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Chapter 1: What topics are covered in this episode of Whateley?
It's Stuart Waitley. Thanks for listening to the podcast.
In this episode, our leadership portfolio with Luke Hodge, the latest footy news with Sam Edmonds, the MRO, Michael Christian, Barats and Loresen at the conclusion of the IPL, Across the Divide with Andrew Voss, Ben Graham paid tribute to our late Super Bowl colleague, Larry Fitzgerald Senior, and Robbie Chancellor told us about an AI innovation for local footy. You can get in touch at any time.
Waitley.com. sen.com.au. Thanks for listening. Enjoy. Good morning. I hadn't fully appreciated the level of silliness going on out west surrounding the Dockers winning streak, which was silly of me, really, given what goes on in Perth from time to time. But it helps explain why Justin Longmuir won't indulge in the hyperbole or offer any fuel to the fire.
Flag mantle is a bit trite by now, but remains a recurring theme. They might never lose again. Well, that's the nonsense a coach will naturally guard against. For just the third time in club history, Fremantle is Premiership favourite. A mantle won through a club record 11-game winning streak and marching into Brisbane to take down the two-time champs.
In 31 years, this club's, well, it's its third look at contention. The first was fleeting under Chris Connolly and came in the dominant age of Sydney and West Coast. The second's more sustained tilt came under Ross Lyon but coincided with the Hawthorne trilogy of Premierships.
And now this third phase, painstakingly built to reside at length in the premiership window, a plan that is coming to fruition. There's a purity to this endeavour. Vanda in Fitzroy sent an email having read a piece written by Craig O'Donoghue in The West Australian. Writes Vanda...
If Fremantle can turn this extraordinary run of wins into a premiership, it will go down as the purest flag we have ever seen, without any father-son picks, academy players, restricted or unrestricted free agent, or priority picks being in the team. No free kicks, no handouts, no advantages, no compromises. They've done it the hardest way possible.
Draft, trade, develop, and then fight hidden gems. We've never seen anything like it. That was Vander's email. And that would be something to cheer for. So now it's about the finishing school for success. The maturity to deal with winning and handle expectation, not get carried away by external forces, nor become big heads in the town.
The fortitude to stare down historic underachievement and flakiness and redefine the character of the club and the accumulation of the necessary scarring to pass the ultimate tests. This is the coming-of-age phase at Fremantle, and there's every indication Wharfie time is almost at hand.
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Chapter 2: What are the implications of Fremantle's winning streak?
Yeah, it's a good place to be, I guess, and it's a good problem to be dealing with. And it's probably something I don't think we've dealt with overly well at our club previously. There's been times when we've won three in a row and the flag mantle comes out and then we lose one, we should win. So I think this group's maturing. We're able to get our feedback from the right places.
We're able to feel like we're able to pay every... opposition the correct amount of respect each week and really stick to our process. And that's what the best teams do. Geelong and Sydney and Brisbane have been able to do that year on year for 10 years, some of them. So we're building that.
We're not there yet, but we've seen some great signs amongst the playing group and in particular our leaders who are leading really well. Coach the whole club is an aspect of it, but don't go as far as the fan base with that. They've got to enjoy the ride, Gerard. We clearly haven't had a lot of success in our 31 years and are really happy for the fans to be enjoying this period of time.
They can get ahead of themselves all they want for all they care. It's just important that that doesn't creep in internally.
I especially love that. That's Justin Longmuir with us on 360 last night. No point trying to keep lids on with the fan base. It's the Ange Postacoglu mantra. Let them dream. But the leadership challenge is clearly articulated there. The journey to being successful, the finishing school for contention.
So it's a constant conversation with the leaders and it flows nicely into our leadership portfolio with Luke Hodge. Hello to you, Hodgey. Morning, Gerard. Well, I can tell you that JL is not going to get ahead of himself. You can tell that. Whether they win or lose, he's that very consistent, not much changes from him. So you couldn't tell if it's a good day or a bad day.
And to be honest, that's exactly what they need. As he said, he goes, Fremantle have had, in the past, supporters, the club, when they've had a few wins, considering it's been few and far between over the history, that they can get a little bit ahead of themselves. So, Look, as much as you sit back and go, with these interviews, you're not going to get much from it.
You may get a little joke here or there. We're not sure if it's a joke or if he's serious. But to be honest, that's perfect. Because how I saw them play on Saturday afternoon was exactly that. It was classy. It was clinical. Every player to a man knew exactly what they had to do. And they could have been overruled. You're going across to a venue that you've not won since 2016.
You're up and about. The Lions have got a lot of injuries, but you couldn't tell that from the way they played. And it was just a class performance from them. What most appeals to you about the Fremantle set-up in 2026 and beyond? Because this is really the start of things for this team. What I do like is there's a balanced lineup through the whole field.
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Chapter 3: How does Fremantle's current phase reflect on their leadership?
bridge outside of that and be the hero and jump outside the team rules and the only people who know that are the Fremantle players in that situation so they're doing everything possibly right There's always that concern. Our best football, and I know you can only speak on your own performances, but our best football at Hawthorne, I believe, was in 2012.
We played our best from round 12 through to the finals, and then guess what? Sydney found a way to beat us on the biggest day because we went away from what we were doing because whether we got overawed on the big stage or whether we just played our best football too early. So that's a balancing act.
They've still got a few guys that they've got to bring in, but you can't fault what they're doing at the moment. Brisbane, so you saw them firsthand. How are you diagnosing the two-time champs? I'm still optimistic about what they can do. You saw in the last quarter, and yes, Freya may have just dropped away a little bit, but
They played with freedom in that last quarter, and even though they've got seven or eight of their main players out, they looked like the old Brisbane. They were able to get the ball inside forward 50. The connection thing's still an issue. They had over 50 inside 50s in a game where they were inaccurate, but they just blazed away.
But you look at what they've done the last two years, playing four finals both years, knowing that if they get on a stretch, they can beat anyone. And I think that's a thing that a lot of, People are sitting back going, you can't write them out because now it's not just the top eight they need to get to. It's the top 10 because their best will beat anyone on their day.
And we've seen that early in the year. So yes, there's a few people that are scratching their head. They know that they need to get a few of those players back. If you look through the list that who'd be back in, Zorko's probably back after the bye. Leicester's the same. You've got Lincoln McCarthy, Oscar Allen towards the end of the season.
Dan Annenbell is a young first-round draft pick who they want into the team. Plus, you need a few of the other guys that need to lift their form with a Hugh McCluggage, a Fletcher, a Rayner, these kind of guys. So I'm still optimistic, but I do understand that they need to be playing better football than what they're doing in the back end of the year when they get all these players back.
What do you think is at the core of those players who aren't playing the footy we expect of them? And Hugh McCluggage is the poster boy for that. He's earned that right as an All-Australian. And it's not just him.
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Chapter 4: What are the key challenges for Fremantle as they approach finals?
Now, what I watched on the weekend was players trying to do too much and not trusting their teammates. So if you look through the middle and you look through... That's probably where it starts. You've got Lockie Neal in there. You've got Will. You've got Levi. You've got Huma Cluggage.
The guys that are going through that midfield is trusting... I'm seeing blokes run out of position to try and defend someone who... Someone's already got them covered, but it's almost like they're trying too hard to prove that they're trying to do the right thing, where sometimes when you're going through this rut, less is more.
Understand your role, fulfill your role, because when you have senior players who the team isn't living up to expectations, they try and do too much.
You've got to trust the person to this idea that whoever comes in, whether they're experienced or not, trust that they're going to fulfill their role so you can actually go and complete yours because you're a better team when you're focused on doing your role before you try and go outside.
So if I was at the Brisbane Lions, that's what I'd be just telling them, showing them areas of the game where their leaders have probably gone outside of what they needed to do. And in saying that, their mindset is right. They're trying to do the right thing, but they're trying too hard. So I'll be showing some of the footage that they've done where it's almost the simple things.
Do the simple things well in this pressure situation just to show that we are good enough because I've got them probably losing three of the next four games and that's really going to test the culture of that football club and who wants to stick to doing the team things. But then after that, I've got them winning the next four, which should get them around about that 9-10 mark.
So it will be their last three to four weeks of the season that will say whether they're going to play finals or not. How big a challenge is it for Fags to hold them together? Well, what you do know from Faggs is he's got confidence in that team. He's not going to go and make outlandish changes just for the sake of it all because media people are out there telling him he needs to.
He's got faith in his people and he will be sitting there scratching his head, but he knows how good this team can be if he gets them all playing together and, as I said before, trusting each other. So no doubt he'll be trying to motivate them, show them certain things they need to get better at, but he... deep down knows that his side's good enough. And he has trust.
You've seen in the past where last year there was blokes calling for Charlie Cameron to be dropped. He stuck with him and he repaid him in the grand final. He's not going to go and drop someone. He'll stick with him. And I think that's big for the players because they know that the coach has got their back and won't throw them to the wolves just because there's a bit of a beat up outside.
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Chapter 5: What insights does Robbie Chancellor provide about PowerCoach.ai?
How are we, Gerard? I was desperate to get onto you yesterday, but work duty's called. I don't know if you remember me ringing up saying, take it to the bank that the Blues will beat the Cats last Monday. Oh, that's right. Yes. I forgot that. Yes, I do. And I was so very confident just because of the way we play against them. We just seem to have this method to beat them.
Gerard, there's no doubt about it that if you go through the list of players on the weekend, how well they played, all their senior players are playing incredible football.
Chapter 6: How does AI enhance grassroots coaching in sports?
And the biggest one for me, the biggest change that we've had is Will Hayward, Gerard. He seems to be just playing better than he ever did at Sydney. He's a running machine, kicking goals, and our young kids are just, they're exploding at the moment. Now, I know, I was listening to you guys last night, and Gary Lyon's big on this. At the moment, there's no pressure.
And I think that's the big thing with Carlton is there is no pressure. No one expects anything. But right now we've got a real run on our hands and I truly do believe, I think the big game coming up in a couple of weeks is the Giants and they're on fire and that's at home. So that's going to be tough. But if we can win three or four of our next, you know, five or six games, we're a big show.
Chapter 7: What are the benefits of using AI tools for community coaches?
And it's great getting the big club back up there because I know we all want to see Essendon get back up there because it's good for football. But it's just exciting, Gerard. And one last one. I'm a lover of cricket like yourself. Gerard, when are we going to do something about Cameron Green? He looks like a big dinosaur batting there with no footwork. He is just bloody horrible.
Are they going to do something about him? Well, I'll hope that he finds form. It wasn't very reassuring to start with a duck and neither for Manus.
Chapter 8: What feedback have coaches given about PowerCoach.ai?
Will Hayward, he did have some pretty great seasons, Joel, at the Swans, including a 41-goal season a couple back. But high on life, Blues fans, loving it. He could write a 10,000-word thesis already around the season that the Blues have had. A Macca's world menu heist has arrived. Let's join Vanessa in the newsroom.
Jared, I hope for your sake I don't jinx it, but your guilty pleasure may be back and entertaining like the very best seasons of Lost. Good on you, Rob, from Bayswater. I've also booked my flights for grand final week. Booked them on the weekend from Hobart to Melbourne return. I'm a Swan supporter. I got frequent flyer seats for myself and my wife. It cost me 22,000 points and $150.
Even if we don't make it, it's a great weekend to be in Melbourne. I even booked reasonably priced accommodation. If you wish to avoid paying exorbitant amounts for your flights, take a punt and book now. Sam in Hobart. And Jesse's in Hobart. I'm a herd loyalist. That would be totally fine with him versus horse and horse getting the job. Stop telling us how to do our process, Jesse.
You won't read this. Good on you, Jesse. Thanks for taking the time to text it through. 40 Wings temper text is 0433 98 11 16. The difference is temper. Bharat Sundaresan at the end of the IPL and with Australia playing Pakistan in game two tonight. This is Waitley for Hyundai. Enjoy early deals at Hyundai Prefix. On now at participating Hyundai dealers, pay.com.au.
Business owners, pay.com.au and start earning rewards today and Radius Telematics.
Waitley on SEN. Straight up, straight up, straight up, catch taken. Colossal moment in this game.
Joss Hazle with the ever-present posing problems to all batters that he bowls to.
just passed and it will be 50 his fastest ever in the IPL for King Corley on the biggest stage with a wonderful record in finals that's it he finishes off in style with a six it's back-to-back titles for RCB
I think the group just felt calm and composed throughout the whole tournament, really. Someone stepped up when they needed to be. I think we had, again, like 10 men in the matches. So, amazing depth in the squad. Anyone who came in did a great job.
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