Analysis The 2018 premiership is the high point of WC's history

[ep2018]

Harsh but fair I suppose. Must have accumulated a few infractions.

Nah lately they're trigger happy over there. I got a one day ban there a couple weeks ago for something incredibly minor, and I have a clean sheet.

 

[Smeg Head]

Harsh but fair I suppose. Must have accumulated a few infractions.

Ross Lyon's face netted me 3 points over there

 

[ioppolo]

I asked them what Ballantyne provides them in a match day thread once. I wasn't trolling, I was genuinely curious to see how Freo supporters saw him

 

[Forward Press]

Nah lately they're trigger happy over there. I got a one day ban there a couple weeks ago for something incredibly minor, and I have a clean sheet.

Day offs are a common tool to send a message to alter your posting habits, because they don't add to your points record. Tends to stop the game day trolls right in their tracks, too.

Ah, the days of being a mod when I could infract with impunity or for the lulz.

jk

 

[Forward Press]

Ross Lyon's face netted me 3 points over there

If you posted two Ross Lyon faces, that could've earnt you a week off BigFooty.

 

[southcoast]

Don't forget 100K+ people at the game. Most since mid 80's.

We are a BIG club.

 

[Cuzz09]

I loved the 92 season.

From what I remember from about round 7 or so we won 4, lost 1 ,won 4, lost 1 until the flag.

But some of the wins were like this years team. Gutsy, away wins and everyone playing a role.

Love it

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[BigVic]

I loved the 2018 season.

Wasn’t around for 92, too young to remember 94 and was only 12 for 2006. We had a great midfield in 2006 but had to overcome the odds to win 2018

 

[Dazzler9]

Nah lately they're trigger happy over there. I got a one day ban there a couple weeks ago for something incredibly minor, and I have a clean sheet.

Ditto. I got called an arrogant worm out of nowhere and responded with the old "the wolf doesn't care what the sheep thinks". Boom, suspension.

Had a decent old argument with Taylor afterwards as well.

Anyhoo, leave 'em to wallow. They deserve their current misery.

 

[MIKE85]

Was only 7 in 92, remember watching at the royal show on one of those “big” screens, made up of heaps of little tvs stuck together. Didn’t really have much interest in it. 94 I was right into it as a 9 year old and remember getting told off late at night for singing the eagles song in my bed when I was meant to be asleep! 06 I was 21, that was pretty good, went hard for days, and meant so much after the year before. This year is probably the most I’ve been into the media side of footy, and the day to day chat (bigfooty is the catalyst for that) so for that reason, this one seems the most special. We were ignored all year, and still stuck it up them. Simmo and the boys really seem to have an us against them attitude and worked a treat. So all rambling aside, I choo Choo choose 2018.

 

[Priddis Is Done]

92 was massive. Us vs the world vs the Vics. Uncharted territory. Too many items to go through on how the Vic f**** us over in every facet of rulings etc....

But this one is bigger to me.

 

[JinmboJones]

I think 92 has to be the biggest, but this was a good year. One thing that strikes me in contrast to previous years is how we are the team rolling over teams as the game wears on. In previous years we had a habit of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory in the last quarter. This squad is not the sort of team that puts the cue in the rack and accepts a close defeat. This, I like.

 

[Dazzler9]

I've witnessed all 4. Choosing the best is like choosing your favourite child. Love them all for their different qualities.

2018 is great for all the obvious reasons previously stated by many. (and also because it is the first where Freo have been a complete and utter rabble, hehe).

 

[ghostbat12]

Really soaking this one up. Was a boy during 92 and 94 and didn’t appreciate the 06 enough as i thought it would just roll on.

This one - so sweet.

 

[its_dave]

Hi Candiru. Good question. Great question really. I thought last Saturday’s last few minutes will live for a long time. Great game finished with three quality marks, a fabulous kick and a grand final win. However, for me watching Matera carve up Geelong in 1992 with my best mates just can’t be beaten. The blantant power of that team to overcome all that Victorian crap and then smash Geelong will always be hard to beat. 2018 was a different style of game though. Still watching the replay every few hours. 1992 DVD just about buggered

 

[its_dave]

I’ve been obsessively following the Eagles for 30 years.

I was there when we won Grand Finals in 1992 and 1994. I was there when we kicked one goal against Essendon in 1989. I’ve been around. I grew up in Melbourne and then lived in Sydney and then moved abroad. My circumstances have changed over the years. My obsession with West Coast has not.

In my reckoning, this 2018 premiership is the high point of the club’s history.

I understand that in the aftermath of any win, people get carried away and reach for superlatives. In the aftermath of a win, everything is “the best” or “the biggest” or “the most exciting”. I hear that. Nonetheless, this season is the greatest thing I’ve ever seen as a WC fan. I make no apologies for saying so. Anyone who disagrees can EAD.

I should also offer a full disclosure. I was among the doubters. I thought Simpson was limited. At different stages, I criticised Sheed, Jetta, Redden, Hutchings, Cole, Lycett, Vardy, Venables, Darling, LeCras, Masten. It’s a long list. Before the season started, I thought we could play finals but not much more than that. I thought we just had to write it off as a transition year. Play finals, blood some kids, make the eight, nothing exciting. That would have been a successful season, in my book.

Instead, this crew produced something that completely stunned me. We won 10 in a row. We smashed Richmond by 50 points. We beat Collingwood at the MCG by 6 goals. Those should have been red flags for anyone who thought we weren’t contenders. The way we played was so spirited. It caught me off-guard. We’d been flakey for years but we played this season like our nuts were on the line. It was inspirational. I’m cynical but the way we played this year hit me hard in the feels.

Of course, the problem with all of that is that we lost some guys along the way. I maintain that I felt worse after NicNat did his knee for the second time than I did after we lost the 2015 Grand Final. I was in a pit of despair for a month after that. Sure, we won a flag in 2018. But I’ll never be OK with how much footy NicNat has missed in his peak. Then Gaff got rubbed out for eight weeks. Then Sheppard popped his hammy. That’s a huge chunk of top-line quality on the sidelines. Star ruckman. #1 midfielder. Gun medium defender. If Richmond or Collingwood lost those players, they’d write an epic poem about it.

And yet we found a way.

But what’s the difference between 2018 and 1992, 1994 and 2006? Great teams. Hooray. What’s the difference?

In my opinion, the difference is definitive. The difference makes 2018 the high point in WC history.

In my opinion, the difference is about the balance between talent and game plan.

In our previous premiership seasons, we had exquisite top-end talent, and the challenge was simply to assemble a side or strategy around it that would be competitive in finals.

That’s what Malthouse did in 1992 and 1994. We had s**t-hot talent but Malthouse built a defence-first style that allowed us to strangle teams and then take them apart when we got the ball. Obviously that is a simplification but I think it’s pretty accurate.

We did something similar in 2006. We had Cox, Cousins, Judd, Kerr in the centre square. Worsfold built a team around that apex talent. We only just snuck over the line in 2006 despite having the best starting centre-square combination of the modern era. And then it went to s**t. Again, we had awesome top-shelf talent, concentrated in the midfield, and a game plan built around that.

That’s not what happened in 2018. This year, we built a game plan that could withstand devastating losses of talent. We lost Naitanui. We lost Gaff. We lost Sheppard. We won anyway. We won through system and structure and character and grit. That’s not how WC has won premierships in the past. We’ve won them because we had an edge in talent and then built a game plan around that. This year, we did the opposite. We played a brand of football that held up even when we lost our best players. That’s not how WC win flags. But we did it in 2018.

Look at all the players we had in 2018 who had been written off previously to varying degrees. And not just by dickheads in the Victorian media. These guys were whacked by us, the WC faithful. Look at the 22 who won today and at least half of them have been belted on this board at different stages. And yet we found a way.

Again, I want to emphasise that I was among the doubters. This is not a thread about how “everyone got it wrong and I was right haha hahaha”. I also got it wrong. This is a thread about how we won it. I didn’t see it coming. I don’t think many of us did. But the way we won it was spectacular. I’ve never been more proud. In my opinion, this season has been the high point of the club’s history.

Love your post by the way. I also not big on Simpson until last half this season. Couldn’t believe he started doing everything I thought he should. Loved the 8 debutants as well. Cheers crew

 

[Here2tellyouwhy]

Was only 7 in 92, remember watching at the royal show on one of those “big” screens, made up of heaps of little tvs stuck together. Didn’t really have much interest in it. 94 I was right into it as a 9 year old and remember getting told off late at night for singing the eagles song in my bed when I was meant to be asleep! 06 I was 21, that was pretty good, went hard for days, and meant so much after the year before. This year is probably the most I’ve been into the media side of footy, and the day to day chat (bigfooty is the catalyst for that) so for that reason, this one seems the most special. We were ignored all year, and still stuck it up them. Simmo and the boys really seem to have an us against them attitude and worked a treat. So all rambling aside, I choo Choo choose 2018.

Do you know me?

 

[MIKE85]

Do you know me?

Haha, maybe?? Who knows on this faceless thing called the intergalactic web

 

[Here2tellyouwhy]

Haha, maybe?? Who knows on this faceless thing called the intergalactic web

It is like we are the same person

 

[MIKE85]

It is like we are the same person

Haha, we are all but one entity in this simulated universe.........too far???

 

[Godfather32]

Haha, we are all but one entity in this simulated universe.........too far???

 

[Cuzz09]

I loved the 2018 season.

Wasn’t around for 92, too young to remember 94 and was only 12 for 2006. We had a great midfield in 2006 but had to overcome the odds to win 2018

I feel old but happy I saw the first flag. I was 12 in 92.

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[Cuzz09]

I've witnessed all 4. Choosing the best is like choosing your favourite child. Love them all for their different qualities.

2018 is great for all the obvious reasons previously stated by many. (and also because it is the first where Freo have been a complete and utter rabble, hehe).

Yeah Ive seen all 4 and keep going back to 92 purely because of my love of Sumich, Matera, Bluey etc guess its what u grow up with.

All SENSATIONAL though.

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[Cuzz09]

I went to the 94 GF and ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT!!

We were a beast of a team that year.

Winning a GF by 80 points is a sign of an epic team.

That defence was ridiculous.

Hart, Brennan, Woosha
McKenna, Jakovich, McIntosh

Ahhhh good old days

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[CursoryMercenary]

3 Votes to you sir, great post!