Demon Dynasty

Comes down to that one lack of follow up effort to at least try and chase after being turned by Harley Bottom line... never give up on the contest.

Freo presently the happiest handball team in the AFL. Also the best at it. Of course they are the least kicking team. But also the best at it

If he's picking up aspects like this on the run mono.... why not!

Nothing but loud noises Disco. Lots of loud noises. Surely you aren't going there for the game itself? Enjoy...

Neat live 'in game' analysis from Hodge there showing two Freo players sitting off the back of the stoppage while the filth had an extra around the ball. He suggested moving one of them up to the contest to even up the numbers to prevent any easy clearances.

Whatever game style we're implementing we need to at least be very good to excellent in what it is we are attempting to implement. With regard to disposal execution. We are presently a mostly kicking team vs handball. Our kicks make up 61.5% of dispoals. Ranked the 4th highest kickimg team behind the Lions (1st @ 64.3%), then Port & the Swans. However we are only ranked 9th in the league for kicking efficiency (66.6%). Sitting just below the AFL average (66.8%). The Lions in 8th spot (67.2%). Sydney the best of this bunch (68.7%... ranked 4th) and Port 17th (64.7%). The lowest ranked kicking efficiency title is presently held by the Cats, ranked last @ 62.8%. Other teams rely heavily on handball such as Freo, the Doggies, GWS, the Bombers & the Pies. Freo ranked the No.1 HB efficiency team @ 84.7%. Followed by the Doggies (83.5 ranked 2nd) and the Bombers (83.4 ranked 3rd). The Pies & GWS a fair way off the front runners sitting in equal 14th (80.3%) and below the AFL ave of 81.7%. The lowest ranked team is presently the Demons @ 78.9%. Stats courtesy of www.wheeloratings.com

Not sure if this is a compliment or insult

Given this fact, wouldn't it be better to run ANB through the middle on a consistent basis. And/or even sharing a winger role with Langdon or Windsor to have him bringing the ball in more often? Yes i realise he's being played in the middle a tad more this season but it might be time for the FD to consider upping this substantially if poss... Average CBA %* 2023 ... 2% 2024 ... 10% *Courtesy of wheeloratings.com

Fantastic Jane. I'm pretty sure i had the pleasure of meeting this lovely pup at a training session many years ago during the Neeld era. Not long after the two poor young fellas were named Co Captains. If only these guys could live forever.

Thanks GV

Am i hearing right the 7 nuffies are talking about the Swans suffering from fatigue after a rough fixture? Something about 5 day breaks? They've never had worse than a 6 day break with most of them 7 / 8 day breaks. Then this little gem "Collingwood's been decimated with injuries". You can't make this stuff up

The umps killing our great game week by week with no let up in sight. Having way too much unfluence on the outcome of so many games. It's becoming unwatchable and just not worth the time taken to watch anymore. It's almost a given in every other match that they'll pull decisions out of their bum and/or ignore other obvious ones that end up changing the course of the game.

Terribble decision to seal the match

UH what a goal son!

Harmes has had a pretty decent game. Seems to have his tank / fitness back that went missing last season.

Gutsy from Jones there

Nothing wrong with a bit of yelling surely...

Ugle Hagen what a mark. Talk about class. Love to have him at the redlegs

Im not sure why the FD would name Fullo. Unless there's a last minute out like Petty or JVR he won't be playing. Last week was the perfect set up to bring him in and all he got was an emergency and no game time since the Match against the Blues which seems like an eternity now. He should play for Casey this week at least but barring more injury to KFs i can't see him getting a game this season now unless he had two or three outstanding games, kicked about 9 to 10 goals and had a big ruck chop out game/s on top. Agree on Hunter's games so far at Casey. Not inspiring at all and doesn't look to have built a tank yet for VFL level let alone AFL. Can't believe we're looking to bring back another player from injury too early who is miles off being up to playing at the level. He would also make our slow transition game of late, slower. Which is saying something.

Plausible 55

Not just that, who's playing the 1.5 intercept role of Lever? Neither Tommo or T- Mac are really up to that.

My ideal changes vs the Saints... Outs: Lever (inj), Billings, BBB, Bowey In: JVR*, Langdon, Fullarton*, Woe Petty to Lever's role (won't happen but should). Replaced by JVR. Fullo for BBB (won't happen but should) Langdon for Billings (will happen) Woey for Bowey (should happen but probably won't). I'm not sure Simon's fixation with Petty forward is such a great thing. When a key player is out sometimes you have to be like water. Formless. Water can flow or it can crash. With Lever's replacement... be water Simon. It's ok... Petry can go back for a few games. Sestan as the sub adding a HF / Mid tactical option if Chandler or Sparrow bomb out or a medium - small forward or mid get injured (won't happen). Sestan is probably a good 4 to 6 weeks away from having an AFL tank that would see him cope with even three quarters let alone four, as mentioned by SG already. But...he can impact at AFL for a quarter or two and hit the scoreboard. As a tactical sub from roughly any time mid way through the third quarter he would be a great addition. Ok so if someone goes down early it's a risk but not a huge one imho. Simon just needs to get into Ollie's ear before he runs out and tell him... "you in the big leagues now, they watchin' you now, this is where you make it, this is where you make it, this is where you make it.... Permanent!

Could this have something to do with work rate, ability to get from contest to contest (fitness), ability to play a mid field role effectively (experience factor) and (as far as i understand from more expert track watchers) our coaches almost always playing a +1 in defence (a kick behind the ball) and allowing most of our oppo's a +1 (or more in some cases apparently) at stoppage? In terms of work rate / experience / fitness, I’m not including Tracc so much as he is often pushing forward a fair bit and having to use energy / effort to try and score. But then there's the remainder. Clarry... off to a slow start but in two of the last three weeks has started showing signs of getting back to somewhere near his usual rating levels. Let's hope that continues as that would be a great outcome to build on in the back half. Viney... Started off beautifully. However, ever since Rnd 4 vs the Crows his form has slowly ebbed away. possibly copping a heavy tag or maybe the stinger issue flaring up? Here's Viney's average stats and Ratings from Rnds 0 to 4 vs Rnds 5 to 9. He has improved on the tackling side and clearances but dropped away significantly in almost all other areas. In particular his two way running (rebounds & inside 50s both down), intercepts, one percenters and score involvements. Turnovers also up substantially since Rnd 4. His player rating down a whopping 28% vs the first five rounds. #7 J Viney Rnds 0 - 4 Rnds 5 - 9 % Change Contested Poss 10.8 9.0 -16.7 Uncontested Poss 12.2 11.2 -8.2 Effective Disposals* 14.8 12.6 -14.9 Disposal Effeciency % 67.9 65.8 -2.1 Contested Marks* 0.2 0.0 -100.0 Marks inside 50* 0.2 0.2 0.0 One Percenters* 2.8 1.6 -42.9 Clearances* 4.2 5.0 19.0 Rebound 50s* 2.6 2.0 -23.1 Inside 50s* 4.8 4.2 -12.5 Tackles* 5.0 7.2 44.0 Score Involvements* 5.2 2.8 -46.2 Meters Gained 377.6 382.6 1.3 Turnovers* 4.2 5.8 38.1 Intercepts* 4.0 1.2 -70.0 Tackles Inside 50* 1.0 1.2 20.0 Time On Ground % 81.6 76.0 -5.6 Goals* 0.6 0.0 -100.0 Hit Outs to Adv* 0.0 0.0 - *DD's Player Rating 3.9 2.8 -28.4 Sparrow...Usually the next in line through the middle (last season and beyond) behind Clarry, Tracc & Viney (sometimes Gus also) but this year is starting to be overlooked on a few occasions (zero CBAs vs Dogs & Eagles) and played elsewhere. I'd love to know in what role as he just isn't the same when not being played through the middle imho. After chatting to him at training about what role he was playing when not in the middle, he indicated he wasn’t exactly sure. He did state that he enjoyed going through the middle the most however and that statement was after a decent performance through the middle (possibly in the second half) of a match that escapes me. ANB... worked very well against the Blues (and Eagles?). However are we potentially giving up too much of his usual two way running to cover off for Tracc & Clarry in the pocket role on the fat side of stoppages or is he still playing this role post 666? Picket... As per ANB. A very handy addition but again are we potentially giving up some serious goal opportunities and pressure inside 50 due to time / energy spent through the middle. I'm not saying don't play Kozzy in the middle either. Just questioning the amount of time spent and getting the balance right between mid v forward minutes. Are we recouping the amount of time spent through the middle in terms of the extra score involvements, goal assists (hitting targets inside 50) and effective clearances?

That rating is from the last two years DZ. So effectively he never dropped away, at least in this aspect anyway. We should never forget some of the mammoth efforts from the champ over many years now to either keep us in games, nearly drag us over the line on his own back or even change the course of a match to help win them with pretty much no drop off except for a number of rounds so far this season. And we should also remember that when Clarry is on he is at another level to most mids, even some of the greats we have come to know over the last 6 to 8 years. There are a number that have come on in the last 18 months of course that are now matching those feats in certain matches. And as we witnessed over the weekend, a rampaging Reid has now announced his arrival and will (most likely) be something else altogether.

100% ... to not consider tags or coolers on the likes of Cripps, Walsh, DeGoey, ND, Butters, JHF & Reid is just pure coaching insanity of the highest order. Goodwin is not alone either as the theory goes "you will upset the team defence". Well so what. If you don't you are more than likely going to lose anyway.