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AFLW Rd 7: Carlton vs Freo at Freo

A disappointing season will finish this weekend when we play Freo over in the West. Hopefully a few of our WA supporters will be there to make some noise.
We do have a reasonable chance of winning, but we will have to make a big change to what we've been doing of late. Getting the ball out of the middle will be a start!

Backs: G. Pound, D. Hardiman
Half-back: K. Loynes, K. Gillespie-Jones, S. Li
Mids: D. Vescio, K. Grieve, N. Stevens
Half-forwards: M. Gay, T. Harris, G. Gee
Forwards: B. Moody, S. Hosking
Followers: A. Downie, S. Audley, L. Brazzale
Interchange: J. Hosking, T. Lucas-Rodd, L. Arnell, K. Harrington, B. Kennedy
Emergencies: S. Last, R. Hicks
Ins: L. Brazzale, L. Arnell, K. Grieve

Outs: M. Keryk (omitted), T. Cochrane (omitted), L. Attard (omitted)
Interesting that Darcy has been named on the wing. But at least she might get better access to the ball.

Freo:
B: A.Williams 9, T.Bresland 5, E.Gooch 8
HB: M.Caulfield 29, E.Antonio 12, D.Hooker 17
C:                     K.Donnellan 15                     
HF: L.Webb 16 , A.Atkins 37, K.Gibson 21
F: S.Cain 20, T.Haynes 6, G.O'Sullivan 22
Foll: A.Janz 30, L.Mascall 14, H.Miller 19
I/C: A.Sharp 1, C.Davidson 33, L.Filocamo 4, A.Lavell 7, T.McAuliffe 25                  
Emerg: B.Smith 18 G.Houghton 27               
In: K.Gibson, A.Sharp
Out: J.de Melo, S.Barr
Live Long and Prosper!

Re: AFLW Rd 7: Carlton vs Freo at Freo

Reply #1 –
Reckon thats about as good of a side we can put out there.

Happy KJG gets another crack at it. Thought she threw her weight around in her debut....not that there is much of it.

Obviously Brazzale and Arnell back is a plus.

Attard was simply too slow and may have played her last game.
Keryk doesn't offer us anything we don't have, her intensity from last year is either lacking, or has been surpassed by a lot of the other girls.
Cochrane has probably just been making up the numbers and would've been #1 to go IMO.

Don't think we'll miss any of them.

From the rest of the side, only Bridie Kennedy i would really have any question marks over.
I'd like to see more out of Tilly Lucas-Rodd too, but you can't question her effort. Just doesn't have the height/size/pace to do any real damage.

Re: AFLW Rd 7: Carlton vs Freo at Freo

Reply #2 –
Another game, another insight into what our biggest weakness is - Kicking.

We need to be better with our disposal, especially when kicking at goal.

4 more scoring shots, yet an 11 point loss.

Re: AFLW Rd 7: Carlton vs Freo at Freo

Reply #3 –
FREMANTLE     2.2     3.2     6.4      9.5      (59)    
CARLTON           2.0     3.5     5.7     6.12     (48)                                    
GOALS
Fremantle: Lavell 2, Donnellan, Miller, Webb, Gibson, Sharp, Antonio, Hooker
Carlton: Harris 2, Downie 2, Vescio, Loynes
BEST
Fremantle: Hooker, Antonio, Webb, Donnellan, Lavell, Miller
Carlton: Harris, S.Hosking, Loynes, Downie, Gay, Arnell
INJURIES
Fremantle: O'Sullivan (head knock), Janz (knee)
Carlton: Audley (head knock)

The people who come up with this stuff do not appear to see the game as we do. Is that not a surprise!? At least their first 3 choices were similar to what we voted.

I have to agree with kruddler: our disposal holds us back very badly. Our game style requires decent kicking to move it reasonably quickly. Last year our kicking was not so despicable, so we managed to move the ball very well at times. This year are kicks and handballs miss the mark. It stops the flow of play for us, especially when we should be out the back. Our handballs give the opposition a better chance of getting the ball than it does it players: our handballs are often behind instead of in front, they often fall short and bounce and our players usually have to stop and fumble the ball to get it. By that time they are under pressure. We appear to like long handballs, but they simply do not reach their intended targets, getting intercepted when they fall short.

Some of this can be improved by improving our level of fitness. Stronger players may be able to increase the effective distance of their handballs and kicks.
However, that is only part of the problem. We really need to improve our kicking, so we can share the ball around more effectively.
We need to do some very careful recruiting. We need young talent, who are fast and skilled. We will look faster when we don't have to stop to get a handball that has missed the mark.

I don't know when the AFLW pre-season training is mandated to start, but we need to start earlier, working on our fitness and our skills.
We need probably some better skills and fitness coaches to make sure our team is at the sharp end of fitness, not the tail.
We need access for a longer period so we can train the girls to kick and handball better, and not to drop chest marks. (Please, ladies, do not look at Carlton vs Hawthorn of a few days back: I've never seen so many chest marks dropped.)

I do not know if any of our players will be targets for the 2 expansion teams. They are allowed to poach 4 players at maximum from other teams. None of ur girls will factor in the top possession getters or the top votes getters.

Maddy Keryk has lost too much pace, I'm afraid. She was slated to be an on-field leader. Instead she just hasn't been able to catch up.
Lauren Arnell's future as a player must be questionable. She has had injuries and has lost that extra yard of pace. She has willed herself into contests, but we badly missed her getting centre breaks or hitting targets.
Alison Downie's time as premier ruck appears over. She may remain as a tall forward or defender, as she can still take a contested mark. However, her mobility has declined a lot this season.
Nicola Stevens hasn't quite lived up to the hype. She managed maybe half of the possessions she got last year. She has not been able to control her opponents, who often feature among the best players. Her kicking was much hyped at Collingwood, but has been only a shadow of what she is supposed to be able to produce. She has often been under pressure and has neither covered the distance she expected, nor hit the target often enough.
Bri Davey was missed very badly, but, as good as she is, she was down before her injury. She was averaging 5 possessions or more less than she had last year. Opposing clubs had been making plans for dealing with her. She was still our best by some margin, but she wasn't as effective because other teams didn't allow her to be.
I hope she can come back next year, as she is our best player and an inspirational leader, but she may not have the same strength or speed in her legs. I will hate it if that is the case, but the probability is significant.
Bree Moody could be the best ruck in the comp if she learns more about her craft. She has huge potential and no small amount of athleticism, but at the moment her taps are disadvantaging us, because we are neither reading them, nor positioning our players to allow us to get the ball.
Live Long and Prosper!

Re: AFLW Rd 7: Carlton vs Freo at Freo

Reply #4 –
Quote from: crashlander – on
Bree Moody could be the best ruck in the comp if she learns more about her craft. She has huge potential and no small amount of athleticism, but at the moment her taps are disadvantaging us, because we are neither reading them, nor positioning our players to allow us to get the ball.

I think you've mentioned before, and i agree, that Moody is extremely predictable. That is, to everyone except our own girls!

She did the right thing towards the end of the match today, punched it forward as far as she could at every ruck contest. Yet, our girls held front position at the stoppages, which meant they had to turn around and chase down the ball behind them, with their opponent starting at least 1 step ahead of them. We are not quick enough to allow them this advantage and they cleared the ball away almost every time this happened.

How about we just drop a girl back, or better yet, have someone running full steam alongside Moody in the ruck and continuing on to the loose ball punched in front of them?

Tactically, we seemed to be on different pages in that regard.

Speaking of tactically...
Why has nobody put Vescio for a run on the ball? Is her fitness simply not up to it??

You can often see Harris in the backline, but i don't think i've ever seen Vescio defensive side of the centreline....ever.

Throw her in the middle, or on a wing and let her provide a spark when we need it. What have we got to lose?!

Re: AFLW Rd 7: Carlton vs Freo at Freo

Reply #5 –
Quote from: kruddler – on
Speaking of tactically...
Why has nobody put Vescio for a run on the ball? Is her fitness simply not up to it??

You can often see Harris in the backline, but i don't think i've ever seen Vescio defensive side of the centreline....ever.

Throw her in the middle, or on a wing and let her provide a spark when we need it. What have we got to lose?!
I am inclined to think that her stamina isn't there at the moment. For that matter, last year she also has that extra yard of pace on most of her opponents.
This year she is coming back from a knee reco. She didn't have a single game in the VFLW season and was on a modified program during our Pre-season. That started her off very much on the back foot.
It also hampered her ball handling, as she fumbled a lot more this year that last year.
It comes from just handling the ball in game situations.

Now, next year will be the test for Vescio, and a number of others. Nobody will be talking 'premierships'. Getting off the bottom will be the #1 goal. Instead it is us who will have to come up with ways to get the most out of our players, as most are now known quantities.
With a whole season of VFLW and a proper AFLW pre-season (and hopefully a much more effective one than we had for this season) we should see the real Darcy Vescio. There will also be opportunities to experiment with her in different spots. Other clubs will not be prepared for that, while she will be at her athletic best.
Live Long and Prosper!

Re: AFLW Rd 7: Carlton vs Freo at Freo

Reply #6 –
Quote from: crashlander – on
I am inclined to think that her stamina isn't there at the moment. For that matter, last year she also has that extra yard of pace on most of her opponents.
This year she is coming back from a knee reco. She didn't have a single game in the VFLW season and was on a modified program during our Pre-season. That started her off very much on the back foot.
It also hampered her ball handling, as she fumbled a lot more this year that last year.
It comes from just handling the ball in game situations.

Now, next year will be the test for Vescio, and a number of others. Nobody will be talking 'premierships'. Getting off the bottom will be the #1 goal. Instead it is us who will have to come up with ways to get the most out of our players, as most are now known quantities.
With a whole season of VFLW and a proper AFLW pre-season (and hopefully a much more effective one than we had for this season) we should see the real Darcy Vescio. There will also be opportunities to experiment with her in different spots. Other clubs will not be prepared for that, while she will be at her athletic best.

I don't disagree with that, but for 15 minute quarters, surely she has 3 minutes of running on the ball in her. Knowing how little the ball got forward this year, she hasn't been running herself ragged down there.

I remember Eddie Betts being thrown into the middle when Ratts for took over at coach.
In a few minutes of being on the ball in the last half of the last quarter against the saints, he got 2 clearances which we got 2 goals from. We were almost going to win the match from it, so Ratts moved him out....as we were tanking at the time.

Eddie was about as unfit of an AFL player that existed at the time, but had the traits (like Vescio) to make a difference in bursts.

Just think its worth a shot, at least once in a season! What is there to lose?

Re: AFLW Rd 7: Carlton vs Freo at Freo

Reply #7 –
Not a thing. I hope it is something they try in 2019.
Live Long and Prosper!