Autopsy Mid Table Freo beats Mid Table Bulldogs 95-71

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What is the go with Bont’s kicking? A couple of howlers last week and then that shot last night is completely out of character. He appears out of form and his confidence is down.
 
That press conference wow.

So Garcia was the sub prior to Libba being sick. He would have be in our top dozen players against the Saints. So what does this say about selection?

Apparently we did try something in the middle we sent Daniel to Serong but Daniel didn’t have a single centre bounce attendance? Serongs best asset is his clearance work so how does someone coming off the wing or HFF to take him post stoppage help?

ICBF listening to his actual presser, so thanks for posting this.

Garcia woulf have been the sub?! On a large, slippery deck where we need his run and grunt. So is this why Garcia wasn't rotated much through CBAs... because Bevo had him still marked down as the sub in his mind?! (Rhetorical question, not aimed at you D13.)

And Daniel(!!!) as a tagger, but not at CBAs, while Harmes, an actual run-with/tagger, contributes bugger all from no CBAs!

WTF is in the box challenging these decisions? Pratt probably flat out managing the under siege defence to compensate for non-defensive mids, but what is Lade doing during a game? Scrolling through LinkedIn/Seek?
 

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What is the go with Bont’s kicking? A couple of howlers last week and then that shot last night is completely out of character. He appears out of form and his confidence is down.

I don't think it's form, it's injury. His ability to bend down seems compromised.

Should be rested, and Beveridge's prematch should be:
"OK, you ****ers, Bont and Liber have been carrying you all year. So this week they're both out, and Jonesy is the sub. Let's see if any of the rest of you give a sh1t..."
 
I don't think it's form, it's injury. His ability to bend down seems compromised.

Should be rested, and Beveridge's prematch should be:
"OK, you ****ers, Bont and Liber have been carrying you all year. So this week they're both out, and Jonesy is the sub. Let's see if any of the rest of you give a sh1t..."
Maybe - however standing upright he has missed a barn door at least 3 times in the last 2 weeks. I don’t think it is back/hip related.
 
What is the go with Bont’s kicking? A couple of howlers last week and then that shot last night is completely out of character. He appears out of form and his confidence is down.
As brilliant as Bont is his set shot kicking has always been the one flaw in his game. I passed comment to my mates as he was lining up last night that this was no certainty to go through and sure enough he missed.
 
What is the go with Bont’s kicking? A couple of howlers last week and then that shot last night is completely out of character. He appears out of form and his confidence is down.
Unfortunately that shot was not at all unusual for Bont. We’ve seen him miss from such angles on numerous occasions.

It’s a technique issue. Just needs some advice from someone with a genuine clue about goal kicking technique.

With all due respect to Brad Johnson, who was a great player, he also used to miss such shots more often than he should’ve so not sure he is the right bloke to provide the needed guidance in this particular situation.
 
I struggle to see how English topped the Ranking / DT points or whatever they are called.

He was from our worst and made a solid contribution as a midfielder but Sean Darcy was the best ruck on the ground and English was nowhere near being our best player.

There's an obvious moral in there. Stats are a useful adjunct and rating systems are amusing but nothing beats the eye-test.
 
I struggle to see how English topped the Ranking / DT points or whatever they are called.

He was from our worst and made a solid contribution as a midfielder but Sean Darcy was the best ruck on the ground and English was nowhere near being our best player.

There's an obvious moral in there. Stats are a useful adjunct and rating systems are amusing but nothing beats the eye-test.
Suggest you get your vision checked. No way was Darcy better than English last night.
 
Suggest you get your vision checked. No way was Darcy better than English last night.
Eyesight is fine thanks.

I repeat, Darcy was better as a ruckman. English was better as a midfielder.
 
Caleb Daniel playing on Serong
 
I struggle to see how English topped the Ranking / DT points or whatever they are called.

He was from our worst and made a solid contribution as a midfielder but Sean Darcy was the best ruck on the ground and English was nowhere near being our best player.

There's an obvious moral in there. Stats are a useful adjunct and rating systems are amusing but nothing beats the eye-test.
I thought English was outstanding and covered the ground miles better than Darcy, influencing the game. He was marginally (not wholly) defeated in ruck contests and his goalkicking accuracy let him down a little, but he was one of our best.

6 clearances (2nd most for the team)
4 intercept possessions (equal 5th team)
372 metres gained (4th most in team, only the 3 running half backs had more)
Only 2 turnovers from 23 touches
11 contested ball
4FF vs 1FA
23 touches @ 74%


Sean Darcy was absolutely not best on ground for his inability to prevent English's influence on the game in general transition play like I outline above - English spent most of the game getting to the ball before Darcy could/did.

English getting out tapped marginally against the bloke who was probably the best pure tap ruckman over the last two years (even better than Gawn) is hard to win but not entirely unexpected.

English has become a whipping bou around here and I'm really not sure, given we all know the type of player he is by now, why the expectations are so unrealistic? He had an outstanding game if he was a midfielder with those stats. He competed as well as can be expected and probably better against a good tap ruck that has outtapped most the league.
 

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I thought English was outstanding and covered the ground miles better than Darcy, influencing the game. He was marginally (not wholly) defeated in ruck contests and his goalkicking accuracy let him down a little, but he was one of our best.

6 clearances (2nd most for the team)
4 intercept possessions (equal 5th team)
372 metres gained (4th most in team, only the 3 running half backs had more)
Only 2 turnovers from 23 touches
11 contested ball
4FF vs 1FA
23 touches @ 74%


Sean Darcy was absolutely not best on ground for his inability to prevent English's influence on the game in general transition play like I outline above - English spent most of the game getting to the ball before Darcy could/did.

English getting out tapped marginally against the bloke who was probably the best pure tap ruckman over the last two years (even better than Gawn) is hard to win but not entirely unexpected.

English has become a whipping bou around here and I'm really not sure, given we all know the type of player he is by now, why the expectations are so unrealistic? He had an outstanding game if he was a midfielder with those stats. He competed as well as can be expected and probably better against a good tap ruck that has outtapped most the league.

So you're essentially agreeing with dogwatch's comparison of their midfield and ruck work?
 
So you're essentially agreeing with dogwatch's comparison of their midfield and ruck work?
Not really. Darcy was marginally better for them. I'd take English's overall game package over Darcy's 100 times out of 100.
 
They killed us by kicking through the middle last night , it must have been something they identified as a weakness . I’ve always thought we focus too much on moving the ball via the wing . Two risky but well judged kicks through the middle & they cut us open .

It doesn’t matter how much you possess the ball if you are an easy kill the other way .

They identified Khamis’s weakness as a defender and forced him to play the man not space , if you’re going to play a zonal defence this can happen . Khamis must have wanted the ground to swallow him up by the 4th, it was painful to watch .
 
My take on this game for what it’s worth.

1. It was a tough, high standard game where Freo, inspired after an embarrassing loss brought their A game.

2. The umpires turned in an old fashioned biased effort towards the home WA team in an interstate clash. This had a big impact on proceedings.

3. Despite the above, we played pretty well, stuck at it though ultimately came up short.

4. Had we kicked straighter, made a few less mistakes then we might still have gotten the chocolates over a good team with a strong interstate home ground advantage.

Points 1 to 4 mean that despite the loss there is no need to panic. We are playing ok, just keep tweaking and trying to improve each week.

5. Bulldog specific observations:

Daniel is down on confidence. Like Dale and Duryea he can get it back, but could do with some support right now.

Buku and Bramble both struggled under pressure last night and it was costly.

Keath is apparently playing well in the VFL, so could be time to bring him back.

Don’t forget we were without Libba and Marra, plus lost Cody early through injury.
Freo are a lot like us. They will bring their A game against mediocre opposition after a week of negative press. Would not be surprised at all if they come out next week and stink it up. They did play very well last night though.
 
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Except he was resigned well before the West Coast loss

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Yeah we re-signed him early in the year. People said it was premature but seriously as if we wouldn’t have re-signed him when we got to 7-3 anyway. We looked like we were playing finals until the last few rounds.

There’s no real issue with re-signing him. The question is what we do now.

Frankly I see no point in a sudden axing. If our season really starts to go down in flames you can make a decision (I suspect Bevo would walk if he’s interested in getting another gig - if he stays too long he’ll hurt his cred).

I wouldn’t want a caretaker for more than a few rounds. It serves very little purpose.

What I do want to see regardless is players who might be part of the future be prioritised. Garcia, Gallagher, Sanders, Khamis, Darcy and O’Donnell all look like they’re part of the future.

I don’t want to see Harmes, Bramble, Baker, Lobb, Keath or Gardner get a run ahead of them unless they’re totally stinking it up.
 
I’ve always thought we focus too much on moving the ball via the wing . Two risky but well judged kicks through the middle & they cut us open .

We well and truly do. Switch in defence and sometimes just the defensive side of centre, then once past the centre, invariably attack along the boundary. Rarely someone like JJ or Ed will run through the middle, and these often lead to a forward with an easier shot at goal. But our go-to is playing into the pockets, so the forwards have a harder shot at goal.
You'd think a coaching group would cotton on to other teams using the corridor and its effectively - I guess our plodding mids and some with questionable kicking skills (or inability to execute kicking skills they do possess) also means we always resort to going wide.
 
I don’t want to see Harmes, Bramble, Baker, Lobb, Keath or Gardner get a run ahead of them unless they’re totally stinking it up.

Agree with the rest of your post, and all these...bar Harmes. I'd like to see him played in the role it appears we recruited him for, tagging. At least to see if he can be more effective in that role. Last night was the perfect opportunity, especially after the first quarter. Or after the first half... or sometime.
 
Eyesight is fine thanks.

I repeat, Darcy was better as a ruckman. English was better as a midfielder.

English beat Darcy absolutely everywhere except at the ruck contest and I think he kept the Dogs in the game as the player you moved the ball through to get to the forward line while big Sean was a statue and watched. Made the absolute best of his opportunities to out work Sean Darcy. If the Dogs had won the game it would have been because English is a workhorse and Darcy is not fit enough to go with him.

Sam Darcy is a gun too. So crisp and clean marking even when he's getting bashed around like a handful of pencils in a cup being shaken.

The Dogs fans at the stadium made as much noise as the Freo crowd when your lads were kicking goals.
 
Not really. Darcy was marginally better for them. I'd take English's overall game package over Darcy's 100 times out of 100.

If probably have preferred the game from the ruck that led to his team smashing the other in clearances, including a club record 17 for one player.
 
English is an enigma, put him up again Sean Darcy and he knows how to run him off his feet . Yet against Goldstein etc he’s their bunny . It’s as if he remembers them pantsing him 5 years ago and he plays accordingly.
 
If probably have preferred the game from the ruck that led to his team smashing the other in clearances, including a club record 17 for one player.
Little to do with how English and Darcy played for their teams and more the midfielders themselves.
 

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