TOPIC:

Definitely good for the comp if EP, Swans or heaven forbid Perth had some success.  Starting to see a few crawling out from under their rocks in moth eaten Royals jumpers.  No bigger front runners than us Mighty Royals supporters. Smashed in the ruck today but still won the game nicely.  Peel away might be tougher if they get a solid Freo mix. 

Well done Royals, agree with the above, Larry; enjoy it mate.

I thought that losing Jonesy after he broke down at the centre bounce versus the Sharks,would spell the death knell of our season,but i started to think otherwise after we went on to to win he game quite comfortably,although the Sharks don't really have a top recognised ruckman.We've gone on to win our next few games quite comfortably with Jedd as our No 1 ruckman and he has battled manfully and has more than held his own,against the other middle of the road ruck opposition,but today going head to head against Eastland, who is either the best or second best ruckman in the comp.was a really good litmus test of how the loss of Jones would affect us for the rest of the season.Athough as expected Eastland won the ruck taps 45-22 and had 15 possessions to Jedds 7,his impact around the ground didn't really hurt us,and i see no valid reason why we can't go very very deep into this 2023 season.

ArkRoyal wrote:

Well done Royals, agree with the above, Larry; enjoy it mate.

it is nice to be on top of the ladder after 13 games but also not to get ahead of yourself.It has taken a 7 game winning streak  to get on top but we will need to continue winning against our top four opponants.I thought we should have been further in front at half time and was worried it might come back to haunt us.The tigers showed why they are a good side in the third and worrying was that they seem to be winning the clearances easily.Great to out score them in the last which seems to be their strength.
Jedd met a top notch ruckman today but battled as best as he could in his fourth game.Unfortunately the ruck is a weakness  with Jones looking to not play again this year.Hopefully Jedd doesn't get injured.
The other weakness i saw today was a lack of a true tall in the forward line.Our passing in the forward line was generally good but their were times when we kicked to contests and we didn't have anyone to compete.
.Hopefully Graham gets some fitness and form in the twos and solve that problem

The Ep boys are going along nicely, after an inconsistent start, to be expected with a new coach, they have settled into a top flight team. Clearly the best midfield in the comp, imagine how good you would be if big Jones had not gone down but Subi proved for many seasons that you dont need a specialist ruckman if your mids are elite.

Senior Seagull wrote:

The Ep boys are going along nicely, after an inconsistent start, to be expected with a new coach, they have settled into a top flight team. Clearly the best midfield in the comp, imagine how good you would be if big Jones had not gone down but Subi proved for many seasons that you dont need a specialist ruckman if your mids are elite.

He is battling manfully and while our midfielders are elite,Jedd Edwards is no Lachlan Delahunty.

Liam Tabasco,oops Tedesco on Fire with 6 big ones!!!!!! and Jedd Edwards............absolutely superb and the Bonno was pretty good around the ground grabbing 6 big marks.

With 6.0 today and a season tally of 24.7, Teddy has been an absolute revelation up forward since joining us, RL.
It's been a long while since we've had a player kick 6 goals in a game.
Big Jedd is getting better in the ruck with every passing week, while I agree with you that Bono did some good things.
The game was virtually the reverse of our loss to Peel at Leederville in Round 4.
That day, we kicked ourselves out of it, while Peel's inaccuracy today kept us in the game in the first half.
Our third quarter - often our achilles heel - was superb.
They may have been slightly depleted, but so were we, with half of our backline (Jacob Msando, Coreyy Watts and Stan Wright) missing through injury. 
 

Well done Royals, one of you dubbed your midfield the foreign Legion earlier in the season. They all topped the stat sheet today. Marvelous recruiting I dip my kid to your clubs recruiting department. I also acknowledge it's been built over a period of a few years when a few of those recruits have spent long periods out with significant injuries.

The key is they haven't left while you were struggling and now you and they are reaping the rewards. I'll be barracking for you in the finals. Clear favourites now. Is Scott Jones any chance to return this season?

Not only have you recruited magnificently to now boast the best midfield in the comp but have also picked up some magnificent forwards from other clubs and lost a key forward to the Dockers in the cruel mid season draft.

 

Thanks for these great stats, DD.
As well as winning the possession count (361-294), the pleasing thing from a Royals' perspective was out-tackling Peel (69-57).
Yes, the Royals' top five possession winners in today's game do have a Foreign Legion look about them.
Whenever I hear mention of the Foreign Legion, I immediately think of that marvellous Marty Feldman comedy The Last Remake of Beau Geste.
Were he still with us, I wonder what Marty Feldman would make of Australian Rules football.
Regards Scott Jones, I did see him at Rushton Park today.
Some of my fellow Royal brethren might know whether he's any chance of returning this season.
I really thought East Perth's season was over when Jones broke down at the opening bounce against East Fremantle, but big Jedd Edwards has acquitted himself very well.