Was it a simple case of our missed opportunities or did Richmond wind back the clock to their dynastical Richmondy times? A post bye win would’ve been handy for momentum but its not the end of the world. Time to Restump Podcast Saturday’s once bitten twice shy loss to the Tigers.

We can all debate the reasons for the loss and opinioniise our preferred personnel, but we probably just got a reality check of where we’re really at. And other than the missed four points, its not a negative. 

Yes, we didn’t take our opportunities but isn’t that a part of a current make-up at any given time? The lack of composure and skill execution, specifically in that final quarter, could be partly attributed to our age and inexperience. 

We might have to pass the hat around to help the boys pay for the How To Handle The Ball In Wet Conditions lesson Tim Taranto and Shai Bolton gave us. They were exceptional all night and we simply had no genuine answers for them.

Having said that, our 19-year-old Busseltonian up forward had the velcro hands and took all but one opportunity of his own. His rapid rise to the level he is at is astonishing and we’re pretty much at a point where it’s Nev’s forward line, everyone else give him a chop out and get out of the way.

Meanwhile another rapid rise to prominence, this time in the midfield, the magnificent Matty Johnson made every post a winner and was arguably Freo's best. Mature beyond his years and if Saturday night was indicative of the base which he’ll grow from…. holy Christmas…. sky is the limit. 

And speaking about taking your opportunities… Jayden Short took three of them all from beyond the 50 metre arc! I haven’t seen goal kicking like that since…. believe it or not… Rory Lobb kicked 4 against the Dogs for us last year.

Did we experience any repercussions from the week off? We went into the bye with a solid victory which now makes it 15 pre-bye round wins, while the loss on Saturday has us at 8 post-by round wins. So, from 17 byes we have an 88% pre-bye round win record, but the post-bye round we win just 53% of the time. 

Whatever the case, the reality is once upon a time in the not-so-distant past, we wouldn’t have gotten anywhere near back in the game from being 6 goals down in dry conditions, let alone in treacherous rain.

We’re a team of kids, we were two and a half years younger and 50 games lighter on average against a rampaging Richmond team consisting of 16 premiership players, and we just fell short through missed opportunities and a lack of composure. Safe to say we’re in super shape.  

This is actually a really interesting game to dissect. So, lets put the cap on the pen and get into it on the pod. I can’t guarantee you’ll learn anything but other than 45 minutes of your precious time, what have you got to lose by coming along for the conversation and getting involved?  

Send us a text

Support the show