Using our resources.

[mjp]

Just a couple from me from the Freo game.

I sort of get the pile on - lot's of negativity on here - but Freo are pretty good and were always going to be a hard out. Some straight kicking in q3 when we were dominating could have made the difference, but whatchagonnado??

Just in terms of using our resources to their best advantage:

1/. Jones MUST be the deepest defender. When Buku and JOD were taken deep, bad stuff happened. It wasn't just Buku and it wasn't just JOD - it was both of them...Jones takes the deepest at ALL TIMES. He makes great mark vs spoil decisions and knows when to leave his man and when to stay and fight...it might be experience (I think it is a bit more than that) but in any case, he stays deep.

2/. Richards as a mid is a great CHANGE-UP. But we shouldn't be losing him from the defensive group completely. I don't get how we've gone from one extreme to the other with Ed...to me it is 7-mins back to 4-mins inside to 3 mins off rinse and repeat...we still need him behind the ball.

** Yes, I accept Liber's absence impacted here.

3/. Naughton. Can we please not be half-pregnant with him? He is either UP the ground or the deepest but we can't (surely) be asking him to do both. His running efforts were outrageous last night but if he is the D50 outlet then he can't ALSO be the primary inside 50m target. That said, making Darcy the prime i50 target is not a great plan right now....

** Yes, I accept Jamarra's absence impacted here.

4/. Bont. In close games, I think we have to match-up hunt with Bont. Flip him between roles - back, mid and forward - based on the matchup and do it QUICKLY. We have a weapon here but can't let it get stuck 'out of range' for so long.

5/. Garcia, West and and whoever else is playing forward. Get them up and around the ball...the mid mix still needs to be expanded...PLUS this will mean continually changing the look of the forward group re- size/shape. I think West is going ordinary right now but a couple of stints inside will not hurt. Garcia simply has to go in more or he may as well play VFL.

Overall, I thought we tried our butts off and "coulda" won it...life doesn't always fall the way you want it too though.

I have lots of thoughts about last night...overall, I thought we showed a LOT...

[Go_Dogs]

When Naughton marks on the wing and looks up and can’t kick it to himself he slows down and so does our team. We need Marra back as notwithstanding Darcy and Lobb can mark, they just don’t command the ball leading up like Marra and Naughton can (and even English can).

Agree on more midfield looks and Ed spending core time in the defensive group. We kinda need that group more settled. Imagine it changes a bit when Libba is back. Ed as a freshen up for 5 minutes in the mids here and there is great but not our mainstay.

Re Bont - also being on the bench for so long was a massive fail. Maybe he had an illness too? He wasn’t able to impact as much as normal.

[mjp]

Re Bont - also being on the bench for so long was a massive fail. Maybe he had an illness too? He wasn’t able to impact as much as normal.

Funny you mention this...when Liber went over I figured more would follow.

[mjp]

When Naughton marks on the wing and looks up and can’t kick it to himself he slows down and so does our team.

That's OK though. 'Cos we've exited the ball...job done. Naughton just needs to find a mark and we reset in whatever our slow ball movement play is called...

We have the firepower inside 50m to bring it to deck in a slow play situation...so if Naughton takes the mark at half back, that should be the cue for slow play.

[Go_Dogs]

That's OK though. 'Cos we've exited the ball...job done. Naughton just needs to find a mark and we reset in whatever our slow ball movement play is called...

We have the firepower inside 50m to bring it to deck in a slow play situation...so if Naughton takes the mark at half back, that should be the cue for slow play.

Good insight - don’t mind it, would be good to see us execute it!

[josie]

Thanks mjp-makes me feel a bit better. I also felt there was no want of effort and inacccuracy cost us.

Where was the piercing kicks, zig zagging across ground like last week? Was it we were low on confidence and/or Freo set up better?

[mjp]

Thanks mjp-makes me feel a bit better. I also felt there was no want of effort and inacccuracy cost us.

Where was the piercing kicks, zig zagging across ground like last week? Was it we were low on confidence and/or Freo set up better?

Watching, Freo got back in massive numbers...the Saints were a bit off last week (they're way better than they showed).

It's easy to say 'just kick through the zone' but they were really teasing the kicker on any attempt to change the lane and it would not have been easy...to be fair, we did the same and they also had trouble scoring.

Again - to me if we just have Jones deep at all times and kick straight in q3, we win. Even that mark Buku 'nearly' took in q4...that just 'felt' like a 'KILL' moment (as in, kill this, get it out of there). And I get that taking the mark is the 'ultimate' kill (and he 'nearly' took it) but as soon as it hit the deck it was a goal and that was a BIG MOMENT.

Again - on feel - he and JOD just aren't up to the moments we are trying to get them to play YET. Draper (Freo) is also not up to those moments...he was subbed out with a hamstring. I know this meant Luke Ryan had to fight out of his weight division but I would have actually preferred to see Richards trying to fight out of his weight class vs - say - Treacy - and Garcia in the mids than Buku and JOD in the last line. BUT - how are they going to learn if they never do it?

On the other hand, if Liber plays do Fyfe and Serong kill us at the stop like that??

[bulldogsthru&thru]

Let's face it, if we kicked accurately we'd still have lost as we'd have allowed a fairly quick reply. It's just what we do when we have nights like last night.

[mjp]

Let's face it, if we kicked accurately we'd still have lost as we'd have allowed a fairly quick reply. It's just what we do when we have nights like last night.

Please.

[bulldogsthru&thru]

Please.

Please. There's always an out with this group isnt there?

They just aren't up to it. Why do we always look for excuses? I think the fans are fairly sick of it.

[Bullies]

Freo played through whoever was on Buku. We wasted a year on Buku playing him forward in the VFL when we should have left him down back for the year in the VFL learning how to defend. Watch Buku of the ball he has no touch on his opponents and when the opposition run and gun quickly he can't read the play and gets out of position. Just not sure playing in the 1's is the best way to learn this.

We also let Freo dictate how we moved the ball out of defence. It was not quick and allowed them time to zone. Not one person at times demanded the ball leaving the person kicking out second guessing and often resulting in a turnover. We needed to move the ball quicker from kick outs.

I think Freo are very average but it also says about where we are at. There doesn't appear to be a great deal of unity in the team.

[josie]

Thanks mjp.

[comrade]

It?s clear I know nothing about footy as last night wasn?t a night where I thought we showed much at all to be excited by, let alone showing LOTS.

[lemmon]

It?s clear I know nothing about footy as last night wasn?t a night where I thought we showed much at all to be excited by, let alone showing LOTS.

I thought last night was a decent indicator of where we're at as a side.

We stayed in the contest for most of the game despite getting belted 47-30 clearances, and 34-21 at stoppage clearances. Under Bevo at our best, we've been a side that relied on getting it done at the coal-face, with a slew of inside mids that'd dominate contested footy and rack up the disposals. I think we'd probably have been belted if we put up those numbers back in 2022.

I thought the effort was good - we laid 16 forward 50 tackles (+3 on our 2024 average) and had 45 one-percenters to Freo's 39 - but there was a real lack of connection between our mids and forwards. Some of that was Freo's team defence, but concerningly, some of that seems to be game style.

We clearly want to 'wheel and go', get it into our key forwards to contest and create repeat forward 50 stoppages. We did that pretty well, but we don't have the small forwards that get dangerous and actually put score on the board. It felt like we were bashing away with a mallet all night when something a bit more subtle was needed. Laith bombing to a contest in the last and burning Garcia in the pocket summed it all up.

I think this is a side that tries hard (most of the time) but the game style is in flux and there are obvious question marks on a bunch of players. Reckon we'll finish somewhere between 7-10.

[bulldogsthru&thru]

It?s clear I know nothing about footy as last night wasn?t a night where I thought we showed much at all to be excited by, let alone showing LOTS.

We're very much mid. We're not AWFUL. Just mid.

The issue is we're making moves and making decisions like we're top 4. That's where the frustration lies.