Prediction Round 9, 2026: Changes vs Melbourne

[KERRPOW]

Leave tom cole

28

Tom Cole

Age

29

Ht

188cm

Wt

83kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

11.9

3star

K

7.0

3star

HB

5.0

4star

M

3.7

4star

T

2.7

4star

MG

110.3

2star

D

10.5

3star

K

6.3

3star

HB

4.3

3star

M

3.0

3star

T

2.5

3star

MG

110.3

2star

D

9.8

3star

K

5.6

3star

HB

4.2

4star

M

2.4

3star

T

1.8

4star

alone

 

[EaglesVille]

Given that Cole had his knee buckled and landed on early last week and was off for some time and hobbling
At least give him another game
Ruining every players confidence with 1 in and then out is not a good strategy

 

[Shueygod]

I wanna see our Captain go tag Kosi, his out of touch, i reckon he would be a beast as a tagger hard as hell, sneaky quick and has the smarts and mongrel to get in his face. Put your team on ya back Bakes and get it done

This actually doesn’t seem the worst idea

I hope Hall plays well, I think personally he slows us down playing with Kelly who has also slowed down considerably. Bo getting a crack after only one week off is a mistake, he needs to start playing like its his career on the line, his skills are lacking with no right side and the ball butchering makes me close my eyes when he gets the ball in his hand.

This has to be a troll account???

 

[Cornelius Roy]

We apparently didn’t see enough of Cole falling over unnecessarily, coming off his man only to have no impact on the contest and his man end up with the ball last week so back on the merry go round this week.

Think hutch might be a few weeks off fitness wise and his disposal was bad last year but he’s one I think will make a bit of a difference given he chases, makes tackles stick and runs a straight lines through the contest when attacking the ball. Good candidate at HFF for mine

 

[jdisc]

if Cole lays 1 tackle his increase in tackle count from last week, expressed as a percentage, would be infinity

 

[Ilkka Sinisalo]

I hope Hall plays well, I think personally he slows us down playing with Kelly who has also slowed down considerably. Bo getting a crack after only one week off is a mistake, he needs to start playing like its his career on the line, his skills are lacking with no right side and the ball butchering makes me close my eyes when he gets the ball in his hand.

 

[wce4premiership]

I like the changes.

 

[PepperTom32]

I wanna see our Captain go tag Kosi, his out of touch, i reckon he would be a beast as a tagger hard as hell, sneaky quick and has the smarts and mongrel to get in his face. Put your team on ya back Bakes and get it done

Bloody hell I thought you meant Duggan for a sec

 

[RustyShacklefordFalcon]

WAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH

wait what are we crying about again?

 

[Big_Tony]

if Cole lays 1 tackle his increase in tackle count from last week, expressed as a percentage, would be infinity

Well, no. Technically it would break the laws of known mathematics, which you could argue is even more impressive.

 

[Ilkka Sinisalo]

Suddenly it’s a poindexter thread

 

[Hoskin300]

Changes are solid this week. Happy for Cole to have a run of games as it’s pointless for players to come in for one week. Hopefully Young can life with Edwards in otherwise should be dropped for Bazzo. Will be interesting to see who plays HFF.

 

[amazingjoshy]

It was essentially the Chesser pick for Young in the end wasnt it?

Might end up being the most nothing off season move of all time

 

[Bleedblueandgold]

Bloody hell I thought you meant Duggan for a sec

 

[Ilkka Sinisalo]

It was essentially the Chesser pick for Young in the end wasnt it?

Might end up being the most nothing off season move of all time

Will Brodie was traded for a 6th round pick that Freo didn’t even use. Might be tough to beat that one.

 

[InTheWings]

Could Hutch tag Kosi?

My hope is that we can stick our tackles. A couple of shepherds would be good too.

 

[amazingjoshy]

Will Brodie was traded for a 6th round pick that Freo didn’t even use. Might be tough to beat that one.

Probably shows what I think of Young and Chesser that I think thats on par

 

[Jeremy McLovin]

**** me. Stephen King arrives at Melbourne and ****s off three flag heroes - not just "oh he was there too", but genuine flag heroes, all AA that year as well. Melbourne are 5-2. We can't even drop Cole after a shit game and are 2-5. Makes you think.

 

[EvilBeagles]

Bloody hell I thought you meant Duggan for a sec

Lol, me too.

 

[Keys]

Preview thread is up

Game Day Thread 'Round 9, 2026: Melbourne vs. West Coast'

May 7, 2026

ROUND 9: MELBOURNE v. WEST COAST
Sunday, May 10 - 11.10am AWST @ Marvel Stadium
​

Gee.

What a week.

To say it's been a rough one would be the understatement of the century. On Saturday afternoon, our once mighty football club sank to the lowest low since our last low (which was only 2 weeks ago).

I think there's been enough said about these last 2 fixtures that there's no point...

• TY24
• Replies: 1,256
• Forum: West Coast Eagles

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Discussion can continue there

And for those who are interested

Average age and experience for selected R9 sides per Footywire, from oldest to youngest:

28yr 10mth - Collingwood (160.0 games)

27yr 9mth - Geelong (136.0 games)
27yr 4mth - Brisbane (133.7 games)
27yr 3mth - Sydney (127.4 games)
27yr 0mth - Carlton (127.3 games)

26yr 2mth - Hawthorn (114.2 games)
26yr 2mth - St Kilda (108.7 games)

25yr 10mth - GWS (112.2 games)
25yr 9mth - Fremantle (100.2games)
25yr 6mth - North (109.3 games)
25yr 5mth - Bulldogs (83.5 games)
25yr 4mth - Adelaide (86.7 games)
25yr 2mth - Gold Coast (93.4 games)
25yr 2mth - Melbourne (86.8 games)
25yr 0mth - Richmond (79.2 games)

24yr 11mth - Port (81.4 games)
24yr 4mth - West Coast (68.1 games)
24yr 1mth - Essendon (75.5 games)

Melbourne with 11 players under 50 games compared to our 12 and 15 under 100 games to our 15

It means overall the difference between the average age and experience of the two sides is marginal.

Fair to say the quality of their senior players with the likes of Gawn, Pickett and Lever is better than ours