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Based on last week's effort against EF, I thought we'd get hammered yesterday but in the end, the boys gave everything. Disappointing to lose as Peel were missing quite a few Freo players as well for a variety of reasons so it was a good win by them.

Better players for us....well I thought Dela was huge. 24 disposals and 13 tackles which was twice as many as the next best just summed up his day. I also liked the game of Eaton who is looking more comfortable by the week and also South didn't look out of place either. Aaron Heal held the backs together except for a brain fart near the end where he kicked it out on the full which eventually resulted in the game winning goal and the Hickmott's got plenty of it but still are a bit shaky on disposal.

Marsh did a good job on Fyfe who didn't dominate and Borchet, Faraone and Sokol made the best of limited opportunities. All in all a much better showing this week with a lot more desperation but we lost so in the end it doesn't count for much but if we keep playing like we did yesterday, then we'll win more than we lose for the rest of the season

Just a quick word on Fyfe, he was fantastic the way he posed for selfies, signed autographs and drew in a bigger than normal crowd. He copped a couple of bigs hits and didn't show any adverse reactions so reckon he's good to go for Freo next week.

How did the debutants go?

Didn't notice them much but treacy enjoyed playing on a first gamer. South looked ok, I agree. 

If the crowd was 2800, then most crowds are only 500. Something doesn't add up.  That crowd was much bigger than usual. 

 

I had the crowd north of 4k but maybe they dont count the large group that come in for the little league, players mums and dads and support. haven't seen the outer with that many punters since some semi finals and a state game that drew near 5k. certainly many more that the Good Friday games v EP that we used to have which regularly drew 3.5 to 4k.

Great to see that Subi can draw such a big crowd with our massive following 

Perfect day for footy but it was a low scoring very intense very physical game. A few skirmishes but nothing to speak of. Our first half was terrific, shades of previous years type of Subi play, fast ball movement, good spread and hitting targets which gave us a 23 point lead at halftime but Freo had the legs and body strength to run over us in the second half scoring 7 goals to 2 to snatch the win. Dela was huge and shared BOG with Bell. How Bell is not on an AFL list is a mystery, big bodied mid with good skills and a mean edge, his clearance work was terrific, along with Fyfe, they helped Freo dominate the second half.

Treacy was the difference in the end, his second half marking was dominant, just shows how critical losing Locks last week was, an experienced big body like Locks would have certainly reduced Treacy's impact.

As BC said Eaton is building nicely, has a prodigious leap, just needs to get his timing right. Marsh did a good job on Fyfe, but given Fyfe has not played a game for 8+ months, his was a commendable effort. Giro, Liam Hickmont and Heal were good, Kitch was a little quiet with18 or 19, again had a solid tag. Freo were too big and being mostly fulltime pro's were fitter, running out the game much better, but Subi never tossed the towel in. If we bring that effort in the next 2 games we should reach mid season at 4 & 5, which gives us a faint sniff but will need to win 6 of 9 to get a finals gig. That being said the priority should be to get games into the youngsters, then assess where the gaps in the list are for next season.

It was interesting to see that when Peelmantle kicked a goal, it was pretty quiet, that changed a bit later in the game when things got pretty close but shows the disconnect between AFL punters and the WAFL. massive numbers in Freo colours, around 70% of the crowd, but saw very few in Peel, great to have such a big crowd at a WAFL game, and as previously mentioned they managed Fyfe well with him staying out for autographs and Freo had hundreds of pre-signed Fyfe photo's to hand out which was a big hit with the kids.

Jjj wrote:

How did the debutants go?

Won't mention names but pretty disappointed with our senior guys, one of the debutants should have been instructed by the senior blokes to kick it to the top of the square, not a shitty pass into the pocket which would have left the recipient on an almost impossible angle, if he had managed to mark it. This happened at a crucial time in the game, just not good enough really.
On a good note great timing for Fyfe to return...against us at our home, what a $$$ bonus, both gate and bar...

Entertaining summary as always SS, though most of peel was peel and not freo. Including a guy who played his first game and kicked 2 long goals. 
I also noticed the disconnect between crowd and the game. I think they enjoyed it but didn't really care who won. Was a bit weird. 

Subi really does have a small following, but it's the same for other clubs give it take a few 1000.  At least lots of people in WA know who we are. We get a lot of coverage in the media. 

Also Gus could have played in the afl for the last 5 years easily. He is a key reason behind our success.  Liked Golding's game yesterday too. 

I saw some people with Eagles scarves and beanies at Bassendean, but obviously heavily outnumbered by Swans supporters. There may have been some punters that came along to check on how Yeo and Sheed were tracking. When the Eagles were playing well there didnt seem to be a whole lot of excitement similar to the Peel game.

I'd love to see Nic Nat and sonny Walters turn out for  Swans next year. Would be good for them and great for footy. 

Anyone seen the official crowd figure ? If there was just over 6k at the derby, there must have been close to 5k at Leederville.