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Demons fans, next week at the game cheer hard and loud for Adam Tomlinson. Hasn’t dropped his head, continued to work hard and deserves his shot. We need guys like him being professional and giving it their all regardless of what level they are playing. I have a lot of admiration for players like him and Mitch Brown.

Fremantle's best is very good. They were two players off their best 22 and they played the best football they've played since 2015. We can't beat good sides, let alone sides flying like Fremantle today, when we had as much go wrong as we did today. No Salem, Langdon, McDonald or Harmes. No May after 15 minutes. If you were at the game you'll have seen Petracca was wholly devoid of energy. It doesn't surprise to hear Goodwin suggest he was sick. Petty was injured and popped painkillers to run out the game. And Lever's been carrying something for weeks. The replacements were almost all really poor. Melksham was just terrible, Dunstan not much better, Bedford isn't good or fit enough (not sure which) to play four quarters, and Weideman was both shocking and lacking in all confidence. We tried to cover Langdon with Spargo on a wing. It didn't work twice - it meant we were exposed on that wing, and we lacked Spargo's pressure inside 50. Brown had a nightmare but to be fair to him, we kept kicking the ball on his head and he was double-teamed for most of the game because we had no other marking options. And then our inaccuracy hit us again. Fritsch and Weideman missed shots they should have kicked and we honestly should have been 7 or 8 goals up at half time. Game could and I suspect would have played out much differently had Fritsch's set shot goal in the third restored a 6 or 7 goal margin, rather than a 3 goal margin. We still generated enough opportunity to keep ourselves in the game but when we needed a goal to get the crowd going and to give us some confidence, Trac missed his snap in the third and then Spargo missed his early fourth quarter shot. May going down is a disaster, compounded by Petty being injured (and I reckon Lever being injured too). And then double-compounded by having no McDonald who could have covered infinitely better than Weideman. We haven't missed Hibberd all year but we could have used his height today: Bowey, Rivers, Hunt and Brayshaw aren't tall enough to help cover tall forwards and it showed. We should see a handful of changes next week. There is a lot we need to improve to be sure of restoring our form.

Why we lost ? x injuries - Salem Langdon Tmcd Harmes out of best 22 x injuries part 2 - during the game - May going down so early in the first quarter and left us exposed to Lobb and Taberner. May is our defensive leader. Lever had to go across and robbed us of our advantage. Petty clearly was then not 100% in 2nd half. x Trac was not 100% at all. He didn’t have his intensity and energy and lost many contests. There was no burst. x bad kicking for goal - yes we’ve called it out that it would eventually cost us and it did. Definitely we were in top in the 2nd quarter and missed so many chances to be 7 or 8 goals up (not 4). Could have applied the jugular but we left ourselves exposed. Conversion has to be improved. Fritsch had some chances as did Trac. Start of the 4th, we could have got back but missed chances. x key forwards were very poor. Simply out marked or out bodied. Brown has had a poor few weeks and needs to lead up more. He’s still in our best 22 alongside Tmcd. Weid has exhausted his opportunities imv and was very poor last night and eventually tried moving back. x In the 2nd half, Freo simply out “Melbourned” us. Sure there was pressure but we created our own with fumbles and missed tackles. Running into trouble didn’t help and examples like Lever and Hunt directly leaked goals x we lost in the contested footy , especially in the 3rd quarter. Lost Clearances-and-lost stoppages. x contested marking all around the ground favoured Freo. Many reasons and I’m sure the diagnosis will be thorough. But remember we are 10-1 and on top of the ladder. That’s the goal and there will be speed bumps along the way. We have 4-5 players to bring back and add a fit Trac and the leadership of May. I will take Dees v Freo in the GF in September. We can take them !!

Fremantle came with a point to prove and with May down and out early, Petty with a knee troubling him, Trac clearly crook, Langdon, T Mac, Salem and Harmes out and a number of our best players having poor games it was the perfect storm for a comfortable loss. What was most disappointing was the number of our players who were just down and making errors constantly. Our shape around contest looked all over the place and after half time it just didn't look like the team we've come to know. The only worry going into next week is injury to some of our key personnel. I've been a big wrap for Sam over Tom this year but last night was possibly the final straw for me. We weren't making it easy for our tall forwards with our entries but what's completely inexcusable is the amount of times Sam failed at making a contest and allowing his opponent to out-body him and mark the ball. It happened way too many times. Brown was also down and looked proppy I thought when coming off at one stage. Looks like we're a bit banged up but next week I expect a strong response and solid win providing we get some personnel back. We need Salem's ball use and composure desperately. Rivers and Hunt have been a bit wobbly for a few weeks now imo. Can't keep carrying underperforming players or we'll continue to leak easy goals.

The problem with winning 17 on the trot and a flag, if there can be a problem with that, is the height of the bar that it sets. Good sides play bad games in almost every year. The media love talking about 2018 Richmond and comparing us to them. In 2018 Richmond lost mid year to West Coast by 47 points. Remained the dominant H&A side that year. Then in 2019 Richmond lost six games, each one by at least 33 points, and one by 67 points to Geelong in Round 13. The point being that good sides, even great ones like 2018-19 Richmond, can lose games badly. The fact we didn't lose one badly at all in 2021 is a testament to how good we are, not a cause for this level of concern in 2022.

He didn't squib it. He chose the wrong option, trying to hit up Petracca or Brown when they were clearly manned up. He was only 35m out. Should have taken the shot on himself.

Today was as much about our holes across the ground and how poorly we played, as it was about how utterly awesome Freo were. They were scary good. Looked very Melbourne circa 2021 finals series. They're legit and are still very much a threat. People wrote them off after the last two weeks. Credit where it was due. My main concern today was just the overall disconnect in general play. Hospital handpasses casually to players directly under pressure. Poor aerial contest. Outmarked across the ground. Constant space between Melbourne and Freo players. They pulled off every trick they tried. We had nothing up our sleeve. We were a shadow of our best. But Freo were just awesome.

The [censored] returns. First post since the season began. Fifth post since we were behind in the Grand Final. Honestly, the worst thing about a loss is seeing people like olisik return.

Apparently Bowey is singing the song on his own and looks upset and confused poor kid

My takes ... Tommo BOG and comes in to the seniors next week Hibbo will need more time before he's considered Mitch Brown crashes packs and atm if Tom Mc doesn't get up I'd say he's a good chance of a game (perhaps even if?) We really have to look at Cory Ellison - perhaps a Rookie spot next year?

Zero chance JVR got picked anyway even if he was available. Throwing kids to the wolves who aren’t ready was so 2009. If we need a break-glass forward, Mitch Brown will play. It’s what he’s on the list for and he’s been in form.

Thank god for that. Keeps us 2 games clear of them and Freo play Brisbane next week.

He is a good club man And IMVHO Mitch Brown should replace Weed next week. I had thought that JVR could have been a chance but missed this week with “illness”.

Tomlinson a cut above and Turner a very exciting prospect.

We lost it because we didn't make the most of our 2nd qtr dominance. And in the 3rd qtr when Petty was off for much of it they took advantage of our lack of height. We moved Weideman back which was 'robbing Peter to pay Paul' as it left Brown totally exposed in the fwd line. Max and Jackson couldn't plug the gaps fwd and back. As a result we lost our structures all over the ground. Our ball movement suffered, our confidence suffered and by the time the last qtr started the momentum was all Freo's. The better team won but I can't imagine we will ever play that badly again.

One thought I had today was that these guys have nothing on Cam Pedersen in terms of physicality. Long live Pedo.

All our defenders had a torrid time yesterday. The 'talls' have been much spoken about. A few words about our smaller defenders: Bowey, Hunt, Rivers and Brayshaw. Normally, Hunt would have had Schultz covered and Bowey would have Frederick covered. But they along with Rivers and Brayshaw had to cover their man plus back up Lever in May's absence and Petty's injury. Furthermore, some of them were attending stoppages because our mids couldn't get down there. And Brayshaw gave us great rebound in the second quarter. All up that was a mountain of work by those 4 guys especially when our midfield was depleted and couldn't stop the ball getting into our d half. Eventually the avalanche took its toll. Its easy to forget Bowey has played 18 games, Rivers 44 and Petty 36. A big learning experience for them. While the scoreboard says otherwise our defensive unit did a great job. Very proud of them all.

Petracca's done this for us repeatedly. He wasn't right yesterday and couldn't do it. Oliver's done it too, but he was copping a tight tag. Gawn's done it too, but he was in a strong battle with Darcy and had to pay him respect. May's done it but wasn't on the field. Lever's done it but was being asked to man our entire defence without May and with Petty on one leg. I'm more disappointed in the next level down - Jackson, Hunt, Sparrow, Rivers, Brown, ANB, players who have been reliable since Round 1 2021 but who all yesterday were off the boil. Without Petracca or Oliver able to turn the tide with their brilliance, none of them were able to go with a hot opponent.

29,812 is the biggest crowd we've ever had against Fremantle at home, so really not that bad.

Time to give the Weid a potential reinvention and resurrection down back I reckon. A la Liam Jones, Paddy McCartin, James Sicily, and too many others to mention. It would also fit nicely into my (admittedly only briefly tested) theory that Harry Petty, as good as he is defensively, is our next power forward! 😳 Thoughts? (I’m ducking my head already).

Essendon v Freo at Docklands got 24k Geelong v Freo at KP got 20k So our 29k is 25% and 50% higher attendance than Fremantle's two other Victorian games this year. Is it great for a tip 4 match up? No, I'd like more. But it is pretty much on par for AFL crowds in 2022.

Really not sure what caused the dramatic fall off in intensity from Casey in that last half, could barely get the ball past the centre wing in that last quarter, every time Frankston kicked a minor score, Tomlinson would run his required distance and bomb it to an outnumbered Mitch Brown, only for it to come straight back the other way, was extremely frustrating. Tommo was clearly the pick of the Dees, found plenty of it, read the play well and worked within his limitations to find others. Hibberd will no doubt have 2 or 3 qtrs of VFL next week looked well short of a gallop, then likely a full VFL game, there's no way or need for them to rush him. Same with Salem you'd expect at least 1 VFL hitout next week against Sydney in the curtain raiser. Bakers workrate was immense, it mystifies me how we've had Melksham planted on a wing the last two weeks in the seniors when Baker plays the wing role perfectly, I guess it was to get Milkshake to his 200 and he'll be straight back down to this level next week. A lot of our senior listed players are 'goers' at this level still, Laurie was only average today whereas I have seen him play a lot better games a month ago, Deakyn Smith has flashes of class followed by going missing for 20 minutes, same with the newer guys McVee and Woewodin Jnr, although his smother was magnificent. Daniel Turner is the one for me, he's still too underdone given his long layoff from that foot injury, but he has all the traits we require in a young key position player, it was good to see they gave him a taste at the top level against Carlton in that pre-season game, so they obviously can see that potential like Casey watchers have. I don't think he'll get a game at senior level this year but look forward to seeing him in the seniors next year. Brown similarly to Baker has an endless workrate, he continually presents at this level, and could be considered as Weideman was again abysmal at senior level. Elllison as has been mentioned was the standout of the Casey listed players, he looks like he could play if he gets drafted next week, hopefully for our sake he doesn't and we get to watch him develop for the rest of the year for Casey. A workmanlike win in the end after that 2nd quarter dominance.

Siren sounds and it’s 9 games in a row to the Casey Demons. Casey Demons 2.1.13 8.4.52 8.6.54 10.6.66 Frankston 2.1.13 3.3.21 4.7.31 6.12.48 Goals Casey Demons Ellison 3 M Brown 2 Grey Laurie Neocleous J.Smith Woewodin Frankston Burton McLaughlin 2 Fordham Lambert Best Casey Demons Grey Munro Tomlinson Ellison Baker Turner D Smith Brown Frankston Stoddart Freeman Mynott Murphy Fordham Riley Statistics Oskar Baker 13 kicks 7 handballs 20 disposals 2 marks 1 tackle 63 dream team points Riley Baldi 6 kicks 9 handballs 15 disposals 4 marks 7 tackles 74 dream team points Mitch Brown 2 goals 2 behinds 9 kicks 3 handballs 12 disposals 5 marks 3 tackles 71 dream team points Matt Buntine 6 kicks 1 handball 7 disposals 4 marks 4 tackles 49 dream team points Tyler Edwards 3 kicks 2 handballs disposals 2 marks 1 tackle 20 dream team points Corey Ellison 3 goals 1 behind 10 kicks 4 handballs 14 disposals 7 marks 1 tackle 2 hit outs 81 dream team points George Grey 1 goals 13 kicks 6 handballs 19 disposals 2 marks 7 tackles 95 dream team points Michael Hibberd 6 kicks 5 handballs 11 disposals 3 marks 5 tackles 54dream team points Ryan Koo 6 kicks 3 handballs 9 disposals 4 marks 1 tackle 34 dream team points Bailey Laurie 1 goal 3 kicks 6 handballs 9 disposals 3 tackles 36 dream team points Judd McVee 12 kicks 2 handballs 14 disposals 3 marks 2 tackles 55 dream team points Andy Moniz-Wakefield 3 kicks 6 handballs 9 disposals 1 mark 2 tackles 29 dream team points Bryce Milford 2 kicks 1 handballs 3 disposals 4 tackles 5 hit outs 30 dream team points James Munro 5 kicks 17 handballs 22 disposals 2 marks 14 tackles 102 dream team points Harvey Neocleous 1 goal 1 kicks 3 handballs 4 disposals 2 tackles 23 dream team points Fraser Rosman 6 kicks 3 handballs 9 disposals 4 marks 3 tackles 39 dream team points Deakyn Smith 12 kicks 7 handballs 19 disposals 5 marks 5 tackles 80 dream team points Josh Smith 1 goals 5 kicks 5 handballs 10 disposals 3 marks 3 tackles 25 hit outs 78 dream team points Roan Steele 5 kicks 5 handballs 10 disposals 3 marks 3 tackles 43 dream team points Adam Tomlinson 21 kicks 7 handballs 28 disposals 8 marks 3 tackles 114 dream team points Daniel Turner 9 kicks 5 handballs 14 disposals 7 marks 1 tackles 62 dream team points Mitch White 8 kicks 4 handballs 12 disposals 4 marks 11 tackles 80 dream team points Taj Woewodin 1 goal 8 kicks 8 handballs 16 disposals 4 marks 2 tackles 66 dream team points

Mitch Brown worth a crack?

I'm disappointed with the loss, but not despondent. We went into the game without clear 'best 22' players in TMac, Langdon, Harmes and Salem, and lost May very early on. Petty's injury and Petracca's illness further added to our woes (that's almost one third of our best team either down or out). Out of necessity, several players had to play unfamiliar roles, and our team systems broke down badly as a result. Further, we've been 'carrying' a couple of out of form players for a few weeks now, and they will come under the microscope for next week's game. Like all clubs, there is a significant gap between our best 22 and our depth players. I'll be watching the Casey game with interest this arvo. It just doesn't feel like the start of a string of losses to me.

Richmond never had a dominant ruckman through their years of winning flags so I'm not so sure your argument stacks up. If you have a quality ruckman, clearly it'll help your cause but it's obviously not the difference between winning a premiership and not.

If it’s not a musculoskeletal injury, it will always come down to the player. It literally comes down to how they ‘feel’. On the injury front generally, and I’ve said it before (endlessly), players unavailable week to week is the single most reliable determinant of season outcome across the AFL. This will be the story of our season’s second half. Get back or close to best 22, and we reset and march on. Have a rolling 4-5 out weekly (or more), and we’re going to really struggle, sad to say. It’s the truth nobody (particularly the media, and coaches) really want to talk about. As such, with May obviously out, player returns for next week’s game will be crucial.

Guys, I can tell you that right now the Club is not overly confident that Luke will re-sign. Personally, I assumed Luke would certainly stay for 2/3 more years of fun, before even considering a move, however, that is far from certain. I can tell you that the absolute appropriate person within the footy Club told me today that they are only mildly confident that he’ll stay.

Sorry but can you fug off? Haven’t seen you around once since we won the flag and went on a 10 game winning streak. We lose one game and here you are like a bad smell.

Petty was injured last week and surprised to see him selected. Even then I thought he may be a late out when Tomlison was an emergency. Knowing that Petty could break down and that TMc wasn't there for backup if he did, I was really surprised Tomlinson wasn't sub. It was a risk which backfired and made worse by May going off as well.

I hate the filth but it was good to see Carlton lose.

Tomlinson very good but still has moments where he seems tentative on his legs. Turner had some excellent moments, he reads it well and bodies up nicely. Doesn’t really get high in the air to pluck marks or spoil over the top which is something he might have to add to excel at afl level. Deakin Smith continues to do some great things but undo them with poor use at times. Love his aggression and movement. Laurie has the biggest backside a Dees player has had since Trengove. Unlike Trengove he doesn’t use it to win the pill in tight. He’s a long way off Taj is a solid performer at this level who would be loved by his team mates. George Grey continues to do more as a midfielder, one to watch

He is there supporting his best mate Hibberd

Ludicrous: Idiotic or unthinkable, often to the point of being funny. Sums up most of this thread really D11. (Reminder to self . . . stop reading the madness on 'Land and write your uni assignment.)

Rivers had a knee injury preseason and was rushed in for round 1 due to our huge list of injuries in the backline. He’s been underdone all year and really struggled with form as a result. He’d be first out of the backline once Salem returns from injury. Hopefully the bye helps him recover a bit as he’s had heavy taping on is knee most weeks and really limited with his drive coming off halfback compared to his good first two seasons.

We have some very average supporters. When we had May and Petty on we were 5 goals up. Both down for the 2nd half and Trac sick and people are jumping up and down like we are 1-10. Give me strength!!

At the ground, I was watching Weideman closely. As the ball came into the forward line, a Freo defender would make body contact with him. As soon as that happened he was out of the contest.

I still believe in our depth but yesterday was a bridge too far. A lot of our first choice 22 were out: Salem, McDonald, Harmes, Langdon. All other things being equal we would have won with the selected team. But with May, Petty and Petracca 'not available' (and Max looked hampered) for much of the game it was too much for our replacements Bedford, Dunstan, Melksham and Weideman to plug those gaps. Altho credit to Bedford's work. Which 'absentee' was the 'straw that broke the camel's back'. I don't know. But we had to shuffle best 22 players to unfamiliar roles which weakened structures, ball movement and fwd half pressure. imv that has little to do with our depth.

Wow wee. There are dozens of accumulators in the comp on 800K, but rest assured Clayton isn't one of them. I can't remember one cheap possession yesterday.

Fremantle had 2 more inside 50s Fremantle had 5 more shots Fremantle accuracy of 52% compared to our 32% Fremantle won by 38 points

Tomlinson for May is a certainty. After that depends on Petty, Petracca and Lever's fitness, and the fitness of those who we desperately need back. Melksham, Dunstan and Weideman should all be dropped. Who replaces them is TBD but hopefully Langdon, Harmes and McDonald are fit. If Langdon's not ready we can't go into the game with Spargo the starting wing. I'm prepared to give Brown one more game, in the hope that the delivery is better than it was tonight. And because Weideman was just as bad but with fewer credits in the bank.

I’d just like to apologise to the club, players, sponsors and supporters. Without fail when it’s my birthday we get beaten. I shouldn’t have attended, as this was always going to happen. In all seriousness Weed is mentally shot. I feel for him but he gave up on contests tonight, and knew he was going to get beaten. I think he’s a great bloke, but he doesn’t have the mental determination for elite sport. Our stoppage and clearance work was really, really poor. I know there’s a lot of talk about Yze, but I didn’t see anything shift or change in the game that suggested we tried much - and we got absolutely slaughtered. Happy to be proven wrong. In general we just didn’t show any spirit after half time. As a fan I was disappointed in that. Kept waiting for it and it didn’t come. Not the end of the world, just a chance to learn and reevaluate.

Dearly missed our two most important players after Clarry today, in May and Langdon . Which made it very hard against another top 4 side. With Trac looking very flat like he was carrying something or had a bit of flu I don’t know, and Brown copping a bath two weeks in a row now , we were primed for a loss. Out marked all over the park we really need guys like Salem, TMac , Harmes , Langdon and May. Melksham , Dunstan and Weed ain’t the answer.

I don’t mind the loss, but I can’t stand the capitulation.

Conceding 50 points in a quarter was really concerning

I feel strangely calm about tonights loss. Good time of year to shuffle the deck chairs and see what works (or not)

Not surprised one bit with the amount of premiership players missing. This loss has been brewing. We got absolutely obliterated in every aspect of today's game. There is no sugar coating this performance. 12 goals to 1 in the 2nd half is a concern moving forward. Where to start.. midfield was smashed today. Oliver tried hard but Jordon was the pick for me. Viney has no right foot and just sells teammates into trouble. Also wtf was up with Petracca? Forward line is a mess and have barely fired a shot this year. Our connection inside 50 is horrible and needs to be sorted asap as we start playing some hard games in the next few weeks. On a few individual performance. Weideman: Yeah nah he's crud. Here I was thinking he'll be hungry tonight and play like he's got a point to prove but nope, he's just crap player in general. Pack him up and just leave him at Casey. I'd rather get games into JVR or play Mitch Brown just to add a different element to our forward line. Luke Jackson: Going to be extremely harsh here but [censored] it. He's simply having an ordinary year. He's not a good tap ruckman at all and it's like Watching Mark Jamar all over again because he's first instinct is to always handball the [censored] pill. At one stage in the 3rd he won the ball in the centre and had clear space in front of him only to then turn back and handball it back Into congestion for a Freo turnover which resulted in goal. Watched him get easily pushed aside in a rucking contest against David Mundy which was embarrassing to see. If he wants to chase serious coin and head back home then no problems. Get a 1st rounder and use it on a gun midfielder or a forward. Melksham: Got gifted straight to 200 games. Now see ya mate. Stoked that's the last time we'll ever see him in a Melbourne jumper. Rivers: Has become a liability down back. Poorly skilled and his awareness and game sense is just not there. Either head back to Casey or rest him if his not 100%. Salem will take his spot thankfully when ready to go. Petracca: His form is a concern. He hasn't fired a shot for a few weeks now and it's affecting the team as well as our midfield set up. Honestly not sure what's up with him but if he was sick today then playing on isn't courageous mate, it's stupid. Rest him if we have too because we need him fit. All in all a disappointing game, but it's been brewing for a while now. Some of our top line players are out of form and it's showing now. Change needs to happen pretty quick because we have some big games coming up over the next few weeks.

Forgot what it feels like to lose. I don’t like it.

Steven May played less than a quarter and finished with more possessions than Melksham and Weideman.

Melksham Langdon May Tomlinson Weid McDonald Dunstan harmes