West Coast Eagles Priority Pick (2024)

[Bestbird]

They thought they could bring in Kelly and add to a senior group of McGov, Gaff, Sheed, Yeo, Shuey, Cripps, Hurn, Darling ..but all they got is injury after injury along with broken down old warhorse in JK and praying for a Nic Nat return with good form.

But it just didn’t happen for a number of reasons and one of them isn’t age.


McGoveran might seem like he’s 35 but he’s just turned 31. Gaff just turned 30, Shuey 32.

WC thought these guys would be in their prime and going for gold with young gun Allan chipping in and the rest of the under 25s.

They went all in with a pair of aces and lost the bet.

Pretty much. Most of the longish contracts were given when the players were 27 and most at AA level. you cant predict future injuries. last week we had 2 players only available for the reseves side

 

[Shane Heard]

Not sure what you mean. We traded Kelly in and he is our best player at moment with some suggesting close to being all Australian.

I am 100% sure no one said gov was in his prime. That was never said and we said two years ago we are focusing on draft. He took pay cuts when we needed him to and we had to look after him.

Gaff is cooked but that’s because game has gotten so much faster with rule changes. He doesn’t fit modern game.

Shuey is for culture. Can’t just ship everyone out, otherwise you end up
Like Carlton.

“Shuey is for culture.”

And there is half the problem laid bare.

You’re either a dimwit or are in complete denial.

I said they brought in Kelly to supplement the already established core senior group ..mids, key forwards and backs etc

But most of them got recurring injuries at one stage or another in the last 3 years and you never really get a season with all your guns on the paddock together.

You basically begged JK to scramble through the last two seasons of 21’-22’ out of sheer desperation. The guy could hardly train most of the time.

Things just didn’t work out.

 

[Piggy Smalls]

So your solution to uncompetativeness is not to give them means to become competitive until someone loses their job because you “feel” someone is arrogant.

Is soft cap going to be waived so we can sack the arrogant coach who is simply protecting his players from wolves?

I am ok with changes being made at club. That heat will stay on, priority pick or not. Ain’t magically going away, I can tell you that. We don’t accept 9th, let alone a spoon.

Still laughing at a post suggesting 9th is indicator of success.

Its been the solution to uncompetitiveness in most business situations since the Industrial Revolution. The CEO has been there for a millennia. I’m just pointing out that you can’t in good faith effectively say ‘nothing to see here’ and maintain the status quo because you can boast an eye watering profit, while simultaneously asking for a priority pick from the AFL because the team your brand represents has gone to sh*t. That would be arrogance in my opinion, and waiting another 18 months without making the change would be doing a disservice to the supporters.

 

[WillHayward]

Pretty much. Most of the longish contracts were given when the players were 27 and most at AA level. you cant predict future injuries. last week we had 2 players only available for the reseves side

Shuey, Hurn and NicNat were all well in to their 30s when they got their new deals.

 

[Corn Cobbers]

Shuey is for culture. Can’t just ship everyone out, otherwise you end up
Like Carlton.

You're already like Carlton, glued to the bottom and scheming and begging for short cuts back to the top

It ain't gonna happen this time, you're going to be in the muck for years

 

[sdfc]

Yeah that’s what freo fans were telling us at end of 2014. Closer to flag. No one will watch us. Freo new kings of town.

Breezed right past ya. Didn’t we?

Still talking about the past? Stay strong brother.

 

[Mayes2Gray]

You're already like Carlton, glued to the bottom and scheming and begging for short cuts back to the top

It ain't gonna happen this time, you're going to be in the muck for years

I for one. Am happy about that.

 

[refresh]

We got access to the WAFL only, and that was after likes of Buckenarra, Bewick, etc had been raided in the previous seasons.

That's a rewrite of history.

There was a two year moratorium on drafting WA players prior to WCE entering the competition. Then WCE got all picks resulting in the likes of Heady at 92 and Kemp at 118.

WCE were bidding against themselves and why they were considered a state team

 

[estibador]

Here’s another take on the McLeod meeting;

Fremantle had flown the 18-year-old McLeod and his father to Perth for an interview, but none of the coaching or recruiting staff had actually seen him play, despite McLeod having played in a premiership for Port Adelaide Football Club in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) a few weeks earlier.

McLeod was puzzled and insulted when Fremantle coach Gerard Neesham asked him to stand up to see how tall he was. The result of this short meeting was that he was traded to Adelaide in return for promising centre half-forward Chris Groom, who they also hadn't see play. McLeod went on to play over 300 games, whilst Groom played only seven for Fremantle before being delisted at the end of the 1995 season.[8]


We’re not talking about dozens of picks over the course of history, these were the first 2 seasons of you entering the comp.

Ballsing it up so badly at the trade table and through the draft initially was more to blame for your poor history than a lack of start up concessions. Anyone throwing away the amount of opportunity you guys had in your hands would’ve suffered similarly.

Delisting Peter Bell after 1 year only to fork out picks 6, 8, 37 and Jess Sinclair to get him back a few years later is just 1 classic example. McLeod another. Scott Lucas, Phil Matera, Jeff Farmer - the list goes on. This is all happening before you get to throwing away pick 1 for a couple of seasons worth of Trent Croad.

The people running your club were a bunch of clowns.

Yep, can't argue with any of that. We were set up terribly and run terribly by a bunch of out-of-their depth amateurs who were totally unprepared for what was required in a national comp and had no idea how important talent identification across the country was.

But we were also set up on a shoestring WAFL-esque budget. The eagles are supposedly the richest and most powerful club in the land and yet they've managed to assemble a dysfunctional operation that makes Neesham's Dockers look like the 2000 Bombers juggernaut in comparison.

So what's the eagles' excuse?

 

[estibador]

Well wouldn’t it make more sense to get it early so you aren’t stuck at bottom?

Imagine if that happened how competitive competition would be. It’s not like a priority pick = premiership.

My god, this thread is laying bare the entitled mindset of eagles fans beautifully.

Sitting up in their ivory towers for years mocking other clubs going through hard times, but the minute hard times come for them they're crying that mummy and daddy AFL should rescue them from their own ineptitude with handouts because of how unfair it is to have to spend time down at the bottom.

 

[Corn Cobbers]

My god, this thread is laying bare the entitled mindset of eagles fans beautifully.

Sitting up in their ivory towers for years mocking other clubs going through hard times, but the minute hard times come for them they're crying that mummy and daddy AFL should rescue them from their own ineptitude with handouts because of how unfair it is to have to spend time down at the bottom.

They actually think the game's bottom line depends on them lol, no one is that big

 

[Purple Suit]

Nope. Give me the picks.

Shame with us is whenever we finish outside top 4. Even sometimes when in top 4 but feel there is underperformance. We aren’t freo mate.

Yep,
You’re not Freo, you’re worse than Freo has ever been right now with the end a long way away.

 

[ghostbat12]

Yep,
You’re not Freo, you’re worse than Freo has ever been right now with the end a long way away.

Again, it’s typical freo mentality. All about other things other than premierships. ‘Worse than freo has ever been’. I mean so what?It’s not a competition on who is less bad.

reality is that if you are bad, you are better off being last.

 

[RUNVS]

I could be wrong but I think West Coast have one of the worst percentages since GWS's and Gold Coast's first years in the competition and unlike GWS and Gold Coast they are not packed with young talent.

 

[bzparkes]

Disgraceful if they get a PP.
Blatant example of horrendous list management and self bathwater drinking .

Meanwhile, Northern academies

 

[Saab NLAW]

I'm fine with not getting a PP however the inequality created by certain clubs having access to Academy picks, no matter where they fall, needs to be addressed.

This is the biggest problem in the AFL, the competition is a farce.

 

[Elixuh]

Haven’t read thread but eagles won a flag in 2018 and haven’t even bottomed out their list yet. And their performances are linked to injury not list build.

So it’s a no from me dawg.

 

[Billy ray]

No. Im sick of clubs getting assistance.

 

[Billy ray]

 

[bzparkes]

You're already like Carlton, glued to the bottom and scheming and begging for short cuts back to the top

It ain't gonna happen this time, you're going to be in the muck for years

WCE haven't asked for a priority pick, just so you are fully aware.

It's the Vic Media having a conniption at the concept of it, because Eddie's had a thought-bubble.

The only thing WCE has asked for is raising the soft cap for all club.

Get a clue, or at least stop getting all your 'information' from the Herald Sun.

 

[bzparkes]

They actually think the game's bottom line depends on them lol, no one is that big

In 2021, West Coast reported the least funding from the AFL distribution at $11.8 million, but generated $61.7 million in revenue - with only second-placed Richmond close ($13.3 million from the AFL, $39.7 million self-generated plus $21 million from fitness and leisure centres).

WCE made 1.5x of the revenue of closest club in Richmond. That's pretty significant, considering WCE receive equal least funding from the AFL.

The AFL doesn't solely depend on us, of course, but those ever-increasing Exec bonuses at AFL house would look a lot less likely year on year WCE are shit and start to lose profits.

 

[Purple Suit]

Again, it’s typical freo mentality. All about other things other than premierships. ‘Worse than freo has ever been’. I mean so what?It’s not a competition on who is less bad.

reality is that if you are bad, you are better off being last.

It’s both, just like I get told that it’s all about flags. Spoons are the opposite and to get one is the ultimate shame and a sign of absolute failure.

 

[bzparkes]

No. Im sick of clubs getting assistance.

 

[ghostbat12]

It’s both, just like I get told that it’s all about flags. Spoons are the opposite and to get one is the ultimate shame and a sign of absolute failure.

I am not sure if you actually get a spoon for finishing last. But when you are a club like we are, whose ultimate goal is success, finishing anything other than first is failure. Degrees of failure is irrelevant.

Only to freo are there these labels such as “absolute” failure (vs failure) and “not ultimate” success. We do not resort to such rubbish. We were calling for heads when we finished 4th a few years ago.

To say we shall feel shame kind of tells you that you don’t actually understand wce fans. Just because freo fans feel shame (and you do as you only admit to supporting freo when there is a glimmer of making finals).

We will be back harder than ever. Ultimately deep down you know this. In mean time, enjoy it while you can.

 

[mattwa]

West Coast shouldn't be rewarded for making stupid decisions in signing on the older players. Also poor drafting and player development shouldn't be rewarded for a few down years