I’ve noticed that fellow posters and the TAB have us as warm favourites,but I’m not sure our 1.45 quote and the Chunders 2.65 are a true reflection of both sides chances.Sure we’ve got a dominant ruckman in Jonesy,and a strong midfield but so have our opposition,and we certainly don’t won’t the game to evolve into a shootout,particularly with their 2 power forwards,and I’m hopeful rather than confident,that young Graham,Hill and Medhat will stand up to the heat of the game day grand final pressure,as well as the fact they’ll get back 2 good ins in Brodie and Wilson.so hopefully we’ll find a way to get the job done.
You guys probably want to pray for rain RL, that’s where you will have the edge. Peel will be playing their fourth final in a row while your boys only two in four weeks so they’ll be fresh whereas Peel players will be a bit banged up.
An obvious pattern with the Royals has been good starts but seem to run out of legs in the fourth quarters. Germo mentioned that at 3qtr time against us that you were 4 goals up against Subi the week before and Subi nearly ran over you. We nearly pulled it off from 6 goals down. Ideally you’ll be 6 goals up at half time and maintain that at 3 qtr time. Hopefully Brayshaw gets up, I reckon Will Brodie is a certainty to play but might still be affected by a bad cork.
The ruck contest should be a ripper. As usual the battle in the midfield will be key and both sides are stacked in this area. Hope you win. Good luck.
Some serious danger signs from what I saw at Basso on Sunday.
Chunder looked like they were just warming up, and powered away to a 70 point turn around at a hostile ground like it didnt faze them, you better do something about Tabs and Voss as they brushed aside SD defenders like mozzies with ease.
Brodie will be back as well.
Another thing in Peels favour is their AFL players experience playing at Optus Stadium.
Peelmantle may be playing 4 finals in a row but with more than half their team as fulltime professional athletes and the massive support at Cockburn for their recovery, they will be just as rested and fresh as EP given those boys have to work or study for a living.
Hey RL
Was talking to some EP people today.Both Pier Street and behind the EP members,Leederville
Both Charlie’s Trees are in full flower
Good omen for EP
[quote=“gtrxuone post=238072 userid=2215”]Hey RL
Was talking to some EP people today.Both Pier Street and behind the EP membersLeederville
Both Charlie’s Trees are in full flower
Good omen for EP
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Hopefully that’s a good omen GTX,because apparently when the Black Ducks won their maiden premiership in ‘61,we were red hot favourites to win when our Polly Farmer led champion side had won the 3 home and away games quite comfortably,and the second semi by 40 plus points and a premiership appeared to be a formality,but legend has it that the tree failed to flower which led to one of the biggest boil overs in WAFL history.
Good luck to all the EP boys for this weekend. Their team just need to keep doing what they have done all year…nothing fancy, just play as one, where everyone doies their role and the end reward will come.
There was vision on the news of a fit looking Hamish Brayshaw,who apparently has dropped 8 kilos in the last couple of months,so he appears to be a certain inclusion,and I’m afraid Nathan Eaton who has been in good form,maybe the unlucky player to miss out.
Nice that Brayshaw looked fit RL but I’m a bit perplexed about whether he should play. I hope you guys belt the Dockers but I think playing HB comes with a big risk.Don’t get me wrong- in a normal set of circumstances he would be among the first picked.His ability,motivation etc is unquestioned but losing that 8 kilos or so can be a double edged sword.Losing a lot of conditioning and being short on match fitness may see him struggling if it’s a tight last quarter especially against a side with 12 full time professionals.McQueen seems a strong character and will make the hard decisions on selection based on what’s best for the team and to get the right result- even if that means not selecting HB.Tough decision but it wouldn’t surprise me if he doesn’t get selected.
Fairly simple just have to bring pressure and smash them at every opportunity. Let them run and it will be tough to hold them out.
Larry, while on the physical pressure side of things, it would’ve been very handy had Nick Robertson been fit for Sunday’s Grand Final.
Robbo was at training tonight (on the sidelines), but sadly his season was shot a few minutes into the Round 3 game at Rushton Park.
Another player at training who would be a welcome inclusion but who will also miss through injury is Mitch Schofield, particularly as goals have been hard to come by for the Royals at times this season.
However, injuries have been part and parcel of our great game since it began in 1858, so I’m confident the 22 wearing blue and black will give a good account of themselves on Sunday.
[quote=“Larry Bird post=238123 userid=1820”]Fairly simple just have to bring pressure and smash them at every opportunity. Let them run and it will be tough to hold them out.
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Larry, one of the few positives for Subi this year was that we beat Peelmantle both times we played them and it was on the back of hard physical approach at the ball and the player but also keeping possession of the footy for long periods of play. We saw that in the first qtr of the prelim where SD had control of the footy with precise short passing and overlap run and handball. Your boys have the level of skills required to play that sort of footy so fingers crossed you can make it happen for real WAFL footy.
I daresay the 26-man squads will be trimmed to 22 later today, so I feel for those 4 EP players who miss selection.
Peel have included giant ruckman Max Knobel in their extended squad to help Liam Reidy in his battle with Scott Jones, so it remains to be seen whether Jedd Edwards ends up in the Royals’ final 22.
Jedd is a very good ruckman in his own right and played most of the second half of last season after Jonesy broke his leg at the opening bounce in the midseason game against EF at Leederville.
Geez, I hope I’m not jinxing Jonesy by mentioning that.
The Ferals have made their first mistake, picking Brayshaw…
[quote=“Whinnen post=238147 userid=3741”]The Ferals have made their first mistake, picking Brayshaw…
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Hey Melaka,what’s the deal with your premiership player Dobbo???I’ve noticed him this year at the East Perth huddles wearing his Royals jacket,and heard your ex prez Brett Pepperoni on the wireless a few months ago,sounding none too pleased that he informed your club as late as March,just before the start of the season that he would not be available,which does not surprise me one bit.So in the words of the Melbourne club theme song which your mob pinched,does Dobbo’s heart still beat true for the red and the blue???
[quote=“Whinnen post=238147 userid=3741”]The Ferals have made their first mistake, picking Brayshaw…
Great to see the old crosstown rivalry is still alive and well, Whinnen, because I would feel exactly the same if your motley mob were playing Peel in tomorrow’s Grand Final.
As for Hamish Brayshaw’s selction, he was almost a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” selection, but being last year’s Sandover medallist, he’s an integral part of the EP line-up if fully fit.
Ross McQueen and his co-selectors will be hailed as geniuses if the Royals get up tomorrow and “Hammer” produces a gem of a game.
However, if Brayshaw breaks down with a recurrence of his injury and EP loses, it will be brickbats instead of bouquets.
Sadly, with every GF, there are always hard-luck stories who miss selection.
EPFC general manager Dean Turner knows all about this because, having played a really good game in the Royals’ decimation of South Fremantle in the 1978 preliminary final, he was dropped to accommodate the return of Sandover medallist Phil Kelly in the GF.
The bloke whom I genuinely feel for is Nathan Eaton, who’s a sensational clubman and a really honest footballer who gives 110% whenever he wears the blue and black guernsey.
I’m sure “Hammer” and the boys will be playing for players like Nathan who missed selection as well as for the “Feral Army”.
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Selecting Hammer was a no brainer Archie,he’s got experience and football smarts,and I don’t believe our list is so strong where we can have the luxury of leaving out a sandover medallist,as well as the fact as he’s dropped 8kg in 2 months,so he’s obviously left no stone unturned to get himself right.My biggest concern is the leg speed of a couple of our midfielders,as well as our capacity to kick a winning score,and we certainly don’t want any sort of shoot out,and Tommy Grahams father Richard,also experienced grand Final disappointment in ‘96,when Ryan Turnbull was brought into the side to ruck with Jeff White,and although Nathan is very unlucky,I think the selectors as far as team balance is concerned,have made the right call.
I agree with you about our midfielders maybe lacking a yard of pace, Lucky.
However, they have the ability to use the ball precisely and that will be imperative tomorrow on a ground where there’s a lot of open space that can expose a lack of speed.
Our scoring ability has been down compared to 2023 (admittedly, our defence has been much better), so I hope we make the most of the chances that come our way and don’t have a “Barry Crocker” in front of goal.
I also hope the team had the opportunity to train at Optus during the week, including having a few practice shots at goal.
Interestingly, five of our team have played for Peel at various stages of their career, including Scott Jones during his stint on the Dockers’ list.
Have to make it physical, have to tackle and grind. If it’s a running competition we may get beaten. Good news I think we will be a much improved side moving forward.