Pre Match:
- We focussed on playing as a tight group and not getting caught up in any hysteria of repetitive losses to begin the season. We didn’t get caught up with injury concerns and instead concentrated on opportunity and team work, heading towards a win.
- Had to replace both Brent Moloney and Travis Johnstone in the selected line-up. Unfortunately Moloney didn’t come up after struggling during the week with a groin complaint and Travis had hamstring soreness, so we decided not to risk him. Colin Sylvia came into the team for his first game of the year and we also kept Matthew Bate in the side.
- Fremantle are a hard running team, so we really needed a strong four quarter effort. Focussed on winning the stop plays, using the ball well during counter attack, and improving our tackling count.
During the Match:
- Had a good start to the game, having eight scoring shots to seven in the first quarter. Fremantle kicked the last two goals of the quarter including one on the siren from our mistake, which was a little deflating after winning many key performance indicators for the term.
- Created a spare man in defence, to assist our backs, win the ball, and attack the forward line from that half of the ground.
- We had our chances in the first half but kicked poorly in front of goal, kicking eight points in-a-row. Fremantle kicked a lot straighter, and kicked goals from marks inside 50, going into half time with a score-line of ten goals and five behinds, and a lead of 32 points.
- Injuries prior to half time has become a common unlucky occurrence for us in recent weeks, and again we lost Matthew Whelan, Daniel Bell, and Nathan Jones all before half time. It was going to become a tough challenge in the second half, with minimal rotation opportunities from the interchange.
- Nathan Brown and Paul Wheatley left the field in the second half due to injury, and it was a great effort by Wheatley to go back on the field late in the game when we didn’t have any fit players to bring on.
- The third quarter opened up for both teams, Fremantle kicked seven goals for the quarter while we managed five. Fought out the game with restricted personal, and finished the game kicking 9 goals to 11 in the second half
Post Match:
- We went inside our forward 50, on 52 occasions giving our forwards an opportunity to score. This has been an improvement on recent weeks.
- We made too many unforced errors that led directly to Fremantle goals. This was particularly the case in the first half of the game.
- Good to have Adem Yze back in some form, touching the ball 38 times. Lynden Dunn and Brad Miller both showed some great signs, and finished with three goals each for the day. Beneficial to get a game into Byron Pickett, Colin Sylvia, Clint Bizzell, and Lynden Dunn, their first for the season.
- We showed signs of improvement over the weekend, and finished the game well in the second half, We will be looking to take the second half into the Sydney game, keep our enthusiasm alive, and have a victory.
