Injury Walters dislocated the tendon in his ankle

[PurpleWizard]

positivity is that he gives a chance for Crozier/Simpson. They need some AFL time to develop

Can Simpson hit the scoreboard? Hopefully we see him playing deep for Peel this week

 

[Gekko71]

positivity is that he gives a chance for Crozier/Simpson. They need some AFL time to develop

Can Simpson hit the scoreboard? Hopefully we see him playing deep for Peel this week

Absolutely he can - check out the Youtube link below for some Sharks highlights from last year, he kicked four beauties in this game playing as a forward-pocket/mid:



Looking at him in this vid you can tell he's put on a several kilos of muscle since last year too

 

[PurpleWizard]

I feel like the woman in the 1980 movie "Airplane" ("Flying High," I think you guys called it there), who freaks out, then has the passengers lining up to smack her around to calm her down! Tell you what...we beat Essendon, then MAYBE I'll scoot a little back from the ledge. Oh, who am I kidding? There's no ledge here, I live in a first-floor apartment! But you all get the idea!

I don't think you can judge it on this week! I hope like hell we put in a good show, but Essendon are flying. Still no fyfe or Barlow, Walters gone and Mayne in doubt. First games possibly from Sylvia and Clancy with Sheridan, Neale and Suban not showing much form as of yet. It's going to be tough.

Upside

Walters and Mayne could hardly run last week which meant our forward pressure was awful. Deboer also played more midfield time which added to our lack of defensive pressure. This week Hopefully Mayne is fit, Deboer plays at half forward with the inclusion of Syliva/Clancy into the midfield.

We are at Subiaco this week

Chappy may not play

We have never played two awful games in a row!

I'm sure there is lot's more upside

 

[salim malik]

I don't think you can judge it on this week! I hope like hell we put in a good show, but Essendon are flying. Still no fyfe or Barlow, Walters gone and Mayne in doubt. First games possibly from Sylvia and Clancy with Sheridan, Neale and Suban not showing much form as of yet. It's going to be tough.

Upside

Walters and Mayne could hardly run last week which meant our forward pressure was awful. Deboer also played more midfield time which added to our lack of defensive pressure. This week Hopefully Mayne is fit, Deboer plays at half forward with the inclusion of Syliva/Clancy into the midfield.

We are at Subiaco this week

Chappy may not play

We have never played two awful games in a row!

I'm sure there is lot's more upside

We did lose to the Dons round 3 last season and then had our pants pulled down by the Hawks round 4 to be 2 and 2 and then got up to draw with Sydney round 5 so we have all been here before.I cant be bothered going back to those game threads but I seem to remember much wrist slashing

 

[sij1981]

There you go, give him a couple of ibuprofen and tell him to get his lazy arse back to training.

Looking on the bright side, this gives Crozier a few weeks to try claim a spot in the side.

HE is no walters, need someone quick and does 2 goals a game, crozier needs to plant himself in the 50m arc and no further out if he is to replace walters. i would rather have simpson

 

[Silent Alarm]

Hugely disappointing if he is out all year but the sky isn't falling. It gives Kepler, Crozier, and maybe a debutant a chance to cement themselves. Duffy plays in that position, no? And as others have noted, Simpson definitely seems to do well there too. You might even be able to chuck Sylvia as a pocket too.

Good teams get over these things. Just a chance for someone else to step up.

 

[PurpleWizard]

sylvia play a chappy-like role for us?

 

[sij1981]

sylvia play a chappy-like role for us?

I LIKE the sound of that. 3-4 goals a game average would be handy

 

[tek87]

losing walters is huge. he has that knack of scoring goals when we need them. so skilled and sets them up. no one else really has his skillset in the front half. but it will be interesting to see if Crozier/simpson/sylvia can step up and contribute to winning games

 

[The_Eagles]

Gossage just said near certainty out for the season ... Commiserations, he's so important for locking it in and having him and ballantyne was greater than the sum of the parts.

 

[Spoken4]

Gossage just said near certainty out for the season ... Commiserations, he's so important for locking it in and having him and ballantyne was greater than the sum of the parts.

Gossage huh? So he'll back in 2-3 weeks then. Excellent!!

 

[slicedndiced]

Gossage just said near certainty out for the season ... Commiserations, he's so important for locking it in and having him and ballantyne was greater than the sum of the parts.

Why would an Eagle supporter run to our board to inform us what the least* knowledgable reporter in town has to say??

* maybe second after hackdorn.

 

[WAnchor]

Upside
Walters and Mayne could hardly run last week which meant our forward pressure was awful. Deboer also played more midfield time which added to our lack of defensive pressure. This week Hopefully Mayne is fit, Deboer plays at half forward with the inclusion of Syliva/Clancy into the midfield.

We have never played two awful games in a row!

I'm sure there is lot's more upside

I really do admire your optimism. I do wonder, however, if you've had your long-term memory assessed of late?

 

[Fred Ziffel]

Gossage just said near certainty out for the season ... Commiserations, he's so important for locking it in and having him and ballantyne was greater than the sum of the parts.

Commiserations Huh ?

You ooze sincerity.

 

[PapaJ]

Absolutely he can - check out the Youtube link below for some Sharks highlights from last year, he kicked four beauties in this game playing as a forward-pocket/mid:

I really love the look of Simpson, but he's no answer in replacing Walters - at least not yet. He's fantastic when he's got a bit of space, but he's still trying to work out what to do in heavier/tighter contested situations, and that's at WAFL level. At AFL where the stoppages are so intense and physical, I reckon he'd really become a non-factor for significant parts of the game - though the 'over the top' run into space option would always be there of course.

Walters is sublime in both contested and more open play and creative in any place. Silvia or even Crozier (who's a more natural fwd) are better options at this stage.

Disclaimer: More regular WAFL watchers may well disagree with me here, and I'd go with them. I'm only going on wathcing him in a handful of games.

 

[ritz]

Gossage just said near certainty out for the season ... Commiserations, he's so important for locking it in and having him and ballantyne was greater than the sum of the parts.

Gossage?!
That guy that said Silvagni is gorn in the off-season?!
That guy???
Hmm ok

 

[scon]

It is understood Tim Gossage has dislocated tendons at the base of his tongue while attempting to insert it in his ...(Adult warning,euphemism coming)....er umm microphone!
Mr Gossage is unable to deny at this juncture.

 

[slicedndiced]

It is understood Tim Gossage has dislocated tendons at the base of his tongue while attempting to insert it in his ...(Adult warning,euphemism coming)....er umm microphone!
Mr Gossage is unable to deny at this juncture.

In actual fact, he was in the act of inserting it into Lachie Reid's "microphone" when said dislocation occurred.

 

[scon]

I'm happy to be corrected,however have it on authority that Lachie has never offered that level of resistance.

 

[slicedndiced]

I'm happy to be corrected,however have it on authority that Lachie has never offered that level of resistance.

You are indeed correct, however there was something that went amiss with a danish salami and a light bulb which is not for the consumption of a family site such as this.

 

[JunglistPosse]

They both like chowing down on Popsicles at the same time

 

[Kram]

The_Eagles probably is Gossage.

 

[Gekko71]

I really love the look of Simpson, but he's no answer in replacing Walters - at least not yet. He's fantastic when he's got a bit of space, but he's still trying to work out what to do in heavier/tighter contested situations, and that's at WAFL level. At AFL where the stoppages are so intense and physical, I reckon he'd really become a non-factor for significant parts of the game - though the 'over the top' run into space option would always be there of course.

Walters is sublime in both contested and more open play and creative in any place. Silvia or even Crozier (who's a more natural fwd) are better options at this stage.

Disclaimer: More regular WAFL watchers may well disagree with me here, and I'd go with them. I'm only going on wathcing him in a handful of games.

A fair point - Josh excels in space more-so than in stoppages/conjestion, as does Walters for that matter.

As against that I have seen Josh feed out some effective handballs to advantage from congested ball on a number of occasions in the WAFL, but it's not his forte granted.

It really comes down to the role the brains trust want him to play. There are numerous inside mids who can win the hard-ball on our team (though many of them need to stand up in the absence of Fyfe and Barlow) so I wouldn't have Josh fulfil this role. I would keep him outside roving the pack - his acceleration, evasiveness and effective disposal is what he can supply at AFL level, so I would include him for these reasons. Have Clancy step into the inside role - he already has the build and the pedigree for it - and have Josh outside ready to receive. It's pretty hard to ignore Clancy's 4-quarter 39 possession effort last week; it's equally hard to ignore Simpson's 10 forward-50 entries last week with at least a 50% goal conversion rate from his efforts.

 

[Ragtooth]

Ouch, heard this stat:
“Freo with Michael Walters playing - 27 wins, 9 losses, 1 draw (73%). Without Walters playing - 17 wins, 20 losses (46%)”

Some of those games were before Freo was a stronger side than it is now but:
“(he has a) huge impact when he fires. Since last yr- Freo 13-3 when he kicks 2+ goals. 4-1-3 when kicks 0 or 1”

Again statistics do not tell you the whole story and there are always other factors at play. However quite interesting none the less.

 

[sij1981]

Hugely disappointing if he is out all year but the sky isn't falling. It gives Kepler, Crozier, and maybe a debutant a chance to cement themselves. Duffy plays in that position, no? And as others have noted, Simpson definitely seems to do well there too. You might even be able to chuck Sylvia as a pocket too.

Good teams get over these things. Just a chance for someone else to step up.

i prefer kep !!!