Jason, RE: point iii);
Up until Fyfe, according to Bruce, "had a collision with Mitchell", Freo had won 13 of 14 matches.
From round 15, when Fyfe was never really again fit, Freo won 6 of their next 11 games.
My point is, without Fyfe, Freo's midfield is good, but not A grade. With Fyfe it is Elite. Freo's lack of scoring is more to do with poor i50 numbers more than any other factor. Having an elite forward structure will only slightly improve your i50s. It will however improve your goal to i50s goal conversion which the Slime and Hawks do better than Freo.
Hawks are ranked 1st for i50s, the Slime 4th, Freo 14th. i50s are costing Freo 2 goals avg per game when compared to Hawks. Freo averaged 51 i50s up to Round 14, then 46 for the rest of the season.
(NB: Harley Bennell would be a big assist to Freo's i50s.)