Are West Coast the worst team since Fitzroy 1996?

[iameviljez]

Exactly!

Unfortunately you can set your watch to a comparison each and every year. Any comparison of a modern day club to the issues confronting Fitzroy in the mid 1990s is completely unfair. It's actually farcical.

Completely agree. West Coast are just crap through problems of their own making; Fitzroy was a dying club on life support through financial woes that were in no way, shape or form its own fault.

In 1996, Fitzroy could, theoretically, have had a spine of Pert, Roos, Boyd, Osborne and Lynch, with Primus in the ruck. That is genuinely the makings of a premiership side (remembering, that said, that Primus was very young). It wasn't Fitzroy's fault that they had no money.

 

[masai tu]

Of course it's his fault. Why is he not being criticised now in the media? The team was shit with senior players 2 years ago so they should have dropped them for younger guys but he refused and it created a culture of the senior guys not putting in much effort but still being selected which filtered down throughout the club. Simpson may be decent with tactics but he's a shocking motivator and developer

To me, the cancer started to appear during the 2020 COVID Hub in Queensland. Basically put, senior experienced players not leading, more interested in themselves.

Should the cleanout have happened 2 years ago ?, you can only cleanout so much at a time (length of contracts). A good number of players are rolling along in a comfort zone, good pay, bugger all concern for results.

Leaders need to lead, Baker is the only experienced player who gives a damn. Allen & Duggan should divert 30% of their leadership salary to Baker.

 

[ROYAL EAGLE]

To me, the cancer started to appear during the 2020 COVID Hub in Queensland. Basically put, senior experienced players not leading, more interested in themselves.

Should the cleanout have happened 2 years ago ?, you can only cleanout so much at a time (length of contracts). A good number of players are rolling along in a comfort zone, good pay, bugger all concern for results.

Leaders need to lead, Baker is the only experienced player who gives a damn. Allen & Duggan should divert 30% of their leadership salary to Baker.

That's very true the senior players handled it badly and the major part of it was at that time WCE
as a club had the most young children on any team in the AFL it still a record today
The partners made it really hard for the senior players they where not happy and made demands and they took there eye of the game thinking about there family

 

[GastevsBeard]

The accurate point to start tracking our decline is our bye in 2021. Up to then, we were 8-5 and had just snatched victory against Richmond thanks to Kennedy's ridiculous last minute goal.

Rest of 2021: 2-7
2022: 2-20
2023: 3-20
2024: 5-18
2025 to date: 0-5

That puts us at 12-70 in almost 4 full seasons worth of games. I'd be interested how this stacks up against other team's periods of sustained failure, I know North from 2020 onwards would have a similarly bad record.

that game spelt the decline of both sides

I remember Bolton kicked a running goal to put us like 4 goals up & we looked destined to win, and for September

The harbinger of our decline too

 

[Scotland]

IIRC I don’t think we lost a game by over 75 in the whole year

Amateurs.

 

[ioppolo]

that game spelt the decline of both sides

I remember Bolton kicked a running goal to put us like 4 goals up & we looked destined to win, and for September

The harbinger of our decline too

You guys still had a decent season left in you. I think you were two chokes away from top four in 2022.

 

[Scotland]

To me, the cancer started to appear during the 2020 COVID Hub in Queensland. Basically put, senior experienced players not leading, more interested in themselves.

Should the cleanout have happened 2 years ago ?, you can only cleanout so much at a time (length of contracts). A good number of players are rolling along in a comfort zone, good pay, bugger all concern for results.

Leaders need to lead, Baker is the only experienced player who gives a damn. Allen & Duggan should divert 30% of their leadership salary to Baker.

This was handled poorly, and listening to Will Schofield's opinion having been there is that there were a few players with young families who felt like they were in limbo and no one really knew what was going on. Playing footy in Qld for a couple of weeks is a bit different to staying away from newborn babies etc. indefinitely. Freo (they were all staying in the same place) were a much younger side in a rebuilding phase and had a different perspective on things. Sounds like it could've been handled better in terms of communication but as a fan it annoyed me that they (WC) seemed to sook it up. WC and Freo both went 2-3 in Qld though so it was overblown a bit. We also lost to Port and Brisbane who finished 1 and 2.

After the hub WC won 6 in a row and 9 of 11 to finish the season then lost the EF by a point. 2021 started 6-3 then 8-5 before the wheels fell off. IMO way too much emphasis is placed on what happened in a 3 week period in early 2020. From 2015 to 2020 WC won 16, 16, 12, 16, 15, 12 games with 2020 being on pace for a 15 win season playing 22 games. No one rated WC going into 2018 and we weren't even favourites for the GF despite having already beaten Collingwood twice. (Here 19/25 "experts" tip Collingwood: https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/af...t/news-story/02fd28aeedb0cb1eedde4e94c067e2ba). The more time passes the more it seems we should've had a dynasty of 5 flags rather than being a surprise grand finalist in 2015 and a surprise premier in 2018.

As soon as we fell off a cliff it's been an avalanche of reductive reasoning. It's the hub, it's the Tim Kelly trade, it's long term contracts, it's Mano, it's the vibe...

 

[Lavender Bushranger]

This current West Coast side is worse than their 2022-2024 sides which were compared to Fitzroy 1996.
I know North have been bad in recent years but not even they have been as bad as the current West Coast side.
Port weren't even this bad in 2011 despite having tarps and no money.

Do you think the current West Coast side is the worst since Fitzroy 1996?

Are people who make threads presenting their opinions as questions total flogs?

 

[Lach72]

Amateurs.

Yeah, considering Drummer was thought of as a clown car of a coach, that year wasn’t as bad as everyone thinks.


Until trade period…

 

[Howard Littlejohn]

This current West Coast side is worse than their 2022-2024 sides which were compared to Fitzroy 1996.
I know North have been bad in recent years but not even they have been as bad as the current West Coast side.
Port weren't even this bad in 2011 despite having tarps and no money.

Do you think the current West Coast side is the worst since Fitzroy 1996?

West Coast aren't even the worst team this year, and North are slightly better than North 2023. Even 2023 North was probably more like 1993/94 Fitzroy than 1995/96.

 

[WillHayward]

Putting Covid aside as clearly the whole thing was plain weird and unprecedented so nobody knew how best to handle it.

But by the end of the 2022 season it was abundantly clear the Eagles were cooked. That was the time to draw a line in the sand and make some changes and refresh.

But instead they just doubled down on the idea of getting the old 2018 band back together.

That somehow injuries were to blame and that if they could get the band back together then glory was just around the corner. In 2023, the club, the coach and the fans were all pushing this "injuries" narrative which everyone else knew was delusional.

This was a total miscalculation.

 

[King Huskii]

Putting Covid aside as clearly the whole thing was plain weird and unprecedented so nobody knew how best to handle it.

But by the end of the 2022 season it was abundantly clear the Eagles were cooked. That was the time to draw a line in the same and make some changes and refresh.

But instead they just doubled down on the idea of getting the old 2018 band back together.

That somehow injuries were to blame and that if they could get the band back together then glory was just around the corner. In 2023, the club, the coach and the fans were all pushing this "injuries" narrative which everyone else knew was delusional.

This was a total miscalculation.

And I've enjoyed every moment of it

 

[JHF1870]

Watching the game and thinking to myself If Tassie had a free grab at 5 players who would they want

Harley


Ginbey
Waterman


maybe Williams

At least when GC and GWS came in they had young talent

This is one of the worst sides Ive seen

 

[FreoRicci]

Want to know what West Coast fans don’t want to admit?
They’re going to be worst next year and year after.

McGovern
Oscar Allen

12

Oscar Allen

Age

26

Ht

196cm

Wt

96kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

9.8

2star

K

6.6

3star

HB

3.2

3star

M

3.8

4star

T

2.4

4star

G

1.1

4star

No current season stats available

D

8.6

3star

K

5.8

3star

HB

2.8

3star

M

3.8

4star

T

2.0

4star

G

1.2

4star

Tim Kelly

11

Tim Kelly

Age

30

Ht

184cm

Wt

83kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

23.6

5star

K

13.5

5star

HB

10.1

5star

M

3.4

3star

T

4.0

5star

CL

4.9

5star

D

19.9

5star

K

12.3

5star

HB

7.6

4star

M

3.1

3star

T

4.7

5star

CL

3.6

4star

D

21.6

5star

K

10.4

4star

HB

11.2

5star

M

2.8

3star

T

3.8

5star

CL

3.8

5star

Jamie Cripps

15

Jamie Cripps

Age

33

Ht

184cm

Wt

83kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

12.7

3star

K

7.9

3star

HB

4.8

3star

M

3.6

4star

T

3.9

5star

G

1.3

5star

D

10.3

3star

K

6.3

3star

HB

4.0

3star

M

2.4

3star

T

2.4

3star

G

0.4

3star

D

6.4

2star

K

4.2

2star

HB

2.2

2star

M

1.0

1star

T

2.4

4star

G

1.4

5star

Luke Ryan
Yeo
Sheed

Are all 27 and over.
Or possibly free agent- Oscar Allen

12

Oscar Allen

Age

26

Ht

196cm

Wt

96kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

9.8

2star

K

6.6

3star

HB

3.2

3star

M

3.8

4star

T

2.4

4star

G

1.1

4star

No current season stats available

D

8.6

3star

K

5.8

3star

HB

2.8

3star

M

3.8

4star

T

2.0

4star

G

1.2

4star

.

Still not the youngest side of the round.

Will be ugly for a few more years

 

[King Huskii]

Want to know what West Coast fans don’t want to admit?
They’re going to be worst next year and year after.

McGovern
Oscar Allen
Tim Kelly
Jamie Cripps
Luke Ryan
Yeo
Sheed

Are all 27 and over.
Or possibly free agent- Oscar Allen.

Still not the youngest side of the round.

Will be ugly for a few more years

Liam not Luke

 

[sabso]

Liam not Luke

this could be a game show, afl player or minor hemsworth?

 

[Coolangatta]

Want to know what West Coast fans don’t want to admit?
They’re going to be worst next year and year after.

McGovern
Oscar Allen
Tim Kelly
Jamie Cripps
Luke Ryan
Yeo
Sheed

Are all 27 and over.
Or possibly free agent- Oscar Allen.

Still not the youngest side of the round.

Will be ugly for a few more years

And Reid will probably leave.

 

[Le RickyBobby]

Want to know what West Coast fans don’t want to admit?
They’re going to be worst next year and year after.

McGovern
Oscar Allen
Tim Kelly
Jamie Cripps
Luke Ryan
Yeo
Sheed

Are all 27 and over.
Or possibly free agent- Oscar Allen.

Still not the youngest side of the round.

Will be ugly for a few more years

Not according to WC fans. I'm being told they are far superior in how they've done their rebuild. They've almost turned the corner.

 

[FreoRicci]

Not according to WC fans. I'm being told they are far superior in how they've done their rebuild. They've almost turned the corner.

Nope.

Quite a number have to retire or be told to delist.

Average age of the list doesn’t match a rebuild

 

[TheKanga]

Are they a chance of going winless?

They might beat us or the Tigers
Maybe the Saints in the West

 

[bzparkes]

Want to know what West Coast fans don’t want to admit?
They’re going to be worst next year and year after.

McGovern
Oscar Allen
Tim Kelly
Jamie Cripps
Luke Ryan
Yeo
Sheed

Are all 27 and over.
Or possibly free agent- Oscar Allen.

Still not the youngest side of the round.

Will be ugly for a few more years

Bizarre post.

McGovern - Agreed.
Oscar Allen - Not currently offering much
Tim Kelly - Bad
Jamie Cripps - Ok, plenty of others to fill his position.
Luke Ryan - Dud player, but he plays for Freo, so I'll accept it.
Yeo - Yes but we've got 2 more years. Injury was bad but was impact, not soft tissue.
Sheed - Been cooked for 3 years. Doesn't count.

As to not being the youngest side this round, good to see the BF obsession with youth continues..

 

[King Huskii]

Bizarre post.

McGovern - Agreed.
Oscar Allen - Not currently offering much
Tim Kelly - Bad
Jamie Cripps - Ok, plenty of others to fill his position.
Luke Ryan - Dud player, but he plays for Freo, so I'll accept it.
Yeo - Yes but we've got 2 more years. Injury was bad but was impact, not soft tissue.
Sheed - Been cooked for 3 years. Doesn't count.

As to not being the youngest side this round, good to see the BF obsession with youth continues..

Luke Ryan a dud

He's better than most of your bavkline. Your team must really suck.

Oh He's also an All Australian so yeah

 

[Angak]

If norf deserved priority picks just 18months ago I think the eagles are in for a shout. They've been poor for a long time

 

[garlic munchers]

Watching the game and thinking to myself If Tassie had a free grab at 5 players who would they want

Harley


Ginbey
Waterman


maybe Williams

At least when GC and GWS came in they had young talent

This is one of the worst sides Ive seen

I have been pretty harsh on WC for 3 years now..... but if Tassie was offered Hough, Maric, Hewett and Archer Reid as a free hit they would most certainly take them all.

 

[iameviljez]

Are they a chance of going winless?

No.

This discussion happens every year and it never comes to fruition.