So we relied on blokes who are far better suited elsewhere on the field to be our “BBM”?
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In 2021, yeah we did, and it worked really well for the most part
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i agree, but it was a big risk considering stringer’s inability to play 22 games in a season
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100% see 2022
He’s basically a top 5 pick, playing like a top 5 pick.
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Didn’t Stringer only do the Centre square ball ups then run forward? That’s my memory anyway.
The good thing about Setterfield is he can play that position all game.
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2023 form 2016 top 10
1 Setterfield
2 McGrath
3 McLuggage
4 Taranto
5 Logue
6 Brodie
7 Ainsworth
8 Bowes
9 Scrimshaw
10 SPS
If add in players post top 10 Stewart, Simpkin, Darcy, Ridley, Marshall, Berry, Bolton, Powell-Pepper, Florent etc get a look in
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Yep and our around the ground stoppages numbers have really improved I believe
So better than this one?
1994 - Fremantle blows shot at Lloyd and Lucas
In their final summer before entering the AFL, Perth’s newest club Fremantle embarked on a raid on Essendon.
Fremantle was to be coached by former Claremont coach Gerard Neesham, and Neesham was keen to recruit some of his old charges.
The Dockers were thrilled to lure Essendon trio Todd Ridley, Tony Delaney and Dale Kickett to the club, with all three having played at Claremont.
In exchange for losing Ridley, Delaney and Kickett, Essendon was given Fremantle’s first round pick (No.4) in the 1994 national draft as well as a concession selection.
Essendon selected Scott Lucas with the No.4 pick in the national draft, before arranging an agreement with Fremantle that would allow it to select highly-touted youngster Matthew Lloyd with the concession selection.
Lloyd and Lucas would go on to combine for 1397 goals and 540 games, playing key roles in Essendon’s 2000 premiership win.
Meanwhile, Ridley (21 games), Delaney (28 games) and Kickett (135 games) failed to set the world alight.
What a blunder.
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Kickett was good for Fremantle.
Lloyd and Lucas likely would have left Fremantle to go home / or they wouldn’t have selected them in the first place.
1994 was a good draft
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Yep, the other side of the “draft picks are over-rated” argument.
That does ignore that Fremantle weren’t allowed to keep those picks, but had to trade them. So, the question isn’t how bad the trade was, but how did it compare to what other teams were offering?
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Start of 2021 when he was starting onball he was averaging 26 touches and 5 tackles and a game until he hurt himself. I would say thats pretty decent as a midfielder?
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The final against the weagles - McGrath was midfield and he was everywhere - 30 disposals a player that turned up.
Final against the doggies he was poor and Weightman kicked 4 goals - should have been playing in defence. Walla should have been selected for spark (over Perkins). Caldwell not selected, and Dylan Clarke selected,
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Caldwell, Shiel and McGrath were all rushed back from injury and all had poor or lacklustre returns in the 1-3 games they had at the end of 2021. Langford was rushed back from injury to play in round 20 and scored 3 goals and reinjured himself and missed the rest of the season.
It was terrible injury management all around, with a focus on winning over the future.
Also, don’t forget with Weightman at least 2, and arguably 3 of his goals came from BS free kicks.
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yeh I was there, we were right in the game until half time. bad kicking in front of goal, then umpires took away our momentum.
We were right in the game until the umpires decided that we shouldn’t be.
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Come on mate, we got a 4L jar of Vaseline and lubed them up!
I don’t think we were ever favourites even if things change, because I think they would have overrun us. But I really get sick at those who just look at that scoreline and act like we were never in it. Even at third-quarter time if we’d kicked straight, we’d have been front, even with the BS free-kick goals they scored (14 shots to 13). The team gave up after they got a bit of a break in the last, but who knows what happens if that margin is only 1-2 goals (or less if you take the BS frees out)?
Now, bad goal kicking is bad football, so we can’t complain over the outcome, but it has really skewed how people perceive that match and how that team was performing.
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Good teams don’t just give up!