Analysis Positives and Negatives for Season 2019

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...Jarrod Brander. O.k so this is a little harsh as KPP can take much longer to mature but i was hoping to see a little more from Jarrod this year , even if it was in the two's. He still a rather light frame so look forward to seeing what he can do over the pre season. Definitely not for trade.
...

Firstly, thanks for the in depth post. Good to read through some detailed thoughts on how we went.

In relation to the quoted, I think you are being harsh on Brander. He was BOG in several matches IMO for the Beagles. I really think we have got a top shelf, silky KPF on our hands here. His experience up the ground this year will be invaluable and, dare I say it, was at times reminiscent of Buddy when he was dobbing them comfortably from outside 50 after linking up play from defence. Often our cleanest player in wet conditions.

Being in the queue behind Jake - has some extra experience and Allen - Larke medallist and also an obvious talent, with JJK, Darling and a resting ruck in the selection mix is no shame.
 

wc_eagles_since86

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Apr 25, 2019
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I've been thinking about this for a bit:

When the Australian cricket team under Lehmann were failing badly and decided to go and be *ed with the ball, I felt that Lehmann was a terrible coach and that there was this lout/lad culture going on in the team which Langer quickly squashed (I wouldn't * with that guy, he's so focused man).

I also feel that there was for some time this sort of business going on under Cheika who I also rate as low as you could possibly get (the man is a punch-drunk ****) who clearly has zero coaching finesse.

When professional athletes get that way, it is usually indicative of something deeper and unstable under the surface and pangs of arrogance.

I felt a pinch of that when I saw Barrass and McGovern with their high pants stunt. Vardy's behaviour seemed to reflect a similar pattern (thankfully his awful season was cut short). Dare I say it, Willie's * up.. I'm not saying it's Simpson, although nothing could be ruled out. I felt that perhaps that's a pervading attitude with some of the players and it has really weakened their resolve after climbing the mountain. I don't pretend to know anything about being a premiership player or AFL athlete, but it was a worrying sign of complacency between those two (Mc + TB) in particular.
 

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Spange

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May 24, 2007
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Positives:
  • For me the biggest positive was the steps forward Jarrod Cameron and Oscar Allen took. I am pretty bullish on both of these players becoming elite.
  • Willie and Ryan in the same forward line is deadly. Here's hoping Willie comes back mid-next year
  • Shep gonna Shep. The guys is a god
  • Yeo took another big stride and is still on the up.
  • NicNat returned from Injury, got injured but made it back and you could see he was impacting games on limited time.
  • Nelson picked up a good chunk of experience in in Duggan's absence.
  • Closer to Tim Kelly

Negatives:
  • Not going Back to Back
  • Opposition blocking or holding Barrass and McGovern is the new strategy that somehow gets overlooked by umpires
  • Willie
  • Losing to Collingwood after being in control for so long in the game. Hacking it to the same pocket in the 4th qtr expecting a different result.
  • Kennedy sick/injured for a period and taking a backward step. Declining perhaps I hate to say.
  • For me the midfield with Gaff back didn't operate as good when we had Redden and Sheed picking up the slack. I love the guy but his ball use to me is usually a hack it forward unless he's in a chain of hand. Be good to get Kelly
  • Game time for Brander
  • Emerging young midfielders :eyes: Where?
 

The wily weagle

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Brander and Ah Chee should be absolutely ripping it up for the Beagles

They have had some good games, but they are hardly looking like sandover medal contenders.

It's a worry, because we know how could they can be, but they never quite can string it for any sort of sustained period
 

ME ME ME

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ending our season in the Semi-final feels like a massive step down from reaching the pinnacle in 2018.

Oh well its impossible to keep doing this every year, so every man and his dog will experience a premiership at any given time.
 
Oct 29, 2007
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A very frustrating year because our best was awesome and our worst was woeful.

Negatives:

- No back to back. Never easy i know but i thought we could do it.
- Foot injuries during pre-season and during the season to key players.
- Our ovals surface contributing to these injuries.
- Willies silly mistake.
- Gov and Barrass out of form during the most important part of the year when we know they are so much better than they are. Barrass hand i have been told has been broken for 6 weeks and was in pretty bad shape.
- Vardys terrible form.
- Nic Nat only playing 4 games.
- Cole going backwards. Still young to turn his game around.
- Sheeds end to the year. Have heard he has been struggling with a groin injury for a large chunk of the year.

Positives:

- Won 15 games and won a final.
- Great MCG wins v the Pies and Hawks. 2 teams we rarely beat over there.
- Pumped games into Allen & Pet.
- Got a few games into Cameron and Rotham. Both look primed for best 22 last year.
- Ryan improving his game with his hard running and defensive work.
- Darling proving he can lead the forward line.
- Hickey providing a decent option to allow Nic Nat to do his thing.
- Nic Nat ending the year not injured since 2015. This will let him have a decent pre-season.
- Yeo, Shuey & Gaff killing it in the midfield all year.
- Jetta was on fire this year and glad he is around for another year.
- Hurns first half was epic.
 

Moley27

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Positives:
  • 16 wins including the home final is a pretty decent year, gave us plenty to cheer and there were some good away wins in the mix.
  • Yeo went to another level with defensive pressure.
  • Shep finally getting some well deserved attention.
  • Darling showed that 2018 was not a flash in the pan and became our de-facto number one forward.
  • The small forward brigade were great and have become the most damaging in the comp from a position of weakness 2-3 years ago
  • Impressive showings from young guys, especially Oscar Allen, Rotham when he played, Cameron for having a greater impact than anyone could have hoped and Petruccelle who is far from the finished article but showed he can play a role.
  • Lewis Jetta's play off half-back has become elite, his field kicking is a weapon that every team would love to have, even if it sometimes results in bad turnovers.
Negatives
  • Inconsistency between games and between quarters. Whilst you could not really say that the Premiership hangover lasted a whole season, the early malaise was a fair indicator that the performance levels would not reach the heights of 2018.
  • Defensive frailties towards the end of the season. It is clear now that the other teams believe that they have found a way to combat our defensive set up and that is to rush the ball forward low and rough wherever possible. If teams have to kick long and high they seem to be taking their chances with the umpires with lots of blocking and arm chopping and in most cases getting away with it.
  • Still lacking a bit of midfield grunt, Sheed, Masten, Gaff even Redden at times are reluctant to put their body on the line and means we rely on too few for too much. Would have been nice to see more of Ah Chee and for M.Allen to get a game
  • 3 defeats at home. Hardly a disaster but ultimately the difference between top 4 and 5th.
  • Senior players coming towards the end, JK was still good for most of the year but slowed down massively towards the end of the season. Hurn was great up until injury but wasn't the same in the back half of the year, Masten and Schofield may have played their last games for the Eagles.
All up it was a reasonably decent season with some major flaws that got papered over slightly due to sufficient wins over weak opposition and the warm glow of being reigning premiers.
 
Jun 30, 2009
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Dec 19, 2007
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Firstly, thanks for the in depth post. Good to read through some detailed thoughts on how we went.

In relation to the quoted, I think you are being harsh on Brander. He was BOG in several matches IMO for the Beagles. I really think we have got a top shelf, silky KPF on our hands here. His experience up the ground this year will be invaluable and, dare I say it, was at times reminiscent of Buddy when he was dobbing them comfortably from outside 50 after linking up play from defence. Often our cleanest player in wet conditions.

Being in the queue behind Jake - has some extra experience and Allen - Larke medallist and also an obvious talent, with JJK, Darling and a resting ruck in the selection mix is no shame.
Rookie,i think theres daylight between Waterman and Oallen.
 

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flyinghi64

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Dec 7, 2006
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As already touched on I have this annoying itch that goes back to the last derby where we smashed Freo and the boys were up and about.
It almost seems that at the time the boys got a bit ahead of themselves and all the other sayings that go with thinking you are the best.

Followed that win with a loss to Pies, at home.
Then 4 pretty easy teams Melb, Nth, Car and Ad all of whom we should have beaten by more than we did.
Then finally play a couple of quality teams in Richmond and Hawks and lose.

Pos,
Nicnat finished the year playing (bloody well) and uninjured so should get a full preseason into him.
More games into young talent, Petrol, OAllan, Waterman, Rotham and even Watson.
Ryan improved and become more consistent.
Darling made AA and deserved it.
Yeo, Gov and Hurn the same.
When we are on we are elite. Some games were won by a quarter of this footy.
We won a final.

Neg,
Finished 5th when just ONE more win would have gotten top 4 maybe even top 2.
Kennedy just seemed, well, you know. Hopefully he can clean up whatever niggles he has, get some preseason into him and come back next year better.
Probably should have put games into a few others or at least extra games into guys like Watson, Rotham and Ah Chee. All of whom played well when given the chance.
Once again we fade out of games letting oppo back in or letting them have a jump start.
MRO just hates us.
RIOLI AAArrrgghhh
We lost a final
 

southcoast

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Not sure if anyone else picked it up - The West (today - 16 Sept) rated all WCE players for the last season.

Didn't have time to read the details but a cursory glance at the ratings led me to believe we had finished at the foot of the table and not fifth. Ratings and final ladder position didn't seem to match.
 

ioppolo

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Not sure if anyone else picked it up - The West (today - 16 Sept) rated all WCE players for the last season.

Didn't have time to read the details but a cursory glance at the ratings led me to believe we had finished at the foot of the table and not fifth. Ratings and final ladder position didn't seem to match.
Probably compared it to last year's performance.
 
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A spluttering season that never got going and ended with more negatives than positives really.

But we'll be up and around the mark again next year.

There is no Brisbane Lions 2002-03-04 or Hawks 13-15 teams around so really whoever is playing their best in September can snag one.

We hope its our team.

Go Eagles

On SM-G925I using BigFooty.com mobile app
 

The wily weagle

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Weren't we 17th for ground ball differential and 18th in the league for contested possession differential? That alone illustrates the problem right there.

This is nothing new, but we need to get much better at winning the contested ball when it's hits the deck. And the truth is, we haven't really been good at that for a very long time


Yeo and Shuey do all the heavy hauling and if one of them has a bad night, the team is in trouble.

Also, it's a huge concern that we don't seem to have any good young inside midfielders coming through the ranks either
 

dkalphy

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What makes this season a waste is that we had a healthy list.. and we only made the semi finals. We had the most healthy list from the competing teams in the finals, and that hurts.
 
Dec 19, 2007
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Weren't we 17th for ground ball differential and 18th in the league for contested possession differential? That alone illustrates the problem right there.

This is nothing new, but we need to get much better at winning the contested ball when it's hits the deck. And the truth is, we haven't really been good at that for a very long time


Yeo and Shuey do all the heavy hauling and if one of them has a bad night, the team is in trouble.

Also, it's a huge concern that we don't seem to have any good young inside midfielders coming through the ranks either
Totally agree.We clung for dear life to the 2018 success plan yet didnt.Last year we debuted 8? newbies.MAllen may or may not be up to it but we werent game to bring him in coz we were just hanging in and we stuck to our campaigners.Hickey did a good job but he gives us very little physically.Lets hope we give Williams an early shot at FF next year.In hindsight we should have played Vardy against Geelong.He was just starting to show a bit and hes an animal.
 
Jun 30, 2009
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Deroesfromgero
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Negative:

The Gov Barass Harry High Pants should have been a warning sign that a fair chunk of our side weren’t committed to doing what was required to go back to back.

Maybe internally there was some recriminations, but I suspect the Simpson love in approach falls short when you have reached the summit.
Needs some bitchin sam mitchell....

Every commanding officer needs a regimental sergeant major.........
 

The wily weagle

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Needs some bitchin sam mitchell....

Every commanding officer needs a regimental sergeant major.........

Agree 1000%. Simpson had shown he is utterly incapable of getting mad, even when absolutely warranted. We need a real head kicker of an assistant. I wouldn't be against us getting Don Pyke back in board
 

Eagleboy68

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Jun 11, 2015
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this is going to sound like a cop out but it really bothers me when top 4-8 positions are decided by percentage when we have a club like gold coast in the league

Sorry but our fault we didn't flog them by 100 like the rest of the top 4 did.

Win by more than 23 points at home and we finish second.

😐
 

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