TOPIC:

wrote:

I’ll back off on DBW if it helps, I don’t think anyone thinks we don’t need a first rate ruckman.

Well if you or anyone else has got the answers how you get one I’m sure the club and Mossy would love to hear it.

There were a couple of positives. Langlands was good again and hopefully is finding his feet in the WAFL. Clarke was good, he has the sort of poise and polish that many of our players lack. Then there's Cary and Busher, of course. Surely Moss won't contemplate playing Busher back again? 12 marks today, many contested and, though he was a bit wayward, he had 6 shots on goals. For the next game, I say Eyres, Hendo, Quill and Browne out. 4 out of McP, Richo, Clark, Yeo and Gray to come in. Maybe Hitchcock an outside chance. 

Watched the stream tonight.
I agree TN there were some positives.
Langlands was good again and appears to be showing why he was recruited.
Certainly complements Smith.
Busher is a huge get, adds so much experience a much better player than when he left.
That was Cary's best game for us and Stubbs continues to show promise.
We can't continue to go with guys like Henderson and Browne.
Give some kids a go.
Why did Richo get dropped?
He, Yeo must come back in.
and yes what does Gray and John have to do to get a chance.
Avery must come up to senior list.

Our effort was quite good considering our first quarter.
We must solve our clearances we are getting smashed.
Could John add a bit including some pace?

What is pretty clear to me from our previous season game against Peel in March , yes they had 13 Dockers that day and yesterday just 6 Dockers, Peel have a very good core of experienced ex AFL players (all their own bred talent bar Schofield) as well as a couple without AFL experience like Blair Bell and Brayden Lawler.

But their young talent is light year’s ahead of ours. I believe if Peel had no alignment with Fremantle and both clubs lined up their best 22 with zero outside recruits from other they would still defeat us. And that comes down to talent available in our zone compared to theirs.

The problem Peel had prior to the alignment with Fremantle was the stonger WAFL clubs like Subiaco would pick the eyes out of Peel. I believe if they ended their alignment with Fremantle now they would be a very competitive side and genuine top 5 contender and of course they would like any WAFL club go out and get a few recruits.

There was talk last year Peel wanted to end their alignment with Fremantle. Not sure where that is at, I think the current agreement ends this year or next. Will be interesting to see Peels next move. IMO they can never be considered a success until they can stand on their own two feet. The Fremantle alignment has certainly given them a financial kick along. 

They have also recruited Merrett ex-Essendon

I thought it was Fremantle that wanted to end the alignment,Peel money wise imo would struggle on there own just like pre-alignment.
I also don’t think the wafl would want to go back to a nine team comp.
Anyway it doesn’t solve where we are at.

Belmont ,Rivervale etc used to be a great source of indigenous players what’s happened there?
I looked at the two local indigenous players Peel had in Thorne and Bennell and thought if only,which brings me to my next point.
Teams with genuine pace kill us,Swans did in the first game and Peel yesterday.

lastly why do we struggle to get out of our backline when kicking in after a point is kicked?
Opposition teams seem to get it out with ease.They set up a better zone.
I did notice on quite a few occasions we failed to use the area outside the goal square when kicking in,instead we opted for the short kick to the pocket.
 

wrote:

They have also recruited Merrett ex-Essendon

Fair enough, I thought he was an original Peel product. Was an ex team mate of Howlett at Essendon.

Guys, after reading all of your comments, IMO you're all right.  DBW was beaten in the ruck by a guy that I'm certain has never played ruck before. In saying that he is on the improve and is allowed to have days where he gets beaten. Ayres looked off pace again when in the middle but actually looked like a potential threat when he went forward (if only the entry kicks where to his advantage).  Brown and Hendo are too slow for league football and should only be used to tag slower dominant midfielders (like Bolton).  I'm not sure why Rico was dropped, especially after only 1 game back. McPartland was one of our leading goal scorers and in our highest in tackle count stats so not sure why they were dropped. Regan Clarke was the only player that showed any pace and 100% needed to play a lot more time in and through the middle yesterday. 

They played the exact same game plan and flogged us through the middle in the exact same fashion as they did in that preseason game.  we learnt nothing from that day!

Yes injuries are hurting us, that is undeniable but we shouldn't be compounding the situation by making bad selection choices.

There is another issue the club needs to address. at 3/4 time the free kick count was 8 to 19.  And the difference in the score line was the soft free kicks they scored goals from.  We need to do something about this. I'm not sure of the answer but its happening every week. Do not get me wrong I'm not blaming the umpires- but it is a stat that needs to be counteracted somehow.  We were given 11 free kicks in the last quarter. Obviously the umpires checked the count and evened it up to justify their KPIs.

Guys, after reading all of your comments, IMO you're all right.  DBW was beaten in the ruck by a guy that I'm certain has never played ruck before. In saying that he is on the improve and is allowed to have days where he gets beaten. Ayres looked off pace again when in the middle but actually looked like a potential threat when he went forward (if only the entry kicks where to his advantage).  Brown and Hendo are too slow for league football and should only be used to tag slower dominant midfielders (like Bolton).  I'm not sure why Rico was dropped, especially after only 1 game back. McPartland was one of our leading goal scorers and in our highest in tackle count stats so not sure why they were dropped. Regan Clarke was the only player that showed any pace and 100% needed to play a lot more time in and through the middle yesterday. 

They played the exact same game plan and flogged us through the middle in the exact same fashion as they did in that preseason game.  we learnt nothing from that day!

Yes injuries are hurting us, that is undeniable but we shouldn't be compounding the situation by making bad selection choices.

There is another issue the club needs to address. at 3/4 time the free kick count was 8 to 19.  And the difference in the score line was the soft free kicks they scored goals from.  We need to do something about this. I'm not sure of the answer but its happening every week. Do not get me wrong I'm not blaming the umpires- but it is a stat that needs to be counteracted somehow.  We were given 11 free kicks in the last quarter. Obviously the umpires checked the count and evened it up to justify their KPIs.