Dear West Coast,

[frenchconnection]

..we dont have a senior player group with grit. No fortitude to compete at the big dance in Sept, rnd 2 16 against the Hawks confirmed what the 2012 semi final loss to Pies and 2015 GF loss had shown. This senior grp cannot do it.
Bin our senior players at end of 16..all of them.

Start 17 fresh and build a team around:
SHUEY
SHEED
DUGGAN
GAFF
SHEPPERD
BARASS
MCGOVERN
LYCETT

..and Wellingham. ..on his best kicking days.

Trade all our senior players/and others..they are muppets.
Delist:
Ploddus
Hutchings
Masto
Kennedy
Lecca
Darling
Nic Nat
Hurn
Butler
Hill
Ezy
Schofield
Elis
Ginnas
Bennel
Jetta

Think you are a bit harsh wanting to get rid of Kennedy and Nic Nat as players of their ilk difficult to replace. Where are we going to find a forward of Kennedys quality and a ruck like Nic. The biggest problem is our midfield mix - we have too many of the same type. However also the complete lack of hunger in the side is the biggest problem - makes you wonder if all is happy within the camp as they definitely are not playing for each other. I know you are talking out of frustration, but there's no way a club could get rid of so many players and get replacements of quality in one hit! All we can hope for, for the rest of the season is that the players see the light and realise they have wasted a season (with the fortune also of having so few injuries) and that a miracle may happen and they find some form and start playing like we know they can.

 

[Mickey Rae]

No.
Prelim 11
Semi 12
GF 15
Rnd 2 V Hawks...16.

This Grp has always been soft. The previous coach new it too.
We need to start again. Just get on with it.

Your comments have a smidgeon of merit. I will agree that we can be soft. Just remember that the last two games you have mentioned have been against, what a lot of pundits are labelling, "the best side of all time". They were a little bit soft against us over here in the QF.

 

[frenchconnection]

No.
Prelim 11
Semi 12
GF 15
Rnd 2 V Hawks...16.

This Grp has always been soft. The previous coach new it too.
We need to start again. Just get on with it.

Where the problem started was post 2006 and the Cousins saga, when they had all that councilling (which was probably needed at the time), however at the same time they knocked out any killer instinct the team may have had. What we have today is the result of this! Maybe?

 

[ep2018]

To be honest, Hurn's concession speech and overall demeanor was shockingly bad from the captain after the game. And the way the players jumped around when they played the anthem, you just knew the occasion would get the better of them. Well now they've been there, they wont let it get to them again. Time to go on a winning run, equal second yet playing shit footy, please please please turn it around guys, we should be out of the eight based on form but we're not!! take advantage of it

 

[frenchconnection]

Carpe diem - seize the day.

You don't need to have studied Latin to know. You just need some bogan friends who like tattoos. It means seize the day.

That's the thing though I don't have any bogan friends who like tattoos, as tattoos not my thing!!

 

[WUUBLY DUUBLY]

Think you are a bit harsh wanting to get rid of Kennedy and Nic Nat as players of their ilk difficult to replace. Where are we going to find a forward of Kennedys quality and a ruck like Nic. The biggest problem is our midfield mix - we have too many of the same type. However also the complete lack of hunger in the side is the biggest problem - makes you wonder if all is happy within the camp as they definitely are not playing for each other. I know you are talking out of frustration, but there's no way a club could get rid of so many players and get replacements of quality in one hit! All we can hope for, for the rest of the season is that the players see the light and realise they have wasted a season (with the fortune also of having so few injuries) and that a miracle may happen and they find some form and start playing like we know they can.

Mate...i hear what your saying...but...
I have been to a lot of Eagles games over the past 10yrs in Melb. Unfortunately, ive seen Nic Nat play too many games where he does nothing other than ruck well. He realy offers nothing on a consistent basis around the ground. Ive seen him labour off the ball so often...it cant be denied. Many a game he just goes missing. How many goals does Nic kick. Cox was twice the ruckman Nic is because around the ground in general play Cox was a gun midfielder himself.
I think Lycett can be a gr8 Ruckman snd contribute all over the park, and i think Lycett has more grit than Nic.
Kennedy and Darling are mental soft ons. Neither can manage expectations. ..and i think msybe Jack is not all there ....he just does very dumb moves...no footy smarts...just karate smarts.
Hawks and Eagles have the same talent, and Clarko is overated....but good, its just the Hawks players as a grp are desperate to win...they hate losing with a vengeance and they love to destroy. Our talented lads are just too nice. U cannot instil killer competitive strength/application.
The WCE do not have one of these types mental application :
CUZ
JUDD
KERR
HANNEBERY
JACK
FRANKLIN
MITCHELL
HODGE
LEWIS
RIOLI
MARTIN
ABLETT
DANGERFIELD
J SELWOOD
PENDELBURY
SWANN
..and so on...
No coach can train an individuals application/ determination/ intestinal fortitude. ...it just cannot be done...and every elite team needs a core group of players elite in this area and then a support group of almost elite.
Think WCE 1990s
Matera
Kemp
Jackovich
McKenna
Woosh
Sumich
Mainwairing
..and more

Every great team has this.
Hawks today
Hodge
Rioli
Mitchell
Lewis
Gunston
Roughhead
..and more...these cats destroy.

Now...who the **** in our current Eagles team has this heightened level of mental application?

It wasnt Woosh....its not Simo. Its our particular group. We have built a knitting grp.

Simo however needs to wake up and understand that Clarko wasnt as great as everyone says. Clarko has a great group...which is oustanding recruiting.
Clarko couldn't do any better with our grp than Simo or Woosh. The flavor of the past few years is "the Clarko Hawks way of coaching". This is utter bullshit. Its his grp that is legendary....not Clarko. He is a cracking coach, but so is Worsfold, Thompson, Malthouse, Walsh (tragic), Pyke, Longmire.
Beveridge, Simo and Bolts are brilliant too...but they dont have the Hawks cattle. Of these 3
..and ive seen WBs play WC many times i think the recruiting at the WBs has been very good. They are a team with more strength mentally than us.

Simply....our cattle are talented pretenders to the crown. We need to start again. We realy do.

 

[Eaglemaniac]

**** it guys, lets win the rest of our games, finish 2nd and flog the Hawks in the GF, revenge for last year.

WE CAN DO IT

Who are you and what have you done with the real EP2006?

 

[Mickey Rae]

Who are you and what have you done with the real EP2006?

My instincts tell me that if ep2006 is backing us then we are well and truly cooked!

 

[Chris_6678]

What is Grp? Gross responsive product?

 

[DanWCE]

What is Grp? Gross responsive product?

Get Ridda Pridda

 

[Beutbrute]

What I was expecting to read:

Dear West Coast,
I wrote you but you still aint calling
I left my cell, my pager, and my home phone at the bottom,
I sent two letters back in autumn, you must not-a got 'em
There probably was a problem at the post office or somethin'

 

[Seadog]

Mate...i hear what your saying...but...
I have been to a lot of Eagles games over the past 10yrs in Melb. Unfortunately, ive seen Nic Nat play too many games where he does nothing other than ruck well. He realy offers nothing on a consistent basis around the ground. Ive seen him labour off the ball so often...it cant be denied. Many a game he just goes missing. How many goals does Nic kick. Cox was twice the ruckman Nic is because around the ground in general play Cox was a gun midfielder himself.
I think Lycett can be a gr8 Ruckman snd contribute all over the park, and i think Lycett has more grit than Nic.
Kennedy and Darling are mental soft ons. Neither can manage expectations. ..and i think msybe Jack is not all there ....he just does very dumb moves...no footy smarts...just karate smarts.
Hawks and Eagles have the same talent, and Clarko is overated....but good, its just the Hawks players as a grp are desperate to win...they hate losing with a vengeance and they love to destroy. Our talented lads are just too nice. U cannot instil killer competitive strength/application.
The WCE do not have one of these types mental application :
CUZ
JUDD
KERR
HANNEBERY
JACK
FRANKLIN
MITCHELL
HODGE
LEWIS
RIOLI
MARTIN
ABLETT
DANGERFIELD
J SELWOOD
PENDELBURY
SWANN
..and so on...
No coach can train an individuals application/ determination/ intestinal fortitude. ...it just cannot be done...and every elite team needs a core group of players elite in this area and then a support group of almost elite.
Think WCE 1990s
Matera
Kemp
Jackovich
McKenna
Woosh
Sumich
Mainwairing
..and more

Every great team has this.
Hawks today
Hodge
Rioli
Mitchell
Lewis
Gunston
Roughhead
..and more...these cats destroy.

Now...who the **** in our current Eagles team has this heightened level of mental application?

It wasnt Woosh....its not Simo. Its our particular group. We have built a knitting grp.

Simo however needs to wake up and understand that Clarko wasnt as great as everyone says. Clarko has a great group...which is oustanding recruiting.
Clarko couldn't do any better with our grp than Simo or Woosh. The flavor of the past few years is "the Clarko Hawks way of coaching". This is utter bullshit. Its his grp that is legendary....not Clarko. He is a cracking coach, but so is Worsfold, Thompson, Malthouse, Walsh (tragic), Pyke, Longmire.
Beveridge, Simo and Bolts are brilliant too...but they dont have the Hawks cattle. Of these 3
..and ive seen WBs play WC many times i think the recruiting at the WBs has been very good. They are a team with more strength mentally than us.

Simply....our cattle are talented pretenders to the crown. We need to start again. We realy do.

Never have so many words been used to say so little.

 

[peekaye]

Mate...i hear what your saying...but...
I have been to a lot of Eagles games over the past 10yrs in Melb. Unfortunately, ive seen Nic Nat play too many games where he does nothing other than ruck well. He realy offers nothing on a consistent basis around the ground. Ive seen him labour off the ball so often...it cant be denied. Many a game he just goes missing. How many goals does Nic kick. Cox was twice the ruckman Nic is because around the ground in general play Cox was a gun midfielder himself.
I think Lycett can be a gr8 Ruckman snd contribute all over the park, and i think Lycett has more grit than Nic.
Kennedy and Darling are mental soft ons. Neither can manage expectations. ..and i think msybe Jack is not all there ....he just does very dumb moves...no footy smarts...just karate smarts.
Hawks and Eagles have the same talent, and Clarko is overated....but good, its just the Hawks players as a grp are desperate to win...they hate losing with a vengeance and they love to destroy. Our talented lads are just too nice. U cannot instil killer competitive strength/application.
The WCE do not have one of these types mental application :
CUZ
JUDD
KERR
HANNEBERY
JACK
FRANKLIN
MITCHELL
HODGE
LEWIS
RIOLI
MARTIN
ABLETT
DANGERFIELD
J SELWOOD
PENDELBURY
SWANN
..and so on...
No coach can train an individuals application/ determination/ intestinal fortitude. ...it just cannot be done...and every elite team needs a core group of players elite in this area and then a support group of almost elite.
Think WCE 1990s
Matera
Kemp
Jackovich
McKenna
Woosh
Sumich
Mainwairing
..and more

Every great team has this.
Hawks today
Hodge
Rioli
Mitchell
Lewis
Gunston
Roughhead
..and more...these cats destroy.

Now...who the **** in our current Eagles team has this heightened level of mental application?

It wasnt Woosh....its not Simo. Its our particular group. We have built a knitting grp.

Simo however needs to wake up and understand that Clarko wasnt as great as everyone says. Clarko has a great group...which is oustanding recruiting.
Clarko couldn't do any better with our grp than Simo or Woosh. The flavor of the past few years is "the Clarko Hawks way of coaching". This is utter bullshit. Its his grp that is legendary....not Clarko. He is a cracking coach, but so is Worsfold, Thompson, Malthouse, Walsh (tragic), Pyke, Longmire.
Beveridge, Simo and Bolts are brilliant too...but they dont have the Hawks cattle. Of these 3
..and ive seen WBs play WC many times i think the recruiting at the WBs has been very good. They are a team with more strength mentally than us.

Simply....our cattle are talented pretenders to the crown. We need to start again. We realy do.

People like you should just be banned from being fans.

Team's 5th on the ladder, with a young list, substantial room for improvement and most definitely a premiership window, and you are dribbling on about delisting all but 8 of our players.

Give me a break.

 

[Feeling Groovy]

Seriously Wuubly? I feel this may just be providing more oxygen to the flame but truly WOW. The reality is we played in a GF last year. Yes, we may have had an ok draw (after the year ended it didn't work out being anywhere near as soft as it looked at the start) and we may have been thumped in the GF but we played fantastic football for most of the year despite our limitations in the midfield and injuries in defense. We are also equal second on points, playing well below the level that this team can play. It is hardly time to "start again" and throw the bulk of the team out.

Sure there is a very soft underbelly to the team and glaring deficiencies mostly in our midfield. It may be that we can't win a GF before the likes of Kennedy retire, but most other teams won't too. We are paying for past poor recruiting of midfielders, recruiting the wrong types of mids and simply some bad luck (Cavka, Waterman, expansion teams etc). What we need is to recruit/develop/trade for some bigger/harder mids and some more well rounded mids and fix the mix in the middle. We all know this. We have too many small bodies, which of itself isn't a problem but when they have little natural aggression, it is hard to compensate against bigger bodies. We also have too many very one dimensional mids, which again singularly is not such an issue but when pretty much every mid bar Shuey (not including inexperienced ones for this purpose) fall into this category, it is a major problem. Gaff and Masten are small and outside and cannot impact on a contest. Add Jetta to that mix as well. Many of our other mids lack skills, pace of both. Priddis, for all of his strengths, also has his obvious limitations. Yeo, has the tools but may or may not be a mid. Redden, I will pass judgment on next year after a full preseason. The coaches/recruiters are fully aware of this. Simpson has stated it on numerous occasions. He/they have drafted and traded to try to rectify this and in terms of trading, they can only really get best available with limited options wanting to come to Perth. So far, the trades last year have failed miserably but they may come good. The drafting has been ok but takes time and we have had some awful luck with Cavka and Waterman.

Our game plan also seems to have been found out (and may not work on the MCG) and it does appear that there is a bit of a stubbornness to change it but that may well be because it isn't the game plan itself but the execution of it by the players, who all seem down on form. There is no doubt that to win a GF changes need to be made and we need more leadership and hardness at the ball but that is not going to be achieved by throwing out half the team (including at your suggestion the reigning Coleman medalist who is also leading the Coleman again, Nic Nat, Hill (who has had a great year), Ezy (who is coming back from a knee reco), Priddis, Darling etc etc..

 

[SpaceClef]

People like you should just be banned from being fans.

Team's 5th on the ladder, with a young list, substantial room for improvement and most definitely a premiership window, and you are dribbling on about delisting all but 8 of our players.

Actually we have the 6th oldest list in terms of age, and the 4th oldest list in terms of games played.

http://www.triplem.com.au/melbourne...-each-clubs-list-based-on-age-and-experience/

Not to mention we have only debuted 1 player this season.

 

[peekaye]

Actually we have the 6th oldest list in terms of age, and the 4th oldest list in terms of games played.

http://www.triplem.com.au/melbourne...-each-clubs-list-based-on-age-and-experience/

Not to mention we have only debuted 1 player this season.

Fair enough, but the fact that we are equal 2nd on the ladder save for percentage, and are playing "poor footy" should demonstrate that when we play "good" footy, we are a very good team. Definitely not one that requires us to DELIST our full forward and ruckman.

 

[Belltower]

we have kept winning without nic nat, that is a huge positive. Put him back in the side and we will get more easy goals from stoppages. We got dominated on the weekend and still won, isn't that the sign of a good side? Our midfield is struggling being held together by shuey and priddis and gaff on the outside. We need duggan or nelson or redden to pop up with 20 plus possession games to share the load. The forward line is till getting the job done, Darling was a competitive beast on the weekend but his skills let him down a bit, Lecras and cripps have had a good last month and Hill has the x factor that got us over the line on the weekend.

 

[Falco]

getout.gif

 

[Here2tellyouwhy]

Dear West Coast.

Why have you allowed the media dept to open an account on BigFooty and why did they chose the user name Wuubly Duubly ?

Regards West Coast BF Board.

 

[frenchconnection]

Fair enough, but the fact that we are equal 2nd on the ladder save for percentage, and are playing "poor footy" should demonstrate that when we play "good" footy, we are a very good team. Definitely not one that requires us to DELIST our full forward and ruckman.

Agree wth most on here that all is not lost (I wish they would hurry up though and show some form!) - would like to see a bit more leadership though on game day - not sure being Captain sits comfortably with Hurn, although would love to be proven wrong. Leadership in my opinion is something that you have or you haven't - don't believe it can be taught. Eg some people make brilliant lieutenants but just not cut out for the top job? My 2 cents worth anyway!

 

[Pottering]

Maybe we can afford a Boot Studder then........ we obviously don't have one at the moment as evidenced by the number of times Jack and others keep losing their footing week after week!

Astute thinking, but history is against you. Every time any club is in the doldrums the President announces there will a root and branch review of the entire club from the boot studder, through the coaches, players, footy department, support staff, right up the CEO. But NEVER has it been found that the boot studder is part of the problem.

Yet what you say is actually on the money. I drive my friends mad when I howl as yet another player goes to ground without any contact with another player. It infuriates me beyond belief. If you watch a lot of footy it stands out that the guns; this year it's Dangerfield, Sloane, Steven, Bontempelli, etc never lose their footing for no reason. Sure they might have better balance but my suspicion is that they also make sure their footwear is a good as possible (not simply that which looks the flashest).

Wellingham I feel is our worst in this regard, seems to hit the deck merely by looking sideways. Mackenzie's not great either and Brown's not good. The only compensation is the other clubs are not immune and I see the same guys going to ground for no reason week in, week out. Yet it seems to be ignored when it should be one of the simplest issues to correct.

 

[YippeeYiYeo]

Think it's simple - we lack born leaders. Who are our guys that stand tall when the going gets tough and inspires the team, rallies the troops? Hurn? Priddis? Compare our leaders to Hawks, Geelong, Sydney.

The main thing is though we have no midfield stars. Put our best mids of Shuey, Gaff and Priddis up against all the top teams. Lewis/Mitchell/Hodge, Dangerfield/Selwood/Duncan, Kennedy/Hannebery/Parker. Shuey is our most elite and the only person that he might be accepted by is Geelong who have Duncan. The game starts in the centre and we just don't have 1 truly elite mid, let alone the ideal 2 or 3 that is necessary. It's almost impossible to win a flag if you don't have a Matera/Kemp/Mainwaring or Judd/Cousins/Kerr. Show me the last team that won a premiership with a B-Grade midfield. I cant think of one. We have tried to address that situation with Jetta and Redden but both have been huge disappointments. Unless we can trade for a HUGE name in 2017 we will struggle in this window just to make a GF.

 

[SpaceClef]

Think it's simple - we lack born leaders. Who are our guys that stand tall when the going gets tough and inspires the team, rallies the troops? Hurn? Priddis? Compare our leaders to Hawks, Geelong, Sydney.

The main thing is though we have no midfield stars. Put our best mids of Shuey, Gaff and Priddis up against all the top teams. Lewis/Mitchell/Hodge, Dangerfield/Selwood/Duncan, Kennedy/Hannebery/Parker. Shuey is our most elite and the only person that he might be accepted by is Geelong who have Duncan. The game starts in the centre and we just don't have 1 truly elite mid, let alone the ideal 2 or 3 that is necessary. It's almost impossible to win a flag if you don't have a Matera/Kemp/Mainwaring or Judd/Cousins/Kerr. Show me the last team that won a premiership with a B-Grade midfield. I cant think of one. We have tried to address that situation with Jetta and Redden but both have been huge disappointments. Unless we can trade for a HUGE name in 2017 we will struggle in this window just to make a GF.

We were saying this in 2011 too.

The problem has stemmed from having just one flat out success (Shuey) in a very focused three years where we recruited 11 potential midfielders (Masten, Ebert, Selwood, McGinnity, Shuey, Swift, Smith, Cockie, Sheppard, Stevens, Neates).

You would expect more than a 9% success rate for recruiting, developing and retaining an AFL quality midfielder. Sheppard was a success but I'm sure they hoped he would be a midfielder, and Masten I'm not sure we can put in the same category, though he is a handy B grader.

 

[Mickey Rae]

We were saying this in 2011 too.

The problem has stemmed from having just one flat out success (Shuey) in a very focused three years where we recruited 11 potential midfielders (Masten, Ebert, Selwood, McGinnity, Shuey, Swift, Smith, Cockie, Sheppard, Stevens, Neates).

You would expect more than a 9% success rate for recruiting, developing and retaining an AFL quality midfielder. Sheppard was a success but I'm sure they hoped he would be a midfielder, and Masten I'm not sure we can put in the same category, though he is a handy B grader.

Maybe we could re-draft Neates........played on Jetta on the weekend and, by all accounts, beat him!

 

[SpaceClef]

Maybe we could re-draft Neates........played on Jetta on the weekend and, by all accounts, beat him!

Depress