Thought you'd want to check out our new site's 2015 season preview for the Weagles.
Genuinely after the thoughts of West Coast fans and interested in feedback, as well as what the realistic aims for the season from you guys are.
I've posted the whole thing here, sans images, to comply with the BigFooty anti-spamming protocols; hopefully that's okay for the mods. I'll let the author know I've posted it here so he can respectively engage, and if you want to see the version on the site you can by clicking here.
2015 season preview: West Coast
By Rudi Edsall
LAST CAMPAIGN
Season 2014 was a curious one for West Coast. Comparing their output to 2013, it would seem there had been an improvement: they won 11 games – two more than 2013 – and conceded far fewer points in 2014, only missing the finals by a game. They finished ninth, up from the previous year’s 13th placing.
But it was hard to shake the nagging feeling that their step forward wasn’t all that impressive. Their season was set up by some crushing wins against weaker opponents that inflated their win-loss record, with Greater Western Sydney and Melbourne in particular coming in for particularly harsh touch-ups.
The other side of the coin was a series of struggles against the better sides – in fact, the Eagles didn’t beat a single team that finished above them. They also had issues in close games; they won only two games by under twenty points, but lost seven.
This had a bizarre effect on West Coast’s end of season stats: their average winning margin of 50 points was a league high, while their percentage of 116.9 was higher than Geelong’s, who finished third.
In the final analysis it’s hard to refute allegations that West Coast were 2014’s flat track bullies – a team that was at its best when the chips were up and the pickings were easy.
I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER
West Coast has lost a lot experience and leadership in their team over the past year with captain Darren Glass retiring midway through 2014 and club legend Dean Cox taking his final bow. Then hard-nosed defender and on-field leader Beau Waters – who missed all of 2014 and is by now surely more medical tape than man – also chose to retire shortly before the start of this season because of a persistent shoulder injury.
The back line (and fan expectations) took a further blow when reigning club champion and key defender Eric MacKenzie went down with a season-ending knee injury in the second quarter of the first pre-season game against Carlton.
The Eagles also have injury concerns at the other end of the ground, with stress fractures in a foot robbing key forward Jack Darling of any pre-season training; he’ll likely miss at least the first month of the home and away season.
West Coast clearly targeted skills at the draft: first round pick Liam Duggan is highly skilled on both feet and equally adept playing as a rebounding defender and as a midfielder, while second round pick Tom Lamb is able to play tall or short, has a huge tank and excellent foot skills. Lamb’s main issue, however, could be consistency.
THE CHALLENGE
After last year’s ninth placing, there are expectations that West Coast should be challenging for a finals place this year. A similar set of statistics at the end of 2013 for North Melbourne led to a preliminary final berth in 2014, and the bottom half of the eight looks wide open this year.
To achieve this goal, West Coast will need to start beating good sides. A year of lessons learned from tight losses will help, but a major area of concern for the Eagles will be their midfield.
West Coast was ranked 15th for uncontested possessions in 2014, and 13th for disposal efficiency, suggesting that they struggle both to get the ball to their midfielders outside the stoppages, and when they do the ball gets butchered too often.
A lot of this can be attributed to a workmanlike inside midfield unit, but the Eagles will also be concerned by the lack of output from their outside midfielders.
Players like Sharrod Wellingham, Luke Shuey and Chris Masten all came at a premium for the club and have so far been unable to provide the class the side needs to take the next step. An improved body of work from players of that ilk – and the continuing development of guys like Andrew Gaff and Elliot Yeo – will be required if West Coast has any hope of major improvement this season.
The back line is also set to cause headaches. With Darren Glass gone and Eric MacKenzie out for the season, it will be left to inexperienced duo Mitch Brown and Jeremy McGovern to control the key posts.
THE COACH
Adam Simpson won the top job at West Coast after the 2013 season after beating Eagles old boy Peter Sumich to the role. The former Roos captain came west with four years as assistant coach at Hawthorn, hot off the heels of the Hawks’ 2013 triumph.
Simpson spent his first year feeling out AFL football as a head coach, and this season he will be hoping to further imprint his ideas and plans on the playing list.
One of the key shortcomings Simpson identified from 2014 was a struggle to compete in contests for the full four quarters. In an attempt to remedy this, he has encouraged the midfield group to increase their bulk, with players like Scott Selwood looking markedly bigger in the pre-season matches.
Simpson is also trying to instil better decision making in the midfield group in the hope that players will be less tempted to simply bomb the ball forward from clearances, a tactic that would serve West Coast better with their potent forward line.
Barring a crash and burn into the bottom four, Simpson will be given time to get the list up to speed with his plans, and his job should be safe until at least the end of 2016, when his first contract expires.
THE STAR
West Coast’s barometer tends to be key forward Josh Kennedy, who came to the club from Carlton in 2007 as part of the infamous Chris Judd trade. Kennedy finished third in the Coleman Medal last year with 61 goals, which came off the back of his 60 goals in 2013 – both particularly impressive given the struggles of the Eagles’ midfield.
The stutter-stepping sharp shooter will need to at least replicate this form in 2015 if West Coast are to move forward. Kennedy has an uncanny ability to be free in the forward 50 and is deadly from anywhere in the arc, with big bags of goals coming reasonably consistently.
A concern, however, will be that 50 of his 61 majors came against teams that finished outside the eight. Like the rest of his team, Kennedy will need to get off the chain against the better sides.
ONE TO WATCH
This may seem an odd choice given Nic Naitanui’s CV already has an all-Australian selection and a series of memorable match-winning contributions on it, but with Dean Cox retiring, Naitanui should become the undisputed number one ruck option and will have to deal with the responsibility that comes with that.
Despite his acclaim, there has been criticism of his play, chief among them that he doesn’t exert enough consistent influence on games. What gets lost in the analysis, though, is that Naitanui has had several pre and post-seasons wrecked by injury. Before completing his modified program this year, Naitanui hadn’t finished a pre-season for several years.
Also frequently overlooked amongst the freakish feats of athleticism is that Naitanui is still developing physically and as a player. Players of Naitanui’s size tend to naturally take longer to come to terms with their bodies than smaller players. At 201cm, 109kg and turning 25 during this season, ‘NicNat’ should be entering his prime and consistent star turns await.
IN THE GUN
As outlined earlier, West Coast’s most significant issues are with their midfield. The grunt work isn’t so much a problem, but their outside players have been a disappointment – none more so than Sharrod Wellingham.
Wellingham was traded from Collingwood for pick 18 in 2012; his pace and foot skills were seen by the Weagles as an antidote to a staid, one-paced midfield. Almost as soon as he arrived he damaged ankle ligaments while bouncing on a trampoline, which set the tone for his first two years at West Coast.
Wellingham has gone on to miss nearly half of West Coast’s games, with the bad ankle keeping him to 10 matches in 2013, and a combination of a knee injury and poor form meant he only managed to play 13 senior games last year.
When fit Wellingham has struggled to have a significant impact for West Coast. By his own admission he’s been lacklustre and lazy; last year he got dropped three times.
With the crucial role he’s being asked to play, the first round draft pick the club gave up for him (who the Pies turned into promising ruckman Brodie Grundy) and the fact that he turns 27 during the season, it’s absolutely imperative that Wellingham cements himself as a vital cog in West Coast’s team – or else it could be a case of “what if?” for the Perth native.
BEST 22
B: Xavier Ellis – Jeremy McGovern – Will Schofield
HB: Liam Duggan – Mitch Brown – Shannon Hurn
C: Matt Rosa – Matt Priddis – Andrew Gaff
HF: Chris Masten – Jack Darling – Sharrod Wellingham
F: Mark LeCras – Josh Kennedy – Tom Lamb
FOLL: Nic Naitanui – Scott Selwood – Luke Shuey
INT: Scott Lycett – Elliot Yeo – Dom Sheed – Jamie Cripps
Note: Eric MacKenzie has not been considered due to a season-ending knee injury
THE VERDICT
2015 will be a year of torpor and ennui for West Coast. They’ve lost a huge chunk of experience and leadership, their best player from last season is out for the whole year and it’s hard to see significant improvement on the immediate horizon. Too many players need to improve too much, and it seems likely that more dynamic teams like Brisbane and the Gold Coast will go past them.
To borrow a phrase from soccer, mid-table mediocrity awaits.
OUR PREDICTION
West Coast will still beat up on the poorer sides, particularly at home, but are just too limited to have a significant run at the finals. We have them treading water in 11th.
Genuinely after the thoughts of West Coast fans and interested in feedback, as well as what the realistic aims for the season from you guys are.
I've posted the whole thing here, sans images, to comply with the BigFooty anti-spamming protocols; hopefully that's okay for the mods. I'll let the author know I've posted it here so he can respectively engage, and if you want to see the version on the site you can by clicking here.
2015 season preview: West Coast
By Rudi Edsall
LAST CAMPAIGN
Season 2014 was a curious one for West Coast. Comparing their output to 2013, it would seem there had been an improvement: they won 11 games – two more than 2013 – and conceded far fewer points in 2014, only missing the finals by a game. They finished ninth, up from the previous year’s 13th placing.
But it was hard to shake the nagging feeling that their step forward wasn’t all that impressive. Their season was set up by some crushing wins against weaker opponents that inflated their win-loss record, with Greater Western Sydney and Melbourne in particular coming in for particularly harsh touch-ups.
The other side of the coin was a series of struggles against the better sides – in fact, the Eagles didn’t beat a single team that finished above them. They also had issues in close games; they won only two games by under twenty points, but lost seven.
This had a bizarre effect on West Coast’s end of season stats: their average winning margin of 50 points was a league high, while their percentage of 116.9 was higher than Geelong’s, who finished third.
In the final analysis it’s hard to refute allegations that West Coast were 2014’s flat track bullies – a team that was at its best when the chips were up and the pickings were easy.
I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER
West Coast has lost a lot experience and leadership in their team over the past year with captain Darren Glass retiring midway through 2014 and club legend Dean Cox taking his final bow. Then hard-nosed defender and on-field leader Beau Waters – who missed all of 2014 and is by now surely more medical tape than man – also chose to retire shortly before the start of this season because of a persistent shoulder injury.
The back line (and fan expectations) took a further blow when reigning club champion and key defender Eric MacKenzie went down with a season-ending knee injury in the second quarter of the first pre-season game against Carlton.
The Eagles also have injury concerns at the other end of the ground, with stress fractures in a foot robbing key forward Jack Darling of any pre-season training; he’ll likely miss at least the first month of the home and away season.
West Coast clearly targeted skills at the draft: first round pick Liam Duggan is highly skilled on both feet and equally adept playing as a rebounding defender and as a midfielder, while second round pick Tom Lamb is able to play tall or short, has a huge tank and excellent foot skills. Lamb’s main issue, however, could be consistency.
THE CHALLENGE
After last year’s ninth placing, there are expectations that West Coast should be challenging for a finals place this year. A similar set of statistics at the end of 2013 for North Melbourne led to a preliminary final berth in 2014, and the bottom half of the eight looks wide open this year.
To achieve this goal, West Coast will need to start beating good sides. A year of lessons learned from tight losses will help, but a major area of concern for the Eagles will be their midfield.
West Coast was ranked 15th for uncontested possessions in 2014, and 13th for disposal efficiency, suggesting that they struggle both to get the ball to their midfielders outside the stoppages, and when they do the ball gets butchered too often.
A lot of this can be attributed to a workmanlike inside midfield unit, but the Eagles will also be concerned by the lack of output from their outside midfielders.
Players like Sharrod Wellingham, Luke Shuey and Chris Masten all came at a premium for the club and have so far been unable to provide the class the side needs to take the next step. An improved body of work from players of that ilk – and the continuing development of guys like Andrew Gaff and Elliot Yeo – will be required if West Coast has any hope of major improvement this season.
The back line is also set to cause headaches. With Darren Glass gone and Eric MacKenzie out for the season, it will be left to inexperienced duo Mitch Brown and Jeremy McGovern to control the key posts.
THE COACH
Adam Simpson won the top job at West Coast after the 2013 season after beating Eagles old boy Peter Sumich to the role. The former Roos captain came west with four years as assistant coach at Hawthorn, hot off the heels of the Hawks’ 2013 triumph.
Simpson spent his first year feeling out AFL football as a head coach, and this season he will be hoping to further imprint his ideas and plans on the playing list.
One of the key shortcomings Simpson identified from 2014 was a struggle to compete in contests for the full four quarters. In an attempt to remedy this, he has encouraged the midfield group to increase their bulk, with players like Scott Selwood looking markedly bigger in the pre-season matches.
Simpson is also trying to instil better decision making in the midfield group in the hope that players will be less tempted to simply bomb the ball forward from clearances, a tactic that would serve West Coast better with their potent forward line.
Barring a crash and burn into the bottom four, Simpson will be given time to get the list up to speed with his plans, and his job should be safe until at least the end of 2016, when his first contract expires.
THE STAR
West Coast’s barometer tends to be key forward Josh Kennedy, who came to the club from Carlton in 2007 as part of the infamous Chris Judd trade. Kennedy finished third in the Coleman Medal last year with 61 goals, which came off the back of his 60 goals in 2013 – both particularly impressive given the struggles of the Eagles’ midfield.
The stutter-stepping sharp shooter will need to at least replicate this form in 2015 if West Coast are to move forward. Kennedy has an uncanny ability to be free in the forward 50 and is deadly from anywhere in the arc, with big bags of goals coming reasonably consistently.
A concern, however, will be that 50 of his 61 majors came against teams that finished outside the eight. Like the rest of his team, Kennedy will need to get off the chain against the better sides.
ONE TO WATCH
This may seem an odd choice given Nic Naitanui’s CV already has an all-Australian selection and a series of memorable match-winning contributions on it, but with Dean Cox retiring, Naitanui should become the undisputed number one ruck option and will have to deal with the responsibility that comes with that.
Despite his acclaim, there has been criticism of his play, chief among them that he doesn’t exert enough consistent influence on games. What gets lost in the analysis, though, is that Naitanui has had several pre and post-seasons wrecked by injury. Before completing his modified program this year, Naitanui hadn’t finished a pre-season for several years.
Also frequently overlooked amongst the freakish feats of athleticism is that Naitanui is still developing physically and as a player. Players of Naitanui’s size tend to naturally take longer to come to terms with their bodies than smaller players. At 201cm, 109kg and turning 25 during this season, ‘NicNat’ should be entering his prime and consistent star turns await.
IN THE GUN
As outlined earlier, West Coast’s most significant issues are with their midfield. The grunt work isn’t so much a problem, but their outside players have been a disappointment – none more so than Sharrod Wellingham.
Wellingham was traded from Collingwood for pick 18 in 2012; his pace and foot skills were seen by the Weagles as an antidote to a staid, one-paced midfield. Almost as soon as he arrived he damaged ankle ligaments while bouncing on a trampoline, which set the tone for his first two years at West Coast.
Wellingham has gone on to miss nearly half of West Coast’s games, with the bad ankle keeping him to 10 matches in 2013, and a combination of a knee injury and poor form meant he only managed to play 13 senior games last year.
When fit Wellingham has struggled to have a significant impact for West Coast. By his own admission he’s been lacklustre and lazy; last year he got dropped three times.
With the crucial role he’s being asked to play, the first round draft pick the club gave up for him (who the Pies turned into promising ruckman Brodie Grundy) and the fact that he turns 27 during the season, it’s absolutely imperative that Wellingham cements himself as a vital cog in West Coast’s team – or else it could be a case of “what if?” for the Perth native.
BEST 22
B: Xavier Ellis – Jeremy McGovern – Will Schofield
HB: Liam Duggan – Mitch Brown – Shannon Hurn
C: Matt Rosa – Matt Priddis – Andrew Gaff
HF: Chris Masten – Jack Darling – Sharrod Wellingham
F: Mark LeCras – Josh Kennedy – Tom Lamb
FOLL: Nic Naitanui – Scott Selwood – Luke Shuey
INT: Scott Lycett – Elliot Yeo – Dom Sheed – Jamie Cripps
Note: Eric MacKenzie has not been considered due to a season-ending knee injury
THE VERDICT
2015 will be a year of torpor and ennui for West Coast. They’ve lost a huge chunk of experience and leadership, their best player from last season is out for the whole year and it’s hard to see significant improvement on the immediate horizon. Too many players need to improve too much, and it seems likely that more dynamic teams like Brisbane and the Gold Coast will go past them.
To borrow a phrase from soccer, mid-table mediocrity awaits.
OUR PREDICTION
West Coast will still beat up on the poorer sides, particularly at home, but are just too limited to have a significant run at the finals. We have them treading water in 11th.
