He did his best from beyond the field, but the days of Jack Newnes' haunting Freo are done! Time to Restump Podcast the little too close for comfort Carlton clash.
Luke Jackson and Shai Bolton went on a ghost busting rampage, ensuring the hint of haunting from the previously problematic Jack Newnes was extinguished. Two finer games from the pair may never have been seen previously.
It's difficult what to really make of the Saturday night result. The four points were secured which is obviously the main goal but to be 40 points up in the final quarter and win by 14 against a broken team that was minus 121 points in final quarters this year, is a little unnerving.
Was it simply that 'cue in the rack complacency' crept in or something more sinister, sinister beyond the supernatural Newnes nudging?
It felt like we kept Carlton just at arm's length for the first three quarters before turning up the heat and stunning them with an absurd period of purple dominance at the start of the fourth. It was a 40 point margin over the Blues in a blink of a Bolton eye as we banished the battle from being in the balance.
However, with 7 minutes left on the clock Carlton repaid the punishment of sorts. They scored 6 times in those 7 minutes kicking 5 goals 1 to reduce the final margin to a tick over 2 goals.
Were we under siege, unable to undermine the assault? Or had we timed our prevalent purple patch earlier in the period with precision?
If it was the latter, it is probably not a practise we should get too familiar with because, while we appear in final four form, a fellow final four outfit may not allow us to finesse so freely!
Football is rarely perfect though and the unpredictability is part of the presentation. We know all too well that inexplicable performances occur. So, when a period of perplexity plays out, it's more palatable when you still procure the 4 point prize.
We're enjoying the best start to a season since 2022. We've only been six and one after seven games twice, once in 2010 and the aforementioned 2022. We're in good nick, we’ve pretty much done everything we could have and we've set out season up perfectly.
So, why does it feel like we need a proper test? Why does it feel we need to touch the fire to see if we can handle the burn? Is it because 5 of our 7 games so far have been against current bottom 8 teams?
You can only beat the opponent in front of you but maybe there's cause to gently lean on the hype brakes. A hapless Eagles two weeks back, a broken and known second half deficient Carlton on the weekend got within a couple of goals of us and we have a shell of a Bulldogs team this week. All you can do is win but do we need to reserve some judgement until we face the likes of Brisbane, Hawthorn or Sydney?
They’re questions we all don’t want to ask or be asked, but they need asking. Thankfully, everyone has an opinion and it’s all momentarily subjective. Consequently, there are currently no wrong answers.
So, pick up your proton pack and PKE metre, pile in, pitch in and partake in the process of probing the preceding potentially paranormal purple performance on the pod.
