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. 

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Sometimes you have to abandon decorum and just let go with a frenzy of f-bombs! Did the message get through? Time to Restump Podcast the cancelling of the Crow show. 

Is JL fed up? Has he snapped or has the gravity of the situation and the panic set in? While we all don’t know what happens behind closed doors, a public expletive riddled outburst seems uncharacteristic, albeit justified. Will it shock the players into gear? Time will tell.

So, once again we find ourselves in the familiar position of atonement. But this Crows outfit isn’t exactly an opponent easy to make amends on. And what if we do right last week’s wrongs? We’ve seen this movie many times before, so it becomes as much about subsequent weeks as it does Friday night. However, let’s concentrate on the now. 

With Darcy Fogarty out of the Crow’s line up it makes it a more appealing contest for us but they have plenty of scoring power to cover for him. 

While we’ve indicated we’ll be more focused on tightening up on our defence, we’re going to need to make good on that. The Crows are averaging 108 points a game with Walker, Tilthorpe, Rankine, Rachele and Keys all regularly hitting the scoreboard.

There is an anomaly in there though, the 161 points against Essendon skews the average a touch and they have softened the last 3 weeks kicking down to 80 points a game. But you just can’t overlook their firepower, knowing how poor defensively we have been. At the same time, however, they’re letting in 82 points a game so you can score against them.

So, our defensive focus aside, this is effectively two handy scoring teams but with defensive deficiencies. Adelaide are 1st in offence and we’re 5th although that may have something to do with us playing West Coast, Richmond and Melbourne so far. Adelaide are 9th in defence, we’re 11th. 

James Aish, Jaegar  O’Meara and Bailey Banfield have felt the axe while Chappy returns who we drastically missed last week. Corey Wagner rightfully gets a recall and after getting a ton of it in the WAFL, Quinton Narkle finally gets to make his debut. 

The Chief isn’t copping the accusations we upset the Footy Gods last week and Jojo is hiding out at Rottnest! The Restump Financial Hole Digging is getting bigger but that isn’t a reason to stop throwing good money after bad! 

It kind of feels like we have arrived at a line in the sand occasion with this game. And there’s no better time to meet such a challenge than on Anzac Day. 

We’ve got a very tough, what you imagine will not only be season defining but coach deciding 6 weeks ahead. For so many reasons we simply cannot deliver another less than acceptable performance.

About 24 hours until bouncedown… do you really want to waste one of them listening to our noise?

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It really hurts us to say it, but they have broken our trust. What’s that line about being able to place more trust in curried egg sandwiches from the petrol station? Time to Restump Podcast Saturday’s purple heart break. 

A vital component in the building of trust is consistency. Without it, by its very nature, trust cannot exist. Yet, ironically the only area of consistency we can trust the Freo Dockers in, is inconsistency. 

Once again, Freo has fooled many of us on the back of what we knew and acknowledged were soft victories. How did we think the consistent, less than substandard performances were behind us? Prior to Saturday we stated how poor our defensive efforts have been, and have been against the least offensive teams! Yet even so we could not fathom being unable to convincingly beat the Dees. 

Are we overrating the list? Do we have a team of talented players that do not comprise a genuinely talented team? Or is the list still not ready or equipped to handle the relentless rigors of AFL football? Yes, Sean Darcy is severely underdone and Heath Chapman’s absence hurt us. But they weren’t reasons for getting rolled by a zero and five team.  

Whatever the case we had 15 players with 80 or more games of experience, 11 of them with beyond 100 games under their belts out there on Saturday. So, there is no excuse for that lack of intent, the unwillingness to compete at the contest or the failure to chase and tackle. They’re called non-negotiables for a reason! They’re all prerequisites for being on an AFL list.

Fresh off signing a long-term deal, you wonder what is going through Andy Brayshaw’s head? Next to no one went with him in that final quarter when the game was there to be taken. Caleb Serong was monstered by Jack Viney who was magnificent in his role. Where was the help for him? Did anyone cause Viney any discomfort? Did anyone attempt to block Viney for Serong? 

The “Sack the Coach” crew have predictably come out of hibernation as its their easy go to answer for everything. But if you think 80+ gamers aren’t bringing the basics unless the coach drills it into them, then the problem probably isn’t entirely with the coach. And four quarters of the basics wins that game! 

That been said and to be fair to the coach doubters, Justin Longmuir now inevitably finds himself under immense pressure as another of this type of performance warrants putting everything on the table for questioning. With the ominous fixture ahead, things need to change overnight and for more than a week or two for JL not to be in a more precarious position than he unfortunately is right now.

Is it overdue for an actual example to made at the selection table? More often than not, players have seemingly been given the opportunity to respond and rectify a poor performance the following week, and have usually done so. But given the continual sporadic nature of the same poor performances occurring, maybe they’ve used up all their redemption chances? There has seemingly been a reluctance to cut other than the usual suspects. What did our former coach Rosco say? “Execute one to educate a thousand.”

Yes, we will regroup as we always do and we will go again. It is emotionally taxing and it is frustrating, at times excruciating and demoralising. But while we’re in for a long and often painful season if Saturday is indicative of what is to sporadically turn up, this is football and Fremantle is our team.

This isn’t everyone’s first grief counselling rodeo. We’ve all been here more times than we care to recall. So, you know the drill. Join us as we search for answers, for reasoning and for purpose. Let’s work through the pain on the pod once more. 

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It's JT's constitutional right to bare arms! Time to Restump Podcast the exorcising of the Demons. 

The Dees are zero and four so, in theory, this shouldn't be a danger game for us. And to be honest, when you look at how mentally and physically depleted they are, even from a superstitiously purple perspective, it kind of isn't.

They're horribly out of form, there seems plenty not right internally and they're seemingly dropping players to make confusing statements. They’ve pretty much just dropped their recognised forward line what appears to be predominantly based on panic. 

Christian Petracca, Clayton Oliver and Jack Jack Viney in the middle being fed by Max Gawn made you feel a little uneasy yesteryear. But, while they’re still highly productive in their own right, they're far from their premiership year selves and they don’t seem to have the same on field support network around them. It's leaving the task up to too few. 

While they have 2026 Fremantle forward Kozzi Pickett out there, they look a touch fragile in the scoring department and with him and defender Steven May under injury clouds all week, their defence might be a tad shaky as well.

Is this the dreaded research based arrogant confidence rearing its ugly and unwanted head again? We all know hubris is the downfall of man, but it really is difficult to feel unassured again this week.  That all probably says more about where Melbourne is at, rather than it does about our ability to put them away with ease.

On the flip side of Melbourne’s woes, we're in pretty decent shape and maybe, to further rub salt into the Dee's wounds, we've brought in Oscar McDonald to face his former Demons. 

While we’re on an upwards trend, we’re probably not playing as well as we appear. We’re 10th in the league for defence and other than Geelong in round one, we haven’t as yet played any team that is top eight for offence. So, while banking the four points is the primary concern, this is an opportunistic game to tune up our system, put some much needed emphasis on tightening up our defence and stack on a few percentage points. 

The Restump Investment turned Salvage Operation Club is back again. We’ve unsurprisingly struggled but Jojo has built his term deposit bank to $400. The inevitable fall is getting bigger!

If you’re looking for a good listen this good Friday, what can we tell you, your GPS coordinates are way off. However, if its 30 life wasting minutes of purple prattle you are after, we’ve got you covered! So, come right in, bring your ears and make yourselves at home. 

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Never reel in or repress the passion, Paddy. We‘ll take measures to mitigate your celebratory risks! Time to Restump Podcast the victory in the Valley. 

It was a wonderfully picturesque setting, a great festival atmosphere and more importantly an enjoyable victory. It is amazing the difference a win makes and what it adds to a weekend such as Gather Round. Sadly it has been soured by an absurd and selective penalty to Paddy.

We’d be lying to ourselves if we thought pre-game the win wasn’t essentially a formality. As dangerous as that thinking is, quite simply the Tigers, understandably, just aren’t anywhere near it at the moment, but give them a few years and we wont be so dismissive of them. 

From that perspective it really was a case of us, beyond the 4 points, having little to win and much to lose and maybe that philosophy played its part at times. Our skills early weren’t at a level we’d expect or hope, we weren’t active enough to compete and win the ground ball and we probably gave the Tigers too much space.

Did we make some errors at the selection table? We went in quite tall in deference against a Richmond forward line consisting of many step ladder enthusiasts. The Maurice Rioli’s and Steely Greens were too quick and nimble for us early. Did we, knowingly or unknowingly, get away with it because of our opponent and the inevitable result? 

Seeing Hayden Young wander across the 50 and sink goals was a sight for saw eyes. While we stepped it up last year, goals from midfielders hasn’t been something we’ve excelled at so far this season. Having a beyond fifty metre goal kicking weapon is a vital piece of the puzzle. Welcome back Hayden and please don’t get injured ever again! 

By all reports, thankfully Sean Darcy got through unscathed but he was blowing up a long way from home. Again, was it a mistake not playing Reidy? But then we don’t get Vossy’s team and fan lifting enthusiasm as he would have probably made way for Reidy. 

Karl Worner deserves a bit of a mention for what was his career best game. He’d been a bit shaky with possession in recent weeks a but made every post a winner on Sunday going at about 90% efficiency. Good to see rookie listed players scrap and fight for their position and succeed.

Is there a competition developing between Murphy Reid and Josh Draper for who has the cleanest ground ball hands at Freo? For his size, Draper is doing remarkable things.

It’s pretty exciting seeing what Shai Bolton is and going to bring us. It isn’t surprising but it is nice to see him deliver it. His midfield minutes are as valuable as what he’s doing up forward. 

Josh Treacy is going from strength to strength, Vossy is creating all sorts of mostly valuable chaos for those near him and Freddy is having a ripper season to date. Sammy Switkowski eased back in with little impact and while things aren’t working for Jye Amiss at the minute, it’ll come. But he is dragging a good opponent and contributing to the collective.

All in all, it was a win to celebrate but not get carried away with. It was a win that just needed to be obtained, banked and moved on from. You get the feeling that was how it was treated and next week against the Dees, while a little different in nature, we should roll out a replica of yesterday. 

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Are we getting too far ahead of ourselves to think the only danger may be resisting the infectious party atmosphere of the Barossa Valley for two days? Time to Restump Podcast the Tigger tussle! 

Arrogant confidence doesn’t sit well with us so, considering we’re playing in the Barossa Valley, let’s call it Dutch courage. Whatever you want to call it, the reality is whichever way you look at, dissect and simply think about Sunday’s clash, its difficult to find a way we get beaten.

I know, I know, I’ll jinx us and tempt fate, but to be honest even with all those factors thrown in, if we can’t beat a side consisting of Tiger cubs, what are we even doing?

We’ve recorded the pod prior to final teams being released but as far as squads go, Richmond has 17 players listed that have played under 50 games. We have 7. Right there that pretty much tells you all you need to know. 

Even if complacency somehow crept in, we’d right it before it was too late, wouldn’t we? And that’s not being deliberately disrespectful to the Tiges, its just that that is where the two teams are at. 

Welcoming back Sean Darcy and Hayden Young just makes you take a comforting sigh. They, along with Sammy Switkowski, have been gigantic outs and their absence has had substantial negative ramifications on how we’ve played as a team. Dear God, Universe, Source… whatever…. please allow them to remain injury free. 

In other news, with Geelong’s Bailey Smith flipping a fan the double birds, the question needs to be asked. Should Harley Reid be fined for incitement and the normalising of poor behavior? 

As predicted, the Restump Investment Club has rapidly transitioned into a savage operation. However, lack of ability has never proven a hurdle to continue trying so the weekly muti and term deposit bets are back. 

Sunday morning, we eat Tiger meat on toast for brunch at 10.35am. But before then, if you’re looking to waste 40 minutes of your life then feel free to throw it away with us guessing, investigating, estimating, hypothesizing about our rumble against Richmond. 

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Not sure how he causes opponents nightmares. You wouldn’t be able to sleep once you find out you’re playing on Freddy! Time to Restump Podcast Freo’s kenneling of the Dogs.

It has come at a cost but it was the test we needed and one we passed. Sure, we’ve got plenty of work to do because we can’t rely on scoreboard efficiency and Alex Pearce final quarter heroics every week, but line up our first four matches and you can see the improving trendline. 

The defensive unit returned to that cohesive, well-oiled and supportive collective. Yes, Sam Darcy was almost unstoppable, but it was simply his ridiculous ability and sometimes you just have to tip your hat and acknowledge a performance. 

Luke Ryan was back to his much-needed best, Heath Chapman went up a gear or two, we saw continual growth in Josh Draper and some Brennan Cox form that had been absent so far this year. Alex Pearce was absurdly good especially in that final quarter, Clarky continues doing Clarky things and both Worner and Wagner complimented the group seamlessly. They were all under extreme pressure in that final term and obviously held firm.

Its probably safe to say if there were any Caleb Serong and or Andy Brayshaw cobwebs or rust, it has well and truly been removed. Oxymoronic it may sound, but they were typically phenomenal. It is going to be difficult to not entertain the co-captains arrangement when the time comes.

Is there anyone still in the ‘critical of Luke Jackson’s recruitment’ camp? If so, what are you doing with your life? His influence and importance is undeniable and the last thing we needed was a pinging of his hamstring. 

On the wings, albeit a tad wayward at times, O’Driscoll was impactful and Jeremy Sharp’s rejuvenation was welcomed. We only hope Disco’s ankle isn’t a long termer. 

Up forward we’re seeing a dominant Josh Treacy, a building Bolton, a devastatingly exciting Dudley and a Freddy that is making opponent’s heads spin. Jye is getting there but doing some hard Yaka, Paddy Voss has a physical presence with room for improvement and workhorse Bailey Banfield is meaningfully contributing. But beyond all that we’re getting better synergy and connection. They’re working as a unit much more efficiently than they have previously this year, and without that, the dogs beat us.

If there is one overriding strategy that coach Justin Longmuir should have in big black bold letters on the whiteboard each week, it would read – ‘Get the ball in Murphy’s hands.’ It is absurd to think that isn’t an exaggeration especially when you know he’s 18 years of age and played 4 games. His final involvement yesterday defeating two opponents to get the ball out of bounds and then kick the sealer…  call the cops, he’s under age and can’t be doing those type of things already! 

We’ve got the season back on track at 2 and 2. We’re off to Gather Round to play the Tigers in the Barossa Valley and then the Dees at the MCG. They’re both more than winnable matches that we just simply have to get done. 

But before then, enough of the purple-tinged rose-coloured celebratory musings here! There’s too much more to discuss so pour yourself a pint, pull up a pew, put up your pegs, press play and partake in the pleasing four-point party on the pod. 

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Andy Brayshaw to notch up 150 games in almost even time. He’s more resilient than Rory Lobb’s hair dresser. Time to Restump Podcast the Dockers and the Dogs.

The magnificent Andrew Brayshaw brings up game number 150 on Sunday and he’s done in ridiculously quick time. He’s played 149 of a possible 156 since his debut, which is remarkable considering thee combative role he plays and how hard at it he is. And had Andrew Gaff decided to be a good citizen and not a thug, Andy would have played 152 of 156 games.  

His durability, resilience, his ability to play at a high-level carrying injury and his consistent form are rare traits. Add those to his leadership qualities, and you couldn’t think he won’t and shouldn’t be Freo’s next captain.

But individual accolades and milestones aside, we’ve got a game to win against the Dogs on Sunday and it starts with getting the distraction out of the way. For whatever reason, Rory Lobb has shaved and coloured a lobster into the back of his head. In a round-a-bout way you can’t help but give Lobby a nod of acknowledgment. He’s took all the Lobster stuff last year in good humour, he’s found his feet as a defender, he’s pretty valuable to the dogs in that position and yet he hams it up and doesn’t seem to take life too seriously. That said, hopefully he has a nightmare of a match on Sunday.

This game is a tricky one and its extremely difficult to draw a bankable form line through either team. An injury depleted Dogs beat North Melbourne, lost to Collingwood and beat Carlton by a point. An injury depleted Dockers lost horribly to Geelong, brought intensity and effort but didn’t play that well against Sydney and then probably didn’t play too much better but put away a hapless West Coast.

It’s confusing because we know we’re better than what we’re showing, but even after last week you could suggest we’re playing well below that. Add that to fact we’ve barely beaten a top eight side in our last 26 games and, to be honest, anyone’s guess is as good as anyone’s. 

So hey, don’t look at us for guidance!

The second week of the Restump Podcast Investment Club is in and while the multi’s fell a leg short last week, the term deposit bets are off and running. Could these shenanigans last longer than the two weeks we predicted? Probably not but hey… its only money!

Despite winning last week, this is a must win game. If we’re 1 and 3 heading into Gather round, followed by an away game at the MCG, life will get a lot tougher than it is right now. C’mon Freo, the time is now, let’s kennel the dogs, crack the Lobster and pick up the 4 much needed points and get our season back on track.

A quick pod is a good pod apparently so wrap your purple laughing gear around these 30 minutes if you’re looking to chew up some time between now and Sunday.

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Murphy Reid could be the first dual purple role citizenship recipient. We haven’t seen skills and smarts like that since David Mundy got the tap on the shoulder! Time to Restump Podcast the brushing aside of the Eagles.

We celebrate the win and welcome the four points but we left a lot score out there and the questionable skills remained on display. You get the feeling that while it was enjoyable, after the dust settled, it was more of a relief than it was a thumping return to form.

The return to form of Caleb Serong was a sight to behold, but to be honest, there was no reason why he shouldn’t have against such opposition. And right there lies the mixed feelings when reviewing and assessing Sunday. 

You want be thrilled and elated by a win, but after the first two weeks Sunday’s performance had to be about method and process rather than score. Had we lost that game, the season was over but despite our form in rounds one and two, what West Coast were able to serve up and where they’re at as a club, the result was pretty much a formality. 

But you can only take out of it what was served up. Yes, we saw the Caleb Serong and Andy Brayshaw we have come to know and love so well. Luke Jackson put in a staggeringly good performance, Jai Amiss found some footy and space between the big sticks, the Captain ensured Oscar remained in his trash can, we got to enjoy Izzy Dudley’s polished debut and, amongst some extremely ordinary ball use, we got to see some super smarts and some silk in the form of Murphy Reid. 

So, we take the positives and a measured approach to the value and the meaningfulness of the victory. Maybe not as pronounced and maybe there has been some improvement, but the reality is you couldn’t watch that game and not understand how poor west coast eagles are and you surely can’t think the issues from round one and two have evaporated. 

We’ve obviously got plenty of work to do but the four points on Sunday gave a shot of life to our season. The Bulldogs next week will be a formidable opponent and it will tell us where we are and what to make of yesterday.

Jojo took umbrage at the AFL’s pathetic post-game AI generated image so we’ll see what his beef is about. And the Chief is disappointed at the lack of support for Caleb Serong and the lackluster retaliatory effort after Harley’s Reid’s cheap shot.

We love and cherish a derby victory and we hope it has delivered some much-needed confidence for the team. Is it the embryonic stage of trend change? That remains to be seen.

So, grab your microscopes, put on your lab coat, bang on the safety goggles and come with us as we put yesterday under the Bunsen burner. We’ll further dissect our first win of the season to find and celebrate the positives while trying to find the missing ball use formula. 

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We don’t advocate for or condone any form of violence. That's why only air rifles should be permitted. Time to Restump Podcast the upcoming bird cull.

Nothing says setting the right example and raising the standards like encouraging your fan base to collectively perform childish gestures. There is support of your player and there is arrogant entitlement.

There is no tomorrow for us if we somehow find a way to lose on Sunday. Six times in our history we have kicked off the season zero and three and the closest we’ve finished in any of those occasions is 11th. 

Is the overlooking of Liam Reidy a bit puzzling? It would seem the appropriate occasion to provide him with some more exposure and development, considering he wouldn’t exactly be up against one of the premier ruckman in the competition.  

The retention of Neil Erasmus is a positive as it provides him the exposure and opportunity to improve his craft, something Reidy could have benefitted from.

Izzy Dudley makes his debut which is exciting and thankfully he wont be the sub. Jye Amiss notches up 50 games, looking to find some form with the help of his forward colleagues, and the whipping boy Bailey Banfield takes to the field to turn out a well deserved 100 games.

For those who don’t mind a sneaky wager, we’ve started the Restump Investment Club. We’re starting with a bank and seeing what we can turn it into with a mixture of high and not so high risk wagers on the weekend’s footy.  

There are many ways to the poor house and the Restump Investment Club may well be the quickest, so it’s definitely not financial advice.

It’s all on the line Sunday. We just have to win and win we will. Positive affirmation and visualization because we can’t contemplate the alternative. 

A quick game’s a good game so join us for this short 30 minute Sunday semi-preview. The Restump Pod might disappear off the earth if the unthinkable happens.

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