Jaded No More

Don't rule out a late change on Sunday if the weather gets really bad. Newton or Dunn may miss in favour of Maric. While I really want to see Maric play, and believe he deserves a game, it would be highly unfair to drop anyone from a team that won its first match in many many months. Everyone played their role (including Bartram!), and the one forced changed was always going to be Green out and our CAPTAIN in. Do I want to see Maric more than Junior? Sure I do, but I doubt Maric expects to be selected ahead of his captain. Bottom line is, you don't punish a young team for winning by making changes, and it is absolutely brilliant that there is finally some competition for spots. It will only get harder when Grimes, Robbo, Buckley and Watts are pushing for selection (assuming we don't get struck down by injuries again).

It's not the level of difficulty, it's the thought that counts. Gees!

Miller is most definitely NOT out of his league. They are both equally appealing, not to mention that Miller is genuinely a great guy. I'm sure any female who saw that Pillow Talk segment and heard the wedding speech story would have instantly fallen in love On a side note, I have a strong suspicious that the club is grooming Milsy to take over the captaincy next year. He is doing a hell of a lot of media recently.

If the club believes we're a good chance of playing finals in the next 3 years, then yes I would take him. He would be the difference between a bottom 8 and a top 4 finish. Having said that, he doesn't seem like the right fit for us, and we are definitely not the right fit for him. But he is a champion, and I actually hope he gets the hell out of Freo and goes to a club that will nourish him with success. Any club would be lucky to have him!

Some of the best forwards in the competition have goal-kicking issues. Richo, Buddy, any Geelong forward, Fevola on a bad day (and on a good day too ) etc... While poor kicking for goal is deflating for the team, it is something that can be worked on and corrected (just ask Robbo). However, it is my opinion that Miller's goal kicking issues are 100% mental. Watch him nail various shots during the warm-up and you'll notice that he is more than capable of kicking them. Obviously lack of confidence/nerves kick in during the game and his accuracy suffers as a result (although interestingly his field-kicking is generally pretty good).

Oh dear. So you've obviously come on here to have a cry, good on you. For what it's worth, I would be (and have been in the past) just as harsh on my own players if they pulled something stupid like that. Not only that, if an assistant coach at Melbourne felt the need to talk rubbish on radio and pump up the stupidity of our players, I would be bloody furious. I mean that is as dumb as it gets. Of course, had you actually read this forum, you would realise that the majority of us are harsher on our own club, than most. Take a look at the Sylvia thread for a start to see how we feel about players who act like tools and implicate their club in it, maybe do a search back to when Brock, Rivers and Carroll got in trouble overseas... better yet, just read any thread involving Carroll. No club is immune from idiots, both on and off the field. Individuals acting out is less costly to a club, than a group of players acting out, regardless of how large or small, as it immediately links that group to the organisation to which they belong (as it is the one thing they have in common). That the whole thing was blown up in the media, is one issue, that players feel the need to act like idiots instead of concentrating on winning, is another. Enjoy your time at Demonland, and I sincerely hope your mob gets its [censored] together and starts winning some games. We want picks 1 and 2... especially since we're less likely to trade them for the likes of Chris Tarrant By the way, you may think we are struggling on and off the field, but always remember that if it wasn't for us, your joke of a club wouldn't even exist. Thanks

I have seen him do much much worse. The point is, Stef >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Fraser.

I have a sudden urge to vomit now. Please please please don't ever compare anyone on our list, let alone Stef, to that filthy human being. Argh!

Terrible weather on Sunday (or so they say), so I'm going with 18,690

Oh, it's not my bandwagon, it's Stef's... I'm just driving it for him

Ummm... ok I'm sorry but is Des Headland really in Freo's leadership group? Oh my! And if you know your players are idiots, why go and make it publicly known on radio??

No doubt, what Bock did is criminal. However, Bock's behaviour does not reflect on the AFC, just as Sylvia's stupidity is not a reflection on our club. Given that this Freo thing involves a large number of players just speaks volumes about the state of that club.

Are you serious? These morons are 0-4, and instead of concentrating on their football, they are pulling stupid stunts? It doesn't matter what they were dresses as, the point is, they are idiots to have embroiled their club in controversy... or perhaps it's a diversion tactic from their terrible on-field performances? If I was a Docker supporter I would throw my membership, and several sharp objects, at the club and walk away. Fremantle are just lucky that they have loyal fans and a good financial base. Imagine if they were a Victorian team, they'd be out on their arse in no time. That club is an embarrassment to our great game!

Add Bell and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse may live on after all!

I'll have three of his babies if he plays QB (mind you, if the kids get my genes get ready for mini Godfreys- slow plodders who lack skills but try really really hard ).

I've only just gotten around to watch the reply, and have admittedly only watched the first half thus far, but Newton's field kicking is ordinary and some of his decision making was awful yesterday. I'm not trying to knock him down for the sake of an argument, but he has so many deficiencies (marking is his only strength) which I truly can't see him ever overcoming. Perhaps he'll prove me wrong the way Miller proved a lot of our supporters wrong, and I hope he does, but in the meantime I'm sticking with my "won't make it" assessment.

Was a weak report to begin with, and a usual over-reaction from the umpire. By the way, was I the only one who nearly threw up when bloody McLaren popped up in the game when the other umpire went down? That idiot just will not go away. And of course the AFL are not taking any action against him, although he clearly fended off a Collingwood player during the match!

To be fair, we hit the post 4 times in a row. Had we converted those opportunities, we would have comfortably won that first quarter. We definitely started to peak about 15 minutes into the game, and dominated from half way through the first quarter, until about 10 minutes before half time (because we were 'icing' the half-baked cake )

On the replay they were saying that Meesen was given the instruction from Bruce to hold the ball up. When we inevitably turned it over 10 seconds later, Bailey lost his [censored] in the box (well it was the most animated I have ever seen him :D) and then Bruce was taken off. Coincidence perhaps, but not only did Bruce give out the wrong instruction, he also had a hand in successfully screwing the brilliant tactic of shutting the game down with 8 minutes left in the quarter, when we're 30 points up (with a [censored] handball or something along those lines)! Of course this is not a Bruce issue, but it is so incredibly sad to know that our senior players don't have the belief in themselves that they are actually capable of sustaining a winning effort. To 'ice a game' before half time is idiotic to the extreme when you are smashing your opponent. It is only a valid option when you are having a mountain of goals kicked against you, and you're trying to stop the bleeding. Then that tactic has merit, although again, if you cannot execute it properly chances are you'll only contribute to a bigger loss.

IMO he is actually the best on-field leader we have, and he does work harder than most because being stranded in a forwardline that often gets [censored] or no delivery, is very tough. Especially when he is often double-teamed. He always manages to somehow get into the match, even when the game is going against us, and you know you'll get a contest from him every single time, whether he can or can't mark the ball coming his way. That he ran the length of the ground to punch that ball through in the dying minutes of the match just shows how desperate he is to help out the team. I know he is probably not a good enough player, but I honestly wouldn't be surprised if he was made captain next season (although I'm still firmly on Brock's bandwagon!). He just embodies everything I hope to see in a footballer in terms of character.

We were up by 30 odd points and there was 10 minutes left OF THE SECOND QUARTER. What a completely stupid thing to do, when you know your team is hardly skilled enough to manage a whole 10 minutes without turning the ball over. Glad it was not a Bailey directive, and if Bruce indeed got dragged for it, even better. Completely unnecessary thing to do when we've got a healthy break on the opposition, the quarter is going our way, and there is still a half to go. I can understand why we tried it in the last, given the Tigers had the momentum, and we were running out of legs (having lost Green early). It's a shame though that our skills are not up to it, and hence we completely screwed it up. But we'll get better at not panicking, and at keeping off.

29,035!!!! Just 965 to go

I'd say Garland's injury, in terms of hurting our structure and development of the backline, is our most telling (not to mention the possible complications of such a delicate injury, which has ruined the career of another great defender). Not that Green's loss is not huge either. Both are horrendous losses for a team that could ill afford to lose any class players. By the way, can we please not mention the name Rivers and injury in the same sentence?! You'll jinx it! 6.5 games and counting... :D

I love a good priority pick as much as anyone, but today's game was one of only a handful where we actually had a chance of winning, so yes, I was very keen for a victory. It's nice for the young boys, and in fact for the whole team, to get a reward early in the season and a bit of a boost. It validates their hard work, and it gives supporters hope. From here on in, we have a very tough run of games and the possibility of winning before the mid-season break is slim. So enjoy today, and cherish it. It's going to be a long while before we get to celebrate another win.

I love that we can barely hit a target by hand or by foot, but we manage to hit the post FOUR bloody times in a row. Amazing