One year wonders.....?

[TheMantle]

Putting it out there.

Freo are starting to show signs of old. Last year we were able to shine but freo have always been in close games we never trash teams 40pts for freo is a smashing. last year we won tho's games we would normally lose, won at 3 grounds we have never won before and our young guns stood up and played well. barlow was special but what would have we been like without him? keplar came good after shocking last few years, the team stood up.

But harvey worries me... i dont feel comfitable with harvey at the helm, i dont believe harvey can coach. thats my opinion. what has he done? the players have done everything, harveys tactic are shocking look at Nab cup, we suck and not a little but SUPER suck we are shocking, yeah injuries but look at the coaching horrible, 75pts today.  Chris scott could coach were is he now?  thats right he is coaching one of the greatest teams of all time.

i feel happy im going travelling this year for 4 months beacause this season could be a horror, top 4 no chance. top 8 maybe, miss the 8 Harveys HEAD!

thank you for your time.

[valkorum]

Turn in your purple badge. We dont want supporters like you.

Have you been watching what we have been doing in the NAB Cup/Challenge?  We are deliberately not playing to our game plan.  If you listened to todays game you would have heard that at times our starting 4 at centre bounces had Griffin, Clarke and Kepler - tell me when that will EVER happen in a normal game.  Lots of players are not playing in their normal position.  They are being tested to see what they can do in other positions.

If you have watched the media releases from the coaches over the last few weeks you would know that we are not playing our game plan pre-season.  At least a third of our best 22 havent played a game yet.

Do you remember what happened last year.  We peaked way to early as we came out strong in the NAB Cup and then for the first half of the season.  We were then too spent to play out the season.  Remember what we had to do in round 21 so we could make a decent assault at the finals?  (which worked as we smashed the Hawks in the first final).  I think what we are doing is smart - not burning our players out too early this year so we can go the distance during the regular season.

Mark Harvey is the best damn coach the club has ever had and I am have never been happier than with him at the helm.  He has taken our club in a direction we have never gone before and we are slowly paying the dividends for his vision.

[TheMantle]

haha turn in my badge thats funny.

i have the feeling this year will just not live up to last. after years of disapointment sometimes its hard to get that postive feeling and i do agree with some of what you have said but 3 losses in pre-season is not what the club and fans would have been hopeing for. round one cant come soon enough.

just because he was a good player dosent make him a good coach. harvey is essendon and always will be.

[Cruiseon]

Not many Docker players from the 80's who are putting their hand up for coaching Mantle.

[valkorum]

Not many Docker players from the 80's who are putting their hand up for coaching Mantle.

I know you are trying to make a point but Freo wasnt in the AFL/VFL in the 80's.  If you said 90's then it still would have the same effect..

[McRooster]

Mantle, I was at the game and as much as Adelaide dominated the play scoreboard wise I got the feeling that Fremantle may have got more out of it than Adelaide did.
Adelaide did what was expected with such a lopsided force, whereas Fremantle used it as a master class and education session and I am sure came away from the match (which counts for nothing) with many of their theories about the season moving forward solidified or quashed.
You guys from the West have so much more travel than the other teams come season proper and it makes perfect sense to pace your jets for now and reap the benefits later.

[CrowsFan]

Roost any chance of giving a roundup of what happened in the match? Who were the standouts for each team. How did Brodie Martin play?

[McRooster]

Roost any chance of giving a roundup of what happened in the match? Who were the standouts for each team. How did Brodie Martin play?

I'm sure I saw it a little differently than most (courtesy of West End and Bundaberg).
Brodie Martin was certainly amongst the best and stood out largely due to the fact he was wearing Goodies # 36 and just kept getting the ball, handling it cleanly.
Crowd was certainly pleased because for so long have we been calling 'kick it, kick it long' and yesterday they did that finally toward the tall timber forwards who operated beautifully and did not get in each others way.
I didn't see Knights do his groin but I did notice he was off and almost immediately began thinking McKernan might be the man and grab Hurley down back to have b/f mpp between them. Ricky Henderson (Craigy's boy) had an error free game with three? first hlf goals and looked like he'd taken the next step.
Callinan and Porps will be deadly crumbing off those big forwad men and my little Rooster Matty Wright might just get a call up before season is out.
All in all though as much as we were intense at the contested ball, the game did remind me a little of Freo v Hawthorn last year when Harvey rested all his stars ahead of the finals campaign.
We were clen and direct,(very accurate scoring - each forwad press or long bomb resulted in a score) but the pressure of the season proper will test out if Craig has indeed developed a plan B.

I didn't watch the Dockers players as much but it was good to see Griffen get a run (Johnson did most of the work) and the body size of Mzungu impressed me. Pav didn't come on until the second half (much to the delight of many in the crowd - Thebarton was his former home ground) and he did a lot of finger pointing and ordering. Dockers did walk off the ground with heads held high.

[CrowsFan]

Nice summary roost :)
I did notice the very accurate scoring from our boys, which was a shock compared to their woeful kicking last year.
Nice to hear Martin had a good game, he is my mid unique for this year in SC so hopefully he can keep it up. I was reading somewhere that they may use him as the rebounding defender this year similar to Goodwin last year so that may be why they gave him his number haha.
Wish I could watch Adelaide play, but being up in Sydney now it makes it very hard. For the second year in a row the Crows won't be traveling to Sydney :'(

[j959]

Thanks for the match report Roost.
have to back up valk's comments - thought Freo would spank baby Hawks and Eagles in NAB Cup Rd1 but they weren't playing dinkum and were trying a lot of things out.

eg Sandi did the rucking against Eagles but they left Zac Clarke in the centre square at the same time! i doubt they are looking at Zac Clarke becoming a ruck rover that's for sure!   ;)

[TheMantle]

another freo game another loss for harvey...

http://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/western-bulldogs-ease-past-fremantle-dockers-by-30-points-in-pre-season-match-in-bunbury/story-e6frf33l-1226016438233

1st comments... In an impressive display by Rodney Eade's largely second string side, the Bulldogs gave another indication last year's preliminary finalists will have the depth to challenge for the AFL flag this year.

hmmmm... so you can understand why i start to worry!? one win is all i ask in pre-season,

good job harvey...

[Alex7089]

don't take the pre-season so seriously o.O

[Boomz]

I'm glad u don't get for essendon... It's one thing not liking a coach it's another not understanding what he's doing.