2nds WAFL Watch - 2026 Edition

[Miguel Sanchez]

• Not allowed to recruit local WAFL players freely like the other clubs
• Limited spots for top up players which reduces the calibre of players they can get in
• There's strict limits around payments to the top up players which means no ability to stack decent talent

These are the 3 big ones that make it difficult to be competitive.

• Based on my reading of the 2026 rules it does not look like there's any limit on recruiting local WAFL players other than paying transfer fees
• We're supposed to have a minimum of 25 top-up players. We've only got 17 at this stage. Last season we had 28. I'm not aware of a maximum limit. There's a limit on the player points we can use but we were nowhere near the limit last year.
• The player payment limit is about 65-70% of the other WAFL clubs. They have to field a seniors and a reserves side. We have to field half a seniors side.

Any restrictions that the WAFL has put on recruiting actually have negligible impact. We're not actually getting anywhere near meeting most of the restrictions.

What has massively hamstrung the club's ability to recruit decent players has been convincing them to come play in a team that has won five consecutive wooden spoons and been treated like an unwanted stepchild by the organisation for most of its history.

To the club's credit they appear to be putting a lot more time and effort now into resourcing, maintaining and promoting the Beagles. But a lot of the damage has been done, unfortunately.

 

[Bleedblueandgold]

For context, with so many of our AFL listed guys struggling to compete in the WAFL, it’s interesting to see that Freo NGA Lucas Robinson was best on ground in South Freo’s win and had 28 possessions. It was his first game of league footy.

Early bid on him?

 

[amazingjoshy]

I'm sick of hearing that the Beagles don't get the same level of talent, only have so many AFL players in the 2s, etc. All of those are excuses for poor effort.

I don't need the WAFL squad to be world beaters, or play finals, or even win every week. What I do want from them is to put in the work rate and effort every week. Yesterday that squad couldn't have given 2 shits if they were on the park or not.

Hewett, Gross and Dewar probably the only 3 to get a pass, not because they were good but 2 were coming back from long layoffs and Dewar at least put the effort in.

It doesn't require talent to Tackle, to run to the next contest instead of walking, to hit a handball that goes to a team mate 2m away.

Since 2020 there have been 12 scores kicked over 150 points. In those 12, 9 have come against West Coast. and it's not like it's one bogey team that gets us. Perth, East Freo, Subiaco, Claremont, West Perth, Peel have all done it against us. That not counting scores that got close either, plenty of 140+ scores kicked that were not counted.

I thought last year might have been a turning point since there was no 150+ kicked by anyone in 2025, we got beat a lot but we looked at least interested in playing for the most part even if we didn't have the players to match.

I honestly hope the coach drops all the AFL listed players except for Gross, Hewett and Dewar, bring in a bunch of Ammos that'll at least have a crack. They should also be forced to watch a reply of that WAFL match.

They cant be dropped

Thats part of the problem

 

[Carbine Chaos]

I honestly hope the coach drops all the AFL listed players except for Gross, Hewett and Dewar, bring in a bunch of Ammos that'll at least have a crack. They should also be forced to watch a reply of that WAFL match.

It's one game against one of the best sides in the competition.

Do you really want us to do that?

 

[UseR2006]

It's one game against one of the best sides in the competition.

Do you really want us to do that?

Can't be worse than sitting through that match again.

 

[Wce17]

To me that was our worst WAFL performance ive ever seen... not performative but culturally. That was just 20 odd guys who have given up. The only player I think truly looked interested was Dewar. The rest just look like they are waiting til October 2026 so they can get delisted and move onto the next phase of their lives really.

I truly believe in my heart of hearts that players should be shut down mid season for a MSD to come in. Whats the point of going 12 weeks watching the inevitable when we can find the next Murdock, McCarthy or Newton?

Its time for the club to take a stand really... We can complain about lack of resourcing all we like and it is a issue but it wasnt yesterday. Yesterday was just a cultural issue and in my eyes a absolutely nuclear option is now required to fix it. Enough is enough at this point

For next week id go with

OUT: Barnett, Hall, Macrae, Maric
IN: The Ammos

Just for the one week.... Perhaps that can light a fire.

I'm sure shutting down players Mid Season would go down really well with the playing group. Type of shit that might fracture it.

 

[BSD]

Can't believe we kept Hewett on the list when we could've had Banfield

How's Banfield going at St Kilda ?

 

[Ambrose Burnside]

That wouldn't be particularly hard given Pou's form so far this year

Hopefully Hewett can do it then

 

[Elite Pete]

It's one game against one of the best sides in the competition.

Do you really want us to do that?

Did get beaten by 90+ the week after even if it was a trial game

 

[Dom sheed pocket]

He'd be playing in front of Schoenberg.

He'll get opportunity, the coach has said as much. Looked nowhere near ready for AFL football though.

I’m not sure he would be, especially in his current form.

As forwards he’s behind Murdock and maybe even Schoenberg.

As a mid he’s behind Harley, Yeo, Kelly, Graham and now even Dev (who was a discarded DFA).

Hewett is currently in no man’s land, and I think he knows it (hence the poor attitude).

 

[GoEaglesGoSGIO]

I'm sure shutting down players Mid Season would go down really well with the playing group. Type of shit that might fracture it.

Deserves to be fractured if they are that soft

 

[Miguel Sanchez]

Can't be worse than sitting through that match again.

There was a game in 2022 where we only had three AFL listed players, had to borrow a couple of ressies players from East Fremantle to make up the numbers, and lost by 123 points.

So yes, it can get worse than yesterday's match.

 

[LittleFires]

There was a game in 2022 where we only had three AFL listed players, had to borrow a couple of ressies players from East Fremantle to make up the numbers, and lost by 123 points.

So yes, it can get worse than yesterday's match.

We had this cracker as well in 2023...



Funnily enough Milan Murdock was playing against us that day. Tyrell Dewar and Jordyn Baker were our only 2 AFL-listed players.

That was the weekend after Sydney put 200 on us in the AFL. Good times.

 

[Proeagle]

PFC 24.9 (153) def WCE 13.10 (88)

We won the inside 50 count 53-48, kicked 88 points but in the end still lost by 10 goals. Perth were sharper than us with their skills, clinical in front of goal while we made copious fundamental errors and struggled to defend the ground off turnover.

Despite having 13 AFL-listed players out there they just looked flat-footed for most of the game, especially in the first half, and there really weren't many standouts from our senior-listed boys. A disappointing effort first up.

I don't know why I do this to myself but I managed to sit through the whole thing, so here's what I thought of our AFL-listed players (roughly from best to worst):

• Tyrell Dewar (24 disposals, 4 inside 50s, 1 mark): Probably our best, which isn't saying much. Played on the wing and moved pretty well, looking more dynamic than most and trying to get some ball movement going. Ball use however let him down on numerous occasions.
• Tylah Williams (13 disposals, 4 marks, 2 inside 50s, 1.1): Didn't have the biggest impact but seemed to be one of our few players who gave us a bit of spark and energy. Looked lively in the forward line, constantly looking to create opportunities.
• Bailey Williams (11 disposals, 34 hitouts, 5 marks, 4 inside 50s, 2.0): Solid game for Bailey who probably split the ruck battle pretty evenly against Harding and Edwards from Perth. Kicked a very nice goal from outside 50 in the second half. I wouldn't mind giving him a crack in the seniors at some point to see how he goes with the new ruck rules.
• Tom Gross (16 disposals, 3 tackles, 3 inside 50s): Decent return for Gross coming off his long-term hammy. Provided a bustling presence in the midfield off limited time on ground. Skills rusty on a couple of occasions but will be better for the run.
• Elijah Hewett (14 disposals, 3 marks, 3 inside 50s, 1.0): Gonna be honest didn't look super convincing, still looks to be building his tank back up and some of his defensive efforts left a bit to be desired. But on offence he provided a bit of a spark, produced a few exciting passages streaming inside 50. Don't want to read too much into body language but he didn't look particularly happy to be out there on a few occasions where the camera zoomed in on him. I guess it's been a frustrating couple of months for him. Wouldn't say he's banging down the door but he might benefit from being brought into the seniors sooner rather than later.
• Jack Williams (11 disposals, 5 marks, 3 tackles, 1.0): Kicked a nice goal early from 50 but didn't trouble the scorers after that. Was thrown behind the ball a few times as the spare man in defence where he took a few intercept marks by reading the ball well - perhaps encouraging for those who want to see him trialled in defence, but I'm not sure how he'd go if he had an opponent to look after all day as well.
• Lucca Grego (16 disposals, 3 marks, 2 tackles): Just an average performance from Grego, didn't notice him too much. Produced a couple of nice plays and turned it over a couple of times as well.
• Clay Hall (25 disposals, 6 inside 50s, 5 tackles): Our leading disposal-winner playing in the midfield so he managed to find a bit of the footy, but his disposal was consistently poor. Half of his kicks were floating flourbags and his decision-making by hand wasn't great either.
• Harvey Johnston (14 disposals, 4 marks, 2 inside 50s, 1.2): Played up forward and pushed onto a wing on a few occasions to provide an outlet kick from defence. Ball use let him down on several occasions though. Probably should've had 2 goals, missing a couple of gettable opportunities. Looks like someone down on confidence - I genuinely think he has some nice AFL traits but he's just struggling to put it together at the moment.
• Ryan Maric (16 disposals, 4 marks, 3 inside 50s): Very meh game from Maric, certainly a step down from his performance against Gold Coast in Round 1. His defensive work was pretty average and he wasn't particularly damaging by foot.
• Finlay Macrae (20 disposals, 4 inside 50s, 4 tackles): I'm not sure what was going on with Macrae today but his disposal and decision-making was really poor, seemed to mess things up more often than not and turned the ball over to Perth on several occasions. Played midfield but didn't provide much defensively either. Really not his day.
• Rhett Bazzo (13 disposals, 5 marks): Him and Jamo had a rough day, with Perth's talls Aaron Clarke and Kane Johnston having 17 scoring shots between them (for 13 goals). The lack of pressure up the ground didn't do him any favours but he still had his colours lowered. Reckon most of his 5 marks were uncontested - got his hands to a few in contested situations but they slipped through every time.
• Harry Barnett (7 disposals, 8 hitouts, 2 marks): Largely unsighted playing up forward with pinch hits in the ruck. Looks pretty similar to the the Barnett we saw last year.

Shannon Lucassen (11 disposals, 8 inside 50s, 2.0) and Sasha Kernutt (9 disposals, 3 inside 50s, 2.0) were probably the best of our WAFL-listed players, with Josh Burke also kicking 2.2 from his 9 disposals.

The Beagles now have a 9-day break before we take on West Perth at Mineral Resources Park next week, scheduled to kick off Sunday April 12 at 1:10pm.

Tyler Williams is going to be a great player for us in a year or 2. He already has speed, evasiveness and great goal sense. Cant wait for him to flourish.

I watched the first 3 quarters of this game and there isnt really anyone deserving of a call up to the main side. Dewar, Gross and perhaps B Williams the only ones.
I thought Hewett, McCrae and Hall were disappointing regardless of the stats and Maric showed once again he cant defend. His man was regularly free and helping Perth score.

 

[Proeagle]

He'd be playing in front of Schoenberg.

He'll get opportunity, the coach has said as much. Looked nowhere near ready for AFL football though.

Hewett is a few weeks away from being ready for AFL I believe. Looked quite unfit and gasping for breath a lot of the game vs Perth.

 

[bzparkes]

Hewett is a few weeks away for AFL I believe. Looked quite unfit and gasping for breath a lot of the game vs Perth.

Yeah, he definitely didn't look ready and I'd rather not rush him in when there's no need.

 

[sharps24]

They cant be dropped

Thats part of the problem

At least we have some consistency between the two programs though.

 

[eagles rule]

If he continues to be frustrated at being stuck in the WAFL I can't see it helping him to find form unfortunately.
I would bring him into the AFL team regardless next week. I feel it is more likely to bring the best out of him. He certainly has the talent, he just needs to put it all together at the highest level.

If he’s sooking , it’s up to him to do enough to impress the MC not just getting entitled to free credits .. I think it’s best that he can prove his fitness and over his injuries in the WAFL .

 

[eagles rule]

Perth didn’t blow us away in the second half. But we didn’t respond strongly either.

Not great when the likes of Hall, Maric, Johnston & Bazzo are all out of contract in October.

It’s the 1st game of the year so a lot of these early games comes down to fitness and implementation of the game plans

 

[Schtinker]

What restrictions are currently affecting the side?

The lack of ability to run fast, kick the ball, handball or tackle

 

[chaddy22]

• Not allowed to recruit local WAFL players freely like the other clubs
• Limited spots for top up players which reduces the calibre of players they can get in
• There's strict limits around payments to the top up players which means no ability to stack decent talent

These are the 3 big ones that make it difficult to be competitive.

Three of the players playing for the Beagles are premiership players.
Datson for Soufs, Kernautt for West Perth and The Hyphen for Subi.
A lot of the top Wafl players do not change teams it usually is fringe players.
Most of the Wafl teams look to recruit players from other second tier competitions like Sanfl and Vfl.
The Beagles don't need a huge list of top ups but they do need 8-10 players that are better than what they have now.
All Wafl teams are restricted with the amount that they can pay players.
The Beagles have around half the players who get paid by the Eagles not the Beagles.
It means the lesser amount that they are restricted to can be used to pay above average players.
I have kept tabs about the points cap and they always are well under what they could to recruit better players.
It is a secret how much of the salary cap the Beagles use but i can't believe they use all of it.

 

[chaddy22]

This is a comparison of the Vfl to prove that it is not only the Wafl that limits the amount that Afl clubs can spend on their Vfl teams.
The Vfl is a little bit more complicated as there are six traditional non Afl teams playing plus a few Afl teams who are aligned (like Hawthorn who are aligned to Box Hill) and the majority which are stand alone Afl sides.
Apart from Peel and a few in the Vfl nearly every Afl club have stand alone clubs.


Salary Cap1. VFL Standalone Clubs(a) Salary Cap: $260,000(b) VFL Standalone Clubs can spend an additional $20,000 over the Salary Cap of$260,000, however a 50% levy will be payable to the Competition for total Player Payments over $260,000.

Aligned VFL Clubs(a) Salary Cap: $125,000(b) There is no minimum threshold of expenditure of the Salary Cap.(c) The total base payments to Players is limited to a maximum of 40% of the SalaryCap, including any amount that is guaranteed in a player contract (e.g. sign onpayments, incentives etc).(d) The Salary Cap will apply based on twelve (12) AFL listed players participating each week.

Standalone AFL Clubs(a) Salary Cap: $125,000(b) There is no minimum threshold of expenditure of the Salary Cap.(c) The total base payments to Players is limited to a maximum of 40% of the SalaryCap, including any amount that is guaranteed in a player contract (e.g. sign on payments, incentives etc).(d) The Salary Cap will apply based on twelve (12) AFL listed players participating each week.

.

 

[Alesana]

Geez I hadn't broken down Hall's kicking before. The third image is still before the ball has reached his boot. Someone tell him it's not rugby

 

[TerryFilk]

Geez I hadn't broken down Hall's kicking before. The third image is still before the ball has reached his boot. Someone tell him it's not rugby

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Have no idea what we teach our list at training because I feel like everyone just gets worse skills wise the more time they spend here

 

[Proeagle]

Geez I hadn't broken down Hall's kicking before. The third image is still before the ball has reached his boot. Someone tell him it's not rugby

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I was stoked when we drafted Hall. But like the selectors, have been proven wrong. He doesnt even look like WAFL league standard atm.