Lucifers Hero

Maybe but by then their eastern seaboard talent will have moved back

While browsing the Ess forums for the 'What they are saying...' I came across this banter: Of course we are a chance, but we have had the easiest draw in the comp so far, and when we played a half decent team in the saints…we lost. I think we could stay with them for a qtr or so, but then they’ll over power us. Out: Weid, Davey if injured In: filthy weather. Hobbs, Snelling and grabbers into the forward line. No long bombs How do the Dees generally handle wet weather footy? You would think well based on their contested ball winning ability. However I do remember they drew to hawthorn in the wet in 2021 when they were premiers and hawks were near bottom. Better than us. If the weather info is correct, I hope we are training our wet weather tactics with a greasy, heavy football. We have been caught out several times in the last few years by slippery conditions. With this weather forecast and Weideman and Wright out it will be interesting to see how man tall players we take into the game.

It is an assumption on my part. But reported info: Fyfe didn't want to relinquish captaincy Brayshaw coveted the captaincy but was overlooked Brayshaw contract signed before he became 'elite' for less dollars than he would now be getting Mundy didn't want to retire. Fyfe doesn't want to play fwd Jackson doesn't like to play fwd Please don't ask for the articles. I'll leave it to posters to do their own research. My guesswork is: how the above and Jackson's trade, $, list impact affect other players and what they might earn. To me that is reasonable 'deductive' reasoning.

I saw that. It looked a very meek defence of a 20 year old kid who was under seige. I would imagine Goodwin's commentary would be very different if it was one of our players under seige.

As I said, Jackson looks like a 'Captain's Call' by Bell and they are reaping the full impact: unbalance list, unhappy players, potential sal cap issues etc. I'm not sure they have misread where the game is at. Longmuir was on the way to a successful game plan etc. Last year they worked on 'defence' and often kept teams to around 10 goals: the same goal our defence used as a criteria. They had a good 'contest' aspect to their game plan and he was building the next phase 'atttack/'offence' into this year. However, he lost is fwd line and it has all gone off the rails for the reasons I have mentioned several times: lack of on field leaders, decimated list, lack of experienced players, disgruntled players etc

Unlike some other coaches recently who have defended players (Fagan/Daniher, McCrae/De Goey) I've heard little from Longmuir defending Jackson. Guessing that he thought the impact on the experience/age profile of their list wasn't worth it. So most likely that Jackson was a 'captain's pick' by Bell. Freo has the feel of the Schwartz/Connolly era: meddling in list management, retiring Mundy 'early' is like mfc retiring Junior, demoting Fyfe like mfc and Green. Freo seem to think that much loved players make good football administrators; something many clubs including ours have fallen for. They have learnt little from other clubs' mistakes!! The more I learn about them the more it looks like they have messed up a golden opportunity to regularly contend at the pointy end.

We think alike rpfc! Buried in the op at the top of this thread were my thoughts 6 months ago: My thoughts haven't changed much since. Like you Kozzie and Rivers are still my priorities. I would now add Chandler to that list, especially if we lose Kozzie. What might help the OOC players is that Harmes and Tomlinson (OOC 2024) explored options last year and might do so again. It would be a shame if we lost them, JJ or ANB but realistically we have or are training the replacements. And if they get regular games or better money good on them as it would be the only reason they would leave. I'm pleased for Hunt, Baker, Bedford and Weideman who are getting regular senior games at their new clubs. So I'm now fairly pragmatic about loosing players. It hurt me deeply to lose my =#1 fave, Hunt but deep down, I knew it was for the best. We need to keep making room for the talent coming through and only a handful of players are 'non-tradeable'. And we have a great draft hand this year to use at the draft or trade in high end talent so we need to shed players each year. We no longer have players who aren't AFL standard so the players we lose won't be delistings but we need to move players on and trades are the most likely way to turn over 5 to 8 players each year.

Welcome back Kozzie!!

I guess 'boo stadium' will be out in full force today. They were complaining about the umpires in their 'game day' thread. Hopefully some of the WA fans we picked up in 2021 come out and cheer for us.

We could almost pencil the Saints in to make the 8. They've won four (Freo, WBD, Ess and GCS) and have 2xHawks, 2xNorth, 1xGCS and 1xWCE to go. A dream fixture!! Very good chance they will win all those, especially as they get more players back, giving them 10 wins. Only need to pinch a couple more to make the 8, which may require an 'extra' win than as there are 23 games this season.

Yes, a lot of the comments were identical to pre 2018 DL

Did this info/idea come from my post in the Freo Death Riding thread!?

Jayden must be really hurting inside to be playing against the dees. Really feel for him, especially being my =#1 fave player since he started❤️. Hope he has a good game, not good enough to be BOG but enough to make him happy.

If computer is connected to the tv the Casey game will also be on the big screen.

Was their game that far different from an impact point of view. Someone took their main playmaker, Warner, out of the game. It was hard to see who that was at the ground. Can't help but think it was Sparrow's job to run with him. If so he made a big contribution to our win. Did anyone see who was on Warner for most of the game if not Sparrow?

With all their list changes there hasn't been much club-to-player loyalty so one wonders how that and their lackluster performance this year affects player-to-club loyalty. They are lucky they signed Brayshaw to 2025 and Serong and Hayden to 2027. As Pearce is just 27, I don't see much chance of Brayshaw being captain in the foreseeable future. Also there was an article saying when he signed his last contract it was for less than he would have a year or two later. There is every chance Serong and Young are getting very good $$$ as they re-signed last year. Unless Freo upped Andy's $$ last year he has a few reasons to be unhappy. Andy will be a Free Agent in 2025. Its time for mfc to go to work on him and get him to join Gus We can build our next gen midfield around Andy!

In addition to the 'deeestruction' 🙂 of their list Freo have kicked a second own goal: Leadership team. Brayshaw was quite vocal about wanting to be captain. Captaincy went to Pearce. Does anyone know who he is? Brayshaw is a shadow of his 2022 self; peeved at being overlooked, perhaps? O'Meara is traded in and goes straight into the Leadership team. Other noses out of joint, perhaps? Mundy wanted to stay but he was moved on. Bitter taste with the players? They are rudderless on field with seemingly unhappy campers out there. Add the loss of valued teammates to make room for Jackson and his mega $$$$ it is easy to see the green envy 🤢 monster kick in. They need an attitude change, fast. But alas I feel it is already too late to redeem this season. Their chance to bank a few wins is all but gone.

What They are Saying at Freo - Round 4: I haven't include Jackson comments as there is little point 'death riding' him. And excluded those quoted by earlier posters. There is a lot of repetition so here are typical comments: Bigfooty: We will be lucky to win 5 games. 27 years and I am seriously just about done with this club. I honestly am. you'll be back haha And I’m ready to call it. JLo’s time is up, the players are lost. The drums need to be pounding for JLO. This can‘t go on, and Bell needs to be held accountable. It's amazing how every single one of our players have regressed this year. Pffft, I've got no more vents left And we have ****ed our draft hand this year on a ******* unicorn Unicorns aren't real 😭 Pearce is a disgrace, lucky to keep his spot let alone lead the team. Team selection is rubbish…Plan is rubbish…List management is rubbish…Just generally rubbish. Coach, players with a few exceptions all playing like they are on heroin. We didn't actually do anything last year, our players clearly drank their own bath water over the off season Our off-season is starting to look like a club killer. Got rid of players we need, sold the farm for one we don't and left ourselves with 2 empty drafts Peter Bell is a club killer. Refusing to budge on Acres when it would've cost us so little in the scheme of things, not signing Logue early on. So smug with everything he does it pisses me off. All the other teams do this weird thing where they have space in their forward line and they kick the ball in front of someone who is actually moving so they can mark it on the lead. Can't relate.... Ironically today i got an AFL easter egg with the cutout ladder you can build on the side of the box? May as well put freo straight on the bottom...Just for those following who will get Harley Reid. While hawks are firm favourites, so are Melbourne....who have the Dockers’ future first-round pick and the Dockers’ future second-round pick because of jackson. Sold farm. We're ******. Kill me now. If that eventuates, there's no coming back.

I'll post regular updates in this thread to avoid two threads on the same subject running simultaneously.

We could easily end up with something close to pick 3 this year+ Jefferson (2022 #13) + 2023 #23 to #26! Reckon Freo had pencilled in being 6/0 or 5/1 in the first part of the season. They won't get even close. Then the tough draw starts!! Happy days!!🙃

I came across this in the WCE threads: Did Fremantle sign the giant West Australian because he aided their flag push, or did their vision of unicorns and a desire to keep him from becoming Nic Naitanui’s successor cloud their pursuit of a maiden premiership? Interesting article. I think it's a bit early to write Jackson off but my key takeaway was: "But instead, they have dished up two uninspiring losses to sides who didn’t make finals last season, including the wooden spooners, and took three and half quarters to break an Eagles side with no bench and injured players forced to play on. It’s nice to win, but it shouldn’t dampen the purple army’s alarm bells." A good summary, imv. This train has a long way to go, no need to jump off at this stage. Freo have a tough fixture with double up games vs Brisbane, Geelong, Hawthorn, Sydney, West Coast, Western Bulldogs and all bar WCE yet to be played. imv Freo is already out of top 4 contention and I still think they will struggle to make the 8.

No need to worry. I'm sure the club has it all under control and we will see new contracts for who we want to keep rolled out in the coming months. Based on recent media McVee's and Rivers' contracts are in discussion, Jordon has put off negotiations and Kozzie's contract is looking encouraging. Chandler turned down offers from Adelaide two years ago so doubt he will go anywhere else now. Its interesting that there is no news on Neal-Bullen. He is an Unrestricted Free Agent so can go to a club of his choice if he chooses. I don't mind if we lose some players be they in or out of contract as we need to find room for the up and comers. This will mean some established players will find new homes. C'est la vie for a club with good drafting, excellent development and on field success.

We have a mid season draft. A club can put a player on the Long-term injury list to create a list spot. Can't see the need to have mid season player trades as well. Also, as Beveridge says an AFL season is like a war of attrition and lists need to be managed accordingly.

On topic: Have always lived 'Bayside'. Can't remember how or why I follow the mighty dees!! I always have. And, always will. From a simple google search I came across this, from a decade ago...not sure if accurate: For our old zones (based on local goverment city boundaries): metro: Cities of Melbourne (part), Prahran, Caulfield (part), Moorabin (part), Mordialloc, Springvale (part), Chelsea, Shires of Bulla, Whittlesea (part) country: Golburn Valley and Mid-Murray Pretty sure we recruited the Healy brothers from the Mordialloc 'region'.

For the flip side of that story. My recently stolen, much loved car, was found abandoned all smashed up, in Maribynong - a looong, looong way from home. 😢 Apparently involved in a some 'really bad things' (quote from Footscray police). Also, the thieves, used up a chunk of my etag and racked up nearly $1,000 of traffic fines in just the first 24 hours. Then they changed the number plates so the police couldn't detect it on the roads.