Let's Back It Up

Was it the ANZAC spirit? Was it JL’s expletive ladened spray or did the penny finally drop? Whatever the case, we need to back Friday’s superb win up with more of the same. Time to Restump Podcast the season turning stoning of the Crows.

It was a magnificent ANZAC Day, a victory you had to be thrilled by. However, mixed emotions are understandable. Where has that effort and intensity been? What we delivered on Friday night against a talented Crow’s outfit would have beaten Sydney and Melbourne and made a game of it against Geelong. We should be at a minimum 6 wins and 1 loss and sitting equal top on points. 

However, let’s ease up on the negative. We’re not West Coast Eagle supporters, so we don’t live in the past. We enjoy the now and hope Friday was the beginning of fulfilling our season’s hopes.

From the first bounce we were well and truly on! We made the Crow’s life extremely difficult being very stingy with any space, rarely allowing them a possession without pressure. It was a sight for sore purple eyes!

It felt a well-oiled Freo machine had turned up and clicked into gear and when Josh Treacy got on the end of that one step, upright splitting, 55 metre bomb early on, you nodded in acknowledgement and thought this might be our night.

Shai Bolton tore them to bits; Freddy found his mojo and even former defender turned part time ruck and forward, Oscar, got in the party. Switta’s numbers were not huge unless you look at the pressure acts column where there was a big fat game high 24. 

The mids were as good as we all know they can be. Andy Brayshaw isn’t human. 86% game time as a mid… and he has ten touches in the final quarter! Caleb with his 10 clearances and ridiculously hardworking 15 ground ball gets and then Youngy glides around delivering his silver service. The criticisms of Matty Johnson were overdone. Sure, he made a few errors but he’s obviously been instructed to back himself in and go and his positives substantially outweighed his negatives.

But down back was where it was at. Tex Walker and Riley Tilthorpe are vital cogs in the high scoring Crow’s wheel and keeping them under control was going to be the difference. Hats off to the defensive collective but particular Brennan Cox for his work on Tilthorpe and Captain Pearce for Walker.

The last quarter could have gotten a bit shaky but it wasn’t through a lack of effort and a dropping of intensity on our part. We simply didn’t take our chances as we kicked 5 points. Having run out comfortable winners, we can live with that.

But it all means nothing if we don’t bring that same bag now on a weekly basis. We’ve been in this exact position previously; we’ve seen this movie before! So, we’re not out of the woods just yet, but if was a pretty good place to start the exit.

Enough of the appetizing written stuff, lets go for the verbal main course and continue the Crow banquet. If you haven’t had a full celebratory feed and you’ve got room for some more, by all means put on your elastic waist purple pants and join the Freo feast on the pod.