Lord Nev

Yep, all fair mate, and you are absolutely not alone in your expectations for him. I'm just resigned/accepting of him always being a depth player for us. I think there's always a need for that and if he manages to kick a few (albeit smaller) bags every now and then like he has this year in a couple of games then that's a bonus. I think given his likely contract amount and list positioning; he won't be preventing us from bringing in another first choice key forward when the time comes (if he's still around).

Played 6 games as a backup key forward for the reigning premiers who are 10-1, define 'making it'. It's not all or nothing, people will define 'making it' off their own expectations, but clearly given team selection and his contract status the club consider him to be 'making it' right now. The amount of commentary about him this week given his place on our list has been over the top but sadly also expected here.

Find this talk of him being a 'bust' pretty strange tbh. He's a depth forward whose key averages for his position almost mirror our primary key forward this year. He's only a 'bust' if you're still expecting him to be a best 22 player, which by now I would have thought most fans would understand is not where he's at from a list perspective. Has played 6 games this year as our first picked replacement forward, hardly think he'll be overlooked for Tomlinson now as an option. You could make an argument for Mitch Brown, but clutching at straws with suggesting Tomo IMO. Just don't understand why so many Demonlanders think Weid needs to be a starting forward or nothing. Didn't we use to talk about how important depth was? It's not all or nothing.

Yet nearly a quarter of the pages since 2020 have been since the Freo game...

Yes it is. You know he's kicked bags of 3 and 4 this year right? That's way overs for a backup forward, but according to you he's "not once" grabbed his chances. "Last Saturday was the perfect scenario".... Seriously mate, what game were you watching? Our forward 50 entries were atrocious and in the second half we were absolutely smashed in the middle (9 centre clearances to 1 in the 3rd qtr alone). How did Ben Brown go?

He's a backup key forward/ruck. He's played 6 games this year as such, averaging 1.5 goals, 3.2 marks and 1.2 tackles a game. For reference, our primary key forward Ben Brown averages 1.9 goals, 3.4 marks and 0.5 tackles per game this year. I mean, I get it's the internet and people like to make outlandish comments, but the overreaction about Weideman is silly.

You'd keep him until either he no longer has a use on the list, he requests a trade for more opportunity or a better option is available. IMO he's never going to be a gun forward, he's never going to 'break out' and will never live up to his initial draft order, so people are just going to continue to get over the top frustrated about him until they realize that.

Apologies if I assumed wrong, but labeling him "a bust" is surely in the context of his draft order yes? If he was picked in the 80s would you be labeling him the same? Doubt it. I didn't say you did. I said it's a common mentality among Demonlanders to not understand the concept of list depth and a holistic list picture, not every player is going to be a gun or even regular best 22. I've spoken of his place on our list and what the expectations should be on him given that. You seem to be among the 'when will he break out/he's never gonna make it' brigade who have no comprehension of where Weid sits in the context of our key forward lineup and playing list. That's what you're missing mate. You're judging him against your own expectations, and given he was re-signed and has played games this year I would suggest your expectations do not align with the clubs.

Ok, you trade him, and then who's our key forward depth next year? The fact you're still harping on about his draft order says you don't understand where he sits within our list needs. It's the old 'star or spud' mentality that footy fans without the patience or understanding of lists as a holistic picture don't seem to grasp.

That's probably why he's not consistently in the side and remains a backup option. Sure, but look at how active this thread is after the weekends game when our forwards weren't to blame for the loss. People just use it as an excuse to bring out old criticisms.

Agree Weid could be better, but I'm not 100% sure on the whole aggression thing people talk about with him, I think that's largely based on his demeanor rather than his output. I don't consider Ben Brown as an aggressive forward but he's been a consistent performer over the years despite that. Bit on the fence about that whole perception.

Not every draft pick ends up with a career relevant to their draft position. That's the luck of the draw. We've got a bunch of premiership players who can atest to that working out in the positive for us now too. IMO Weid just cops these over the top harsh judgments because people are still expecting him to 'break out' and be this gun key forward. I accepted a few years ago he was likely to just continue his trajectory as a solid depth player and that's seemingly where he sits in the pecking order with the coaches so I just don't get the rage about him any more.

You should watch the game again and see the quality of those inside 50s. When Spargo has to take speccies for us to have a mark inside 50 then our efficiency isn't top notch.

The over reactions to every single performance Weid gives that doesn't mean Demonlanders expectations is pathetic. He's a depth forward on a small and short contract and should be judged as such. But all that is beside the point that we lost due to centre clearances and an injured defence. Not because of Weideman.

Oliver was on the ground at the start of the 3rd. He attended 9 out of the 10 centre bounces in the 3rd quarter when we lost them 9-1. He averages 85.7% game time this year. Against Freo it was 90%.

He's hard to replace, in no small part because he's like having an extra assistant coach as well. BUT... Let's keep in mind that about the same time last year (rounds 10-16) we lost 3 out of 6 games as many Demonlanders noted that the combination of seeming flat during games and Burgess' history of 'loading' possibly added up to us gearing our fitness towards finals. That worked out ok hey?

Petty and May both on their man, Lever coming over to intercept. That's pretty much our defensive plan every week. Was just bad luck.

BBB is a genuine chance to be dropped this week. Personally, I'd leave him in, but that's the current goss. (Not sure what that means for Weid)

Oh, don't get me wrong, Weid and Brown both poor today, I just don't think either had any impact on the loss given how it happened. We were smashed in the middle, destroyed on the spread and our defence was (understandably) a mess. I'm more talking about the weight of Demonland commentary and how much focus is on Weideman given it was our mids/wings and defence that cost us the game.

Yep, I admire our 'no resting' or 'resilience' philosophy, but let's be honest - we got a bit lucky last year with our injury run. Hopefully it doesn't hurt us this year. We missed chances to rest some of the players clearly carrying niggles over the last month.

THE GOOD Think it was the second quarter, ANB put in 3-4 huge efforts around our 50 to pressure, spoil and tackle, already an unbelievable effort and intensity, then he shows up not long afterwards getting a hand on a Freo kick going inside 50 that ends up in a goal for us. Bedford played his best ever half for us IMO. With limited opportunity; he's shown more than I thought he had in him this year. Handy depth that could become more. THE BAD Giving up 113 uncontested marks. As well as giving up -55 uncontested possessions. Just shows our lack of legs today. Forward structure and delivery. Brown just seems chained to one spot when we look to go inside 50, and doesn't help when Gawn jumps in front of him. The mids aren't making life easy though with some real 2019/20 style inside 50s. Everything seems a little confused in our forward 50 this year for the most part. THE UGLY Smashed in clearances, including a run of 0-7 centre clearances in the 3rd quarter. Mids needed to step up given the absence of May. First half Dockers kicked 2 goals from 23 inside 50s, second half they kicked 12 goals from 29 entries. No wing depth. Langdon (and Salem for full context) out and we fall apart on the wings. Amon anyone? And the (very very expected) ugliest - Demonland whipping themselves into a frenzy over Weideman on a day where, given the full context of the above, the last people you would blame for the loss are our key forwards.

Not beyond the realms of possibility. Exactly the same period last year that it seemed we did.

Just a flat day that has been coming for a while. The key stats show Freo had all the run and energy. We had a flat period this time last year too, so no panic.