Fremantle Executive General Manager of Football Joe Brierty has said honest conversations and a review of the weekend’s loss to Geelong will see Fremantle return to the stronger brand of football the Club is known for.
“It was bitterly disappointing (the weekend’s performance),” Brierty told Mark Duffield on SEN WA on his Wednesday morning radio time slot.
“We’ve licked our wounds and had a really honest review and looked at which aspects of our game let us down which went away from the brand that we want to be known for.
“The way we showed up, particularly in the contest. I think the first five minutes we were happy with the way it looked but from there on in it just didn’t go our way, particularly in the first half.”
Brierty admitted that the playing group acknowledged that physicality and composure on the weekend wasn’t up to standard.
“We need to make sure our ability to be composed in the contest against a team that really owned us physically in the game, (Geelong) had 89 tackles for the game and that was well and truly an area where they got on top,” Brierty said.
“The physicality that Geelong was able to impose on us was something that we need to get back to because it’s something that we pride ourselves on.”
Brierty said changes could be made to the line-up for Sunday’s Round 2 clash with the Swans, but ultimately the decision made in selection committee would reflect the best makeup of the playing group ahead of a long season.
“As a Club we know that it’s a 24-week season, even in Opening Round we saw Collingwood’s performance against the Giants and then their ability to turn that around in a week,” Brierty said.
“In terms of moving into this week, we are really excited about the opportunity to come back and respond against Sydney who are obviously 0-2 as well and they're going to be up for the contest.
“From a selection point of view, we will look at all aspects of the team and what the best makeup is in terms of players who might come in who played at WAFL level or whether a few players are available who are coming back from injury.”
Fremantle’s extended squad will be announced at fremantlefc.com.au on Thursday at 3.20pm WST.
