Prediction Season 2023 Predictions

Where will the West Coast Eagles finish in 2023

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Prediction for 2023 Shuey, Natnanui, Hurn, Sheed retire & we fight harder than ever for a wooden spoon & further draft low picks.
Sheed isn’t retiring…..talking
spongebob squarepants bullshit GIF
 
WCE need to open the game up make sure the forwards hold the position & don't stray down to the backline open the game up to allow faster transition of the ball. The backline look up and see the HB line & centre lines blocked up and no targets so they have to bomb it up to a pack. Which usually means they see it go back over there heads in no time. Hurn, Witherton and co are great kicks but they don't get the opportunity to hit a target. It looks really bad when you constantly see our whole team in the backline, it looks as though we have given up on winning the game.
 

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Will Schofield: Why West Coast Eagles can go from wooden spoon to finals this year


The West Coast Eagles will play finals in 2023. I think.

After the disappointment that was season 2022, Eagles supporters enter 2023 with cautious optimism. Things can only go up from here

Everything will have to go right for the Eagles to make the top eight. But they are certainly capable of turning things on their head and making a run into September.


But how, I hear you ask?

Much has been written about this playing group’s fitness last year compared to this season. They look fitter, they’ve said they’re fitter, but realistically fitness isn’t the thing that separates good from bad in the AFL. In my experience, most, if not all teams are similar levels of fitness.

How well they are connected as a group is the key.


West Coast could have up to 12 new or returning faces to begin the season. That’s more than half of the side that won only two games last year. They will be a new team.


Then, there are six big names returning to the side. Game-changing names. Players that win you games of footy.


Oscar Allen (0 games in 2022): A superstar in the making, this will be Allen’s breakout season. Jack Darling has contributed significantly as a goal scorer over the past decade but Allen will be the best Eagles forward in 2023. He’ll need Darling by his side to truly blossom into the 50-plus goal scorer he needs to be.


Jeremy McGovern (10 games in 2022): A four-time All Australian, McGovern is West Coast‘s most important player. From what I’ve seen in the preseason so far, they’re setting their game style up for McGovern to intercept and dominate. If he stays on the park, he’ll lead the competition in intercepts and claim his fifth All Australian blazer.

Elliot Yeo (5 Games in 2022): A two-time best and fairest winner and an All Australian, Yeo is West Coast’s best player but he hasn’t played for them consistently for three years. Expect the Yeo of old, an inside bull with plenty of power around the footy, spending some time in the backline. A fit, Yeo is one of the best midfielders in the competition.

Dom Sheed (1 game in 2022): Under the radar for much of his career, (except at times from the boundary) Sheed will play a pivotal role in the Eagles’ midfield this year. With Yeo and Shuey rotating off a half back flank, Tim Kelly preferred as the resting forward option, Sheed plays almost all of his time on-ball this year and dominates.


Nic Naitanui (8 games in 2022): The best ruckman of the past decade, Naitanui has done things no one has ever seen on a footy field. Yes he’s older, yes his body has some question marks – but 50 per cent of Naitanui as a ruck option is better than most teams in the competition.


Tom Cole (0 games in 2022): Underrated externally, highly rated internally. Cole can fill most holes in West Coast’s back half – playing on a dangerous small forward, his high work rate and big engine allows him to play high or deep, a Swiss army knife for the Eagles. A young leader, Cole’s absence from the group on paper doesn’t do justice to his influence within the group.

Then there is the youth – the new talent that Eagles fans have been screaming for.


Reuben Ginbey looks like a star. A bit of Bontempelli in the way he moves, will play through the midfield and down back. Best young talent at the club in a decade.


Elijah Hewett is a genuine game-winner. He may be inconsistent to start but won’t have to do much to dazzle and impact games.

Campbell Chesser is West Coast’s top pick from 2022 He saw five minutes of play last year and then missed the entire season. Lock him in on a wing, looks composed at this level already.

Jai Culley was picked up in last year’s midseason draft, and would have been a top 20 pick in this year‘s draft. One of the fittest on the list, can play multiple roles inside and out.


Noah Long. West Coast loves this kid. Gets to the right spot in the forward line, brings pressure and is a pure footballer. He just does the right thing most of the time, which is rare in a young player.


Jayden Hunt has looked terrific off a back flank in preseason. He’ll add his usual run and gun but it looks like his defensive game has improved over the last couple of years. Big addition.

Game style

Adam Simpson’s new-look coaching staff from last year didn’t get to implement a new game style given the availability of their top tier players. Matthew Knights from Geelong and Jarrad Schofield from Port Adelaide never stood a chance in changing the way the Eagles looked in 2022.

West Coast will look different this year.


I know, I know, the preseason game against Adelaide was eerily similar at times to last year’s Eagles, but I wouldn’t read a lot into that. If anything, a quick reality check will be good for the players.


As the intensity of the game went up, West Coast seemed to improve – especially around the ball in contested footy. Their big names were also very quiet. Yeo, Kelly, Allen and Ryan – all well down on the previous week‘s performance against Port Adelaide. I wouldn’t expect that too often this year.


They’ve been training faster ball movement, which they hope will help them score more. It doesn’t come without risk as kicks and handballs through the corridor invite opposition pressure. At times Adelaide set up well behind the ball and were able to force West Coast into errors. The Eagles should improve in this area, as long as the coaches and players hold their collective nerve.

The team is different, the game style has changed.

They’ll need to be at their best to make finals, but that’s what’s required in the AFL.

Your best players playing well, young players bringing excitement and energy and coaches teaching and helping execute a game style that stands up in big games.

West Coast can play finals this year and right now, it’s completely in their hands.
 
J Jenkins is tipping the Eagles to be in the top 8 this year.

Josh Jenkins' THREE predicted INS & OUTS for the …:
 

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Depending on the revised season strategy inside the club (behind close doors), we'll probably finish much the same as last year and get good draft picks.
If most of our best 22 are back fit and firing in the 2nd half of season; and we don't have further serious injuries, maybe finish bottom 4?
The injury toll drama for two seasons running is beyond bizarre...has there been another club in recent history with the same fallout?
It's so bizarre that you can understand how it segues into the blame game and conspiracy theories, tanking etc...
 
I just looked at our double ups for this year and due to improvement, a couple of teams will probably be finalists and it's likely none are bottom 4. Draw ended up much harder than expected:

Crows (prob top 8)
Carlton (could be top 4)
Bombers (prob top 8)
Freo (miss the 8 - lol)
Tigers (mid table)
North (miss the 8 but not the basketcase of previous years)
 
Last year we averaged

for: 65 points
against: 108 points

If we can close the gap on these in 2023 that's a huge improvement

On SM-S908E using BigFooty.com mobile app
hmmmm...
so far after 7 rounds

ave:

for: 73 points
against: 114 points

so about the same really but other than the fact we've been more competitive other than Saturday night

Hopefully can close that gap




On SM-S908E using BigFooty.com mobile app
 
Beginning to look like a thumping “win” for the “Bottom 2” cohort. Our once-proud club now beginning to resemble Fitzroy in its death spiral in terms of on-field competitiveness. Some saw it coming, others have been in denial for years.

There are still a few conservatives/apologists on this board who advise restraint. But the old refrains “it’s just bad luck” and “wait till we get our best team on the park” seem almost quaint now.

Hopefully most fans, and more importantly the board, are beginning to realise that there is a bit of a problem here that requires decisive and firm action.

Sadly we’re not even at the bottom yet, but if we’re going to fix the mess in time for the arrival of the Tassie team we need strong action. The club has become little more than an echo chamber and a sheltered workshop.
 
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