One of the highlights of the game for me was Ollie Hollands’ run-down tackle to save a certain goal. It was even sweeter because I suspect that the victim may be guilty of drinking his own bathwater. Then there was Lachie Cowan busting his gut next to Ollie and almost in a position to tackle Voss too, then Billy Wilson and Adam Cerra joining the party and giving it to Voss. Of course, Ollie blotted his copybook by roosting his freekick OOBOTF, but that’s what you get from Ollie.
Lachie Cowan got his chance in the third quarter after Voss put Dean down off the ball. He didn’t miss it and crunched Voss who then had Derksen, Weitering, Hollands and Dean in his face and probably politely suggesting that getting rough with Dean has consequences.
Brodie Kemp’s game was a highlight for me. Not only did he kick three goals to lead our goal kicking at the end of the home and away season, his heads up play inside 50 led directly to two more goals, he had six inside 50s and eight score involvements.
Frankie Evans played the perfect small forward’s game with crumbing goals, clever leads, straight kicking, hard running, one goal assist, two inside 50s and nine score involvements. His last goal was a cracker that started with a crunching run-down tackle from Byrner that jarred the ball free, enabling Cottrell to gather and handpass to Kemp. Kemp spotted McKay on his own in the pocket and nailed the pass. Meanwhile, Frankie took off from the defensive side of the centre and, with some hard running, was perfectly placed to receive the handball from Harry and slam through his fifth to make a well-earnt bag.
My next highlight might seem relatively mundane. With about ten minutes to go in the third quarter there was a kick down the line to Weitering and Treacy. Derksen left his man, Voss, and went third man up to smash the ball out of bounds about 40 metres away. Weiters gave Derksen a pat on the head and the two of them jogged back to defensive 50 with huge grins on their faces. I could imagine Weiters saying to Derksen, “Yes, that’s exactly how you should kill to the ball!”
Finally, there was the shot of our bench in the last quarter with Fraser having the luxury of resting Weiters and a happy Weiters looking very relaxed and sharing a laugh with youngsters Coops and Jagga.
I worry about the comprehension of some people. I really do.
I'm not shooting bambi.
I'm asking a question.
I'm not saying Florent hasn't done everything we've asked of him. I'm not saying Florent doesn't deserve a spot in our side.
I've had Florent in my best 23 since before the season started.
What i am asking is.....given the position he is playing, and given the other players playing a similar position in the 2's...and given how little cover we have in other areas.....could his list spot (and contract $'s) be better spent elsewhere?
Its the same logic i had when we recruited Fantasia. I understood why we got him, the experience, the energy levels etc....but at the end of the day, did our overall list structure suffer as a result?
You've gotta sacrifice something to get something. People around here don't want to sacrifice anything, but still want everything.
Well, they’re open-ended questions; theoretically there’s always someone better and there’s always a way to improve a list structure.
However, in the real world the answer is categorically no, his list spot and contact $$ couldn’t be better spent elsewhere, and no, our overall list structure didn’t suffer as a result of bringing Florent on board.
To complete the answer to your questions, I’ll ask why wouldn’t you sacrifice a future third rounder for the opportunity to bring on board a very good player whose impact goes way beyond on field ability?
The thing is that people round here see the impact that players like Florent, Hayward and Ainsworth have had and can’t really understand why anyone would be trying to second guess very good list management decisions.
What has florent bought that we couldnt get from either saad or charleson?
Florents knock is his kicking. Saads knock is his kicking. Charleson has been borderline getting a game a but this year. Without florent, he would most likely got a gig by now.
Florent has been solid without being spectacular, he didn't come cheap though. Could we do without him?
What Ollie Florent brings to our club is 184 games of experience playing for one of the most consistent, successful clubs of the 21st century. He is used to winning, being part of a winning team, and doing the hard work necessary for team success. He is a gregarious, outgoing personality who energises those around him and enjoys mentoring younger players.
He is a smart and instinctive footballer who generally makes good decisions and executes well. I suspect that his treatment by Dean Cox last season, and being cut adrift by the Swans, served as extra motivation and, as far as statistics go, this is by far the best season of his career. For example, his previous best metres gained average was 370 in 2024. He is averaging 441 metres gained this season.
I’m not sure where the knock on Florent’s kicking came from; I think the term “turnover merchant” was bandied about and it simply is wrong. His kicking efficiency this season is 75% and that’s very good for a player who is often under extreme pressure – although kicking in duties probably helps a bit.
Why did we need Ollie Florent when we have Adam Saad, Jordan Boyd, Harry Charleson, Zac Williams, Ollie Hollands, Rob Monahan and the Camporeale twins all capable of playing halfback and not being able command a spot in the senior team? Part of the answer lies in the fact that Adam Cerra was the preferred replacement for Nic Newman. Then there’s the fact that, at this stage of their respective careers, Florent is playing much better football, is a hardened, mature body, and combines better with our best available team in executing the game style we’ve chosen to use. What does it matter if Saad and Charleson can’t get a game? Nothing at all because were a better team with Florent in the mix and they had their chance when Newey went down..
Getting Florent for a future third-rounder was a bargain basement price and bringing him on board with his best mate was very astute list management.
[1] In the best players, Freo named Jackson as their best. Are they smoking some illegal over there? Pitto had 17 possessions, compared to Jackson's 14. Pitto had 7 clearances to Jackson's 4. Pitto had much more effect on the game than Jackson did: thanks to Pitto, our mids had huge days! Did these idiots watch the game? It doesn't look like it.
The way I see it is that Jackson was among Freo's best five or six players but not their best by some margin. Pitto played very well, had the better of Jackson and Cox, and had a great influence on the game, but I couldn't squeeze him into my best seven or eight players. I think that shows how much better we were on the day.
Congratulations to Pitto on his 100 game milestone. It's been a hard slog but he got there ... and always with a smile on his face.
I think that it's time to concede that the new ruck rules, as flawed as they may be, haven't disadvantaged Pitto and he's probably playing the best footy of his career.
Well done Pitto for 100 games and a great game today 👏
At one stage the ruck contest was Cripps vs Kennedy just to back up the smaller more mobile setup. They forced us to make moves by making moves themselves by surrendering the ruck.
I thought that was good thinking by Crippa to make the Doggies take Chugga out of the ruck contests. When it’s Chugga vs a second ruck, he can provide an advantage but he just couldn’t compete against Crippa.
The Bulldogs had 58 inside 50s to our 48. That indicates a breakdown in team defence and significantly more pressure on our defenders, as does the Bulldogs 16 tackles inside 50.
Despite that, our defenders, ably led by Weiters, allowed the Bulldogs only ten marks inside 50 and prevented them from kicking a winning score. Weiters took as many marks as the Doggies’ forwards did inside 50 but he did take several up the ground. Our defenders grabbed 50 marks between them, most inside our defensive 50.
It’s our midfield coaches that need to address defensive deficiencies, not Ash Hansen.
i just think someone Ash hansen should be moved on been there long enough
If anyone goes, he has to be most likely but, as I said previously, he has done a great job with our defenders this season and Fraser is full of praise for him.
I thought that we dominated the game but some wayward kicking from quarter time onwards kept the Bulldogs in the contest.
100% agree, the stats are most likely good because we had 2, 3 or 4 good disposals in the row then burnt the last one, at least that is what I saw but I wasn't there live!
It's probably another good example of how stats can retrospectively paint the wrong picture, or cause people to draw the wrong conclusions.
Yes, we had a bazillion more disposals than the Doggies and most hit the target, as our bazillion more uncontested marks shows.
More often than not, that ill-directed or overly aggressive kick came at the start of what should have been a possession chain. That often gave the Dishlickers the pill forward of their defensive 50 and their rebound caught our mids and defenders out of position.
It seems to me that, if we nail the first couple of disposals, we’ll usually put together a chain of possessions that results in an inside 50.
