A disastrous paradox - Fremantle 2009 scouting report

This year I'm going to go through all 16 AFL teams and provide a scouting report for each. The reason? None in particular, just to enhance my knowledge of each team. How I select the team for each week will be mostly random. I'm going to try and choose a team for which the game they are playing that week holds particular importance.

This week's team is Fremantle. Coming off a belting at home from the Bulldogs and a lifeless display away to Essendon, Fremantle had come under the pump during the week. The clash against Adelaide on Sunday represented an opportunity to bounce back. The Dockers came in at slight favourites as well. Here's how the game was played...

Fremantle 11.14 80 def. by Adelaide 15.14 104 (Subiaco)

Freo came out all guns blazing in the early stages taking advantage of the supposedly three goal breeze. From the first bounce the attack on the ball and the tackling was ferocious. It was fantastic to see youngster Stephen Hill, of a very slight build, lay a hard tackle in the opening minutes. The Dockers were maintaining possession as well, but were wasteful going forward. Instead of trying to hit leads the Dockers blazed away kicking long into packs. Kicking long towards the square has its benefits, it can catch the defence off-guard, but Fremantle players took far too long to move the ball forwards. The one time they did hit a lead inside 50, the player kicked truly. Unsurprisingly the kick to hit the lead was Paul Haselby, the most skilled player on the team, and the goalscorer was skipper Matthew Pavlich.

Fremantle did not capitalise on their early dominance. The dominance was massive, with Adelaide not making a forward push until the 12-minute mark, which is insane. Unfortunately the Dockers were wasteful in front of goal missing relatively basic set shots. For 12 minutes of complete dominance the Dockers had just 2 goals to show for it. As good teams usually do, Adelaide punished the Dockers going forward and kicking a goal through Brad Symes. Incredibly the Crows could have almost drawn level if not for a horrible missed shot by Kurt Tippett in the right forward pocket. Fremantle retained some of their momentum though, goaling late through good quick ball movement from Chris Tarrant and Hill, followed by a strong mark and goal from Clayton Hinkley. A 14 point lead at quarter time didn't reflect Fremantle's dominance, and the Dockers paid for not taking more advantage of the breeze.

Adelaide dominated the second term to a greater extent than Fremantle did in the first. More importantly, Adelaide were effective and reflected their dominance on the scoreboard - unlike the Dockers. The Crows held Fremantle goalless, and kicked five of their own to take a three goal lead to the main break. More incredible was the fact that Fremantle didn't register a score of their own. Adelaide 'rushed' two behinds. Kicking against the breeze Fremantle were rendered useless. Whereas in the first quarter Fremantle could kick the ball over Adelaide's zone - and with the confidence that came with the breeze, were moving the ball quickly before the Crows could set up - kicking into the breeze forced Fremantle to be accurate and precise with disposal. That didn't end up well. Fremantle have been labelled the team with the worst disposal in the league. The second quarter was proof of that. The Dockers were completely stagnant against the Adelaide zone, stuck in their back third going nowhere on countless occasions. On occasions when Fremantle did move the ball forward they inevitably turned it over. Adelaide punished them and went into half time with a commanding lead.

The Dockers seemingly came out with a purpose in the third quarter, huddling intensely on the field before the bounce looking like they meant business. Whatever was said, it worked, as the Dockers came out strong registering the first five scoring shots of the quarter. Predictably four of those were behinds. The one goal though, from spark Hill, was fantastic. Despite the innaccuracy, the Dockers had worked their way back into the match and were within 9 points. The Crows responded with two classy goals from Porplyzia and Edwards and the game seemed to be over. This kept with the pattern of Adelaide rebuking the Dockers whenever they had a glimmer of hope. Surely enough after a fantastic goal from David Mundy, the Crows responded with a Van Berlo goal. The margin was out to 25 points. To their credit the Dockers didn't back down. A stellar composed goal from Haselby, and a strong set shot kick from Schammer and the Dockers were back within 12 heading into the final change. This is where things got interesting.

With the breeze down to nothing the Dockers came out strong in the final term. Matthew Pavlich got things started with a fantastic opposite foot snap goal 22 seconds into the quarter. Set shots from Tarrant and Crowley and the Dockers shockingly led by a goal 6 minutes into the quarter. A clever goal from Andrew McLeod and the game was level. The turning point of the game came just after this at the 11 minute mark of the quarter. With the scores tied young gun Rhys Palmer took a mark on the wing. He was hit after taking the mark and a 50m penalty ensued. The 50 metres turned into 65 and Palmer took his shot from the corner of the goal square. He missed. Adelaide responded with the next three goals and the game was over. A late Pavlich goal kept things interesting, but two late Adelaide goals sealed the match.

That's what happened. How'd it happen?

The Dockers are at their best when they don't have to think. The two main stages of Docker dominance came at the beginning of the first quarter and last quarter. The Dockers were working off adrenaline there. Tackling hard, winning contested possession and getting into space. When the game was played at an end-to-end pace the Dockers had the upper hand. When play got bogged down, noticably in the second quarter, the Dockers were absolutely clueless. The Fremantle disposal and especially the decision making is horrible. Simple things that all junior footballs know not to do, the Dockers do and do it regularly. Blazing away out of defence without looking where your kicking. Kicking to 1 on 3's. The thing the Dockers were most guilty of was handballing to contests. That's something you just can't do. On countless occasions Docker players handballed to teammates who had an opponent literally on them. In AFL football that's unforgivable.

The periods where the Dockers were playing good football seemed to be created by the crowd. Playing away from the home without the momentum of the crowd to play off the Dockers are going to be in trouble all year. As evidenced last week in the loss to Essendon the results aren't going to be pretty.

Looking at the Docker list there's plenty of talent.

-Captain Matthew Pavlich is a superstar, there's no denying that. In terms of sheer athleticism he's one of the top 5 players in the league. Super strong, agile and skillful. I loved the aggression he showed yesterday. Stuff as simple as hip and shouldering players after they dispose of the ball is something that leader's need to do and he did that. Fremantle's hope.

-Stephen Hill is a spark, and the player that ignited the Dockers yesterday. He's skillful, super quick and creative. He still lacks some conviction and confidence, but that will come. The Dockers have a lot invested in him - he was the third draft pick last year - and you have to worry about his incredibly thin build. Will be interesting to see how he pans out.

-Garrick Ibbotson is a classy performer. Cool under pressure and disposes of the ball well. A little unpolished but still a future star.

-David Mundy looks like a keeper. He's got some class and looks to be a good kick of the ball. He can kick it a fair way anyway. Got them going in the third quarter.

-New guys Nicholas Suban and Greg Broughton looked good yesterday. Broughton in particular showed a cool head in defence.

-Michael Johnson is a bizarre player. His kicking style looks awful, like someone that's never played football before. It's not very effective either, he turned the ball over a bit. In spite of that he seems to be an asset. Great dash off the backline and worked his way into space frequently as evidenced by his 26 touches.

-Luke McPharlin still hasn't really lived up to his potential. At 27 time is running out. He'll remain a handy swingman though, capable of holding down key positions.

-The surprise swingman Chris Tarrant still has some use as well. Playing him in defence is logical - super athlete, strong and quick but can't kick for goal to save his life. He played mostly up forward yesterday and did okay. Takes a strong mark, has an excellent short kick and switches the play well. So maligned he's become sort of underrated.

-Ryan Crowley is the type of player every team needs to have. Hard nut, ferocious attack on the ball and can kick a goal. Among the best yesterday.

-Aaron Sandilands is obviously an asset to the team, the best tap-ruckman in the league. He didn't play well yesterday though, but I'm assuming his performance was an exception to the norm.

-Dean Solomon, often grouped with Tarrant in the maligned section, is a guy I still like. Has shocking, shocking disposal, but gives 110% every time out. Great hardness.

-Clayton Hinkley, Joshua Head and Steven Dodd were nowhere to be seen.

-Kepler Bradley I still can't take seriously. Apparently benefits the team though.

-Antoni Grover goes hard at it all the time, leaves nothing on the field. Can't kick or make decisions to save his life.

-Daniel Gilmore is useless.

-Byron Schammer: see Dean Solomon.

-Brett Peake looks like a deer in headlights whenever he gets the ball.

-I left the most interesting to last. Matthew Pavlich is the obvious choice as the barometer of the team, and he probably still is, but yesterday the team's fortunes rested on Rhys Palmer's shoulders. I love Rhys Palmer. He's my favourite first or second year player in the league to watch. Super quick and has no fear. Spectacular in the air and shows composure around the ground beyond his years. He might be the worst kick of the football in the AFL. He's well aware of it too. He looked to handball at every possible opportunity. Of his 7 kicks I can't remember one hitting a target. It's a mental block he's going to have to over come. Right now it's not just hurting him, it's hurting his team. His miss from 10 metres out in the final quarter cost his team the match. He knew it as well, his body language dropped completely after it. Minutes after the miss he slowed to a halt so he wouldn't create contact with an Adelaide player just after they disposed of the ball. From a normally aggressive player that told the whole story. He's young, but it's something you hope won't hold him back for his career. How he responds next week will tell a lot about his character.

In terms of structure the Dockers are a mess. The defence is weak, too often defenders were caught behind. Gill, Walker and Porplyzia had 12 scoring shots between them. The main problem with the defence was clearing the ball. Johnson, Gilmore and Mundy all turned the ball over with horrible kicks inside defensive 50. The midfield isn't much better. Aside from horrible disposal, Fremantle's other trademark is their inability to take advantage of Sandilands' ruckwork. It's a fair criticism. He didn't dominate yesterday, but still when he did win the taps the Docker rovers failed to gain clean possession and couldn't get quick fluent clearances. The forward line is the biggest area of concern. The forward is clogged up with dead bodies. I don't understand why the Dockers wouldn't try to isolate Matthew Pavlich more. He's one of the three or four best forwards in the league and they barely targeted him. Playing Pavlich up the ground is stupid as well. Fair enough you want him to get his hands on the ball, but who are the Dockers going to kick to? Chris Tarrant won't win you a game of football. The Dockers should be playing Pavlich deep with Tarrant and Crowley as secondary options. Have one smaller crumber as well, then push the other forwards well up to the flanks.

Here is the 'disastrous paradox'. The Dockers are a team with horrible disposal, and that's because they're a young developing team. Makes sense right? Wrong. The shocking thing is, although yes the Dockers are a young inexperienced side, it's the experienced players who are the culprits for ill-disposal. In fact, the young players are probably the best users of the ball in the team. Yesterday, Hill (18) and Ibbotson (21) were disposing of the ball better than anyone, bar Haselby. Mundy The Dockers turnovers and shocking disposal can be placed on the likes of Solomon (191 career games), Gilmore (26 years old), Schammer (105 career games), Grover (29 years old) and Brett Peake (25). It's hard to say whether this is a good thing or a bad thing, but for the present it's a horrible thing. Youngsters are looking up to the likes of Solomon and Schammer, players that can not kick or make decisions under pressure. It tells a tale for the history of the Fremantle football club.

The Dockers play St. Kilda next weekend and they're going to get thumped. I can't see the Dockers getting within 50 points of this strong, skillful and disciplined St Kilda team. A complete demolition (likely) and there might be calls for Mark Harvey's job. They couldn't be more warranted. Harvey has looked lifeless and apathetic in his stay at Fremantle. Say what you want about Chris Connelly, but at least he gave the impression that he cared. Harvey was taken to the cleaners in the coaching department yesterday. As I alluded to above, youth can be no excuse. Fremantle had 8 players playing yesterday with less than 50 games experience. Adelaide had 12. The Dockers also had 4 players with over 150 games experience to Adelaide's 3. Adelaide were a young team coming into a hostile unfamilliar environment and they made Fremantle look leaps and bounds behind them. Fremantle as we stand is a poor-drilled, talent-wasting, uninspired mess. Watching them in contrast to Adelaide, a disciplined well-coached team that milks every last drop of talent it has must have been depressing for Fremantle.

Top 5 Fremantle players
1. Matthew Pavlich
2. Paul Haselby
3. Rhys Palmer
4. Garrick Ibbotson
5. Ryan Crowley

The Barometer - Matthew Pavlich

Best case scenario for 2009
The return of Roger Hayden shores up the defence and Des Headland provides some added toughness and skill to the lineup. Matthew Pavlich has a season for the ages, Rhys Palmer gets some magic boots and Chris Tarrant turns into a great key defender. Best case scenario sees Fremantle taking advantage of Subiaco and winning 7 or 8 games.

My prediction
The returns of Hayden and Headland help the Dockers quest for respectability. Palmer improves his kicking as the season progresses, Hill shows glimpses of stardom and Ibbotson emerges as a potential superstar. Everything else goes horribly wrong. The Dockers continue their implosion, Mark Harvey gets the sack and they finish either 15th or 16th with 4-6 wins for the season. In other words, just another year for the Fremantle Dockers football club.