Gator

He quoted me.

I literally have no effing idea what you're talking about or how you reached that conclusion. I do rate Trengove and always have. Give yourself an uppercut. As for Pedersen ? He's a dud. Poor decisions, turned it over, and only got the ball while he was on ball. I much prefer Weideman as a contesting forward.

Pedersen is a VFL player. Can't believe people get excited by someone who is OK at this level. He's not a key position AFL forward. Hibberd looking like he's close to being ready. Trengove makes good decisions. Brayshaw better than VFL footy, but happy for him to stay there as long as required.

If he's class it won't matter, because class slow players don't often get caught. If he's not class it will matter. So is he class at VFL level and not class at AFL level ? That's the question. There are also posters who say he's slow every time they say his name. It's like they can't say Trengove without using the word slow in the same sentence. I don't take much notice of people these days who say he's slow, because there are a lot of dummies who post here.

No. No, it's not. Weideman will be better with Hogan back and flies for high balls far better than Pedersen. And hopefully he won't be on one leg like he was in the first quarter. Pedersen kicking a goal at VFL means absolutely nothing. Nothing at all. Pedersen is a limited battler, who I hope has played his last game at AFL level.

So ?

Pedersen is doing some ruckwork. I wouldn't read too much into hearing his name. That tends to happen when you're following the ball around.

He was down on TOG % for this game, because he sat on the pine for the first 9 minutes of the last quarter. He tried to get on, but had to sit down again, because there wasn't the required break in play. He was then off again around the 15 minute mark. But yes, when he has a tank and learns to use his speed out of the stoppages he'll be one of the best mids in the game.

Freo win by 2 points and their best player (Fyfe) plays 91% TOG. Oliver 72%, Tyson 73%, Kent 74%, Viney 74%, Petracca 77%. Salem 79% And for Vogon: Lewis 0%, Hogan 0%.

His numbers are most definitely A-grade, although I agree a player needs two years of such sustained performances, not 4 games. Presently he's top 10 in the AFL for disposals, contested possessions, clearances, centre clearances, marks and AFL ranking points. The only other player top 10 in all of the above categories is Rockliff. Dangerfield will be the only other top 10 for all categories if he lays 11 tackles today and Selwood if he has a good day should join him. What Oliver is doing is extraordinary.

Tiges have improved and Castagna, Rioli and Butler have made them more dangerous, but they're still bog ordinary. Most teams are. Bog ordinary teams will make the 8 this year. We're bog ordinary, but we have far more upside than most.

No-one would argue if Weideman was sent back to Casey, but he'll be better with Hogan in the team and I reckon Hogan would prefer Weideman next to him. I won't be surprised if Weideman retains his position.

A goal is obviously massive in a game of footy. Freo have been universally lauded for how well they've played and we've been pilloried over a 2 point loss. Tomorrow week looms large.

We had 13 marks inside 50 to Freo's 10, so clearly we have players that can hit a target inside 50, however, we had plenty of opportunities that went begging. Lewis, Salem, Watts, Oliver, Vince and Jones can all hit targets inside 50. It was more our system that let us down. We were too slow getting it in forward of centre and continually overused the footy.

Likewise

The coach and game - plan are good. Really strong defensive structures, hard around the contest and bold ball movement. Right now it's not happening for long enough, but it will. At times we're moving the footy too quickly from D50 and too slowly from forward of centre. We'll get the balance right.

I think you need to reprogram yourself if you think teams rely on one player hitting targets inside their forward 50.

The kick into the F50 is one of the most important in footy and one of the main reasons we lost the game. Having Hogan would have been great, but we should have won without him.

We didn't lose due to last week's selections. Frost was as good as Oscar and Bugg was OK. We were up at half-time and showed in the last that if we didn't fall asleep in the third we win. Supporters grasp at straws for reasons we lost and are invariably wrong.

I think we have far more talent on the list than the thread starter, although I agree with some of his sentiments. You get multiple threads like this when you lose. If we beat Richmond and get on a roll the bounce will be back in the step of most. 22 rounds is a lot of footy. I'm not going to react like a roller coaster to every loss or missed opportunity.

I've only read the first third of this thread, but I'm yet to read that Weideman got a corked thigh in the first quarter and was clearly impeded yet competed for high balls, especially in the last. I like him for structure, but agree a spell in the twos wouldn't hurt him. We didn't lose because of Weideman. We lost because there's a lack of leadership in the midfield. There's a tonne of talent, but a lack of experience. They got complacent at half-time and lacked composure in the third when momentum went the other way. There wasn't a senior player take a few of the mids aside and mix up the tempo by controlling the footy with a more marking game. They still went helter skelter with the wrong mix of kicks to handballs and kept on turning it over. As gutted as I am by the loss I can also see the quality of the team we're going to have in the not too distant future. And even this year we're going to put some good teams to the sword with a 4 quarter performance, which we're yet to see. I was annoyed that Oliver started on the pine in the last and couldn't get back on until exactly the 9 minute mark. I'm not suggesting it cost us the game, as we kicked two very quick goals, but I doubt it helped. Gawn, Hogan, Lewis, Hibberd, Brayshaw will all hopefully be fit and firing by year's end.

We won last year.

The following was posted by a Saints fan. I can't vouch for the veracity, but I'd be concerned if I supported St Kilda. "Read this article it has some interesting information... After reading this. If its true. I'm actually surprised we drafted a big pack marking forward with type 1 diabetes." "Diabetics cannot withstand head impacts as well as those who are non-diabetic. This is because brain cells in diabetics have a very poor ability to use glucose and all diabetics tend to be deficient in magnesium. Magnesium is critical to ATP and energy production. In diabetes, since the brain has a poor ability to use energy, this makes the brain more sensitive to the effects of excitatory neurotransmitters like glutamate, which are released in massive amounts following a concussion."

I think the last quarter fadeout against Geelong was mainly mental in that we weren't rewarded for effort in quarters 2 and 3. When you're not getting those rewards for effort a group can drop away. They may have been getting tired, but that was compounded by not hitting the scoreboard.

I'll give you odds...