In the post-match press conference, Ross Lyon gave what he called a “simple analysis” of Fremantle’s 21-point win over Carlton on Friday night at Domain Stadium.
Here’s a breakdown of Lyon’s key points.
A good turnover differential
No-one likes to see your team give away easy goals, and Freo was guilty of this at times. Carlton kicked the game’s first through a turnover in the midfield, and scored a few more on the back of some indecision in Freo’s backline.
Lyon highlighted that the numbers tell a different story - stating that Freo scored 10.8 (68) from possession gains to Carlton’s 6.5 (35).
“It’s a significant difference. You want to win that battle.” Lyon said.
In 2016, skill errors proved costly. On average, Freo conceded 61.9 points per game on the turnover, the fourth most in the league. In the JLT Series, this average has dropped to 48.3 points points per game
When creating a turnover in the JLT Series, Fremantle scored 26.9 per cent of the time, which is the highest strike rate so far this pre-season.
Not capitalising on Sandi’s work
Aaron Sandilands was at his vintage best against Carlton, playing a primary role in the ruck alongside Sean Darcy and Jon Griffin to win the hit-outs 51 to 25, with 19 going to advantage compared to just nine for Carlton.
But the scoring results from these stoppages are cause for concern.
“They had more opportunities than we’d like,” Lyon said.
“It was their stoppage scores…maybe a couple of times we had it and got stripped and they went, but fundamentally they got out in different ways, and we’ll have a look at it.”
Despite dominating the hit outs, everything seemed to go Carlton’s way on the scoreboard. The Blues scored 5.6 (36) from stoppages compared to Fremantle’s 2.6 (18).
Lyon said it was a similar story against Collingwood, where Fremantle conceded 7.0 (42) and scored just 2.4 (16) from stoppages, despite winning the hit outs 29-21.
“Was it our forwards, our midfielders, our backs – probably a combination of everything,” Lyon said.
“But now it’s been two weeks in a row, in the same areas of ground.”
A positive outlook
Overall, Lyon feels Fremantle can work to limit the damage at the stoppages, and is pleased his side is getting the fundamentals right.
“I thought our intensity was good,” Lyon said.
“Around the ball we probably over finessed a little bit. We scored really well off possession gains and entries, and our kick-ins were good.
“I’d rather have that problem (with stoppage scores) than possession gain issues.”
