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Unpopular Eagles Opinions

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don't need to or shouldn't?

We have a good core of support mids. What we don't have is the A graders for them to support
 

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Pavlich won an AA spot while playing in the midfield in 03.

He won a half forward spot after racking up 20 touches a game and kicking 37 goals.

End up like Pavlich? A 6x AA.

5 of which came as a key position player. His one midfield selection is iffy.

If we can get back to what I actually said:

Playing Darling in the midfield is a dumb idea an he'll end up like Pavlich under Harvey - average in a position he's not suited to.

Harvey played Pavlich in the middle because that was an area of weakness for Freo at the time. He did alright because he's a fantastic footballer, but he's much, much better as a key forward. He went back to FF under Lyon and nearly won the Coleman.

We have a guy who is a contested marking machine that has already kicked 50+ in a season. As a midfielder I can't see him being any better than what we have now. We're better off making use of him as a forward and letting him use his pace and agility to trouble slower, less agile defenders. He's no different to Roughead. He's alright in bursts in the middle, but as a true midfielder he'd be about their 10th best. Much better having him at FF kicking 8.
 
He won a half forward spot after racking up 20 touches a game and kicking 37 goals.



5 of which came as a key position player. His one midfield selection is iffy.

If we can get back to what I actually said:



Harvey played Pavlich in the middle because that was an area of weakness for Freo at the time. He did alright because he's a fantastic footballer, but he's much, much better as a key forward. He went back to FF under Lyon and nearly won the Coleman.

We have a guy who is a contested marking machine that has already kicked 50+ in a season. As a midfielder I can't see him being any better than what we have now. We're better off making use of him as a forward and letting him use his pace and agility to trouble slower, less agile defenders. He's no different to Roughead. He's alright in bursts in the middle, but as a true midfielder he'd be about their 10th best. Much better having him at FF kicking 8.
Depending on your preference, you can make the case that Tredrea should have been the 2005 AA CHF.
 
Andrew Gaff has lost the passion for the Blue and Gold... He should be asked if he wants to be traded back to Victoria.

He's shown a lot of improvement over the last three weeks.
 
Lecras stinks in everywhere but the f50. Hes wasted elsewhere, and is a well below average midfielder.
 

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WE all just need to get used to the fact we are shit! its plain and simple, Worsfold extracted a massive amount out of this group and we over achieved with them in 2011/12. Time for quite a few years of heart ache and some soul searching, we need to snag a top "Talent Sniffer" and not the blind squib spotters we currently pay good money to find us talentless hacks. I'm over it and have steeled myself for a decade of misery like I saw coming in 96.
 
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Years we've missed finals

1987
1989
2000
2001
2008
2009
2010
2013
2014?

We're on the verge of missing finals for the 5th time in the last 7 seasons after missing them just 4 times in our first 21 seasons. We are slap bang in our decade of misery

The AFL cut our administrators balls off at the end of 2007 and it shows in our off field results as winning became secondary to building a warm and fuzzy culture

Something needs to change
 
Years we've missed finals

1987
1989
2000
2001
2008
2009
2010
2013
2014?

We're on the verge of missing finals for the 5th time in the last 7 seasons after missing them just 4 times in our first 21 seasons. We are slap bang in our decade of misery

The AFL cut our administrators balls off at the end of 2007 and it shows in our off field results as winning became secondary to building a warm and fuzzy culture

Something needs to change
What exactly did the AFL do to us at the end of 2007?

It's a different playing field now. You can't judge our current performance against the consistency of 20 years ago.
 
What exactly did the AFL do to us at the end of 2007?

It's a different playing field now. You can't judge our current performance against the consistency of 20 years ago.
The AFL investigation into our off field problems including the threat of loss of draft picks (which didn't eventuate admittedly) with our chairman at the time (barnaba) saying that restoring our clubs credibility was more important than winning. Now it might just be coincidence (and arguably there are other mitigating factors) but our on field performance since then is a shadow of what came before
 
WE all just need to get used to the fact we are shit! its plain and simple, Worsfold extracted a massive amount out of this group and we over achieved with them in 2011/12. Time for quite a few years of heart ache and some soul searching, we need to snag a top "Talent Sniffer" and not the blind squib spotters we currently pay good money to find us talentless hacks. I'm over it and have steeled myself for a decade of misery like I saw coming in 96.
We had a very different side in 2011/12 to what we have now. Is not a fair comparison.
 

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The AFL investigation into our off field problems including the threat of loss of draft picks (which didn't eventuate admittedly) with our chairman at the time (barnaba) saying that restoring our clubs credibility was more important than winning. Now it might just be coincidence (and arguably there are other mitigating factors) but our on field performance since then is a shadow of what came before
Turn it up.

Linking a crackdown on players doing lines to our downturn onfield is a massive stretch. Where is the cause and effect?

You can't blame the AFL for our current position.

You know, it may just be coincidence, but I reckon it all started with the dual retirements of Josh Wooden and Rowan Jones in September 2007. Since then, our onfield performance hasn't been the same. So maybe that was the cause.
 
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Years we've missed finals

1987
1989
2000
2001
2008
2009
2010
2013
2014?

We're on the verge of missing finals for the 5th time in the last 7 seasons after missing them just 4 times in our first 21 seasons. We are slap bang in our decade of misery

The AFL cut our administrators balls off at the end of 2007 and it shows in our off field results as winning became secondary to building a warm and fuzzy culture

Something needs to change

We've also pretty much stopped drafting eastern staters unless they're the obvious standout pic since 2007.

No other team is as biased towards the one state as we are with our recruitment.
And we're not even getting the best WA talent.
 
Years we've missed finals

1987
1989
2000
2001
2008
2009
2010
2013
2014?

We're on the verge of missing finals for the 5th time in the last 7 seasons after missing them just 4 times in our first 21 seasons. We are slap bang in our decade of misery

The AFL cut our administrators balls off at the end of 2007 and it shows in our off field results as winning became secondary to building a warm and fuzzy culture

Something needs to change
Interesting point. Most probably influenced who we drafted and how we drafted and who we cut.
There was a definite to move to change the culture that had evolved and for a time probably did take preference over success.
Not sure it lasted for too many years.
The four years of the compromised drafts on the back of this certainly didn't help our cause either.
I know there is never an excuse for continued poor performance but both these things certainly accounts for this period varying from our previous long stretch of being a powerhouse club.
 
This is silly.

Trade them because they aren't superstars? Look what happened to Ebert. I said the same then. We need more quality in the middle, not to lose patience with developing players at a low point with confidence, inject some maturity and quality and things will improve quickly..
and look what happened to Gehrig. He didnt want to be here. He put in piss weak efforts and asked for a trade home. He goes home and starts playing like a champion at St Kilda. I put Ebert in the same category, along with Polec currently at Port, and every other weak nancy that doesnt commit themselves to a football club because they are "home sick".

Even if Gaff, Shuey and Selwood could be a good support cast for mature quality mids, what currency do we have to get this required midfield superstar? Who are we going to trade or draft to get this mesiah? Just about any AFL midfielder worth their salt can play the supporting role. Look at Des Headland and the overs Fremantle paid for him. Looks like a champion when he is surrounded by champions, but then gets exposed as a pea-heart front runner when he has more responsibility.

Gaff Shuey and Selwood have value/currency now. If we want to go to the trade table or pick up some high draft picks to recruit this mature quality mid you speak of, then we should have no qualms about getting rid of our Des Headland trio. They have more value to other teams than us, because they sure as hell cant carry us to a premiership.
 
and look what happened to Gehrig. He didnt want to be here. He put in piss weak efforts and asked for a trade home. He goes home and starts playing like a champion at St Kilda. I put Ebert in the same category, along with Polec currently at Port, and every other weak nancy that doesnt commit themselves to a football club because they are "home sick".

Even if Gaff, Shuey and Selwood could be a good support cast for mature quality mids, what currency do we have to get this required midfield superstar? Who are we going to trade or draft to get this mesiah? Just about any AFL midfielder worth their salt can play the supporting role. Look at Des Headland and the overs Fremantle paid for him. Looks like a champion when he is surrounded by champions, but then gets exposed as a pea-heart front runner when he has more responsibility.

Gaff Shuey and Selwood have value/currency now. If we want to go to the trade table or pick up some high draft picks to recruit this mature quality mid you speak of, then we should have no qualms about getting rid of our Des Headland trio. They have more value to other teams than us, because they sure as hell cant carry us to a premiership.
The only player that resembles des headland on our list at the moment is Wellingham.
 

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