Take a Breath & Debrief - Round 24

[Danjul]

I don't know if you were at the ground as ity would have been very obvious what was going on because the majority of the game was played in our half, especially in the 2nd quarter disaster. This meant the Freo half was empty as their forwards pushed up the ground and flooded our forward line. Our backs followed them up the ground. As soon as we kicked a point, their backs kicked very long down the ground and players broke away for easy goals. They dominated the ground ball gets as soon as we dropped marks. Have a look at the video I posted.

During the second quarter we scored 3 behinds, all kicked in a 5 minute period with a Fremantle goal in that time.

Apart from that it seemed like the ball rarely entered our forward line. In the 20 minutes (from 5-25) Freo kicked 7 goals, with more time spent retrieving the ball and taking it back to the centre than it being in our 50 metre arc where I was sitting.

I agree with your comment that in the rest of the game most of the play was in our forward half. But our forward tactics were wasteful and poorly executed. For example, we had 5 relatively easy shots at goal, for 2 behinds, before Freo got the ball forward of centre.

Generally speaking, the catalyst for Freo entering their forward zone was either a goal being scored or us scoring a behind.

[Sedat]

How many times did we allow the Freo forwards to get goal side?

Like at some point you make an adjustment, don't you?

Yep, there will be times when our defenders are stuck in deep water isolated one-out in D50. They simply have to do better than what they dished up on Sunday. Not just the talls but our mid-sized and smaller defenders as well - we suck at D50 groundballs, which is a major source of scoring in the pressure of finals footy.

[Bornadog]

we suck at D50 groundballs, which is a major source of scoring in the pressure of finals footy.

I think this has been our issue all season, not always the talls. Have a look at the Brisbane game, not one tall kicked goals, it was the small guys who swooped on the ball (Ashcrofts)

[doggies ftw]

Not sure it is 100% a coaching issue. Does our cohort of superstar mids want to do the dirty work and run hard defensively to protect the ground, or do they want to only impact offensively? There aren't many Touk Miller types in our midfield group.

Coaching directive 100% - I’m positive Richards, Bont, Kennedy are capable of following directions defensively & running both ways. Unless we think they’re going against script to ball chase and run fwd of the contest? Doubt it.

I think you only have to look at the way we setup every other facet of our game under Bevo, ie the high press defenders who set up 10m in front of opposition, the fact we don’t care to tag opposition mids when they’re on top etc. Bevos whole mantra is **** the opposition, nobody cares about them let’s play our own game and do it better. He expects us to win the ball on the inside and take it to the outside and wants our mids in Offensive positions to capitalise on it.

I think it’s clear where the directive is coming from to our stoppage structures rather than any of our ‘superstar mids’ going against the script to be completely honest.

[doggies ftw]

Yep, there will be times when our defenders are stuck in deep water isolated one-out in D50. They simply have to do better than what they dished up on Sunday. Not just the talls but our mid-sized and smaller defenders as well - we suck at D50 groundballs, which is a major source of scoring in the pressure of finals footy.

You can’t play Dale, Bramble & JJ in the same backline and expect any different at ground level. These 3 are 3 of the most offensively minded small defenders in the league to be completely honest.

I look back at defensive groups from 2021 & 2016 & you’re talking 2 max, ie Dale & Daniel in 2021 & JJ & Biggs in 16. Having 3 of your starting 6 as light weight runners who can’t stick a tackle, win a one on one and have a license to roam all the way up to full forward, and more interest in doing that then sweeping up out the back - it’s crazy talk to be honest.

Next year I’d be looking at Dale & Bramble, 2 big bodied defensively minded mediums ie Cleary & Sellwood, and the 3 talls. Hopefully we can target a few more likely types to fill these roles than what we have too, ie Starcevich, Butts, Bond, Budarick.

[Sedat]

Coaching directive 100% - I’m positive Richards, Bont, Kennedy are capable of following directions defensively & running both ways. Unless we think they’re going against script to ball chase and run fwd of the contest? Doubt it.

I think you only have to look at the way we setup every other facet of our game under Bevo, ie the high press defenders who set up 10m in front of opposition, the fact we don’t care to tag opposition mids when they’re on top etc. Bevos whole mantra is **** the opposition, nobody cares about them let’s play our own game and do it better. He expects us to win the ball on the inside and take it to the outside and wants our mids in Offensive positions to capitalise on it.

I think it’s clear where the directive is coming from to our stoppage structures rather than any of our ‘superstar mids’ going against the script to be completely honest.

I'm not sure it is 100% a coaching directive. Daniel Pratt doesn't strike me as a kamikaze defensive line coach, and his first season with us in 2024 yielded a massively improved defensive profile (I would have agreed with you totally up to the end of 2023).

The players cannot shy away from some responsibility IMO. They don't seem to relish the defensive aspects as much as they do the offensive plays. We don't really have midfielders who consistently buy in to defensive mode when required, like the Tom Atkins/Josh Dunkley/Touk Miller types. Kennedy and Harmes can and do from time to time, so does Bont. We still need to get the midfield mix right, both in terms of personnel and also the mix of attack and defence - to say it was out of whack on Sunday in Q2 would be an understatement.

[doggies ftw]

I'm not sure it is 100% a coaching directive. Daniel Pratt doesn't strike me as a kamikaze defensive line coach, and his first season with us in 2024 yielded a massively improved defensive profile (I would have agreed with you totally up to the end of 2023).

The players cannot shy away from some responsibility IMO. They don't seem to relish the defensive aspects as much as they do the offensive plays. We don't really have midfielders who consistently buy in to defensive mode when required, like the Tom Atkins/Josh Dunkley/Touk Miller types. Kennedy and Harmes can and do from time to time, so does Bont. We still need to get the midfield mix right, both in terms of personnel and also the mix of attack and defence - to say it was out of whack on Sunday in Q2 would be an understatement.

That’s what I mean though, not Pratt but the directive is purely from Bevo at the top - I just don’t find it that hard to believe he has an all or nothing approach on the stoppage game when he’s taken an all or nothing approach to so many other facets of his game plan. I find that much more likely personally than Bont, Richards, Libba & Kennedy not buying in defensively. And let’s not forget we had these same problems when we literally had peak Dunkley in the team too - so it’s hard to say we need someone like him when these problems started with him!

I just don’t think Bevo really cares as most of the time it pays off and he’s shown no real ability or want to change things when it’s going against us, other than just keep doing what we’re doing and hope the tide turns again. Either that or we have the most inflexible group of players to ever play in the same team

[FrediKanoute]

Much of this is supposition. We don't really know what Bevo says or what Pratt does or whether the players do what they are told. If we look at 2025:

a) we won 14 games - which in some years would have meant a top 4 finish;
b) we failed to beat a single team in the 8 aside from GWC wo we smashed twice
c) we had a percentage of over 135%
d) our biggest losing margin was 22 points
e) we had two talls who kicked over 50 goals tis year
f) it was a strange season where there were very little upsets, with the bottom 9 rarely eating the top 9
g) in the last 5 or 6 rounds not one 50-50 game between top 8 teams went our way, The Hawks, Freo, Giants, Suns all won games that were 50-50
h) we played the whole season without JUH and Flea. In terms of the former we spent a large part of the season dealing with constant adverse publicity form his antics
i) we saw real progression in a number of players - Croft, Freijah, Richards, Kennedy, Dolan, S Jones, O Baker, Davidson

I am disappointed with how the year has ended, but its a glass half empty. We need to chase a big name backman. If we can pry Butters loose from Port that would be great as well. I think Sam has a big job this year and I would be going hard at the trade period. Our window is opening and next year we can be better, much better.

[1eyedog]

Not sure it is 100% a coaching issue. Does our cohort of superstar mids want to do the dirty work and run hard defensively to protect the ground, or do they want to only impact offensively? There aren't many Touk Miller types in our midfield group.

The implication that Bont, Libba and Richards, our three core mids, are selective when heavy lifting is required is quite confronting.

I get maybe Richards having a straight line licence but Bont, Libba and Kennedy? I don't think it's so much desire or want I think it's more a product of 'can't' as they don't possess the necessary athleticism to cover enough ground quickly.