Liz,
You made a comment that you thought Freo were a far better team other than when we were going forward. Maybe I misinterpreted what you were saying.
My belief is our pressure early on was as good as I have seen since the Collingwood game and this is what forced Freo into long bombs at goal as they found it difficult to penetrate our defence.
The glass half full me applauds a great result on a long road trip against a motivated goodish opponent built on a foundation of tough disciplined pressure.
The glass half empty me wonders what would have happened if the Dockers' goal kicking hadn't been sub AFL level and our own shooting not so efficient.
On balance, I'm more full than empty, and this brilliant start to the season has earned the team the right to manage their roster over the back half of the year. Seeing how clearly we've managed our Q4 efforts in the last couple of weeks, it's an obvious ploy to make sure we're not needlessly spending petrol tickets at this end of the season. That said, the players interviewed after the game were all completely bushed so it was certainly difficult conditions.
I too loved Ollie's game. And yes, the stars were out again and will likely dominate the coaches' votes, but thought the lesser lights like Amartey, Cunningham and Lloyd were also very strong. This continues to be a very tough team to break into.
Seeing Francis struggle with the pace of the game, it makes you wonder whether, at the right time, the selectors might want to give some of the fringe players a taste of the action - I guess we'll have to wait and see.
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Spot on - didn't one of the opposition coaches squeal on this aspect of our game recently (I immediately suspect a Scott)? Who knows, maybe Clarko had one of our his famous coffee mornings with the Umps co-ordinator?Originally Posted by liz
The game is so full of intangibles that it is hard to measure it. The Cam Mcarthy loss and then not getting the goals early when they were good just resulted in more deflation for their team and we punished them.
But it really tells a story of which teams will trouble us. Quick hands in the middle, and good forwards will trouble us. I think Carlton game is of epic proportions this week. If we can get them in the middle and stop them, and somehow win this game, we will surely be placed the premiership favourites. Hopefully McCartin back this week.
That's a bit harsh after one game. Melican took a while to get comfortable and I feel like Francis was good a couple season ago when he was able to a few senior games strung together.
"Fortunately, this is the internet, so knowing nothing is no obstacle to having an opinion!." Beerman 18-07-2017
Good post.
Chad has been so impressive, and I think in different ways, is better than 2022. His defensive efforts are a quantum leap from where they were and at times ferocious. He's also developing forward craft. Chad must be such a dedicated and disciplined trainer to keep improving himself the way he has. He's playing with such ballistic intent right now it's incredible.
He's also benefitting from the recruitment of Grundy and Adams, as he was getting forced to play the fraction too far inside last year but between his own power at the contest and the different mix in the middle, he's better placed to have maximum impact. And the combination of him, Errol and Heeney as goal kicking midfielders gives us a real point of difference.
'Delicious' is a fun word to say
None of those names were draft picks, except one, rather players trading in.
Dylan Stephens is the prime example; we could have had Hayden Young.
But no one taken responsbility for that total f__k up!
doof-doof
Coaches votes for the game. Another game where Heeney could poll Brownlow votes. Florent has been in really good form of late. While I personally thought Warner just edged them for BOG. And Jordon becomes our 13th player to get votes, after being recognised for spending much of the game keeping Clark quiet.
8 Isaac Heeney (SYD)
8 Oliver Florent (SYD)
6 Caleb Serong (FRE)
5 Chad Warner (SYD)
3 James Jordon (SYD)
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And this is the leader board, from Isaac to Chad.
63 Isaac Heeney (SYD)
47 Zach Merrett (ESS)
46 Caleb Serong (FRE)
40 Nick Daicos (COLL)
39 Zak Butters (PORT)
36 Marcus Bontempelli (WB)
36 Max Gawn (MELB)
35 Christian Petracca (MELB)
34 Tom Green (GWS)
33 Errol Gulden (SYD)
32 Jeremy Cameron (GEEL)
32 Patrick Cripps (CARL)
29 Jordan Dawson (ADEL)
29 Sam Walsh (CARL
28 Matt Rowell (GCFC)
28 Chad Warner (SYD)
CW,
The same people who were responsible for the Dylan Stephen’s stuff up were the same people responsible for the Chad Warner decision. It is not one person that makes the decision, the football department, coaches, list management all have input based on present and future needs.
Despite what you may think they have done a great job.
The coaches' votes confirmed my view that although the stats were complimentary to the Dockers, we had all the best players on the ground bar Serong. That's a fair sign that we outplayed them (esp when you think that Blakey and Hayward may have been next up for votes).
I am pretty sure that the only way the votes could be divided to get this result is:
Heeney either 4-4 or 5-3
Florent either 4-4 or 5-3 (whichever combination Heeney did not have)
Serong 5-1
Warner 3-2
Jordon 2-1
What?! It is insane that Serong was given 5 votes in a 48 point loss.
Sure, he had 34 disposals, but he also had just 3 tackles, 3 clearances and 0 goals (leaving his goal tally for the year at 0). He had the tenth most metres gained. He had no impact on his side winning the game; they lost by 8 goals and were beaten a long way out.
I hadn't sat and written it down, but I figured Serong must have got a five from one of them. Horse is generous to opposition players most of the time, but surely he wouldn't assess Serong to be best player on the ground? If he had, he'd have sent someone to quell the stupendous influence he was having on the game. Which leads me to think that Longmuir must have assessed Serong to be the best player. If so, maybe that gives a clue as to how we beat them, on their home deck, by such a commanding margin without playing at the top of our game. (And yes, I acknowledge the difficult circumstances in which they played. It is probable that some players' hearts weren't in it; possible that some players' minds weren't entirely on it; but their endeavour was still strong.)
And while I'm at it, I'm flabbergasted that Blakey didn't get a vote. I think I'd have had him as BOG.
I agree, I thought Francis was ok. On 360 tonight Justin Longmuir said that Freo won the stats in almost all departments but found themselves down by 44 points at 3qtr time. Maybe our pressure and efficiency is why we prevailed by so much.
We are on top of the ladder a game clear, and all the Melbourne media can talk about is how bad St Kilda was. Last week the focus was on the Dogs.
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