The Restump Podcast JoJo and The Chief

Peel Thunder legend Will Schofield was extremely generous with his time in joining us to talk all things Fremantle footy and the upcoming Western Derby. Time to Restump Podcast with Schoey. 

It’s a bit of a different one this week and while we covered a lot of ground we use the “preview" term very loosely. To be honest, the only disappointing thing from our Fremantle oriented perspective was that… Will Schofield is just too nice a guy! 

As we edge closer to the Bulldogs game we release a sneak peek at the racket that is our round six Rory initiative and it’s safe to say Will Schofield is a buyer!   

Plenty more and we bring it home with a Neighbourhood Watch segment with a lot of guest engagement.

If you’re throwing away 40 minutes and you don’t care for the health of your ears, by  all means bung this nonsense in em.
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How do we dig ourselves out this deep hole we find ourselves in? Even if only to fast track the grieving process, its time to Restump Podcast whatever that was tonight.

It was a tough game to watch, a tough result to swallow and just as tough a game to talk about. I’d suggest we’re at a loss for words, but we can’t take two losses tonight! 

Where are we? What are we doing here? Is this even real? Where do we go from here? 

Is it a problem we could 4C? Cohesion, connection, composure and clearances. We’re lacking all four and until we find the key and unlock the puzzle, we’re going to remain in some level of pain. 

So, like us, if you’re in a current state of shock, if you’re devastated or disenchanted and you just need to work through it; lay down on the couch, get your ears comfortable and join the collective for a much needed therapy session. 
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Round one is old news. It’s time to bounce into round two and Restump Podcast Freo’s Saturday evening Kangas clash. We really need to pinch the four points.  

Yes, it hurt last week but the reaction was massively overblown. It almost makes you wonder if there is an outrage race? Who can be most the outlandish? Anyway, we said its old news so we move on.

It is Griff’s first home coming but, as interesting as that will be, we have bigger fish to fry… like not being zero and two. 

Josh Treacy wasn’t on his Pat Malone in having a ‘Barry Crocker’ last week but it seems he drew the short straw. Given sub vest stalwart Bailey Banfield has been moved into the twenty-two at Treacy’s expense, was the move for structural reasons or has the Cyclone taken one for the team?

Josh Treacy, Jye Amiss, Matt Johnson and Sonny Walters are all in the mix for Banfield’s vest. Power of deduction suggests, Treacy and Amiss don’t have the versatility required for the role. Surely we’re not debuting Johnson under vest conditions? That leaves Sonny Walters and again, I am not sure how I feel about that.

After being over confident and catastrophically wrong last week, we’re trying to be gun-shy, or at least a little more reserved about our chances against North. But its too difficult… there is no way this Fremantle team doesn’t respond in the most emphatic of ways.  

North won’t be a push over. They have a formidable midfield and obviously a wonderful coach, but we have their measure across the board. We do… don’t we? Please tell us we do! 

You should never wish any precious time of your life away! Now that been said, we’re looking to offload as many of the tick tocks between now and early Saturday evening as we can because we can’t wait. 

So, if you’re in a similar mode, there’s 40 minutes of nonsensical purple stuff to throw away here!    

Cobwebs have been blown to smithereens; our season restarts Saturday. 
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The only mark we didn’t make on the day was that in the win column. Tough day against a typical Rossco regime. But there’s no panic here, only pragmatism. Time to Restump Podcast review round one.

It was a tough loss to endure. Expectations were high, excitement was in the air and the Sainters had a ton of their best out. There was cause for optimism. Did we mistakenly overlooked the Ross the Boss component and his ability to deliver in spades something we should have seen coming?

Did Collingwood produce a step-by-step plan on how to dismantle us Dockers in last season’s semi-final? Ross mentioned he analytically went to town on that game and, as he has the knack for doing, got his young plucky chargers to reconstruct parts of it.

There is no hiding from the fact we struggled to cope with the defensive running of the Saints. It saw our slow possession play further suffer as we couldn’t get any run and carry going. Our forwards suffered as a result but their own systematic incoherence has to carry some of the blame.

A more measured assessment recalls that Fyfe, Jackson and, to a lesser extent, Treacy are all new components of a forward line that didn’t exactly enjoy great functionality last year. Practice matches and preseason games only reveal so much. Add in a Sam Sturt and possibly a Josh Corbett to the mix and you can see we’re going to remain in experimental mode for a while yet.

With our mids getting demolished, should Fyfe have gotten the tap on the shoulder to venture in there and level up the contest? 

Did the Sean Darcy and Luke Jackson combo, otherwise known as Jackarce, show enough in the debut performance? 

Was Jaegar O’Meara carrying a bit more of an ankle that we may know? 

There is so much to methodically unpack from what was, in context, a demoralising loss. There is no shadow of a doubt failing to bank those four points was an opportunity lost and one we may look back on with further grief come the end of the season. 

But are we throwing the baby out with the bathwater? Well, babies don’t deserve that treatment and you know…. with water restrictions today….  I think we’ll hang on to both.

Its round one, it might be a simple case of getting stung and taken by surprise. Ross the Boss may have left us with some pain on Sunday but he previously left us with the philosophy that failure is feedback. We get the benefit of the early loss to know what needs improving. Dwell in negativity and you’ll manifest more of it. 

So join us as we dig deep, probably deeper than we dug out there on Sunday, into the wash up and look further into what went wrong, what went right, what was, what wasn’t, what could have been and what needs to be done. 

Will we solve the purple problems? Highly doubtful but we’ll air the grievances, spin the positives and just enjoy having footy back.
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Maybe it’s the buildup and we’re over excited and maybe we’re getting carried away… but the Saints are going to need a Sunday prayer! Time to Restump Podcast preview Freo’s round one against Ross.

It is the first time since 2011 we have to face Ross Lyon as an opposing coach but we’d be pretty confident we’ll get a defensive oriented contest. To be fair to the Sainters they’re the walking wounded but that won’t stop a Ross Lyon team making it a hard grind.

Selection talking points surround Brandon Walker being overlooked for the deserving and returning Nathan Wilson and Freddy coming in off a light preseason to replace the unlucky Sammy Sturt. Could Sturty steal Bailey Banfield’s sub vest?

Great to see Josh Treacy command a gig and Liam Henry has been rewarded for his hard work and growth over the preseason. 

With Ross Lyon reuniting with Bradley Hill, could we see the form of our former winger detrimentally return against us? 

The people who thought Blake Acres was a steal and suggested we were crazy for letting him walk for a third rounder might have had a couple of second thoughts. Gotta take the good with the bad with Blakey Acres. 

Despite getting around in the flashy digs on the golf course today, Jojo McDonnell didn’t really commit either way on the pre-game fashion show talk. However, the more practical Chief wants that putridly theatrical initiative knocked on the head quick smart.

Anyway, its almost here. Sunday lunch time our season gets underway as we break bread with and then toast the Saints! For a bit of a more exciteful than insightful preview, use up 40 minutes of waiting time with us.  
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Just hours until the Saints on Sunday! We’re as nervous as a hot air balloonist in the US. Good nerves though. Time to Restump Podcast the 2023 feasibility of the Freo plan.

The real stuff is almost here and we’re beside ourselves. There is just something about this upcoming year that has us up and about with more anticipation than usual.  

Holistically speaking, are we in the best shape we’ve been in for the start of a season? While there is the odd injury, few seem serious and there aren’t too many that wont be pushing for round one.

Is Luke Ryan going to get up and join his mate Brennan in that formidable defensive duo against the Ross Lyon Saints? Can the sum of parts equal the whole?

It appears the hard working and opportunity grabbing Ethan Hughes, or apparently Dethen Hucker if you're seeing the images used in the press, has cemented a spot on the wing for round one.

There is a bit of a grapevine chatter that the great Sonny Walters may don the sub vest? We’re not sure what to make of that… it doesn’t quite sit well.

What are the odds? I mean odds aren’t only for gamblers. They’re opinionated indicators for potential performance. They’re simply the result of often educated or informed research expressed as percentages of which we can learn a lot from without having to part with a single peso.  

Including the outside thoughts or the movements of the satchel swingers in the conversation simply assists in covering the assessment angles. 

So in this calm before the purple storm episode we take a look at what the number runners are suggesting. 

We’re five days from bounce down and we can’t shut up. So if you’re looking for some soothing silence in which to relax… you’ve come to the wrong place. So as you're here, you may as well get your purple ears front and centre and jostling for position early with this hour of new season week nonsense. 
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