West Coasters Flag Prospects 2020

[A Bit Dusty]

You're coming across as very insecure.

Many Richmond supporters have commented in here and agreed that West Coast is the team that they don't want to face next year.

West Coast v Richmond was by far the best game of the year and the Eagles were the only team to truly challenge Richmond in the second half of the season. In many ways, that one game was the most important game of the home and away season.

LOL Do you really think it was the best game of the year? Tigers Supporters Insecure? West Coast the only team to truly challenge in the second half of the year? Your Dreaming mate!!! So you wrote off the Cats who were 2 games clear on top most of the year and the Pies who were top 4 most of the year as well as the Lions who travelled just as much as you guys did. That sort of arrogance is what leads to defeat Not respecting the opposition.

 

[Sash Cat]

You're coming across as very insecure.

Many Richmond supporters have commented in here and agreed that West Coast is the team that they don't want to face next year.

West Coast v Richmond was by far the best game of the year and the Eagles were the only team to truly challenge Richmond in the second half of the season. In many ways, that one game was the most important game of the home and away season.

I’m sorry if I don’t regard you as a threat. Hopefully you can get over it.

You’re reading too much into one game. Look at the bigger picture. You put in two or three impressive performances for the whole season. The evidence across 22 games suggests you’re nothing more than a good ordinary side.

And if you really want to read into that game, you were dominated for three quarters and if it wasn’t for extreme efficiency in front of goal (13.4) that will rarely be replicated, it would’ve been a belting. We had more inside 50s against you that game than we did against Gold Coast when we beat them by 100 odd. You were in survival mode for three quarters and the scoreline flattered you. Would’ve been nice to have Cotchy, Rance and Pickett running round that day as well.

And how was that game at all important to your season? You had the opportunity to make amends for the loss and to finish in the top four but you failed. You were belted by Hawthorn. At home. Let me guess, it was the travel?

 

[Capriati]

LOL Do you really think it was the best game of the year? Tigers Supporters Insecure? West Coast the only team to truly challenge in the second half of the year? Your Dreaming mate!!! So you wrote off the Cats who were 2 games clear on top most of the year and the Pies who were top 4 most of the year as well as the Lions who travelled just as much as you guys did. That sort of arrogance is what leads to defeat Not respecting the opposition.

I’m sorry if I don’t regard you as a threat. Hopefully you can get over it.

You’re reading too much into one game. Look at the bigger picture. You put in two or three impressive performances for the whole season. The evidence across 22 games suggests you’re nothing more than a good ordinary side.

And if you really want to read into that game, you were dominated for three quarters and if it wasn’t for extreme efficiency in front of goal (13.4) that will rarely be replicated, it would’ve been a belting. We had more inside 50s against you that game than we did against Gold Coast when we beat them by 100 odd. You were in survival mode for three quarters and the scoreline flattered you. Would’ve been nice to have Cotchy, Rance and Pickett running round that day as well.

And how was that game at all important to your season? You had the opportunity to make amends for the loss and to finish in the top four but you failed. You were belted by Hawthorn. At home. Let me guess, it was the travel?

LOL, we won one less game than you over the home and away season, and yet apparently we were "ordinary".

You guys are simply in here trying to downplay our chances for 2020 out of fear.

 

[Capriati]

I will refer you to the injury table I posted above. It’s no coincidence when we got all of our players back after the bye, we didn’t lose again. That’s when we finally had your luxury of having a fit list.

How does me downplaying your chances have any influence on the outcome of the season? If I was genuinely worried about WCE, I would say so. GWS and Collingwood are bigger threats.

Reaction Formation (psychology) : A defensive process (defense mechanism) in which anxiety-producing or unacceptable emotions and impulses are mastered by exaggeration (hypertrophy) of the directly opposing tendency

As for the game in Rd22. You are analysing the stats incorrectly. So what if we had less inside 50's and scoring shots. West Coast is #1 in the league for both scoring efficiency from inside 50's and accuracy for goal. Having less inside 50's and scoring shots has actually been a feature of West Coast games in both 2018 and 2019 and yet we still win many of those games. It's not a bug, it's a feature.

The idea that we were close out of some random luck shows how little you know about West Coast and their game style, which is probably why you are underrating their chances for 2020.

It's obvious you didn't come in here for any kind of sophisticated conversation about West Coast's chances for 2020, so it is meaningless for me to engage with you any further.

 

[A Bit Dusty]

LOL, we won one less game than you over the home and away season, and yet apparently we were "ordinary".

You guys are simply in here trying to downplay our chances for 2020 out of fear.

You did lose to a team that you yourself didn't rate in a semi final so can you get up again from that scarring only time will tell.

 

[Cuzz09]

Eagles win the GF in 2020 and its 2 flags from 3 GFs for both Rich and WCE in the last 6 years.

On SM-G925I using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[Forward Press]

Don't understand the point of this shitfight. Richmond deserved the flag in 2019, deserve to be current premiership favourites heading into 2020, and deserve to be considered a top contender in 2020 and beyond with no key retirements and their core still not too old.

Still, this is a thread about West Coast.

 

[Sash Cat]

Reaction Formation (psychology) : A defensive process (defense mechanism) in which anxiety-producing or unacceptable emotions and impulses are mastered by exaggeration (hypertrophy) of the directly opposing tendency

As for the game in Rd22. You are analysing the stats incorrectly. So what if we had less inside 50's and scoring shots. West Coast is #1 in the league for both scoring efficiency from inside 50's and accuracy for goal. Having less inside 50's and scoring shots has actually been a feature of West Coast games in both 2018 and 2019 and yet we still win many of those games. It's not a bug, it's a feature.

The idea that we were close out of some random luck shows how little you know about West Coast and their game style, which is probably why you are underrating their chances for 2020.

It's obvious you didn't come in here for any kind of sophisticated conversation about West Coast's chances for 2020, so it is meaningless for me to engage with you any further.

Obviously it has never crossed your mind that there are people out there who just don’t rate WCE as highly as you do. Your stubbornly unreceptive behaviour is common in people with denialism.

So what you’re saying is you produced your most efficient performance for the season against Richmond and you still couldn’t beat us? What happens when your efficiency reverts back to your average level and you don’t have ridiculous accuracy of 76% in front of goal? Face it, that scoreline flattered you. You’re rarely up around the 80% mark for scoring efficiency, especially in the wet.

Plus your argument that you got close to us therefore you are nearly as good a side as us is flawed. Gold Coast got close to you guys at Optus Stadium, are they of similar quality to you?

All my posts have been on topic. Just because you don’t like some uncomfortable truths doesn’t mean I’m not making a meaningful contribution. If you can’t handle conflicting opinions maybe you should retreat to the WCE board where you’ll feel a lot more protected from reality.

 

[Sash Cat]

Still, this is a thread about West Coast.

No one is not focusing on West Coast? And of course other contenders are going to be brought up. Did you really think it was going to be 22 pages of pure analysis on solely WCE? We need points of comparison to gauge their flag prospects (which is the precise title of the thread).

 

[CM9000]

I honestly don’t know where to begin with this abortion of a post.

Did we get a “dickride” with our fixture in 2018 as well? Because we were minor premiers then and have proven we are by far the best team over the past three years. WCE are basically guaranteed 10 wins a year with your pure home ground advantage. This season, Richmond had a pure home ground advantage just five times. Most of our “home” games are against MCG co-tenants. If we had the luxury of playing an interstate side on the MCG every second week, I don’t think we would miss finals ever again. It’s a massive leg up you have over there. Perth is also the most isolated major city in the world, so teams travel long distances to get to your home ground every fortnight. Along with Geelong, WCE and Fremantle have the biggest home ground advantage in the competition. Most other weeks you’ll travel to play an easy beat side like Gold Coast, St Kilda, Carlton, Melbourne, etc. It only gets tough for West Coast when you play away against the good sides, which doesn’t happen very often, so there’s really no reason for you guys not to be making top four if you consider yourselves a quality team. You didn’t make the top four though, despite having a blessed run with injuries, so I’m not sure how you can consider yourselves one of the elite teams of the competition. You’re clearly below the top tier and this was reflected in your final ladder position and the fact you couldn’t make a prelim. Stop living off your Bradbury in 2018.

I also love how travel has suddenly become an excuse for you guys. It wasn’t an issue last year when you won the flag against an MCG tenant. It’s clear you just conveniently bring it up when you don’t want to admit you’re not good enough.

And you missed the most overhyped player in the league for a large portion of the season. Boo hoo. He was there towards the end of the season and you guys still looked like a middling side. And did you really just claim Nic Nat is a better footballer than Alex Rance? Rance will go down as one of the greatest defenders this century and is a once in a generation player with five All Australians to his name including a captaincy. Nic Nat isn’t even the best ruckman West Coast have had this century. He’s well and truly behind Gawn and Grundy and has made the All Australian side a grand total of once. You clearly did not miss the walking highlight reel last year and he barely impacted this season when he played.

There is much more improvement in Richmond than there is in West Coast. Rance, Stack, Graham and Pickett are stronger additions than Kelly and Naitanui. You also lost Rioli and have terrible youth/depth. Our youth is up there with the best in the league and was rated no. 1 by Champion Data. We also won the VFL premiership and have hot competition for spots. Your list falls off a cliff after your best dozen.

Have a look at the injury ladder conducted in August 2019. Imagine if your team actually copped injuries throughout the year. You’d probably miss the eight all together.

View attachment 787572

As it stands, WCE are nothing more than a flash in the pan who were lucky the best team in 2018 stumbled at the wrong time. You should also thank the umpires for the non-call on Maynard in the Grand Final which gifted you a premiership.

Why is it that Richmond fans seem incapable of looking at something from a different point of view? I've gotten this impression from many of your fans on here. Are you insecure about your club because it had been completely irrelevant for 37 years up till now? Please answer this for me, because I genuinely am interested in this complete and utter lack of balance when it comes to your supporter base.

Our goddamn location is an advantage? Do you realise, that due to the amount of travel we have to do, players from WA start going downhill sooner than ones based in Vic? We have never had a 300 game player in our entire history. You left your state a grand total of five times this year, we had to travel every second week. You also got 7 consecutive games at the MCG for some reason, which, if you think is somehow fair, than you need to take a look outside of the Victorian bubble.

To say that travel has no impact is the biggest lie I've heard on this site in all my time here. Ask literally any supporter of a SA or WA team, and they will tell you the exact opposite. I mean, seriously, go and ask an Adelaide fan whether travel affects their players. That "I'm only bringing travel now" is complete bullshit as well - look up the thread I made about WC going to Tasmania last year for one example from last year. Search up "travel" on our board for more. You really don't know what you're talking about here.

And it's a bit rich that you're calling Nic the most overhyped player in the league compared to Rance. Alex is pretty much the most overrated player I've seen in my life. You're acting like he's the second coming; just because some old crusty campaigner who played 400 games for you says so, doesn't mean it's true. In reality, he's a weak, diving prick who got into the last two AA teams based purely on reputation. He couldn't even handle Jack Darling last year when he kicked six against you - Dimma moved Grimes onto Jack because Rance couldn't deal with him. Or what about the prelim in 2018, when he got destroyed by someone who's only played Aussie Rules for 3 years. I may not have watched Rance as much as you have, but I can sure tell you that you've pretty much seen nothing of Nic.

AA teams aren't everything - they gave the AA captaincy to Lance Franklin in 2018 over the premiership captain. That should tell you everything about the validity of it. And Champion Data doesn't really amount to much, either. I mean, come one, they rated Melbourne as having the best list heading into this year. Do you really think they can be used as an authority on football?

Pickett, Graham and Stack > Kelly. Ok, sure. Ask anyone if they agree with that.

Also, those injuries are pretty much balanced out by the fact you got the most unfair draw in recent memory. I admit you did very well to come back from that (it was against some easier teams when it hit, though), but don't act like it was the greatest thing ever. When you win the premiership without 3 of your best players, against a side on their home ground who didn't earn that advantage, than come back to me.

 

[Boston tiger]

The gig is up for West Coast. Optus is too similar to the G and it looks like the umps have finally worked out how to umpire against the crowd over there. Hawthorn winning over there when West Coast had to win says it all.

 

[Capriati]

The gig is up for West Coast. Optus is too similar to the G and it looks like the umps have finally worked out how to umpire against the crowd over there. Hawthorn winning over there when West Coast had to win says it all.

This is hilarious.

How'd it turn out for your mob when you had to come over and play us at Optus?

Our record at Optus is 77% and we have won 9/12 games at Optus in both 2018 and 2019 H&A plus a 3-0 record in finals at the venue. 9/12 is on par with what our season win/loss record was at Subiaco over the last few years we played there.

In my opinion the ground dimensions help us be a better travelling team and has helped us improve our record at MCG and that enabled us to win the 2018 Premiership against an MCG tennant while also crushing the reigning premiers at our home ground by 47 points.

What's your next uneducated and incorrect theory that you would like me to debunk?

 

[Capriati]

So anyone who doesn’t regard West Coast as a premiership threat is unbalanced and insecure? You don’t come across as immature at all. Had you finished runner up or at least made a prelim this year, I would be slightly more persuaded, but adding one midfielder will not make up the difference. You remind me of the Collingwood fans who were banging on about Beams and their GOAT midfield this time last year. I told them the exact same thing I’m telling you now and just like you, they didn’t listen.

Your home ground is an advantage. The likelihood of a team traveling to Perth to beat any semi decent WA side is extremely low. It’s a notoriously difficult fixture for a variety of reasons (including the umpires). And what a strange argument regarding your lack of players reaching 300 games. You realise Richmond have only had three players play over 300 games in our 134 year history? That’s 1 every 45 years. West Coast have been around for 30 years so maybe wait it out a bit longer. Richmond aren’t exactly pumping out 300 gamers on the regular.

And what’s the scientific evidence behind your claim that player’s careers are shortened due to travel? Why is it that Premier League footballers can play for 90+ minutes on the weekend then travel to mainland Europe for a CL/EL mid-week away fixture then head back to England to play another game on the weekend, but West Coast can’t travel across Australia every fortnight? Soccer is also a longer game with more running, less breaks and no interchanges. They also play 38 games in a regular season, plus there are multiple cup competitions, international fixtures and friendlies (that are often around the world). But yeah, poor old West Coast having to travel 11 times a year.

We traveled six times actually. You forgot to mention the time we spanked the side that finished second in the Qualifying Final. We played them in tropical conditions and I recall it hitting 30 degrees that day. It didn’t phase us though. Sitting on a plane for three hours doesn’t all of a sudden turn us into a mediocre football side like it does with West Coast.

And just on Rance, Tim Watson, Justin Leppitsch, Luke Darcy, Mike Sheahan, Paul Roos, Wayne Carey, Glen Jakovich and Stephen Silvagni (I’m probably missing a few) have all said they regard Alex Rance as one of the greatest defenders of all time. Some even said he is the number one of all time. But yeah, I’ll disregard the legends of the sport and trust the WCE nuffy from BigFooty’s opinion on that matter.

Like I said in regards to your 2018 flag, you should be grateful for two things; incompetent umpiring and the fact you didn’t run into us.

There has been a lot of published research on impacts of travel on athletic performance and is accepted as fact

There is no doubt that West Coast (and Freo) are disadvantaged by a) travelling more often than Victorian teams and b) travelling longer flights than other teams, even other non-victorian teams that generally have shorter flights.

We smashed you by 47 points earlier in the 2018 season. At the post match, Damien Hardwick admitted that West Coast were the best team in the league, and Jack Riewoldt even said that Richmond were running out of gas in the back end of the season. You didn't get the chance to beat us in the grand final cos you didn't make it.

The 5 interstate trips was relevant only to the home and away season. You had to travel to Brisbane as you not qualify for a home final in week 1. Not to mention that the game was played at night in 19 degree temperature, so not sure what you are banging on about humidity for. We have a great record at the Gabba, so the issues that you brought up aren't relevant to the Eagles.

 

[Boston tiger]

This is hilarious.

How'd it turn out for your mob when you had to come over and play us at Optus?

Our record at Optus is 77% and we have won 9/12 games at Optus in both 2018 and 2019 H&A plus a 3-0 record in finals at the venue. 9/12 is on par with what our season win/loss record was at Subiaco over the last few years we played there.

In my opinion the ground dimensions help us be a better travelling team and has helped us improve our record at MCG and that enabled us to win the 2018 Premiership against an MCG tennant while also crushing the reigning premiers at our home ground by 47 points.

What's your next uneducated and incorrect theory that you would like me to debunk?

I’m saying your free kick jig is up ? Debunk that ?

 

[bzparkes]

I’m saying your free kick jig is up ? Debunk that ?

Who cares about free kicks? Richmond supporters, of all clubs, should understand that, considering they won the flag in '17 with by far the worst differential in the league.

You support St Kilda on the sly?

 

[CM9000]

So anyone who doesn’t regard West Coast as a premiership threat is unbalanced and insecure? You don’t come across as immature at all. Had you finished runner up or at least made a prelim this year, I would be slightly more persuaded, but adding one midfielder will not make up the difference. You remind me of the Collingwood fans who were banging on about Beams and their GOAT midfield this time last year. I told them the exact same thing I’m telling you now and just like you, they didn’t listen.

Your home ground is an advantage. The likelihood of a team traveling to Perth to beat any semi decent WA side is extremely low. It’s a notoriously difficult fixture for a variety of reasons (including the umpires). And what a strange argument regarding your lack of players reaching 300 games. You realise Richmond have only had three players play over 300 games in our 134 year history? That’s 1 every 45 years. West Coast have been around for 30 years so maybe wait it out a bit longer. Richmond aren’t exactly pumping out 300 gamers on the regular.

And what’s the scientific evidence behind your claim that player’s careers are shortened due to travel? Why is it that Premier League footballers can play for 90+ minutes on the weekend then travel to mainland Europe for a CL/EL mid-week away fixture then head back to England to play another game on the weekend, but West Coast can’t travel across Australia every fortnight? Soccer is also a longer game with more running, less breaks and no interchanges. They also play 38 games in a regular season, plus there are multiple cup competitions, international fixtures and friendlies (that are often around the world). But yeah, poor old West Coast having to travel 11 times a year.

We traveled six times actually. You forgot to mention the time we spanked the side that finished second in the Qualifying Final. We played them in tropical conditions and I recall it hitting 30 degrees that day. It didn’t phase us though. Sitting on a plane for three hours doesn’t all of a sudden turn us into a mediocre football side like it does with West Coast.

And just on Rance, Tim Watson, Justin Leppitsch, Luke Darcy, Mike Sheahan, Paul Roos, Wayne Carey, Glen Jakovich and Stephen Silvagni (I’m probably missing a few) have all said they regard Alex Rance as one of the greatest defenders of all time. Some even said he is the number one of all time. But yeah, I’ll disregard the legends of the sport and trust the WCE nuffy from BigFooty’s opinion on that matter.

Like I said in regards to your 2018 flag, you should be grateful for two things; incompetent umpiring and the fact you didn’t run into us.

Have a look at this post from Quinz regarding the effect of travel on WA players. Here's an excerpt:

Western Australia doesn't have fewer players who make it to the 150 or 200-game marks. About the same percentage of players hit those milestones in the West as they do in South Australia and Victoria. But something seems to happen to players from the Eagles and Dockers once they have reached 200 matches. They retire between 200 and 250 games at a higher rate than players from anywhere else. Why is this the case?

Read the thread as well. It is a very real phenomenon, and I can tell you for certain that Australian rules football is a far more stressful sport on the body than soccer, so I don't think that's an apt comparison. Our HGA is completely mitigated due to the amount of travel we have to do. The point I'm making is that your less travel is a significant advantage. The fact you had seven consecutive games at the MCG adds insult to injury.

And in regards to Rance, all those comments are from a couple years ago - mainly from Channel 7, situated in Victoria. It's all pretty much a discussion of the best Victorian defender of all time, rather than flat out the best one. Consider the other names thrown up as examples of GOATs (e.g. Southby, Silvagni), and you'll see it doesn't include anyone from a WAFL or SANFL team. In recent times, he's proven himself to be a diving prick. Dylan Grimes was better than him last year, and proved his worth to your setup by being named AA in Rance's absence.

Why couldn't Rance stop Cox in the prelim, or Darling in 2018? If he's the GOAT, what the hell's up with that?

 

[Luv_our_club]

My concern with Rance has always been his late dangerous contests... he is clumsy in a flying elbow kind of way but he always gets the benefit of the doubt.

 

[Luv_our_club]

There has been a lot of published research on impacts of travel on athletic performance and is accepted as fact

There is no doubt that West Coast (and Freo) are disadvantaged by a) travelling more often than Victorian teams and b) travelling longer flights than other teams, even other non-victorian teams that generally have shorter flights.

We smashed you by 47 points earlier in the 2018 season. At the post match, Damien Hardwick admitted that West Coast were the best team in the league, and Jack Riewoldt even said that Richmond were running out of gas in the back end of the season. You didn't get the chance to beat us in the grand final cos you didn't make it.

The 5 interstate trips was relevant only to the home and away season. You had to travel to Brisbane as you not qualify for a home final in week 1. Not to mention that the game was played at night in 19 degree temperature, so not sure what you are banging on about humidity for. We have a great record at the Gabba, so the issues that you brought up aren't relevant to the Eagles.

Doesn't hurt either to have such a fortress of a home ground... one sided crowd, feeble minded ups... if you are a decent team it helps you bank the wins... and if you finish top 2... 2 home finals straight to the GF.

 

[Sash Cat]

Have a look at this post from Quinz regarding the effect of travel on WA players. Here's an excerpt:


Read the thread as well. It is a very real phenomenon, and I can tell you for certain that Australian rules football is a far more stressful sport on the body than soccer, so I don't think that's an apt comparison. Our HGA is completely mitigated due to the amount of travel we have to do. The point I'm making is that your less travel is a significant advantage. The fact you had seven consecutive games at the MCG adds insult to injury.

And in regards to Rance, all those comments are from a couple years ago - mainly from Channel 7, situated in Victoria. It's all pretty much a discussion of the best Victorian defender of all time, rather than flat out the best one. Consider the other names thrown up as examples of GOATs (e.g. Southby, Silvagni), and you'll see it doesn't include anyone from a WAFL or SANFL team. In recent times, he's proven himself to be a diving prick. Dylan Grimes was better than him last year, and proved his worth to your setup by being named AA in Rance's absence. Why couldn't Rance stop Cox in the prelim, or Darling in 2018? If he's the GOAT, what the hell's up with that?

Sounds like a conspiracy theory with no scientific evidence to actually back up your claim. Feel free to post any studies conducted on the affect flying for 3.5 hours has on footballers. Also, do you have evidence to back up your “certain” claim that Australian Rules is more physically taxing than soccer?

Yes, some are from a couple of years ago, but since they were made, Rance has gone on to win a premiership and maintained his form then he got injured. There’s probably a reason why no West Australian names are thrown up in the discussions for the GOAT defenders and it has nothing to do with bias. Believe it or not, but not everything is a conspiracy against WCE. And Rance didn’t play on Cox in the prelim. You clearly don’t watch him at all. And stop acting like key defenders never have bags kicked on them. All of have had bags kicked on them at some point. Rance is statistically the best one on one defender in the league. His win rate from one on one contests is higher than any other defender and he makes much more contests than any other defender. Have you ever considered you might just be wrong on this one?

I’m glad Grimesy stood up. He has learnt from the best and credited Rance for his success. I also noticed you mentioned All Australian when it suits your argument. Funny that.

 

[Sash Cat]

Also, WCE have had a massive drug culture for some time now and their premiership in the 00s is unfortunately tainted. I know a lot of it is recreational, but they can still impact cardiovascular health and your overall recovery process. You’d also be naive to completely rule out performance enhancing drugs. We all know what happened to Essendon when they started doping. You have to consider it as a possibility, especially with some of the stories you read about their dodgy doctors feeding them benzos like they were Skittles. Perhaps their distinct lack of games in comparison to Victorian clubs is more so linked to their drug use as opposed to sitting on a plane. I think that would be a much more plausible explanation.

 

[Capriati]

Doesn't hurt either to have such a fortress of a home ground... one sided crowd, feeble minded ups... if you are a decent team it helps you bank the wins... and if you finish top 2... 2 home finals straight to the GF.

If it is a fortress, it's because we make it a fortress. Not all teams outside Victoria have a home ground advantage as strong as West Coast's.

Same as it doesn't hurt Richmond and Hawthorn getting to play the Grand Final on their home ground irrespective of finishing position.

The umpiring comment is childish and reductive.

 

[Capriati]

Post me some links to academic approved material please.

And you beat us in round 3 in 2018, so Damian certainly went early in reaching this conclusion given the fact he hadn’t faced 14 other teams at this stage. Collingwood for example were barely out of first gear. Damian is also known for being overly complimentary towards opposition sides post game, so much so that it’s become a running inside joke on our board. I wouldn’t read into it. Everyone knew Richmond were the team to beat in 2018 hence our ladder position at the end of the season but unfortunately injuries struck at the wrong time. Collingwood were also flawless in the prelim so credit to them.

I’m banging on about the change in conditions from Brisbane to Melbourne. 19 degrees in Brisbane probably feels like thirty degrees to someone coming from Melbourne, where it barely reaches 12 degrees in winter. And didn’t Brisbane beat you by 50 points at the GABBA this year? Must’ve been from all that travel you had done in the weeks prior. Oh wait. That was round one. What’s your excuse for that loss? Perhaps you’re just not as good as you think you are and the travel factor only plays a role when it suits your narrative.

It was actually later in the season, game was in round 9. Turns out Dimma was quite prescient in the remarks he made, wasn't he?

19 degree night in Brisbane in September is not winter.

We lost to Brisbane, so what? they also beat Geelong and a lot of other good teams in 2019.

Still doesn't change that West Coast is one of the favourites to win the flag in 2020. You're just going to have to do with it.

Confirmed Troll.

 

[Luv_our_club]

If it is a fortress, it's because we make it a fortress. Not all teams outside Victoria have a home ground advantage as strong as West Coast's.

Same as it doesn't hurt Richmond and Hawthorn getting to play the Grand Final on their home ground irrespective of finishing position.

The umpiring comment is childish and reductive.

Yeah... we don't go on and on and on complaining about things.. like how we do not have a home ground advantage against other Vic teams... and not getting a clear home ground advantage during the finals against other Vic teams....

It gets tiring hearing WC supporters banging on about how disadvantaged they are.

I think when you suck, the travel probably hurts you. When you are a strong team, i think your WA fortress and home finals gives you a huge advantage.

 

[Capriati]

Yeah... we don't go on and on and on complaining about things.. like how we do not have a home ground advantage against other Vic teams... and not getting a clear home ground advantage during the finals against other Vic teams....

It gets tiring hearing WC supporters banging on about how disadvantaged they are.

I think when you suck, the travel probably hurts you. When you are a strong team, i think your WA fortress and home finals gives you a huge advantage.

If you are so tired of hearing about West Coast, why would you come in to a thread discussing West Coast prospects for 2020?

Please post the quote of me banging on about the travel of MCG stuff?

 

[Sash Cat]

It was actually later in the season, game was in round 9. Turns out Dimma was quite prescient in the remarks he made, wasn't he?

19 degree night in Brisbane in September is not winter.

We lost to Brisbane, so what? they also beat Geelong and a lot of other good teams in 2019.

Still doesn't change that West Coast is one of the favourites to win the flag in 2020. You're just going to have to do with it.

Confirmed Troll.

He was wrong. Collingwood should’ve been the premiers. You should be thankful the umpire’s ineptness during a critical moment gifted you a flag. Richmond were also the best side in 2018. Stop trying to put yourselves on our level. It’s insulting.

I acknowledge the betting market has WCE as one of the premiership favourites, but that doesn’t mean I agree with it. A good ordinary side + Tim Kelly - Willie Rioli won’t win the premiership.