Candiru
Premiership Player
- Jan 27, 2018
- 3,373
- 4,602
- AFL Club
- West Coast
We made the GF unexpectedly in 2015 and although it's early days in 2018, there does seem to be a top four berth up for grabs.
Richmond are the reigning premiers and seem to have improved further - or at least held their ground. But after that, which teams are definitively better than WC? Maybe GWS on paper? Maybe the Swans if it all clicks? Maybe the Crows? Pre-season, I'd have had Geelong and Port as the other sides in the top six bracket but we've beaten both of them, admittedly in Perth.
So how does the 2018 group compare to the 2015 team that went to the GF?
This was our 2015 GF squad:
B: Wellingham Schofield Hurn
HB: Ellis McGovern Sheppard
C: Rosa Priddis Yeo
HF: Gaff Darling Cripps
F: LeCras Kennedy Hill
R: Naitanui Sheed Shuey
Int: Masten Sinclair Hutchings Butler
Emer: McGinnity Selwood Lycett
There's been significant turnover in three years.
Gone: Wellingham, Ellis, Rosa, Priddis, Hill, Sinclair, Butler, Selwood, McGinnity
Probably not best 22: Schofield, Hutchings
In: Duggan, Barrass, Redden, Jetta, Waterman, Ryan, Rioli, Venables, Cole, Ah Chee, Nelson - depending how you cast the best 22 or best 25.
One note on that - Rosa really didn't need to leave. He thought he'd be unable to get a game. That was silly. He should have stayed.
That aside, it's crazy to consider, but on paper we might actually be a better balanced, more dynamic team in 2018. Certainly some of those young players in the 2015 side - Sheed, Yeo, McGovern - have improved in the three years since, and the veterans who are still there haven't lost much. Kennedy and Hurn, for example, are still top-liners. LeCras fell off a cliff but seems to have found his mojo again. And I think some of the ins are clear upgrades on the guys who have left.
I guess the tricky part of the equation is to know exactly what we'll get from the current crop of kids who've played only a handful of games. Waterman, Ryan, Rioli, Venables and Cole have played fewer than 10 games each but look the goods so far. But how confident should we be about that? Are they 100% bankable yet? Maybe not. But I can't remember a group of kids all coming in at once and all looking as ready to go as these guys. When was the last time we had 5-6 guys (include Petruccelle if you like) with fewer than 10 games played, all close to being best 22, all with considerable upside? Gaff and Darling were walk-up starts in their debut seasons but other than that I can't think of a comparable situation.
It could still go to s**t by the end of 2018, but we might actually be in better shape than in 2015, particularly if those new faces keep tracking the way they have been. Who'd have thought it two months ago?
I guess there are two takeaways from that: 1) what went wrong in 2016-17? 2) it will be bloody disappointing if we lose Gaff, McGovern and/or Lycett to free agency when we are actually pretty well-placed. We've got two or three years where we could reasonably expect to challenge, while still improving. Basically until Kennedy retires. Losing the likes of Gaff and/or McGovern would interfere with that, big time. That will suck balls should it happen. Hopefully they see it that way too and stick around.
Richmond are the reigning premiers and seem to have improved further - or at least held their ground. But after that, which teams are definitively better than WC? Maybe GWS on paper? Maybe the Swans if it all clicks? Maybe the Crows? Pre-season, I'd have had Geelong and Port as the other sides in the top six bracket but we've beaten both of them, admittedly in Perth.
So how does the 2018 group compare to the 2015 team that went to the GF?
This was our 2015 GF squad:
B: Wellingham Schofield Hurn
HB: Ellis McGovern Sheppard
C: Rosa Priddis Yeo
HF: Gaff Darling Cripps
F: LeCras Kennedy Hill
R: Naitanui Sheed Shuey
Int: Masten Sinclair Hutchings Butler
Emer: McGinnity Selwood Lycett
There's been significant turnover in three years.
Gone: Wellingham, Ellis, Rosa, Priddis, Hill, Sinclair, Butler, Selwood, McGinnity
Probably not best 22: Schofield, Hutchings
In: Duggan, Barrass, Redden, Jetta, Waterman, Ryan, Rioli, Venables, Cole, Ah Chee, Nelson - depending how you cast the best 22 or best 25.
One note on that - Rosa really didn't need to leave. He thought he'd be unable to get a game. That was silly. He should have stayed.
That aside, it's crazy to consider, but on paper we might actually be a better balanced, more dynamic team in 2018. Certainly some of those young players in the 2015 side - Sheed, Yeo, McGovern - have improved in the three years since, and the veterans who are still there haven't lost much. Kennedy and Hurn, for example, are still top-liners. LeCras fell off a cliff but seems to have found his mojo again. And I think some of the ins are clear upgrades on the guys who have left.
I guess the tricky part of the equation is to know exactly what we'll get from the current crop of kids who've played only a handful of games. Waterman, Ryan, Rioli, Venables and Cole have played fewer than 10 games each but look the goods so far. But how confident should we be about that? Are they 100% bankable yet? Maybe not. But I can't remember a group of kids all coming in at once and all looking as ready to go as these guys. When was the last time we had 5-6 guys (include Petruccelle if you like) with fewer than 10 games played, all close to being best 22, all with considerable upside? Gaff and Darling were walk-up starts in their debut seasons but other than that I can't think of a comparable situation.
It could still go to s**t by the end of 2018, but we might actually be in better shape than in 2015, particularly if those new faces keep tracking the way they have been. Who'd have thought it two months ago?
I guess there are two takeaways from that: 1) what went wrong in 2016-17? 2) it will be bloody disappointing if we lose Gaff, McGovern and/or Lycett to free agency when we are actually pretty well-placed. We've got two or three years where we could reasonably expect to challenge, while still improving. Basically until Kennedy retires. Losing the likes of Gaff and/or McGovern would interfere with that, big time. That will suck balls should it happen. Hopefully they see it that way too and stick around.
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