Sttew
Brownlow Medallist
The tension in the first 15 minutes of the final quarter was incredibleSaints v Geelong is the greatest GF of this millineum IMHO.
Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
LIVE: Richmond v Melbourne - 7:25PM Wed
Squiggle tips Demons at 77% chance -- What's your tip? -- Team line-ups »
The tension in the first 15 minutes of the final quarter was incredibleSaints v Geelong is the greatest GF of this millineum IMHO.
These guys weren't even tipped to make the 8 pre-season. Mitchell and Priddis gone meant a lot of experience, as well as Brownlow medals went out the window. The most important and influential player for WCE, and one of if not the best ruckmen in the comp goes down injured in Nit Nat. Gaff, an ALL-Australian and a bloke that was tipped to be runner up in the Brownlow misses a lot of football due to his punch on the young Freo lad. And Sheppard, a player who emerged the last few years as one of the key defenders in the game goes down in the first qualifier against Collingwood. 5 goals down in the first quarter, the ghosts of 2015 re-visited, a host of missed chances late on yet they still find a way to win despite all of this. Balls of steel and a mind like no other. I think this win is as good as the Doggies in 2016 and as good as any other premiership in the history of VFL/AFL.
West Coast Eagles - Could not be beaten. Mentality of a warrior.
Was this the best win or the most hardest for any side to obtain in the history of footy?
Glad to see an opposition supporter acknowledge the talent we had sitting on the sidelines. A lot seem to just brush over the losses without really considering how other teams would've coped in a similar position.People seem to forget the huge difference NN made for WCE. He was their most influential player and added an extra dimension to their game. He was in some rare form when he went down injured in 2016 and in one game got the winning goal on the siren at GWS, which revived West Coat's season. Not just the player, but what he adds and brings to the table. Bullies couldn't have won 2016 without the Bont for example. Then as mentioned Gaff, who was 2nd favourite for the Brownlow before he got rubbed out. Their best performing mid this season. So yep, when you take out those guys, and another important cog in Sheppard who really emerged in 2015, that's some serious power and structure missing from their side. 5 goals down in a Grand Final, 2015 question marks........
No one could do that. No one could replace that quality in this day and age.
These guys weren't even tipped to make the 8 pre-season. Mitchell and Priddis gone meant a lot of experience, as well as Brownlow medals went out the window. The most important and influential player for WCE, and one of if not the best ruckmen in the comp goes down injured in Nit Nat. Gaff, an ALL-Australian and a bloke that was tipped to be runner up in the Brownlow misses a lot of football due to his punch on the young Freo lad. And Sheppard, a player who emerged the last few years as one of the key defenders in the game goes down in the first qualifier against Collingwood. 5 goals down in the first quarter, the ghosts of 2015 re-visited, a host of missed chances late on yet they still find a way to win despite all of this. Balls of steel and a mind like no other. I think this win is as good as the Doggies in 2016 and as good as any other premiership in the history of VFL/AFL.
West Coast Eagles - Could not be beaten. Mentality of a warrior.
Was this the best win or the most hardest for any side to obtain in the history of footy?
yeah nah. Eagles missed a host of chances before they hit the front. They deserved to win.If not for Treloars kicking issues, this thread would not exist.
2 min left, protecting a narrow lead...kicks to 1 on 2 including McGovern...That's just a miskick surely, though can't rule out stupidity.
I agree you have to be in it to win it but to say it hurts as much to lose a Prelim as a GF is also ridiculous, at least for me, I was over the prelim loss in no time a GF loss sticks in the throat for the whole preseason, it also depends a bit on who you lose to losing to big 4 clubs always feels worse for me as I grew up in the days when we dominated.Only a fool would rather not make a grand final than make one and lose it. Losing grand finals is hardly emotionally scarring - people act like it causes Vietnam-like PTSD. Ridiculous.
Not totally sure about that, although the Eagles were always looking like coming back after the Magpies big early start the previous poster was also right, Treloar should have held on to the ball, chipped it around instead of going the big kick to the area covered by the best intercept marker in the game, add a bad call on the block and in most circumstances Collingwood should have won the game.yeah nah. Eagles missed a host of chances before they hit the front. They deserved to win.
Nice try though.
I'm 55 and we have won 3 times the flags of Collingwood in my lifetime 6 to 2, we were the first club to get 1 million through the gates in a year, first club to get 100k members, so historically you are right but to most people under 90 years of age you are wrong.27 losses and the Tiggies are still light years behind the Pies in every category of success
Nice try? What?yeah nah. Eagles missed a host of chances before they hit the front. They deserved to win.
Nice try though.
I implore you to re-watch that last quarter. Missed easy chances all quarter. Could quite possibly have won by 4 goals or more with some decent kicking.Not totally sure about that,
Not denying that, I felt the Eagles would win from midway through the second, even against Richmond and we were ordinary, Collingwood started fast and finished poorly, just saying that if you lead all game and are still leading with ball in hand and two minutes to go you should really win.I implore you to re-watch that last quarter. Missed easy chances all quarter. Could quite possibly have won by 4 goals or more with some decent kicking.
If not for several WC players' kicking issues in front of goal that day Treloar wouldn't have even had the chance to make the kick. Masten, Kennedy, Ryan, Lycett and Cripps all missed shots they would've kicked 90% of the time close to dead in front. A million what ifs in every single game.If not for Treloars kicking issues, this thread would not exist.
2 min left, protecting a narrow lead...kicks to 1 on 2 including McGovern...That's just a miskick surely, though can't rule out stupidity.
But is it also a miracle?
If so, then we've had 3 miracles in a row.
Eagles- minor miracle (pies fluff their lines)
Tigers- semi-miraculous (13th-1st)
Dogs- full blown rapture
The only thing remotely miraculous about the Tigers flag was the fact they came 13th the year before, but when you consider they made finals every year from 2013 onwards bar 2016, not so much. End of the day they had 2 finals against higher ranked teams at their own home ground, which meant they inherently had an easier path to the flag. They also had as healthy of a list as a grand finalist could have. Great win no doubt, but don't think it qualifies for miraculous.Nice try? What?
Yeah but you just prove my point anyway, small events decided the game in the end. Can it really be considered a miracle of a similar proportion to the last two flags?
Not quite imo
And nothing comes close to 2016
For supporters, yeah that's the case with some. Certainly not all. For players, like *.I agree you have to be in it to win it but to say it hurts as much to lose a Prelim as a GF is also ridiculous, at least for me, I was over the prelim loss in no time a GF loss sticks in the throat for the whole preseason, it also depends a bit on who you lose to losing to big 4 clubs always feels worse for me as I grew up in the days when we dominated.
No sporting loss is anything like PTSD caused by war, its a game, you might get pissed off with a loss for a few days or even a month or so but it is still only a game and there is always next year.
Still to much credit given to the Champion Data stats, when in reality they often mean nothing, as you mentioned its all about roles and doing the job even if it means sacrificing your own game statistically, Cotchin is a vastly better player for us at times, while getting 20 posessions than when he was getting 30.For Eagles fans id say it is the best out of our 4 for sure. Feel like we battled through adversity more then any other but as far as best in history id say that is a stretch for the reason that too much weight is being put onto moronic pre season thoughts
If 2018 taught us anything it is that we have reached a low point in AFL commentary. In 2013, Clarko changed the game forever and 6 years later none of the dinosaurs have caught up to this change. They still judge teams by old school standards which are no longer as prevalent in todays day and age.
Gone are the days when the best midfield automatically wins. Gone are the days when a team struggles just because it lost one of its highest possession winners. Gone are the days where a small crumbing forward actually exists. Gone are the days when a ruckman was judged on his hitout stats. And most importantly gone are the days that a star will win a flag. Todays game is about 22 role players playing 22 roles
Eagles won a flag which shocked alot of people because alot of people were shocked by the concept of role players it seems. No one predicted that Mark Hutchings would surpass Sam Mitchells output to a team, or that Elliot Yeo would surpass Matt Priddis output. In hindsight im not too sure why it was such a leap but it was
I think the shock factor will continue on. I dont see the dinosaurs changing their views. I cant see them admitting a 100% true fact like for example Mark Hutchings is in 2018 a superior footballer to Gary Ablett Jnr for a top 8 team. I cant see them not wanting to judge a ruckman on hitouts won, and I certainly do not see them wanting to admit that a midfielder is of lesser importance and that in reality a the FF/CHF/CHB/FB are in 2018 the juggernaught of a side
Rose coloured glasses 100 percent.We stole it, weakest Eagles premiership team of the 4 no doubt. But in History will go down as one of our best GF's because we beat Collingwood on its home turf as underdogs.
Very good post indeed.Glad to see an opposition supporter acknowledge the talent we had sitting on the sidelines. A lot seem to just brush over the losses without really considering how other teams would've coped in a similar position.
Naitanui has been our most influential player for probably 5 years now, and when he went down in 2016 after just reviving our season against GWS we all knew what it meant. Then when he went down again this year almost everyone wrote us off again, I knew we were better off than in 2016 but his loss still could not be understated, the contrast of him in and out of our midfield was stark. It forced the supposedly average midfield we had to learn to break even and compete with the best midfields, and when it was all said and done they'd even somehow learnt how to beat the best midfields. That was despite losing our most consistent midfielder to suspension, who was also leading our B&F at that point of the season. Then when we thought it was bad enough, one of our best defenders went down, who probably also should've been in the AA squad of 40. Genuinely thought after Shep went down in the QF that it'd be one bridge too far now, as he'd barely lost a head to head battle with a forward all year, and would leave the door open for De Goey types to dominate us.
All that considered, on top of playing a team in a GF at their home ground, 5 goals down 15 minutes into the first quarter with flashbacks of 2015 surely haunting many of the players minds, a mammoth performance from a guy like Gov who almost didn't play due to severe internal injurys and the last passage of play leading to Sheed's epic goal being the latest to change the lead in a GF for decades. You're simply lying to yourself if you say it wasn't one of the all time great GF victories. Other flags may have been greater in different aspects, but this one was special in its own right.