jnrmac

11 tackles i50

Rohan Connelly? The guy can't string two words together. He's the thinking man's Mike Carlton. They shouldn't be allowed alcohol.

Kozzie has been talking to Chris Judd's Mum I read somewhere..

Fremantle have struggled in the wet this year, losing to Gold Coast and Collingwood in rounds nine and 10. Cant imagine he will hurt us too much if its sopping wet From Perth Now: Optus Stadium contractors are replacing more turf ahead of Friday night’s blockbuster between Fremantle and Melbourne, as ground staff brace for an untimely downpour as the troubled surface goes under the spotlight of national free-to-air TV. Friday’s forecast is for 10-15mm of rain and the chance of a thunderstorm, providing a test for not only the surface but Fremantle’s wet weather footy credentials in the wake of upset losses to Gold Coast and Collingwood earlier this season.

With 8 defenders, maybe Gus will tag his brother in the midfield and get in his ear about coming to Melbourne....

We have only had 3 home games against Essendon out of the last 19 Collingwood hasn't played at Geelong since 1999 Essendon hasn't played at Geelong once since 1993

Ouch. Didn't age well. Less than 24 hrs.....

I hope so. Frustrates me more than anything when our players slip over - and more often than not our opposition don't.

NOTE TO PLAYING GROUP: Its going to be WET and SLIPPERY on Friday night in Perth. Plus the ground is chewed up due to two soccer games and an AFL game played on the ground last weekend. FFS PLEASE wear screw in studs on your boots or longer stops. If I see our guys slipping over I will scream

I heard from an impeccable source that Hamish Brayshaw is looking to leave Perth and come back to Melbourne. (I didn't really but what the hell let's turn the blowtorch back on Freo)

The manner of our losses is different this year. We are losing after being in front during the 4th qtr and being run down That saps away at the positive energy.

Fair enough.

Thats a pretty big assumption I don't talk to anyone in my family about career choices

Is it? It's certainly well known he wants to win flags

Odds schmods What were the odds of North beating Richmond? $7.00?

Who are the regular players that have improved this year? Brayshaw Langdon Oliver Viney Jordon Petty Players about the same Petracca Kozzie Hibberd Weideman Sparrow ANB Playing below last year Gawn BBrown Fritsch May Lever Salem Harmes Spargo Jackson Tomlinson Rivers I think we have a lot of key regular players that haven't improved with maybe 12 players playing the same or better. That says upside to me as we can improve but we don't have anyone in the Kozzie, Rivers, Jackson camp of last year. And 11 or so players playing below what we know they are capable of. That has sucked some of the enjoyment factor out for me.

Bizarrely it has not been as fulfilling as expected aside from a few moments - Rd 1, the Saints and the lions. The rest of the time it appeared as though we were struggling despite winning a lot of games. Our pressure has dropped off dramatically and our defence has struggled I didnt expect a continuation of last years finals series but I did expect to see more consistent game performances and us running out games.

We got smashed last time in the air Cant let that happen again. Logue went to May and then Lever concussed May. That upset our balance. Freo kicked 10 goals straight to pulverise us in the second half on our home deck. We were beaten in the clearances by 10 and marks 130 to 74. Contested marks 10 to their 17. Petracca had 10 disposals, BBB 2! Time to stand up

We used to do that and rely on keeping the ball in there to give ourselves repeat chances. That has been decimated with latest states showing Brown, Spargo et all are 15th in the league for keeping the ball i50. In addition our defence was rock solid creating most of our scoring chains. Our pressure is now 17th in the league and the above stats are vast departures from the way we were playing last year. Is this deliberate? Have we changed what we are trying to do? Is it laziness? Have teams worked us out? We moved the ball noticeably quicker in the first half against the Dogs but our defensive efforts were well below what we expect. The second half was a rinse and repeat from other games we have lost. Interestingly we have lost 8 4th qtrs and 8 2nd qtrs this year. The 4th qtr stat seems to be the most damning given we have been ahead in nearly all of our losses.

Geelong worked it out. Each time May kicked out they smashed the ball forward to avoid our crumbers at the drop. Their players were waiting several metres back from the contest and they swept it away time and again.

Goodwins rhetoric has changed from 'we are still working things out' to 'its time for us to put the foot down, its the pointy end of the season etc' I think he is a little worried and is subtly trying to lift the collective performance without hitting the panic button

This isn't right. Everything went right after round 17 or 18

Our game plan hinges on predictability. We kick to the left side, probably because its the best side to attack from. We kick to pockets, if we don't mark it we get a fwd half stoppage. We back our players to win contests We used to be able to keep the ball in our fwd 50. No more. We rely on our mids to win the centre clearances Our wings hold their width to give us an 'out' We get leads and try to maintain them rather than put teams away. Way too cute for my liking. Our second half fade outs are concerning. Unfortunately this is predictable to the opposition They kick short rather than bomb it into Lever and May They switch play to avoid kicking to Gawn They rebound out of our fwd 50 much more quickly. Guys like Jordan stop and prop until our team has moved into position. Its methodical, boring and predictable Our wings are being targeted - Langdon was outmarked several times against the Dogs by a taller running player. Overall though our output is down from last year and we miss McDonald - whose running and bullocking was vital to our set up. Harmes, BBrown, Weid, Spargo, Fritsch, Gawn, Jackson, Salem, Bowey, Lever are all significantly down on last year. Our system still stacks up against weaker sides but our record this year against top 8 sides is worrying. They have the talent and ethic to work around our system. We look much better when the ball is moved quickly into our fwd line but slow play kills us.

Tommo was mainly on Bruce

Fending of f is prior