Review Round 5, 2024 vs Fremantle

[sobrave]

Close game but not necessarily a good spectacle.
Both weeks Walter’s has been down on form and he’s a big part of your avenue to goals.
The Carlton game you was robbed, possibly should have won the Port game but make sure you beat the Eagles

Walters been cooked for years

 

[Peninsula Boy]

A good win albeit with bad forward movement. A good coach and we win that by at least 5 goals.
The defensive side of their midfield bothered us but we still stuck at it.

THE GOOD

Coming back from 10 points with 6 minutes to go.
Burgoyne and Jones playing well.
The backline still playing well.
The tall backman regulating.
Soldo having an impact when it mattered in the last.
Bergman playing well.
Georgiades straighten us up.
The class of Rioli.
Butters always trying something different.
The Hornet with the winning goal.

THE MEDIOCRE

The midfield getting beat at centre and stoppages.
The midfield battling on though.
I'm not quite sure if I like Wines clogging up our midfield.

THE UGLY

McEntee had a quiet game.
Dixon was smashed by Pearce into oblivion
Wines and Georgiades rucking
The forward line structure in general.
Powell-Pepper rusty

PLAY OF THE DAY - the Lachie Jones tackle. The crowd went bananas and rightfully so.

 

[Schulzenfest]

Banfield, eckert, switkowski, tabiner, Erasmus, Hughes Johnson and O’Meara is finished.

That’s an ordinary group.

Switkowski would walk into our forward line.

 

[Janus]

Call me a masochist but I actually watched this game again.

Once you accepted the fact that it was going to be a boring as *, dour, defensive game thanks to Fremantle putting all but two players behind the ball in defence, it actually was pretty intriguing seeing how we tried to unlock their style.

Watching the replay, we left far more goals on the table than they did - probably 5 or 6 shots that either didn’t score or weren’t goals. Against defensive sides you can’t do that, because they ensure goals are at a premium.

It’s interesting that apart from the second quarter, both teams generated the same amount of scoring shots: Port 6 (3.3, 2.4, 3.3) vs Fremantle 4 (2.2, 2.2, 2.2) - the only difference being the second where they had 6 scoring shots (3.3) to our 3 (1.2). That was when they were on top and generated 20 of their eventual 46 inside 50s in one quarter.

That being said, I also knew that we were going to win so long as a) we generated substantially more inside 50s than Fremantle and b) the margin was close enough to peg back when the Fremantle players eventually fatigued from having to continually run back into defence to assist.

Should have been a comfortable 3-4 goal win and would have been if Powell-Pepper had his kicking boots on. But at least it was a win.

 

[rogerjames]

He isnt smart enough to do a Tom Stewart.

True

 

[rogerjames]

Dixon & Hinkley QT meeting:

Watched that. Wasn't impressed by Kelce, got physical too.

 

[rogerjames]

I beg to disagree. Jase is Jase just like Justin Westhoff being Justin Westhoff. Yes, some light weights that’s all he needs as his fitness and his football smarts will ensure that he can have a worthwhile AFL career.
When he first came on the scene what impressed me was his competing on the ground with his opponent for the ball - he rarely lost

Yep, when he first started he was so tough in one on one contests & as you say won many contested ground balls. His disposal by foot was also very good. Unfortunately things changed & I've no idea why but he has the talent.

 

[rogerjames]

Soft and lazy at the moment unfortunately.

His best is elite but he's a mile of it atm.

On SM-G975F using BigFooty.com mobile app

He's been cruising on & off for 2 seasons now. Needs a big rocket.

 

[rogerjames]

Any talk of Burton has got to include Farrell. They both scout around for cheapies which looks like part of our gameplan but it’s too obvious, especially around 50. Their shortcomings become more obvious in finals.
Burton beelined a ball last night once, and came away with it so he’s got it in him. It’s the exception.
Farrell in the first qtr had the same opportunity but decided to “brace for contact”.
Just not going to cut it in September.

Yes, I've been very unimpressed with their attitude all season. Players like this cost you finals coz their mentality is weak when it counts. Talent is not an issue.

 

[rogerjames]

I’ll freely admit that I severely underestimated Fremantle going into this season. With the departures of Schultz & Henry in the off season I just couldn’t see where the improvement would come from. But after watching them over the past fortnight, I’m confident they have the game plan & personnel that will hold up well in Finals.

They did an excellent job in denying us the corridor, which pressured us into making poor decisions time & time again. People can criticise Freo’s dour, defensive game style all they want, but when the big boys come out to play in September they aren’t going to offer us the red carpet through the middle of the ground.

I believe we now have the personnel to mount a serious challenge, but the system certainly isn’t there at the moment. Freo were more disciplined & better set up around the ball, & our forward entries are lamentable at best.

A good coach is adaptable & quick to change course when something isn’t working, if Ken has learned anything, Dixon should not be in the side. For every little cameo he offers, we lose ten fold in structure & forward entry efficiency. In fact, I’m sure he’s inadvertently the major contributing factor to Marshall’s poor form. I’d like to see a more mobile forward set up, that prioritises leading patterns over repeated chaos entries.

Finally, I don’t want to keep picking on the kid, but can we finally put a line through Jed. He was terribly exposed last night, which mirrored both his Finals appearances last year. He just has to go.

Agree with most of this but still think Charlie is useful as a decoy with occasional play thru him. His big body is important & he takes a big defender. Our other tall forwards are lightly built unfortunately. The problem is we play thru him most of the time.

 

[OneGreatClub]

lol @ King calling Butters from Port a protected speciesWTF.

 

[OneGreatClub]

Has Butters been reported ?


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All clear, unless King gets his way

 

[Willsy10]

Bloody hard game to watch, so frustrating. Glad we pulled a rabbit out of the hat late though, because it was a game we couldn't afford to drop.

I knew freo would be hard to play against, but i didn't think it would be that hard. I thought we might've opened them up in the second half. But they had us for the majority of the match, and we just never got our game going at all.

It wasn't our greatest night but i suspect Freo are a lot better than many give them credit for.

 

[rogerjames]

I rarely post on the oppositon boards.

Congrats on the win.

Saying that, I had a gut feeling freo were gonna lose a close one in Adelaide Again.

Sad freo lost to Carlton last week. made it worse as the umpires got carlton over the line.

I knew freo were gonna lose despite Brayshaw getting us a 9 or 10 point lead late in the final quarter. It was just a question on where 2 of Ports goals came from.

Thank you. Really though Freo should have won that game given your midfield dominance until late. Totally ripped off against Carlton who seem to get looked after often.

 

[rogerjames]

lol @ King calling Butters from Port a protected speciesWTF.

The Afl should rule they can't discuss these incidents. Their bias is obvious & unfortunately can be influential. So over their interference.

 

[rogerjames]

I want him to be as good as he can be. he can't be sloppy giving away free kicks in the back zone and he needs to be a bit tighter checking. I want to like him as a player, he has a ruggedness that isn't Farrell's game. Dropping uncontested chest marks like he did in the first home game, will take a little bit to forget.

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Yes he is a very frustrating player atm & he was shocking in that home game. I hope there are coaches at our club that can iron out his obvious deficiencies as he has some attributes that we badly need in our defence.

 

[Peninsula Boy]

WORST PLAY OF THE DAY - Rozee streams out of the centre bounce and doesn't slice it down the throat of a leading forward but kicks it to a long contest.

That should be a set shot 30 metres in front every day of the week and pretty much a goal.

I don't blame Rozee or the forwards but the coaching.

 

[The Hobo]

I didn’t watch the game closely but it was on in the background at the pub I was at.

Agree with this. He is a great bail out contested mark option. But with mobile talks like Marshall, finlayson when he is around and Georgiades we should be able to devise a game plan that makes the most of their strengths as well as Charlie’s. It’s a bit frustrating that we can’t. Having said that I don’t think Dixon has been even close to as bad as people on here have been suggesting. Still going at nearly 2 goals a game, above average for marks, contested marks and possessions. Just needs to convert the easier shots at goal he gets.

Charlie rarely loses contest. That is his biggest strength. He may not win them all that often either, but how often do opposition defenders outmark him/outright win the contest? Rarely. But Pearce did, consistently - and then rebounded off him.

Not suggesting we drop him, but we need to be able to identify mid-game that he's being soundly beaten, and move onto an alternative plan.

 

[The Hobo]

Pearce moves of Dixon then Dixon is a target.
Pearce will not move off Dixon.

The question to the post I quoted was IF Dixon wasn't playing.

 

[The Hobo]

WORST PLAY OF THE DAY - Rozee streams out of the centre bounce and doesn't slice it down the throat of a leading forward but kicks it to a long contest.

That should be a set shot 30 metres in front every day of the week and pretty much a goal.

I don't blame Rozee or the forwards but the coaching.

Yes, i'm sure the coaches told him to bomb it to contest and ignore a lead up forward.

 

[Peninsula Boy]

Yes, i'm sure the coaches told him to bomb it to contest and ignore a lead up forward.

IIRC I don't even think there was a leading forward.

 

[Alberton Proud]

Yes, i'm sure the coaches told him to bomb it to contest and ignore a lead up forward.

I hope that's sarcasm or you're in for a very big surprise !

 

[The Hobo]

Farrell’s weapons come out once every so often when the other team give him a free shot on goal around the 50. I’m not seeing other weapons. He’s probably got more pace and maybe more stamina but I’d rather the footballer in Williams.
Jones is still a work in progress that’s worth persevering with, imo.

When we're playing well and the game is on our terms - all our good attacking play and transition comes from Houston, Burton and Farrell overlapping. When you have 3 of them with that ability, it makes it very hard to shut down.

Williams isn't mobile enough to do that overlap. His ball use is quite good, but it's not as good as the other three. They can also kick it further and flatter.

So far this season, this was the first game that we haven't had on our own terms. If more often than not, we can get the game the way we want it - then this strategy makes sense.

 

[Peninsula Boy]

Watched that. Wasn't impressed by Kelce, got physical too.

I'm sure the outburst was contractually obligated.

 

[The Hobo]

Switkowski would walk into our forward line.

Yup - he's what we wish McEntee could be.