Autopsy season 2017 in review

[ioppolo]

So with us 55 down with 11 minutes left, I'd say we're officially done for season 2017.

Ladder position: 8th (down from 6th in '16).
W/L: 12-10 (down from 16-6 in 2016).

Funnily enough we actually went further in 2017 than 2016, making a semi final, one better than our pathetic performance against the Dogs in last year's EF.

We have Petrie, Priddis, Mitchell & Butler all retiring (and Brophy leaving to go home).

We have an inevitable rebuild and a new stadium on the horizon. And Nic Nat returning in round 1. What did we actually learn from this season? Well for me, the hopes from 2015 are officially gone. Dead. No premierships for us. Lets look at some players.

Our recruits - Vardy, Mitchell & Petrie.

Big accolades for all three. Mitchell was fairly consistent all season and will be a welcome addition to the coaches box.

Petrie - what a recruit. What a man. Really made a mark at the club. Nothing but respect for the old lug.

Vardy - big effort to play 20 games as a ruckman tbf. Has struggled late this season, but the talent is there. Is a steal for pick 72. Very happy with Vardy Party this season overall, hoping his ruck work does improve over the off season though.

Now the rest.

Masten & Wellingham. Added to the "droppable" pile. It was over due for Masto. Wellingham though has gone full dud this season. 2015 is a distant memory for him. Shame really but he is easily replaceable.

Our small forwards - Lecca, Cripps, Hill, Karpany. Lecca started well but faded horribly as the season went on. Surely is gone. Is 31 and cooked. Needs to retire with some respect left.

Cripps - mr. Lack of defensive pressure. Has had an absolute utensil of a year. Been next to useless. Will want to pull his finger out.

Hill - good as gone. Was way too inconsitsnt. Karpany is our future, for now. Showed decent signs this season, hope he gets a decent run in the 22 next season.

More to come. Or feel free to do the rest yourselves. 2017 in general was a farce, bar round 23 and the EF.

 

[Biggie]

Season 2017?

Frustrating

 

[Crimson King]

It was the best of times, it was the blurst of times.

 

[Eagleboy68]

Total waste of a year.

Treaded water playing the old players.

Poor coaching on game days

Not enough heart in our performances

Mediocre year for a mediocre club that is happy to make the finals and not plan for premierships

Simpson needs to be sacked.

 

[Biggie]

Simpson needs to be sacked.

Won't happen this season

However I can see it happening in 2018

 

[Hairy Lager]

 

[Ok Boomer]

Poor year with two very memorable weeks. Catalyst for a list regeneration which is perhaps overdue.

 

[Biggie]

Poor year with two very memorable weeks. Catalyst for a list regeneration which is perhaps overdue.

Similar to 2016 eh?

3 weeks of magnificent footy then poop

 

[wraglesweb]

 

[daddy_4_eyes]

It was the year we had to have.

Now we can move on from yesterday's players (Priddis, Hill, Masten, Wellers, Lecras, Butler) and invest time into the next generation.

 

[numbat06]

Even though he's past it I'd still rather Lecras than Cripps/Hill/Wellingham/Jetta in the forward line.
Wellingham,Hill,Masten need to be delisted
Cripps, Hutchings, Duggan need to be dropped and hopefully Watson and Rioli find their feet.
So pretty much 3 midfield spots with no one other than Venebles to come in...
Fun times in 2018

 

[MWPP]

Because of last week alone , we bettered last season
But that isn't saying much
Can't wait for Nic Nat's return

 

[barnabyjones]

Toilet meme

 

[TheGhostOfJohnBelushi]

Real holding pattern year. When Nic went down with his knee last year, any chance of pinching a flag this year or last went begging.

Brought in some vets in what really should have been a development year but the big concern is all our developing players have been bloody injured or pretty damn unexciting. Really felt it was a chance to phase Priddis out and be somewhat of a mentor playing at East Perth while Mitchell gets some real nous from AFL standard mids before he went into full coaching but the club failed to make the big call and instead we were left with a slow list desperately trying to do what was never going to be achievable without Naitanui as our ace.

Now we're faced with Nic coming back next year, and very likely not going to be what he was pre-knee, to basically an all new midfield who have not really developed cohesion.

But we'll see. It'll be a new year and hopefully we unearth a few young guns in Venables and Rioli, maybe Watson. Shuey perhaps takes over the captaincy so Hurn can just go back to being a reliable soldier. Kennedy isn't cooked (he's not head a great last month). And Nic gives something in the ruck and can just get better through the year. Who knows.

 

[i am a logo]

 

[bUCKET__]

Interrupted seasons for a lot of our kids was a big contributor to the disappointing season. Was always going to be a transition year, and there clearly wasn't enough of that done.

But of course when we did get the younger players in, it's that ridiculous fwd role. Sheed, Mutimer, Karpany, Partington all played as small forwards whenever there was an older player to throw into the middle. Everyone else relegated hbf. Complete lack of willingness to develop anyone in the midfield, when it's clearly what is needed long term.

 

[PintSzedSlasher]

Dissapointing end but certainly wouldnt call it a waste of a year.

Yeos true emergence, Redden and Jetta finding form at the end of the year, Duggan looking at home at half back, getting some games into Parti, Cole, Karpany, Nelson, Sheeds improvement when playing in the mid, Vardy showing a bit. Barrass keeps improving. All positives.

Nicnat being out has shown our midfields reliance on him, and has meant Simpson has recognised the need for change in the midfield for next year hence the Priddis retirement.

Im looking forward to next season and what should be a fairly different looking team. Hopefully can make some good moves in the offseason.

 

[avishka5]

2017=2007
we will go through some sort of rebuild over the next 3-4 years with a whole lot of senior players expected to leave within the next few years.

 

[wraglesweb]

Has Masten trained the house down yet ?

 

[BrotherDodge]

Well that was a disaster. But I'm gonna try to be a little ray of sunshine here.

-Naitanui back.
-Redden next year is an upgrade on 2017 Priddis. Sheed stunk it up the last few weeks, but he'll be a decent player when he's not banished to HFF
-Rioli and Waterman should be better than Cripps and LeCras were this year
-We get to see what Venables can do. Parto and Mutimer should get regular games.
-Shuey is a serious A-grade mid now. Wasn't his best season, but a gun this finals series. Has tasted glory and found that it suits him.
-Gov and Barrass the best young KPD combo in the game.
-Masto, Hill, Wellingham, Schofield eased out. They tried but weren't quite good enough, and we've finally figured that out.

It's the end of an era, but there's no reason to slide down the ladder. If anything we'll be more dangerous in 2018.

 

[15yearmember]

 

[Brunswick Trap King]

If Cripps is still getting games each week next year, I hope Simpson gets fired.

I can't help but wonder if we're preaching diversity by hiring a mental midget to be our coach.

 

[West Coast 06]

Our supporters can be real sooks sometimes. I will admit this season was a disappointment, but if we consider we had 0 games from Nic and 1/2 a game from Lycett I think we were always pushing it up hill.

When the midfield is your weakness, having no real rucks makes life very hard.

On the other hand I think we really do have the best backline in the comp. Regularly got high numbers of opposition inside 50's yet still able to keep in almost every game all year.

Go have a a holiday. Get your surgery done. Let's have a big preseason and hit it again next year. Go Eagles.

 

[ChampRevesby]

The most frustrating thing about being a club out West is that we just can not attract talent to fill holes in the list. We will have to rebuild from the draft so expect us to slide down the rankings in the next few seasons until we jag some midfield talent.

 

[Cainozz]

Congratulations to Pridda, Mitch, Butts & the Dish on fantastic careers for all their respective clubs as well as ours this year. They are heart and soul players and will be greatly missed around the group. It's going to look like a very different side next year.

It's been a funny old year this one. A lot of lows but some amazing highs with especially the previous two games before tonight. It's the year we needed to have to send a few shockwaves through the group that it's time for some change. We simply haven't been good enough for long enough, there's no doubting that. Our fitness regime needs to improve over the off season so we can run out games for longer. We have a good spine of talent.

Looking towards 2018:
- Nic Nat is obviously a huge in for us next season, lets hope he stays injury free and gets a full preseason under his belt to hit 2018 with a bang.
- Sheed and Duggan need huge preseasons to bulk up so they can start breaking some tackles. I like that Duggo takes the game on but two often he is caught. Needs to know his limits.
- We need to get Liam Ryan in. Him and Rioli in the pockets roving off Kennedy (ala Betts & Cameron style) will be a huge addition.
- Most of all we need more pace in the midfield. GWS young talent just ran past us tonight.
- Gaff, as much as I admire his gut running and Km's he clocks up, really needs to add another dimension to his game to make his disposal more dangerous rather than getting the easy ball on the back flank. Needs to kick more goals. Maybe develop a right foot. Also turning out of traffic rather that blind kicks over his shoulder when under pressure.
- Our defence is pretty sturdy back there with Gov, Barrass and co. Barrass is coming along nicely but needs to work on his 1 on 1's as he is often out muscled by the oppositions KPF.

New stadium, new jumper/logo(?), new era. I'm not wildly optimistic but its an exciting time in our footy club