I can see him doing a great job as a forward but not spending the end of quarters in a mid position.
West Coasters Flag Prospects 2020
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Forward Press
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Accurate assessment. Having Nelson, Cole and Duggan on a conveyor belt as small defenders did not help the side. I think Francis Watson will come on and displace one of them in 2020, looked the goods in his games this year as well as Rotham. An area of concern, sure, but this is one area where we have depth. It's probably the KPD posts where it's a bit thin after McGovern, Barrass and Sheppard (undersized but definitely can play tall) but then again not many sides have three quality key defenders.
I think West Coast in 2020 will be similar to Geelong in 2019- very strong list, but reliant on some aging bodies in key areas and therefore susceptible to injuries at the wrong time. Rioli out is a way bigger loss than people understand, but Kelly in and Nicnat finally on track for a normal preseason after three horrible years is enormous.
We have the talent to finish top 2/top 4, and the finals experience to get to and perform in a GF but it's going to be a roll of the dice whether the likes of Nicnat, Kennedy, Hurn and Jetta are fit at the most important time of the year.
It makes perfect sense to mortgage the future to get Kelly and have one last dip at a flag whilst we have a list full of players with grand final experience. Long term, it will hurt, but if we get another flag out of this group noone is going to mind if the subsequent rebuild takes a few years longer.
We have the talent to finish top 2/top 4, and the finals experience to get to and perform in a GF but it's going to be a roll of the dice whether the likes of Nicnat, Kennedy, Hurn and Jetta are fit at the most important time of the year.
It makes perfect sense to mortgage the future to get Kelly and have one last dip at a flag whilst we have a list full of players with grand final experience. Long term, it will hurt, but if we get another flag out of this group noone is going to mind if the subsequent rebuild takes a few years longer.
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I think that's absolutely reasonable. I can't see why it doesn't happen.
Another one is that Hawthorn should play it's game in Tassie against other Victorian teams, not interstate clubs. It should play all of it's home games against non Victorian clubs at the G.
FreeTK
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I agree, but we can minimise that loss with Cameron. They aren't like for like, but it could plug a hole so to speak. Also - Rioli kicked 30 goals this year. Tim Kelly kicked 24 in his two seasons of AFL. We've relied heavily in 2018 and 2019 on scoring efficiency per inside 50 and accuracy on goal. While we might lose a bit of firepower with Rioli missing, it more than made up for by Tim Kelly and how the addition of an extra A grade in our midfield can transform the entire system.
A conservative estimation should see the Eagles go 17-5 this year, lock up a top two spot. Every time the Eagles have finished top two they have made the Grand Final and this year will be no different. Whether they make it flag number 5 is a more difficult question to answer.
Round 1: Melbourne at Optus Stadium (Home) Win
Round 2: St Kilda at Marvel Stadium (Away) Win
Round 3: Geelong at Optus Stadium Win
Round 4: Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval Win
Round 5: Richmond at Optus Stadium Win
Round 6: Hawthorn at UTAS Stadium Loss
Round 7: Fremantle at Optus Stadium Win
Round 8: Sydney Swans at Optus Stadium Win
Round 9: Gold Coast Suns at Metricon Stadium Win
Round 10: GWS Giants at Optus Stadium Win
Round 11: Collingwood at MCG Win
Round 12: BYE
Round 13: Essendon at Optus Stadium Win
Round 14: Richmond at MCG Loss
Round 15: North Melbourne at Optus Stadium Win
Round 16: Geelong at GMHBA Stadium Loss
Round 17: Adelaide at Optus Stadium Win
Round 18: Fremantle at Optus Stadium Win
Round 19: Carlton at MCG Win
Round 20: Port Adelaide at Optus Stadium Win
Round 21: Brisbane Lions at The Gabba Loss
Round 22: Collingwood at Optus Stadium Win
Round 23: Western Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium Loss
Eagleboy68
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14 games at the mcg not enough for richmond In 2020?
Purple_Turtle
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Yet at none of them do we get the home ground advantage that the Eagles get for 10 of their 12.
Eagleboy68
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I can definitely see West Coast being one of the stoniest teams in the league next season but I feel that the tough schedule they have could cause them to drop a few games. We'll wait and see though.
That is gold from mr autocorrect!!
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marcus stoinis?
Come on you being facetious? Surely you got Grin's meaning. Yes, we play 14 games in 2020 but we don't have a true home ground advantage against fellow MCG co-tenants in pies, blues, dees and Hawks plus Bombers play many games there too.
Eagles playing Freo is not a true home ground advantage but all other teams who travel to OS you have a true advantage as do the cats at GMHBA
1. Most of the other MCG remnants are s**t and have been for a while now.
2. Not having a home advantage (as you guys seem to think) is heavily offset by not being disadvantaged either, as well as barely travelling.
When we play the pies, hawks, blues and dees it's their home ground too irrespective whether they are crap or not.
But you're missing the point and its quite simple theirs either a true home ground advantage or there isn't.
Cats have perhaps the biggest home ground advantage, even though most teams only need to drive down the highway but when you rarely play there the odds are stacked against you...
It's not what we think its 100% fact when we played this year the eagles, GWS, Port etc at the G that's a true home ground advantage and when we play MCG co-tenants it isn't.
Freo have been crap but its still not a true home ground advantage for the eagles when you play them that's the point i was putting across.
Exactly.
It's swings and roundabouts. Caused by having 10 Victorian Clubs.
You could reduce it to 2 to make it 'fair', but then the interstates would be whinging about how unfair it all is that the biggest football state in Australia only has 2 clubs that are the most powerful and wealthy and have the biggest go home pull factor, that players are prepared to be paid unders to play for them.
No, that wouldn’t happen at all because there’s only so many list spots, plus the lure of moving to a club that barely travels would not apply as all travel would be mostly equal.
So the go home factor would suddenly disappear? And players would suddenly stop taking unders to play at the club of their choice? As if by magic?
Even with 10 Victorian clubs there was salt about a player like Lynch taking 200 to 300k less a year to play for the club of his choice. Just imagine if there were only 2 victorian teams. OMG, we'd never hear the end of it. The demands that the AFL water down the dominance of Victorian clubs by creating more clubs there would be almost deafening.
Soberian Tiger
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For Victoria to have the club to population ratio of WA, it would need to lose two or three clubs. Of course, Vic clubs do pull in supporters from interstate. Tasmania, not having one of their own, is a perfect example of that.
Just two clubs in Vic would be a nightmare for Western Australia. Except for the travel, of course. And that includes travelling on grand final day, because that's something that wouldn't crop up very often, as the two Vic teams would have a near mortgage on such appearances.
The only solution is lots more people in Western Australia and, thus, more clubs in that state. Better build a desalination plant or two. Going to need water somehow.
Of course, more clubs in WA would dilute the Eagle dominance...
Victorian clubs wouldn't be as dominant as you think.
The standard of the competition would be much higher across the board and the competition would be a hell of a lot closer to true equalisation. Players would probably be more likely to stay at their current club instead of going home, regardless of which state that home is in, simply due to the fact that competition for spots would be much tougher.
It's remarkable how big the 'go-home' factor is in the AFL compared to other sports, especially for those wishing to return to Victoria, pretty much solely due to the fact Victorian clubs are much easier to move to. Imagine if there were only 2 teams in Vic; do you really think the 10+ players requesting a move to Victoria would actually end up at either of those 2 clubs? Maybe one or two high profile players but that's pretty much it. Wouldn't be worth the trouble.
A decent portion of our squad is from interstate, which is the same for most clubs. Only so many picks can be chosen each draft so I'm not sure where this bizarre idea of 'Victorian dominance' has cropped up from. Considering that in a League with 2 teams from each state (let's say 12 teams for convenience, 1 NT and 1 Tassie), do you really think all the talented kids would end up at the Vic clubs, or suddenly requesting trades home after 2 years?
Delusional.
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Nah it’s not possible while they have to sit on a plane for a couple of hours every 2nd week. Can’t be done. Would be the greatest flag in the history of flags if they pulled it off
Soberian Tiger
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Delusional is surely thinking that the pull of the home state doesn't matter when your club has just landed a big move for that reason.
Sure, not everyone can move, but with all the Victorian players and only two Vic teams it would create real competition for spots on those lists. It might be on the margins but the margins matter. The difference between top four and a premiership is more easily bridged by moves such as Kelly's (eg. look at Lynch). Otherwise, those Kelly-trade picks WC sent to Geelong were wasted.
Truly wasted is talking of the Eagles potentially losing the dominance of the WA market. That's too horrifying a thought for the blue and gold to contemplate. If Freo was the dominant club, Kelly would likely be there.
Sure, not everyone can move, but with all the Victorian players and only two Vic teams it would create real competition for spots on those lists. It might be on the margins but the margins matter. The difference between top four and a premiership is more easily bridged by moves such as Kelly's (eg. look at Lynch). Otherwise, those Kelly-trade picks WC sent to Geelong were wasted.
Truly wasted is talking of the Eagles potentially losing the dominance of the WA market. That's too horrifying a thought for the blue and gold to contemplate. If Freo was the dominant club, Kelly would likely be there.
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I would prefer Richmond’s situation every day of the week as a good side. Less outright advantage in home ground for far less travel. “True” Home advantage helps average sides more.
