Jaded No More

Congratulations to the AFL for managing to organise 9 games with only 2 weeks left before the round is played. Thank goodness they did not screw us in the process and give us a short break AND travel all in one. It pays to be a good side!

The best defences are built on predictability. Smith has a bit of Frostball about him. He isn't predictable enough to the other defenders, and we don't have the luxury of time to get him settled down there. He doesn't know when to stay back and when to run off, and he isn't reliable enough to allow May and Lever to peel off and help one another. Tomlinson is slow but he's predictable. I think we are playing May higher up, because the plan is to have him replace Petty at CHB and have Tomlinson and/or Hibbo play closer to the goal line, where you need a 'goal keeper' style sweeper who can peel off and defend. Hibbo does this brilliantly well at ground level and in the air, but is obviously limited by height. Smith's attributes and unpredictability are better suited to playing as a forward IMO. With Clarry back *touch wood*, we will now have the option of dropping out a mid from the rotation, as we have been carrying an extra mid to cover his enormous loss. This will allow us to play a 7th defender, which could well be Hibbo, and free up Salem/Bowey/Rivers to play a more attacking role off half back. Alternatively we may choose to play an extra small forward to up the forward pressure and play a stronger front half game.

I agree, but their weapon is their contested work, which I feel we can better them in. I think Hibbo needs to play this week because their smalls are terrifyingly good at ground level, and our defence is not. A good week to play a small defensive group, and we always have Smith as a lever to pull down back if we need (he could even matchup on Curnow if we get desperate).

It depends how well they feel Adams is coming along, but I would say yes. We also have Jefferson coming along nicely up forward at Casey, so I would hope we target another tall defender. No doubt we will if Tomlinson leaves, plus Hibbo retires, and May is not exactly a spring chicken either.

So basically Mitchell 2.0 Bont or Trac deserve it purely for being elite for a long period of time and backing up over and over again (unlike Daicos... not yet at least). Would be thrilled for Bont to win it, he is the most influential player in the game in terms of being able to impact mid and forward. Trac is a close second... if he can kick straight. If Trac kicks a bag or two in the next 3 rounds he could pinch it. We could also have a tie.

You're right, he was in ok form, but in those rounds we played Hawks, Saints and West Coast and were also on a 10 game winning streak. I think his performance was helped by the opposition and how well we were travelling. We also had Ben Brown there so the need to rush him back was not as great.

I don't think people want Saturday afternoon anymore. Kids sports, work etc. Sunday afternoon is a better timeslot for families IMO.

You might want to ask @Webber our resident physio that

Taranto?? Are they drunk?

Big difference is that Tmac was in poor form prior to injury, and not in fact, solving our key forward issues by dominating up forward. We were also carrying too many players who were battered and bruised, so adding another one was too big a risk. I suspect we will push extremely hard to bring Petty back for finals. No chance we don't 'risk' him if we make a prelim and he's ok to play.

Which is why IMO they've been the second best performing side of the last month, aside from us. They are playing exceptionally well despite their injury woes. Port actually performed quite well too on the weekend considering their outs, but Geelong are also missing key players. Clarry in this week for mine takes the game from 50/50 to 70/30 our way. Because even if he's not in top form or touch, he is 10 times better than the alternative.

Goodwin was confident. Which means absolutely nothing. But apparently yes. Oliver getting around this week...

Best news possible. Just need everything to go right for once and no recovery setbacks! How confident are you of Fritta's return in round 24?

Doesn't really matter with a week off between finals. I prefer a 7 day break between round 23 and round 24 and I think so would the club. Chances are we finish 2nd or 3rd and therefore got the Saturday night game in week 1 of finals, with 1 v 4 generally the Friday night?

Is this 100% confirmed?

He rucked more than normal yesterday against 2 proper ruckman because we wanted to give Maxy a rest. I think Grundy is a big chance this week to replace Petty, which will allow us to play JVR as a permanent forward and not ruck. Smith may return to the sub role, with Tomlinson or Hibbo replacing him, so if Grundy is giving us donuts up forward we can sub him off for Smith.

The man is an [censored]. Only one of those seedings is correct...

There is a 0% chance we move May forward. Make that -10% chance. The most likely scenario is Smith forward, Tomlinson back in (although perhaps we only play 2 talls against Carlton and keep Hibbo in against their plethora of dangerous smalls). Followed by the next most likely scenario which is Grundy, followed by a miraculous recovery from Tmac or BB, followed by Schache, followed by Jefferson, followed by playing Petty with an amputated foot, followed by putting Kosi on the shoulders of Melksham, followed by May playing forward.

What we've shown this year, and especially in the last 5 weeks, is that we can win multiple ways, whereas Pies, Port and to a lesser extent Lions cannot. We can win with attack and defence, and we are able to pull levers and change gears as required. This is very reminiscent of 2021, whereas last year we could go up a gear once, but never more than once and we would get in front, then drop off and lose. That was alarming. This year we can be behind, not once, but multiple times, swing momentum, score heavily and shut games down. It's what IMO makes us the best placed contender, as we do not rely on one system or one method alone to win. We don't need everything to go perfectly to execute a win. Goodwin mentioned this post game, and how important it is to win from different scenarios, because you just never know where you'll find yourself in finals. Only injuries will stop us winning it this year in my opinion. Not the Pies, not an away final, not some mythical side who will win it from 8th *cough* Chris Scott *cough*.

There is indeed

Oooh that would be ideal. Mainly because I’ll be able to watch it up in QLD while I drink a cocktail pool side. If we lose I’ll just throw myself and the laptop in the pool 😂

My query is the same. He is a very talented player, of that I have no doubt. The attributes to be a star are there. But IMO the way he checked out last year was poor, especially given another flag was there for the taking. And to me he did not to me seem to come to Freo in top shape. He still looks a little overweight and he ran out of steam in the last quarter yesterday, which OK long season and he's rucked alone, so maybe that's fair. But game on the line sort of stuff, and he didn't lift like I thought he would given how he played the previous 3 quarters. Fumbles are one thing, but ball watching is another. My Essendon mate commented that he cost Freo that game with his lack of intent in the last, so it's not just biased Melbourne supporter syndrome. To me he lacks desperation. Maybe it's because he feels satisfied, having won a flag and gone back home on big dollars. Maybe as you say it's immaturity and a bit too much time spent living the life with his mates, and he will eventually grow out of it. But if I invested 3 first round picks and millions of dollars in a player, I would want to see a lot more in terms of consistency of effort.

Great, so another 6 day break plus travel. FMD I hate the AFL.

Or elimination final if we lose week one. Which we won’t 😉

Win the premiership. Worry about that later 5-6 weeks is an ideal outcome given the circumstances