Keys
Looking for a cloud to yell at
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Dawn of a New Era
A process that tentatively started at the end of the 2021 season reached a tipping point over the 2023/24 off season. What had been a subtle shift became undeniable and after two years of obfuscation the club has now fully embraced the fact they are in a rebuild. Some would (quite rightly) say it’s stating the obvious
How much as the club changed?
Here’s a list :
• Of the 44 listed players in 2024, a full 50% have come to the club following 2021. Only 22 of the 42 players from 2021 remain
• At the start of 2024, 22 players were aged 21 or younger and just 5 were over 30 transforming us from one of the oldest lists to one of the youngest
• With the retirement of Luke Shuey, Liam Duggan and Oscar Allen were appointed new co-captains
• Whilst Simpson remains head coach, Luke Webster is the only line coach remaining from 2021. Jaymie Graham, Adrian Hickmott and Daniel Pratt have all departed, replaced by Jarrad Schofield, Matthew Knights and Luke Shuey
• Our S&C/high performance department has been completely overhauled. Mathew Inness, Mark Kilgallon and Paul Turk have joined following the departures of Glenn Stewart, Jordan Stares and Warren Kofoed who had all been at the club for over 10 years
• We have a new list manager in Matthew Clarke from Richmond and a new recruiting manager, Duane Massey, who was promoted from within. Rohan O’Brien who’d held those roles left after 30 years at the club
• And the small matter of Trevor Nisbett standing down as CEO after spending 25 years in that role and another 10 as football manager. Don Pyke has sizeable shoes to fill but brings the energy and acumen needed to oversee the clubs next phase
It’s a new look playing group looking to forge it’s own identity as it begins the long climb to further success
Preseason is Over
It’s been a long, hot summer and a gruelling preseason. After two injury cursed seasons there was a renewed focus on building durability into the playing group.
There’s been a significant increase in contact work and a focus on repeat high speed running in a plan to prepare the players for the season ahead
This strategy hasn’t come without some casualties but the club as articulated by Pyke has acknowledged that if you push the players to their limits, sometimes you can go too far
As it stands, 36 of 44 players are available for selection and overall the group looks bigger and stronger
The Port Challenge
On Sunday, we get an audit on what difference, if any, all that hard work over summer has made
In the corresponding game last year we managed one of our more respectable losses going down by 40 points, 16.13(109) to 10.9(69). Outside of a 6 goal to 1 second quarter we held our own through the other 3 quarters and Jai Culley earned a rising star nomination for his 4 goals
This game won’t be any easier. Our practice match form doesn’t give cause for great confidence against a Port side that comfortably accounted for Fremantle
The Likely Lads
Team selection is still to come and according to Simpson there’s 6-7 players fighting over the last 3 or so spots
My likely starting 18 is :
FB: Cole Barrass Hough
HB: Duggan McGovern Ginbey
C: Gaff Kelly Hunt
HF: Cripps Darling Brockman
FF: Long Allen Waterman
R: Williams Yeo Reid
INT: Jamieson Witherden Chesser Petruccelle
SUB: Jones
EMER: Maric Edwards Barnett
Gaff has probably just done enough over preseason to keep his spot on the wing but he’s far from a lock. Waterman I have ahead of Maric for now but that’s close to line ball.
The rest of the starting 18 are self explanatory although Brockman still has to be declared fit at training on Thursday
The interchange bench is tricky and depends on team balance/strategy
1) Bailey will ruck but needs a backup. They could use Waterman as a pinch hitter as they did at times last year or go with a bigger body like Jamieson, Barnett or possibly Jack Williams. I suspect they’ll use Jamieson who can also be used as a defender. If they use Waterman then Maric will play as the spare forward
2) Jones and Witherden are likely competing for the 7th defender role. For whatever reason, Jones seems slightly out of favour and didn’t play in the firsts in either practice game. On that basis I think Witherden, who played well on Fogarty v Adelaide, gets the nod
3) Two spots to be raffled between Chesser, Edwards, Petruccelle and possibly Hall as a wildcard debut having gotten over his ankle sprain. I’m leaning to Chesser and Petruccelle mainly due to their pace
Potential Port Lineup
I don’t think it matters who Port select, just know that they’ll field a strong side so I’m giving zero *s who plays for them
What are we searching for
1) Spirit
It’s been a word thrown about extensively over preseason, that they want to play with spirit as a starting point. Be strong in the contest and have a crack
If they do that over four quarters then that’s a pass mark provided they also play with a bit of dare and take the game on. Mistakes are inevitable and acceptable if they’re trying to move the ball quickly. Coughing up the ball because a dinky little 20m sideways/backwards chip pass misses it’s target isn’t
2) The back page hero
Harley Reid, the most hyped player to arrive at West Coast since the last No.9.
It’s been a pretty wild summer for young Harley who’s had more front/back page appearances in the West Australian shitrag than Dark Sharks has reused jokes
There’s no doubting his quality but it has to be remembered he’s still only 18 and will be playing his first AFL game. I have no doubt Port will target him so it will be up to the senior players in the midfield especially to protect him and fly the flag for him when required.
We’ll all be watching and watching
3) The other Young Guns
It’s not just Harley we should be watching though. Hough, Long, Chesser, Ginbey and Brockman are all exciting talents who will be a big part of push to returned success in the coming years
They’ve all had a taste so know what to expect and I look forward to see how they play
4) The Cripples
Safe to say we’ve had issues getting our senior players on the park in recent seasons. But if we’re to be competitive our leaders have to stand up - McGovern, Yeo, Kelly, Barrass, Cripps, Darling, Gaff and our two new captains need to set the standard for the young guys to follow
5) A Semblance of a Game Style
Along with spirit, Identity has been the new buzzword. This side is miles from the finished product, and we don’t expect them to be but it’d be nice to see signs of what the coaching group is trying to implement
Bold Prediction
Well there’s always a chance, Sportsbet are paying $9.20 for anyone that’s interested, but a win is unlikely
If we can keep the margin to under 5 goals that would be a mighty effort
Danger game
West Coast win with a goal after the siren by Jack Darling
