Would Rick run a business that only broke even or made a loss year after year and never returned a dividend to shareholders? I don't think so.

So what's he talking about when he says that Fremantle have had a good season? Is finishing 10th or better in a 16 team competition successful in his book? It certainly isn't in mine. It is MEDIOCRE.

Or is he only talking about the club getting as many members as it can and being successful financially?

Help me out Dockerland bretheren and sisters!

I must admit I winced when I read it and again it is hard to see the context it was said in, but my only thought (hope) is that he was saying how a complete shambles of a season at 5-9 was turned into some sort of ok outcome. Of course the naysayers will say it is 'accepting mediocrity'. Personally I wish Rick would come and say - it was a shambles and we didn't deliver our expected outcome....stick with us and we will try and rectify or die in the process.

Perhaps some Eddie McGuire-style "no position is safe" grandstanding was in order?

you mean eddies "no position is safe..... except for malthouse". i think he mentioned their new recruiting officer as well but his name escapes me.

yes carny, that would have gone a treat with 37 odd people.

rick says..."no position, playing or staff is safe and will all be under review. except connolly, schwabb, farmer and medhurst. macca's east fremantle position is also safe. thank you and buy a dvd thingy."

Davo rest assured that the message behind the closed door and away from the media is as strong as it needs to be.

True or not, the perception of those in control at the cliub is that the WA media looks for any opportunity to smash our club. As Connolly said in a Herald Sun article recently, the club gets "lined up" by outlets here. With that in mind, the leaders of the club push a positively spun message when adressing the media and leave the hard truths for private moments with the people that can do something about it - players/coaches etc.

I would much rather have them spin positive to the media and work hard to make real progress in private than the Eddiewood approach of speak loudly for everyone to hear about how much is going to change and then do nothing when it counts. That only appeases idiots like Hardie, GG and Joffa etc.

Bit unfair on Joffa there don't you think? We know the guy may struggle to put a sentence together but does that really call for placing him with the likes of fanta pants and GG?

No disrespect Davo but I'm wondering if you read the business pages. There is more spin than a laundromat. The club hasn't been shy in saying its a disappointing year but, as Dolphin says, there is not much to be gained from shaving your head in the shape of a target and saying shoot me here.

It also begs the question why do we have to be all authentic and honest when our neighbours up the road give away aboslutely nothing, and the coach is accused of being a cardboard cutout by the nation's leading football journalist.

Dolphin obviously has enough inside knowledge to know what is being side but you do wonder if the message is getting through. I've long advocated the use of electricity to motivate players and until that happens any message is soft.

scott coghlan never said worsfold was a cardboard cut-out. or are you refering to russell reid?

I thought of Barra, but he's more like the nation's leading journalistic football.

He may not operate a business that broke even or made a loss; but Fremantle financially is doing none of the above - and their season, regardless of what the ladder tells us, was an improvement over last.

I took Ric's comments to mean that the finish to the year ie, after the break was successful, and I think most would agree that it was. Apart from the last half of the last quarter against Port, and the Derby, they have been pretty good. Fighting out tough games and getting a few wins on the board. I didn't think be was saying the whole season was Good.

Every team in the afl has be trashed at least a couple of times this year; we're nothing special in that regard. Much worse for us was the string of losses in the middle of the year when we were down on players. It showed our lack of depth.

There's plenty of work to be done. The question is: are they on to it? The answer will not be found in the footy pages of the west.

But more generally, anyone who bases their opinion of what's going on at Freo - or anywhere - on a selected quote or two in the media needs a brain replacement. Someone is pushing your buttons and you're responding on cue. If the club was run by the media we'd be struggling to win a little league game.

I can't believe you guys didn't cotton on that it was Mike Sheahan. It could only be him or Patrick Smith surely?

No doubt its a complete media decoy...in house im sure and i definitely hope theyre not satisfied with the season overall (despiter our good second half).
JD Mike Sheahan is widely regarded as the best football journalist in the country. Wayne Carey and Gerard are commentators not journalists. I enjoy listening to Mike on the couch hes better than most of those so called football "experts" you find on Channel Eddie and 6PR.

I think there was more to like about this season, compared to last season. The strong run home. The unearthing of some potential champions. It's just the middle of the season that killed us, losing to teams that we would've probably beaten, even if we were 3/4 switched on.

I am extremely dissapointed with Rick Hart's comments the west the other day. He surely can't look back at the losses against the Roos,Hawthorn and Brisbane and think this has been a good year.

It's this kind of thinking that has caused our team to underachieve for 11 years.

I think our 2nd half to the season was about a 7/10. The first half was a 4/10. There were some positives this year however we would be fooling ourselves that this was a good year. Finals was a minimum requirement with the team that we have in place.

Just imagine if we won the games we did, and won the games we should have won. Eagles first time round, Saints, Roos, Hawks, Brissy. Where would we have ended up? Consistency is the key!

Maybe, it's just possible, even the remotest chance that Chairman Rick said something along the lines of "Obviously, we were disappointed with the start of the season and our position at the mid season break was not where we wanted to be but when you consider how we fought back in the second half you could say in the end WE HAD A GOOD SEASON"

But a journo would never cut up a quote to suit his story now, would he?

pants, a season is 22 rounds long. We had a good run near the end when we got injured players back and played lowly ranked teams. As soon as we played good teams (WCE, PP) we got pumped.

Some highlights, you betcha. A good season, no. Even Carlton can say they won the Wizard Cup, does that constitute a good season?