There may have been previous holding for which smack should have won a few but the final action was a high fend and the replay confirms that.
Yes, in that post I was generalising. Thatâs probably always going to be controversial.
Youâre talking about moving Hooker forward too late but even then he only kicked 3 points to itâs not like he won the game for us.
When Hooker was moved downfield he drew 1-2 tall defenders, from when SMack went off until that time those defenders were intercepting our I50s. I could argue that when Hooker went down there he really opened up our forward line and things started to improve.
only change we needed was in accuracy.
In order to ensure better accuracy we needed marks closer to goal. thats one thing a Key Forward can deliver, especially late in games. We had 13 individual behind scorers in that game, only 4 of whom were recognised forwards. Its no wonder we were not kicking accurately.
Our game plan has been working just fine despite plenty of injuries to vital players (Joe DâŚ)
Until round 8 Joe D was playing injured, and clearly was under performing. Our whole game plan had developed around him as a KP forward in the past 2 years, when his form collapsed, Worsfold waited 7 games to act.
Since round 8 SMack came in and was kicking almost 2 goals a game. When he went off there was a vacuum in terms of talls up forward that we had to adjust to and we really struggled.
The plans for when a player goes down should be worked out during the week and that should form the basis of the players selected. The match committee should be going through each scenario for every player and have a plan A, B, & C. Maybe Plan A was to throw an extra small forward and moving Hooker was Plan B.
It doesnât change the fact that the Coaches box is too slow to react to changes in the game.
Look at the way the Patriots plan their games in the NFL!
Fair enough as I havenât seen the replay. But it was his free well before that.
It just goes to show why key forwards canât kick bags of goals - key defenders can manhandle as much as they want, clearly not going for the ball, but the instant a key forward "retaliates"to get his arm free to go for the mark he is pinged.
Thanks for taking the time to respond.
I agree Hooker was useful up forward but I think the coaches did the right thing by waiting to see if it was necessary. Hooker is pretty useful in the back line too so moving him isnât necessarily a win/win.
Obviously Woosha is the man in charge but it I think was probably worth getting opinions from his line coaches and at least the captain to see what the general feeling was.
You mention 13 individual behind scorers but quarter to quarter we kicked 5,6,5,5, were we really more inaccurate in the period in between when Smack went down and Hooker was moved?
Also, you question the goal kicking ability of those missing shots but of the 13 players 5 of them also scored majors and the remaining 8 were Hooker, Parish, Bellchambers, Langford, Tippa, Smack, Zerret, Saad. Iâll concede Saad isnât a recognised forward along with Parish but the rest are certainly no stranger to the fwd 50 and generally missed shots with little to no pressure. Again, Iâm not sure of the timing of the misses but Iâd suggest if a couple had sailed through for 6 points we wouldnât have had to change anything.
I also note that aside for 3 straight goals late in the 1st Q Freo didnât score consecutive goals at any other stage of the match, so it wasnât like we were under siege and in a rush to change things.
I agree things werenât working well for the first 8 rounds, no doubt about that. Well, actually, we did beat the crows in round 1 which suggested we were on the right track and then we bounced back in round 4 against Port so I can see why they might have just wanted to give the players a bit more time to get used to the plan.
The following embarrassing losses to Pies and Demons should have been enough to force changes and in hindsight Iâd suggest they should have ditched Daniher (whom we know was playing injured) or at least the game plan which was centered around him.
TBH Iâm still not sure about what changed other than Daniher going out of the side (and I think Hurley at the same time?). Neeld got moved on etc but you also had Heppell taking responsibility and Stringer/Saad playing more confidently.
In any case it was a remarkable turn around and since then things have been excellent, with us not only squaring the ledger but going one better. Losses to Richmond and Pies still hurt but they were both in excellent form and continue to be.
I say this to point out that since round 8 we have beaten some good to very good teams with said game plan (that I donât feel is centered around 1 forward) and so there was really no need to panic and move Hooker forward any earlier than they did, if at all.
I do feel that the really good teams are good enough to have various contingency plans and players trained to switch though multiple roles.
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If only the rest of the team (bar Raz and Mitch) had followed Myersâ advice and tried not to kick goals earlierâŚ
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Absolutely spot on. Not a single word I could disagree with and some great observations.
Interesting thought of Colyer as a tagger⌠I just wonder if he has the will/desire to transform into that kind of player week in and week out⌠his tackles are oft broken and he can put in the short steps at times too⌠not ideal for a tagger imho.
Rather than inventing a role⌠perhaps easier to drop him to the VFL and play someone who can actually find their own ball, be accountable and not fumble it everytime?
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Coaches votes
Goddard flamed by most of blitz yet one or both coaches valued his game as top 5 worthy
Raz clearly BOG
ESSENDON v FREMANTLE
10 Orazio Fantasia (ESS)
8 Devon Smith (ESS)
3 David Zaharakis (ESS)
3 Tom Bellchambers (ESS)
3 Brendon Goddard (ESS)
3 Dyson Heppell (ESS)
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His game was an interesting mix of very very bad and actually quite good.
Carrying the torch for Smack??
On the way to Perth now. Ross the boss is up the pointy end studying footage of the game. Any advice for him?
Put a heavy tag on Mitchell.
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Lol
Exit the plane immediately.
Parachute not required.
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Haha. Lucky I have lots of experience in such mattersâŚ
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RTB trolling us.
I thought he was terrible live, rewatched the 4th quarter and his defensive work was excellent but then there was that godawful run down
Steer clear of the female hosties.
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Rules seem pretty clear that the tackler should be rewarded.
15.1.1 Spirit and Intention of Awarding Free Kicks
It is the spirit and intention of these Laws that a Free Kick shall be awarded to:
(a) ensure that a Match is played in a fair manner;
(b) provide a Player, who makes obtaining possession of the football their sole objective, every opportunity to obtain possession;
(c ) protect Players from sustaining injury; and
(d) a Player who executes a Correct Tackle which results in an opponent failing to dispose of the football in accordance with these Laws.
Thatâs not exactly a challenge to break downâŚ
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Good luck working out who got what amongst the threes though.
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Interesting that no Freo player got votes.
Clearly it was us keeping Freo in the game until half time, disappointing we couldnât have kicked another 4 goals or so to have the scoreboard reflect our dominance.
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