Ask The Coach – Fremantle

Written by Schwarzwalder on February 20 2019

(Written & Created By NatoPotato88)

 

Video: Ask The Coach – Fremantle

 

Next up is good ol’ Ross Lyon or some as you know him FURL and his team of the Dockers. Lyon is always an interesting coach so let’s see what questions are important for us in SuperCoach.

F…..U…..R…..L…..

 

“What will be the forward structure with Hogan and Lobb coming in?”

‘The aim is to try and work with the 3 talls so the likes of Taberner, Cox and McCarthy will be competing for spots along with the 2 new signings.’ Lyon wasn’t giving much up, but said Taberner and Hogan can cover lots of ground, so this could be indicating that they may jump in the Ruck for small periods.

Hogan surprisingly spent a couple of games in the Ruck towards the end of last season, totalling 9 HitOuts in 3 games in Rds 16,17 and 21. It may not seem like much but when he is teamed with Gawn and Tom McDonald is the 1st choice to give Gawn a rest it shows potential.

I must say Hogan at 498k is slightly overvalued after only peaking at 480k in 2018.  And Freo are not looking like a team challenging for the 8 so this might mean less ball forward, which would affect Hogan’s scoring output. Ahhh forward picks will be tough this year.

Lobb didn’t get any comment here but he did later on.

Big Lobb would rather play forward……..

 

“Will Sandi hold his spot as number 1 ruck, or will Darcy and Lobb ready to take over?”

This is where Lobb (412k RUC/FWD) gets a comment and the first thing Lyon says is that Lobb prefers to be a tall forward and not much else. He goes on to express that Sandi is struggling to overcome a calf niggle so Darcy appears to be in the hot seat for the ruck.

There’s this one line that gets me and it is Lyon saying, “If they are both fit and available, we have discussed alternating them.” This was said right after the comment about Lobb. Then after the line he mentions Sandi and how he has failed getting through the last few years and Darcy “it’s quite brutal????” “so we look to balance up the workload”. This left me confused on who he was talking about, I believe it would be Sandi and Darcy, but who knows with Ross Lyon?

He finishes it off with “Darcy, Jones, Meek and Lobb are fighting for that #1 spot.” So after all of that, he still claims Lobb is challenging for that #1 Ruck spot yet he gave very little comment on Lobb.

For those considering Darcy as a stepping stone at 362k it is quite unpredictable to know what Lyon will do. Whether he plays 2 Rucks or uses a more solitary Ruck and has Lobb play forward and occasionally helping the Ruck. This is Ross Lyon or FURL and he has that name for a reason, so you will really want to study these Forwards and Rucks as anything could happen!

 

“How do you think Fyfe will go?”

Wouldn’t have thought much really as it is Fyfe and you’d expect him to have a premium season, but Lyon did say this: “Late in season he has had some significant injuries, so we are trying to design a program that gets him to play the majority of the games”.  They want him to be able to sustain his style of footy for long period of times. I don’t think this will affect his scoring too much. He didn’t mention anything about any other players here either.

The Man, The Myth, The Hair-Bun…….

 

“With Blakely injured, who will get most of Neale’s midfield minutes?”

Bit of an issue at the moment with Hill still coming off a long-term quad injury and isn’t expected back until Rd3 at the earliest. Lyon took a few seconds of thought and then named Cerra and Conca for players that will get more of the time. He then said some of the 2nd year rookies of Giro and Crowden, but then Mundy gets a mention about getting some more midfield time.

Mundy sitting at 521k as a MID/FWD could be very enticing. He is 33 years old and came off last year with an average of 96 but in the years of 11,13,14 and 15 Mundy cracked the ton with 2015, Mundy had an average of 113.5. Last year Mundy came in with 11 tonnes but then came in with 7 scores between 70-85. His other 4 scores were, 3 90’s and a 53 against the Tigers. Can Mundy recapture some of that old form with this potential extra minute time or has the age caught up to him?

 

It is unfortunate that there were no comments about the defence or any of the rookies, but considering the amount of spots open in the midfield due to Neale and injuries, a rookie may get a chance to start Rd1. So, the likes of Brett Bewley or, dark horse, Tom North are a genuine chance of getting a starting gig.

**Nato on Twitter: @natopotato88**

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6 thoughts on “Ask The Coach – Fremantle”

    1. Same here for me. Although, Mundy is on the watchlist as well some of the rookies. It all depends on how much time Mundy can get in the midfield during the JLT.

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  1. Thanks Nato.

    Its really hard to read anything into what Ross says.
    No one plays the media quite like FURL.

    I do believe Mundy will play more Mid time. They just need his experience in there. As for him getting too old. with the evolution of sports science and reduced training loads etc. I feel players like Mundy can extend their best years further than in the past. Simo had one of his best years last year and he’s a couple of years older.
    Mundy has no history of soft tissue injuries or any other signs of an ageing body.I currently have him at D3. I’m hoping he has ( at least) one more good season in him.

    Ryan is on my watchlist for a defensive spot. He burnt me late last year but I still think he has the talent (if given the right role) to reach Premo status. Hopefully its this year.

    Once again thanks for your input Nato.

    Look forward to more instalments of Ask the Coach.

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  2. Translation from FURL speak to English: Fyfe will be ruck, Mundy will spend 100% of his time in the fwd pocket and Zac Dawson will come out of retirement and play all season taking the place of a promising young rookie.

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