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

[Hap Hapablap]

i have a couple of videos my mate recorded my mates and i from the sheed goal to the end. i was a complete wreck. livid is an understatement

 

[Biggie]

I was calm throughout the whole ordeal

Wooshette

 

[Wosh]

I was calm throughout the whole ordeal

Wooshette

You were my rock

 

[Candiru]

The premiership itself perhaps not the greatest out of the 4

The whole season. The character and the way we played was awesome. See OP. I stand by every word. This season was immense.

No one rated us. Half of us supporters didn't really rate us. We went in with a ton of players who'd been questioned, bagged or written off to varying degrees. We'd played some flaky as **** football over the last few years. But we turned that all around. We played like it mattered. It was inspirational. Then we lost some stars and looked cooked again. But we kept going. Even after finishing second and going into the finals, people didn't rate us. We dicked Collingwood then shat on Melbourne then looked like getting wiped in the GF.

But you campaigners know what happened.

 

[RookiePick]

It's kinda satisfying to read through last off season commentary on here and identify those who held the faith and saw the potential vs those who wet the bed.

You know who you are.

 

[Candiru]

It's kinda satisfying to read through last off season commentary on here and identify those who held the faith and saw the potential vs those who wet the bed.

You know who you are.

I saw some potential in the medium term because we have good KPPs but didn't think we could turn it around and win a flag this year. If that makes me a bedwetter, so be it. I reckon I was wetting the bed right up until the last 10 seconds of the last game so there you have it.

 

[MIKE85]

I’m sure I would’ve posted it somewhere before the season started, but I was confident we’d make the 8 again, didn’t believe we’d fall away like many over east predicted. No way did I think we had the hard edge or resilience to go and win the flag. So happy to be wrong. Actually watching the Sunday Gameday episode right now. The sooking from Leigh Mathews about the block is gold. Old thug.

 

[Dazzler9]

It's kinda satisfying to read through last off season commentary on here and identify those who held the faith and saw the potential vs those who wet the bed.

You know who you are.

To be fair, we were a major wildcard heading into 2018.
* Priddis, Mitchell and Petrie all retired.
* NicNat coming back from his knee.
* Brand new stadium.
* A heap of untried youngsters to get games into.

 

[Rowan18]

I’m sure I would’ve posted it somewhere before the season started, but I was confident we’d make the 8 again, didn’t believe we’d fall away like many over east predicted. No way did I think we had the hard edge or resilience to go and win the flag. So happy to be wrong. Actually watching the Sunday Gameday episode right now. The sooking from Leigh Mathews about the block is gold. Old thug.

I found it incredibly frustrating that no media outlet acknowledged that he is a former Pies premiership coach. He's as credible as if we asked Woosha whether it was a block.

 

[MIKE85]

I found it incredibly frustrating that no media outlet acknowledged that he is a former Pies premiership coach. He's as credible as if we asked Woosha whether it was a block.

Yeah he was so salty about it. Bolton and Bartel both said it was probably a block but your not going to pay it in that situation. I was surprised most of the shows in the aftermath didn’t really make much of an issue out of it. I thought they’d be all over it and having a massive sook about it

 

[Here2tellyouwhy]

The only thing that was a block was us cockblocking Buckley from a flag

 

[Mudguts12]

I was a believer after the round 3 win against Geelong. Checked their odds after the game and couldn't believe they were paying $26 for the flag. Happy days!

A lot of their motivation seemed to be to prove the doubters in the Vic media wrong, so I'm happy for the Vic media d*ckheads to keep dismissing our list and b2b chances going into 2019. More fuel to the fire baby!

 

[Astro7]

He thought they were going to come over and beat us with their Sparkle Motion or whatever. EAD.

Like everything about that movie..

Yeah he was so salty about it. Bolton and Bartel both said it was probably a block but your not going to pay it in that situation. I was surprised most of the shows in the aftermath didn’t really make much of an issue out of it. I thought they’d be all over it and having a massive sook about it

also, overlooked was the high tackle on Sheed(?) just before or after...but the umps were consistent with putting away the whistle..

 

[Dazzler9]

The only thing that was a block was us cockblocking Buckley from a flag

Surely you mean WillieBlocking

 

[Tom_Thumb]

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 shit-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 shit. 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.

Only just read you post today, what you are describing is exactly what Corporations are doing with their businesses. Systems are more important than people, granted we got success this year but I can tell you what will happen having seen it Corporately...players will start leaving and the club will churn players who don't buy into the "System".

The Company might look successful from the outside but internally its one nasty piece of gear, regularly disposing of its employees who make any mistakes. Cutting pay rates for most and singling out its "Golden Child" for preferential treatment and the bare minimum for the cattle.

On a completely different point...looked outside and we're still premiers

 

[eaglesnutcase]

Well we could all be barracking for those dimwits down the road.listening to Gossage on Ch10 the other night and he was asking the newsreader if she had voted in the poll for what colour headband Fyfe should wear this year.choice of three!! I nearly vomited!! Hes also running a diary from the Gold Coast which from glimpses involves him running around without a shirt on and pouting at the camera.That club is a disgrace!

 

[squashface]

Well we could all be barracking for those dimwits down the road.listening to Gossage on Ch10 the other night and he was asking the newsreader if she had voted in the poll for what colour headband Fyfe should wear this year.choice of three!! I nearly vomited!! Hes also running a diary from the Gold Coast which from glimpses involves him running around without a shirt on and pouting at the camera.That club is a disgrace!

I’m all for bashing Fremantle but I reckon Fyfe can do what he wants off the field

 

[Wadsworth]

Only just read you post today, what you are describing is exactly what Corporations are doing with their businesses. Systems are more important than people, granted we got success this year but I can tell you what will happen having seen it Corporately...players will start leaving and the club will churn players who don't buy into the "System".

The Company might look successful from the outside but internally its one nasty piece of gear, regularly disposing of its employees who make any mistakes. Cutting pay rates for most and singling out its "Golden Child" for preferential treatment and the bare minimum for the cattle.

On a completely different point...looked outside and we're still premiers

Unusual that you'd draw that parallel given that the club appears to have found success on the complete opposite of what you have described.

Friends Family Flags.

The club seems to have prioritised the personal side of doing football and that seems to have galvanised the playing group. As a fanbase, I'd expect most would criticise the club for not being ruthless enough with personnel rather than having a system that treats players as disposable.

But on your other point... have I ever said that I luv youse guyz, we're thuh mutha-****** premiers. Yeeeaaaahhh!

 

[ZergMinion]

I’m all for bashing Fremantle but I reckon Fyfe can do what he wants off the field

Pretty sure bashing Fremantle is a prime example of punching down. We lose absolutely nothing by ignoring them until they become relevant.

 

[eaglesnutcase]

I’m all for bashing Fremantle but I reckon Fyfe can do what he wants off the field

Corse e' can. But he is the shop window!

 

[Keys]

Pretty sure bashing Fremantle is a prime example of punching down. We lose absolutely nothing by ignoring them until they become relevant.

In that case let’s hope we can ignore #freoforever

 

[Obeanie1]

Like everything about that movie..

also, overlooked was the high tackle on Sheed(?) just before or after...but the umps were consistent with putting away the whistle..

They were consistent.

Watched the game again and a whistle happy ump could have paid a heap more frees. Some of them were there but went both ways and who knows what the result may have been.

 

[Candiru]

I'm worried about 2019. Freo seem like a really united group.

 

[ep2018]

United by familial DNA.

 

[Astro7]

I'm worried about 2019. Freo seem like a really united group.

You getting early pre-season jitters and nerves...?
Good call...there does appear to be a stronger united front this off-season,
like there's a definite surge or plan afoot!
The downside however, is that
1.- They're united by purple?
2.- Ross is still the boss?
3.- Fashion Boy Wonder still wears a man-bun?
4. -Have they let Ballantine 'Go' yet?
5.- Whats' their depth like?
Otherwise I suspect they'll have a very strong season...