Nothing wrong with exploring, experimenting and pinch hitting, but highest and best use is always the most productive policy. Time to Restump Podcast all the latest goings on at Cockburn central.

Other than getting some miles in the legs, a preseason blowout and learning the Freo Dockers don’t believe in open borders, there wasn’t too much to take away from the kick to kick at Victor Kalis Saturday morning.

However, there was a conspicuous emphasis on using the Cockburn corridor. The instruction obviously was to move it down the middle at all costs, something you imagine we’re attempting to take into the season proper, albeit with a bit more selectiveness and caution.

Was the state of origin as exciting a prospect as we’re seemingly made or told to believe? It was a good spectacle but from a meaningful and emotional investment perspective, it felt more in the range of well below a home and away game and marginally above an exhibition match.

Are we really pushing on with the intention of having Luke Jackson play substantial midfield minutes? Surely his highest and best use supersedes the experiments? And as we’re not discarding another Darcy dash to Doha, Jackson’s ruck fate may well be sealed.

Luke Ryan seems to be a little off the pace at the moment which is a tad concerning, especially as the responsibility for our success this year feels like it relies on the fitness of him, Alex Pearce and Brennan Cox. Oscar aside, the lack of tall defender depth does make us a little nervous.

But all fit and available, do we have the cattle this year to go all the way? Or are we a Chad Warner away from as finished a product as you can be?

Jojo has welcomed a few listeners to his Mount Hawthorn bar which he describes as a “relaxed, light driven, open atmosphere” so we’ll get an update there. But on more important matters the Chief wants a ruling from the self-appointed booing gatekeeper, Gerard Whatley, regarding Lachie Neale.

We’re getting close to the siren to start the season! Its that time of year where the nerves are starting to creep in, they’re duelling with the excitement that is building all while trying to stave off cautious optimism. It’s the annual mixed emotional melting pot!

All that in deeper discussion and a shedload more unenlightening nonsense that could well prove detrimental to your cognitive well-being. But hey, wee all take refuge in the concussion protocols, should they be required. So, suit up, forget looking before you leap and just dive head first into an hour of inevitable traumatic brain injury generated listening.

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If at first you don’t succeed, pivot, and destroy all the existing evidence of your attempt. We landed a tad wide of the Strategic Plan mark but it was a learning experience. We learnt not to set the bar so unrealistically high! Time to get 2026 underway and Restump Podcast the views and news in purple shoes.

The Strategic Plan is out and the 2030 Game Plan is in. We’ve rewired, replumbed, reset and restumped largely with all the same elements in the same positions. Is that a lack of accountability or an admission the bar was just mistakenly and unnecessarily set too high? Either way you don’t disrupt positive trajectory.

There has been plenty of talk about Mason Cox since his arrival. He is a handy addition but do we really believe he will be in the regular fully fit starting line up? Do we really expect anything beyond the insurance policy from the near on 35-year-old?

Did we miss an opportunity to hand the captaincy baton over to Andy Brayshaw or Caleb Serong? Alex Pearce will do the job but with the end of the ‘strategic plan’ era and moving into this ‘2030 Game Plan’ period, maybe a fresh captaincy start might have been in order? Again, though is it a case of not disrupting positive trajectory?

We’ll take a look at the recruits and reluctantly touch on the Lachie Neale saga in relation to Freo. Are we revved up for state of origin or are we just praying for our players to get through unscathed?

First pod of the year and unfortunately the Chief is already indulging in hysterical outrage, ranting about some inconsequential nonsense.

And with his new thirst-quenching establishment now up and running, we’ll get the update from Barman Jojo about what’s doing there.

It’s been a while between our purple passionfruit podcast drinks but the pre-season is just starting to gather some pace. So, why not go over the off-season developments, look at the foreseeable freo forecast and add some unnecessary purple noise pollution to the mix.

We’ve given everyone’s ears a well-earned and extended rest to recover, but sadly all good things come to an end. We apologise for the subsiding of the serenity of silence, but we’re resurrecting the ridiculous rigmarole.

For those whose listening standards are lower than our premiership count, by all means, join us for another year, starting now.

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The Sandgroper roper. He's a rustler! Wrangler Wallsy and co are out there on their annual muster, lassoing and herding prized young West Aussies back to the Fremantle farm. Time to Restump Podcast the trade parade.

The seemingly very focused Freo strategy of enticing quality age profile applicable young west Australians who fill or add to positions of need, continues. So far, we’ve seen off Liam Reidy and we welcomed home ex-East Fremantle product, Judd McVee, to the Freo family.

Under the clever guise of being neighbourly, Wallsy and co orchestrated a position that saw Judd McVee head to Fremantle, essentially for a very fair price, and potentially substantial unders. It unlocked the block that allowed West Coast to get their mature aged defender, Brandon Starcevich.

We gave up picks 12, 33, 44 and 50 and received Judd McVee, pick 19, 23 and 46.

Liam Reidy has made his way to Carlton with pick 53 and 71 while picks 50 and 68 returned. Nothing to write home about but what more could we realistically expect? You don’t have to win every trade.

Trade period isn’t over yet but you’d imagine there wouldn’t be too much more action from a purple perspective, other than Will Brodie heading to Port Adelaide to team up with Josh Carr. But who knows what unfolds in the frantic few moments before the final bell?

Has the free agency compensation system gone past the point of repair? The manipulation and exploiting of the seemingly fluid rules, the lack of transparency around decisions made and compensatory awards handed down, suggest it’s time to either scrap it altogether or blow it up and rebuild it in a more appropriate manner. Jojo has been banging on about it for years and now it surely seems he’ll get his wish.

The Chief is still running his one-man campaign to sound out Geelong’s Ted Chlohesy. With Switta’s often unreliable availability, could Ted be the perfect candidate to mitigate that risk and fill our post-Schultzy forward pressure deficiency?

However, we’re already in the workshop building the wagon to carry the picks, points and punters for the Chadwick28 Restump campaign ready to roll out next year!

As always, we somehow come up with plenty of propaganda to prattle on about. So, as we always say, if you’re not pickled or plastered and passed out on purple, your performance isn’t presentable. If you haven’t overdosed, you’re not doing it right. Feel free to join us on the pod to get a momentary fix, or even just to top up.

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