Autopsy Positives and Negatives vs Sydney

[Obeanie1]

We were younger than the Swans. Tallent identification, list management and development is an area where the swans are light years ahead of us.

We have young players who struggle after 3-4 years on our list. Unless they bring something very special (2M++, absolute pace etc) if they arnt a good AFL player after three seasons it is time to move them on.

Pretty sure we were averaging 50 games more experience out there than the Swans.

How that makes our team younger than the Swans is questionable. Actually it sounds like BS.

JK, Hurn, Shuey, Darling, Redden, Cripps all 30 and older. Yeo 29.

Swans rested their old timer in Kennedy.

Our youngest was who, Foley? 3rd year player and drafted as a 19 year old.

 

[hudson2006]

+ My uncle couldn’t go so I got to attend, and I loved the experience regardless of the result. Some fun banter and I couldn’t help but be entertained by the Swans fans heckling Darling.

+ JK had a couple of awesome JK moments.

+ Ryan ditto.

+ Huge D was fun to watch, we finally have a useful 2nd ruck who offers something around the ground.

+ Enjoyed watching Naish before he’s dropped for Gaff.

+ Got to see a good game plan executed by a well oiled machine up close, well done Swans. Worked hard and deserved to smash us.

- No Gov no WCE.

- Need a decent first ruck.

- Rioli was quiet.

- Witherden & Rotham worked hard but were bloody awful and beaten time and again one-on-one. All their failure kept happening in the pocket near us too, so I was treated to some excellent marks and goals by Heeney & co up close.

 

[Tugga27]

But it does make a difference mate, spirit and attack on the football is infectious. When you see your teammates hitting the contest hard and winning the ball, everybody else steps up to match that intent. We had no right to win the Collingwood game, or the Saints & Richmond games last year, but we had a lot of young guys putting pressure on their opponents causing spillages and turnovers and giving us opportunities to win the ball back.
Last night, our senior players just jogged two or 3 metres behind their midfield opponents and they waltzed out of the middle and scored time after time.
Skills and ability are definitely required, but everybody has that in the AFL, it’s the teams that bring the attack and intent and pressure that nine times out of 10 win the game.
Even having one young guy in the middle, busting his backside to put pressure on his opponents, may have helped us win a few more contests and not be pantsed in such an embarrassing manner last night. It’s was atrocious.

I agree it was embarrassing and atrocious, but those 2 players wouldn't have made any difference IMO to the result and margin.

 

[hudson2006]

2 more things about the Swans:

Their disposal was shithouse and a good team will exploit that, but who cares when you can kick into space with full trust that your teammate will outrun an unfit Eagles pleb and get onto it first every time.

Their defence was magnificent at spoiling everything coming at them, with full trust that a Swans teammate would win the ground ball and rebound immediately. Was like clockwork, all game.

 

[Godfather32]

Pretty sure we were averaging 50 games more experience out there than the Swans.

How that makes our team younger than the Swans is questionable. Actually it sounds like BS.

JK, Hurn, Shuey, Darling, Redden, Cripps all 30 and older. Yeo 29.

Swans rested their old timer in Kennedy.

Our youngest was who, Foley? 3rd year player and drafted as a 19 year old.

Because it is bullshit

AFL Match Statistics : West Coast defeated by Sydney at Optus Stadium Round 5 Friday, 15th April 2022

West Coast defeated by Sydney at Optus Stadium Round 5 Friday, 15th April 2022 AFL match statistics

www.footywire.com

 

[garlic munchers]

+ve
Naish
Barrass

-ve

It took an autopsy to confirm the patient was dead?

 

[Chump Change]

But it does make a difference mate, spirit and attack on the football is infectious.

There's going to be a lot of games where we don't have it over the next 3-4 years, such is the same with bottom 4 sides.

Buckle up.

 

[Scotland]

I don't want to come onto your board and rub salt into the wound but I want to dispute this a bit. I mean in the last 4 or 5 years Sydney have drafted McCartin, Warner, McInerney, Florent, Rowbottom, Hayward and McLean from picks outside the top 10, often well outside the top 10, and academy guys like Gulden were drafted with picks in the 30's meaning every team passed over him twice.

Yes the academy helped but ultimately the players that helped were Mills, Heeney, Blakey and Campbell, which is a minority of our team. Without the great recruiting of te above listed players (players every team had access to) we would be nowhere.

It's a bit of a nothing argument, though. No one is calling those players top 5 picks or academy selections. I don't really care if teams take as many academy players as they want after about pick 25.

Rioli was pick 52. Darling pick 26, Ryan and Allen were drafted in the 20s, Barrass was pick 43, McGovern was a rookie listed player. Etc. All lists are comprised mostly of players taken outside the first round. And recruiting of 18 year olds is so hit and miss there are always good players taken later in the draft each year.

Good clubs recruit well, poor clubs recruit poorly. You don't think we'd be in a stronger position now if we had say Luke Jackson, Aaron Naughton, Deven Robertson and Liam Henry coming through on top of what we already have? If you don't see going to an open draft with pick 4 knowing you have pick pick 5-10 in your back pocket for points or having 3 top 10 picks in contending seasons isn't a huge leg up in rebuilding a list then I can't help you. Teams need elite talent to win. Melbourne's gun midfield has Gawn who was pick 34 and took years to get going. Great, which of Petracca (2), Brayshaw (3), Oliver (4), Viney (F/S), Jackson (3) are they gonna give back?

 

[eaglesnutcase]

_Pride cometh before a fall.
_Match committee get a zero out of ten
_West;as ive said before;brings so much energy.
_Earn your place at WAFL. Doesnt matter who you are.
_This is exposing your coaching credentials Simmo.Youve had guns at your disposal for so long youve forgotten how to think outside the box.
_Lets get something straight!! Williams needs to play full forward NOT ruck.Stradnica needs to be thrown in the deep end.
_ OAllen can play CHF.Honestly i think JD needs to go on the trade table.

 

[lusheslewis]

Without Naitanui we needed Williams to halve the ruck and Shuey, Kelly, Yeo to carry us with 30 touches each. Instead they had zero impact for the first 45 minutes and the game was over before we scored.

Rotham and Hurn are a bit worrying but I thought Barrass, Witherden, Foley were good.

Hard to judge the forwards.

Given the disruption and some decent signs in Rounds 1,2,4 just have to move on and hope things improve.

 

[junebug]

Coming in late here, but how many people listen to the Real Footy podcast?

It was pointed out on this week's pod that WCE fans were among the worst offenders booing Goodes - I wonder if the Swans and their fans had forgotten? I certainly wasn't aware that we were offenders in this regard (mostly because I was living in Melbourne and dependant on FTA so was NEVER going to see a WC/Sydney match on FTA in Melb). Maybe they decided they needed give a little back because they were reminded too. Mind you, next to Freo, I'd put Sydney as our biggest rival team, so it may have had nothing to do with Goodes.

It makes me ashamed to learn that my fellow fans were part of that pile-on though. I hope we've all learned better since then.

 

[Chump Change]

Coming in late here, but how many people listen to the Real Footy podcast?

It was pointed out on this week's pod that WCE fans were among the worst offenders booing Goodes - I wonder if the Swans and their fans had forgotten? I certainly wasn't aware that we were offenders in this regard (mostly because I was living in Melbourne and dependant on FTA so was NEVER going to see a WC/Sydney match on FTA in Melb). Maybe they decided they needed give a little back because they were reminded too. Mind you, next to Freo, I'd put Sydney as our biggest rival team, so it may have had nothing to do with Goodes.

It makes me ashamed to learn that my fellow fans were part of that pile-on though. I hope we've all learned better since then.

I wouldn't think Swans players still think about that, then blame WC fans more than others teams.

That peanut in the crowd with the "it wasn't a mark" placard? Embarrassed to be an Eagles supporter.

 

[Scotland]

The reason that Naish, Jones, West, O'Neill, Foley stand out is that they play with pace and energy. Yeah they turn the ball over and get caught in tackles a bit, but it's not like the slow, safe ball users don't. How many times this year have we turned the ball over in the back half from kicks that league footballers should execute 99 times out of 100? I'm looking at Witherden, Hurn, Rotham, McGovern, Barrass... It you can't hit a target in the back pocket 20m away then you should be going long down the line to a contest at every opportunity.

 

[Scotland]

I highly doubt that booing of a player that retired in 2015 was a motivating factor. By my count only 5 players from the last Sydney team to play in Perth featuring Adam Goodes played last night. They're just a top 6 team and we are a bottom 6 team.

 

[Superstar swan]

Positives:

Naish is a find. Not a great game by him but still trying the corridor kicks whenever possible.

Was impressed by some of Witherden's defensive efforts (TBH i did miss some chunks of the game). Was worried he was just an offensive assest but proving me wrong.

Obvious Williams isn't ready for the number one ruck role yet but he does show a lot of signs for a young ruck that he will be handy in a few years.

It's a bit of a nothing argument, though. No one is calling those players top 5 picks or academy selections. I don't really care if teams take as many academy players as they want after about pick 25.

Rioli was pick 52. Darling pick 26, Ryan and Allen were drafted in the 20s, Barrass was pick 43, McGovern was a rookie listed player. Etc. All lists are comprised mostly of players taken outside the first round. And recruiting of 18 year olds is so hit and miss there are always good players taken later in the draft each year.

Good clubs recruit well, poor clubs recruit poorly. You don't think we'd be in a stronger position now if we had say Luke Jackson, Aaron Naughton, Deven Robertson and Liam Henry coming through on top of what we already have? If you don't see going to an open draft with pick 4 knowing you have pick pick 5-10 in your back pocket for points or having 3 top 10 picks in contending seasons isn't a huge leg up in rebuilding a list then I can't help you. Teams need elite talent to win. Melbourne's gun midfield has Gawn who was pick 34 and took years to get going. Great, which of Petracca (2), Brayshaw (3), Oliver (4), Viney (F/S), Jackson (3) are they gonna give back?

Sorry for the intrusion but getting the double bite at the top 5 pick is entirely norf's fault and their incompetence.

They should have biD on Campbell their and force us to burn the pick on him. They didn't and we got Logan, hawks were smart enough to bid on the next pick tho

 

[Flarn Rarn]

Coming in late here, but how many people listen to the Real Footy podcast?

It was pointed out on this week's pod that WCE fans were among the worst offenders booing Goodes - I wonder if the Swans and their fans had forgotten? I certainly wasn't aware that we were offenders in this regard (mostly because I was living in Melbourne and dependant on FTA so was NEVER going to see a WC/Sydney match on FTA in Melb). Maybe they decided they needed give a little back because they were reminded too. Mind you, next to Freo, I'd put Sydney as our biggest rival team, so it may have had nothing to do with Goodes.

It makes me ashamed to learn that my fellow fans were part of that pile-on though. I hope we've all learned better since then.

Is it likely that West Coast fans are more racist than fans of other clubs, or that a stadium of 40k people mostly supporting the opposition team would be louder?

 

[Superstar swan]

Is it likely that West Coast fans are more racist than fans of other clubs, or that a stadium of 40k people mostly supporting the opposition team would be louder?

I don't think racism had anything to do with it. Wce fans are close to the most vocal in the comp and good on an. I think the swans were giving it back to them and having a bit of fun with it. Nothing overboard from both crowd and swans. Fair play I say

 

[Flarn Rarn]

I don't think racism had anything to do with it. Wce fans are close to the most vocal in the comp and good on an. I think the swans were giving it back to them and having a bit of fun with it. Nothing overboard from both crowd and swans. Fair play I say

Fair enough, and I would agree that arguing it had anything to do with Adam Goodes does seem like a long bow. It's just one of my pet peeves that people think the WCE crowd are more anything than another club - there's just a lot of them both in raw numbers and the fact they make up ~90% of the crowd at home games.

 

[MrKK]

A simply tremendous thing to hear.

It's disgraceful to run guys back into fitness in the AFL team and an insult to fans who spend enormous time and money to attend the games.

A friend's dad was there yesterday for his first game as a member after 18 YEARS as an ITW member. The club took a dump on his loyalty.

 

[Superstar swan]

Fair enough, and I would agree that arguing it had anything to do with Adam Goodes does seem like a long bow. It's just one of my pet peeves that people think the WCE crowd are more anything than another club - there's just a lot of them both in raw numbers and the fact they make up ~90% of the crowd at home games.

100% I love the atmosphere at eagles games, what's the point of playing away if you don't have to put up with noise from the crowd. I think the swans boys enjoyed it. Great atmosphere at optus

 

[Chump Change]

It's disgraceful to run guys back into fitness in the AFL team and an insult to fans who spend enormous time and money to attend the games.

A friend's dad was there yesterday for his first game as a member after 18 YEARS as an ITW member. The club took a dump on his loyalty.

He'll be find once the draft pick is unveiled.

It's a nonsense to think you can go to the football every week and expect a team with heart, or a team that can compete. Our race to the borrom of the cycle is being spec up. It's not that bad.

 

[Rowan18]

Not sure if I heard right on the tv coverage but anyone at the game last night able to confirm if TK was given the Bronx cheer by the crowd at one stage?

Don't think so. The umps copped it a bit when they finally awarded us a HTB or free for a throw. There was def a Bronx cheer when we eventually kicked a goal.

The Eagles crowd is more about dissatisfied murmuring. That's far more impactful as there's no mistaking it for anything other than players are playing like s**t.

 

[junebug]

Is it likely that West Coast fans are more racist than fans of other clubs, or that a stadium of 40k people mostly supporting the opposition team would be louder?

I didn't say we are more racist. No way would I believe that when Hawthorn had that "white guys only" policy right up until this century. Just that it was pointed out this week on a very well respected and influential media outlet and Goodes may be gone but the controversy surrounding his treatment has not. And also I said that I don't like the thought that our supporters were part of the pile-on. I never liked it at the time and I still don't. Boo him because he's a shoulder-dipping sook acting for frees, don't boo him because he said that we need a treaty (or whatever he did to offend people after he became AOTY).

 

[Balls In]

I don't hear WCE fans routinely booing any other indigenous players.

 

[Rowan18]

Coming in late here, but how many people listen to the Real Footy podcast?

It was pointed out on this week's pod that WCE fans were among the worst offenders booing Goodes - I wonder if the Swans and their fans had forgotten? I certainly wasn't aware that we were offenders in this regard (mostly because I was living in Melbourne and dependant on FTA so was NEVER going to see a WC/Sydney match on FTA in Melb). Maybe they decided they needed give a little back because they were reminded too. Mind you, next to Freo, I'd put Sydney as our biggest rival team, so it may have had nothing to do with Goodes.

It makes me ashamed to learn that my fellow fans were part of that pile-on though. I hope we've all learned better since then.

That is a complete lie. Hawks and Carlton fans gave it to Goodes in the weeks before playing us.

When he eventually played us he was doing his usual BS of playing for frees and sniping off the ball, then conned the ump into giving him one in F50 when wrestling with Schofield. He quite rightly got booed when kicking the goal as the free was not there.

Jetta then did his made up spear throw dance at the crowd and also got a boo, no surprise there.