Is young Murphy Reid now the benchmark? He certainly is at the MCG after leaving a mark on the bench that Brayden Maynard callously and recklessly shoved him into! Time to Restump Podcast the thrilling possibility door opening win over the Pies.

Other than putting it down to heart and soul, a relentless work rate, self-belief, an absurd forward efficiency and a defensive collective that should be paid triple time for the amount of work it did, I’m not exactly sure how we won that game!

The Pie’s pressure was mental, the ball lived in their forward half and they pumped us for inside fifties. I mean we lost the inside fifty count 63 to 40! We had the lowest number of inside fifties of any team over the entire weekend; it was against the league’s best team who sat games clear at the top of the ladder and yet we somehow managed to not only keep them to one goal from a massive 20 inside fifties in the 3rd term, we scored one in every two of our total entries to win the game. And, I may add, against the best defence in the league!

That stuff needs a bearded stooge in a lab coat armed with a beaker, a petri dish and bunsen burner to work out how it all happened.

Is it a sustainable on field football business model? Well, if the Prancing Pony can guarantee us he’ll bang through 6 straight every week, then absolutely it is. However, in reality here on earth, as talented as Vossy is, it’s an unfair and unrealistic request.

So, the answer is probably no, it isn’t sustainable. We can’t put those expectations on our defensive unit or an individual. But to momentary hell with that, it worked on the weekend, the valuable 4 points are in the bag and while we’re trying to keep a lid on things, the “why not us” question is gaining some traction.

You should never ask a question you don’t already know the answer to. So, with that been said, is Luke Jackson the best kick at goal in the entire AFL? Under pressure from long range… he’s kicked 14 goals 3 this year.

We have to say it’s comforting having a fit Jaegar O’Meara back. We’ve missed his presence around the ball and when he does get an opportunity to hit the scoreboard, he’s usually of the Luke Jackson ilk.

And speaking of welcomed returns, do we win that game without a quarter and a bit from Hayden Young? Maybe, maybe not, but I’m glad we don’t have to find out.

Could Josh Treacy be the greatest swingman the game has ever seen? One game saving mark is happenstance; two separate game saving marks could be classed as coincidence. But now a third separate game saving mark is a behavioural pattern! We wanted to speak to JT about it but he’s in surgery having Darcy Moore’s knees removed from his spine!

And lastly can we have some gratitude for and send some love to the serial scapegoat and whipping boy, Bailey Banfield? He had a ripping game and has thrived upon becoming a part of the backline band.

We’ve now beaten Gold Coast on their home deck, GWS at their circus showgrounds and Collingwood in their Colosseum. However, nothing is assured and there is plenty still to play out, and while unfortunately a very good team is going to miss finals this year, we’re in some serious shape.

For now, though, let’s not worry about the what ifs, let’s disregard the data, put aside the predictions, projections and premonitions and continue Monday marvelling at our mastery in a magnificent moment at the MCG. So, pull up a pew, pour yourself a potion, press play on the pod and partake in our picking apart of the Pies and the Purple.

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Blood, Switta and tears encapsulates Saturday night and it was the exception to the ‘never as good or as bad as it seems’ rule. As a moment, an occasion and result, it was better than it seemed! Time to Restump Podcast the magical, emotional and successful night against the Hawks.

It was a ridiculously hard fought, combative, nonstop four quarter contest with Brayshaw’s bloodied brain container, Sammy Switkowski returning to play one of his best career games and then the emotional tears taking its toll as we all struggled to say goodbye to Sonny.

Whether they are meaningful or not, so many elements went into and came together to make Saturday night what it was. It had an elimination final feel for both clubs so there was already an overflow of anxiety and pressure and while it was absurd criticism after the Swans loss, no Freo player, coach or fan wanted to give the critics any hint of even fake validation by losing. The contest was incredibly fierce, we then had to come from behind in the fourth quarter, and finally we had Sonny’s send-off which couldn’t have been what it was, had we dropped the game.

These may seem like insignificant points to many other team’s football supporters, but you get the feeling that you had to be a Freo fan to understand the enormity of it. Unless you’ve been through the deepest darkest depths of football fan despair, you can’t truly comprehend or experience the full scope of the exhilaration Saturday night served up.

It’s difficult to deliver a high class and clean performance when the heat is on like it was, but the skill level out there under those conditions was impressive. The pressure was relentless and while it got the better of us early and we couldn’t get near the ground ball, we managed to again fight our way in, take control of the contest, and steer the ship home. Dare we say another maturing performance?

It was a well-rounded, ferocious one in all in, team-oriented display, built on a record 103 tackles. If we put that on continuous repeat, it’ll carry us a long way.

We did only generate 15 scoring shots for the game, which was the equal second lowest on the weekend from all 18 teams, but it was an anomaly in regards to our recent form and our accuracy covered for it.

We’re a day delayed because we had to let the goose bumps subside, the hair on the back of our necks set back down and wait for our inbuilt Sonny inspired water works taps to turn off.

But we can’t wait to talk about this game in more depth and relive the occasion. So, like us, if you’re not ready to move on just yet, join us on the pod as we prolong the Saturday night magic and continue Sonny’s send-off party.

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With great possession power comes great accountability. Time to Restump Podcast Sunday’s small setback.

Our 6-game winning streak came to an end at the hands of powerful Swans, who quite simply were just too good.

With all their guns back and runs under their belts, the 2024 Grand Finalists found their form and returned to that familiar relentless pressure applying unit. For all but 3 quarters, whichever combination we tried, we had no answers to their centre bounce dominance.

The Swan’s James Jordan continues taking down big names and numbers and unfortunately Caleb Serong was next on his list to tick off… in more ways than one.

Opposing teams are laser focused on Caleb. His name would be on all opposition whiteboards in big bold black letters pre-game. So, we must start giving him a chop out, provide him some assistance by running some blocks and putting some physical heat on opponents for him. Are we capable of that? What we wouldn't have given for a fit Fyfe out there!

We've obviously got centre clearance issues but the re-emergence of Jaegar O'Meara may well help alleviate some of them. His influence upon being injected into the game was instant and hindsight says maybe we should've rolled the dice and pulled the sub lever sooner.

While he may not have the size and strength yet, is there midfield room for a ridiculously skilful rising star favourite, Murphy Reid?

It's no secret Jye is struggling a bit. His confidence has deserted him and it has taken his snooker cue straight kicking, dead eye Jye moniker with it. Backing a player in to fight the form slump is admirable, but are there time limits? Does Jye need a breather, a release of pressure in the twos to tear the WAFL apart for a week?

While the axe grinding, coach sacking callers will melt down over the first loss in 6 weeks, an objective view would realise the Swans, with their top liners match fit, who were $1.60 favourites and had won 13 of 20 games against us at the SCG, had to play at a high and relentless level to beat us. To be absolutely belted in the midfield yet still all but win the game against that Swan’s outfit… some issues need attention but we are doing a hell of a lot right.

With a couple of recent wins over much lower placed teams we needed a test to see where we are. We got the test and the answer and it appears we’re in really good shape for a 4th to 9th team. It may be an inconvenience to hear, but we’re simply not at the Collingwood or Brisbane level yet… but we’re not far off it.

Obviously, we're all disappointed with the loss and what it momentarily means, but in the end, we didn't take enough of the chances and the Swans did. Sometimes you just have to say, too good.

We're out of the eight but we're just a win and % out of 3rd and % out of 6th. We have enough winnable games to come to secure a spot in September. The opportunity is there if we want to take it.

We're not exactly bouncing off the walls with excitement but if it's pessimism you're looking for, check your GPS coordinates because they’ve led you astray. There's an empty room somewhere looking for you to take the shortest view in.

But if it's a balanced mixture of wider constructive perspective and bouts of exaggerated nonsense, the kettle is on. So, come in, make yourself a coffee, bang this noise in your ears, give us your thoughts and make yourself at home.

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