Saturday, June 6, 2015

Fyfe Scmyfe

It was the ballad of one man, 26 disposals, six clangers, his headband, at least three unpaid holding the ball decisions and Basil Zemplas.

Apparently there was another team who kicked eight goals in the first twenty minutes, were the first visitors to win in Perth this year and knocked off a club that people were starting to wonder were beatable. Not that you would have known any of this with Basil and Dennis fawning over Fyfe.

North Queensland aside, we travel OK. Fremantle and West Coast have won 14 of the last 17 games at Subiaco, we've pinched two of the other three. Friday night comes on the back of a really good win against Port, a win against Brisbane and five from seven on the road last year. Clubs have got much better at travelling and it isn't as daunting as it once was but some teams are better than others and we fall into that category. And that's a credit to the club in how they handle logistics, planning and that kind of boring but important stuff that nobody really talks about.

During Hardwick's reign we've often complained about one quarter of footy being the difference, but during this run of form it has been a good thing. The Essendon full match grind aside, these wins are built around an eight goal second quarter against Collingwood, a three goal to nothing first quarter against Port Adelaide that was much better than it looks when I put it like that and last night's eight goal opening against the best defensive team around. We've doubled down on this by stopping the bursts coming the other way even though single person watching last night was waiting for Fremantle to make a run.

The first quarter was sublime and Fremantle either didn't see it coming or couldn't adapt, in round ten it doesn't really matter which. As obscure Ross Lyon records tumbled all over the shop, Basil and Dennis dug their heels in to the point that the highlights are bizarre because they're constantly doing their stack over how well Fremantle are playing while the scoreline most of the night has them 30+ points down.

One of the most impressive things of the night was how they were able to adapt the plan from last week and then throughout the night. After grinding for the full two hours against the Dons, they came out all guns blazing. Back in the dark days (a month ago) the ability to adapt was missing. I suspect the change stems throwing off the shackles in the second half against Geelong, they failed to get over the line but Hardwick and the players fired a few warning shots that they weren't simply going to sit back and watch their season unravel without doing something about it.

Fyfe got going a couple of times, but I loved the way we rolled the dice and let him roam free. No doubt he's a good player, but much like Dangerfield circa 2013-14 it has become so fashionable to talk him up that the everyone has talked him into being the best player around. Meanwhile Pendlebury has been playing at that level for six years and nobody says a thing. Following a week of discussion over who were going to use to tag him, they answered it with nobody. Rolling Fyfe and Dusty head-to-head without them spending more than five seconds next to each other. The ball went up and they both headed off to the race and for mine, Dusty had his way with him. Especially considering Fyfe has that circus freak palming it down his throat, and how hard can it be playing midfield when Sandilands is giving you first look at the footy at every single stoppage?

We are entering a golden age for midfielders where they're developed so well at junior level and, unless you are one of the eight poor bastards drafted by Melbourne each, it's possible to be star by the age of 22 rather than doing a five year apprenticeship and peaking at 28. Last night the top four possession winners on the ground (Dusty, Brandon Ellis, Fyfe and Neale) are aged 23 or under, this wasn't a couple of teams on the rebuild, it was a couple of teams who should be thereabouts at the pointy end of September. How cool?

Speaking of Dusty, because Basil and Dennis didn't I feel obliged, what a game he played. This time last year there were genuine questions over his ability to play full-time midfield and an otherwise mediocre season by him was saved by a few clutch goals late in games (who needs an excuse to watch this anyway?). Not anymore, he has well and truly arrived and is playing four quarters repeatedly no matter who the opposition.

About halfway through the third quarter I'd started on the whole 'how many goals a minute do they need?' calculation. Fremantle were probably never going to catch us but about ten minutes into the last quarter they had got within 21 and it was looking a bit iffy, before Cotchin found space to get a set shot from the boundary about fifty out. He missed an impossibly hard kick but the time he took (around a minute from mark to kick) completely changed the game. There are captain's goals and captain's marks, but that could be the first ever captain's time off the clock. Following that change of tempo were in control it wasn't much longer until Titch kicked the sealer and the Dockers never looked like it again. The play itself to get it to Cotch was sensational, from what looked like a dead stoppage Miles manufactured a handball to McIntosh who got it onto Lids who, though most obvious thing was to bomb to the square where Gigantor was undoubtedly waiting, somehow spotted Cotchin in the pocket out the corner of his eye twenty metres away and dutifully hit him laces out.

The part that has been the most fun for me over the last month has been the diversification of our list. In every part of the ground we've got players who can step up if others are having an off night. The midfield, which not all that long ago looked Cotchin or bust, now has four (Cotchin, Martin, Edwards and Ellis) stars with a strong supporting cast. The forward line which looked Jack or bust has been refreshed with Deledio's shuffle and last night we got a look the first look at the big three across four quarters and it impressed. Down back though is where this run of wins is being generated, Grimes and Batchelor have stepped up from fringe players to form players, Chaplin and Rance have their Ying and Yang duo going on again, Houli is getting off the chain and doing the hard stuff when he's required and Vlastuin has made the spare man role his own in what is still a very short career.

On top of all of this, when a first year player has a first half of the kind that Corey Ellis last night it gets you excited about the future both near and distant. What a difference a month and a few wins makes.

Oh, how we cringed and laughed awkwardly when Hardwick said 'our best can beat anyone', while it's only round ten he must be feeling vindicated. That doesn't make the losses earlier in the year less frustrating but it sets a little bit of context. The Dogs have shown since they can have a day out against anyone, North was just a dirty day and the 22 we put out against Melbourne would have been mangled last night.

I would have taken 6-4 at the start of the year without hesitation, but the breakdown of wins and losses is puzzling to say the least. They've got a couple of tough games to come but if they can split those (at worst) then they'll be well positioned to have a crack at a home final or maybe, just maybe, a dip at that fourth spot which at the moment doesn't have a really clear owner. Gerard Whateley says a lot of things each week, and every now and then one of them hits the spot. When he was chatting with Ivvy this morning he described playing Fremantle as an 'audit on your list', an audit that last night we passed with flying colours.

Dimma has been proven correct that our best can beat anyone, what we need to fix now is that our worst we can lose to anyone. We aren't going to be as up as we were last night all that often and managing the gap between our best and worst will likely dictate how far this season goes.

The votes

5: Dustin Martin
4: Bachar Houli
3: Dylan Grimes
2: Brandon Ellis
1: Steven Morris

Unlucky: Everyone else


Leaderboards

The Benny:

14: Shane Edwards, Dustin Martin and Bachar Houli
12: Jack Riewoldt
11: Shaun Grigg, Trent Cotchin and Brandon Ellis
8: Anthony Miles and Taylor Hunt
7: Alex Rance and Dylan Grimes
6: Nick Vlastuin
5: Ivan Maric and Brett Deledio
3: Kamdyn McIntosh, Chris Newman, Ben Griffiths and Jake Batchelor
2: Sam Lloyd
1: Steven Morris

Blair Hartley Appreciation Award:

14: Bachar Houli

11: Shaun Grigg
8: Anthony Miles and Taylor Hunt
5: Ivan Maric

Anthony Banik Best First Year Player:

3: Kamdyn McIntosh

Joel Bowden's Golden Left Boot:

14: Bachar Houli

11: Shaun Grigg
3: Jake Batchelor

Greg Tivendale Rookie List Medal:


No votes yet.




1 comment:

  1. Gerard's chat to Ivvy was a season radio highlight for me, would have been better if someone had gagged Bluey oh well. This game was so packed with highlights for us not even counting the goals. Some magnificent work in tight by Miles & Sheds, Morris played his best game for us IMO, that pass from Corey to Lids in the last Q. Great summary & analysis Sean.

    ReplyDelete