4 minutes ago, chook fowler said:

I think King likes a small forward - may be because they look up to him.

Even Roo would have to look up 🤣

Just now, Dee Boys said:

I said this in the Freo post game thread and have said it several times in the last 12 months:

It's because the defensive side of his game in the middle is completely substandard.

Last year he had comfortably the worst missed tackle % of any player in the competition - with a big gap to the second worst.

The coaches are desperately trying to drum some defensive intent into him and he’s just not taking it on board or improving sufficiently.

This has been an issue for a long time. Clarry for those 5-6 years at his best was the perfect inside player - best ball winner in the comp but also a hunter when the opposition had it. Trac was damaging enough going forward that others covered for him. Rivers isn’t. He’s a nice player but realistically he’s never going to be an A-grader. Look at the other blokes in his draft - serong, anderson, young, rowell, green etc. He’s nowhere near that level. So if he wants to play inside he needs to be an all rounder cos we’ve already got Kozzy who’s the one bloke we can carry playing largely unaccountable footy…

I think Rivers is a handy player but really haven’t been overly impressed by him. He doesn’t do anything outstanding. Probably a solid B player but certainly not an A. I think it’s a good move, injury management or otherwise which will assist in him continuing to improve his game and not becoming complacent (not suggesting he is though).

Like Lever last year, I think it’s a good wake up call and kick in the bum.

Will be good seeing a new player out there as well to see what the young man can do.

How the heck are we going to chair off the two heaviest blokes in the team simultaneously?

Seriously though, absolutely love TMac and Gawn playing their 250th together. Special milestone to be shared together with two of my all time faves. Well done boys.

Maybe they meant to drop Jarred?

4 minutes ago, Nasher said:

How the heck are we going to chair off the two heaviest blokes in the team simultaneously?

Seriously though, absolutely love TMac and Gawn playing their 250th together. Special milestone to be shared together with two of my all time faves. Well done boys.

I was wondering who was going to carry those behemoths off the ground. Good luck, Chandler and co.

23 hours ago, Marco said:

Looking like Rivers maybe dropped this week.

Prescient 👏👏👏

12 minutes ago, Red and Blue Flame said:

No.

The problem is Sparrow has now convinced yet another coach that he is a good player.

And it only took a couple of weeks!!! Either Spaz is extremely proficient at fooling people, or Kingy is the most gullible coach in the league.

Kingy doesn’t strike me as the sending a message type of coach. Especially if dropping Riv is sending a message to Spaz which is what some folks on here are suggesting.

46 minutes ago, watchtheeyes said:

While I understand the temptation to criticise Sparrow given is apparent lack of possession/impact, I’m also willing to consider that he is doing exactly what is being asked of him in the context of the team.. which maybe Rivers is not

Bingo

29 minutes ago, Ghostwriter said:

Highly unlikely. I’d guess it’s more of an injury prevention type of situation than a behavioural issue.

But he was selected as an emergency

Just now, joeboy said:

But he was selected as an emergency

Seems it’s not only the good lord who works in mysterious ways. Coaches do as well 😉

22 minutes ago, Ghostwriter said:

Kingy doesn’t strike me as the sending a message type of coach. Especially if dropping Riv is sending a message to Spaz which is what some folks on here are suggesting.

You would be well aware that King has spoken with Rivers ( as you've noted he's very big on that kind of communicating )

🤔I can only think whatever is going on makes perfect sense to those involved.

On the flip side.... here's your chance Paddy 😉

47 minutes ago, beelzebub said:

Cheers...lifts a bit of the fog 👍

Rivers

1 hour ago, joeboy said:

Rivers dropped and Sparrow retained…😳

A joke, Sparrow has done absolutely nothing and the [censored] drop Rivers WTFbloody🤡

As disappointing week to week it will be for supporters, I expect the coach feels it is more important to see who has got 'it' and lose a game than grind out a win while learning little about who will be in our future team.

New Coach 101

Drop an experienced player that doesn’t perform his role as expected to show who is boss and that no one is safe