West Coast - When will the AFL step in?

longdonkey · Aug 3, 2025

Freomaniac said:
That Norwood AFL or VFL bid was in the early 1980s. This was when Norwood finally broke their 25 year flag drought in 1975.

They then won Further flags in 1978, 1982 and 1984.

If there was any other club that had a massive fan base like the Port Adelaide magpies in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, It was Norwood.

I follow South Adelaide in the SANFL. And I even know if there is one other club in the SANFL that could have their own AFL license, it would be the Norwood red legs

Freomaniac such a masochist. Freo and South Adelaide. Anyway if Norwood were smart they would have shut their mouths let the Port 1990 bid go through and they were the logical choice or a merge up of them and Sturt.

But instead they let their hatred of Port ruin in for themselves. In the 80's they were a powerhouse financially Redlegs Club, Sam's Disco they must have turned over a good amount of coin. But now those assets are sold.

swingdog · Aug 3, 2025

longdonkey said:
Freomaniac such a masochist. Freo and South Adelaide. Anyway if Norwood were smart they would have shut their mouths let the Port 1990 bid go through and they were the logical choice or a merge up of them and Sturt.

But instead they let their hatred of Port ruin in for themselves. In the 80's they were a powerhouse financially Redlegs Club, Sam's Disco they must have turned over a good amount of coin. But now those assets are sold.

For those of us outside South Australia, what was the story here? Genuinely interested.

longdonkey · Aug 3, 2025

swingdog said:
For those of us outside South Australia, what was the story here? Genuinely interested.

To be fair there are 2 versions of this story and at the end of the day you decide which one to accept.

The history is this-
in 1981, the SANFL decided to try to enter a composite team in the VFL but SANFL requests to the VFL in 1981 were politely declined due to the VFL not considering national expansion at the time. This was despite applications also coming from East Perth in the WAFL in 1980.

In 1985, The National Football Council commissioned a report that recommended South Australia enter a team into the VFL, as a joint effort between Norwood and Port Adelaide, two of the more successful and oldest SANFL clubs.

With financial troubles affecting half its clubs, the VFL evidently saw expansion as its saviour in 1986 and set the wheels in motion inviting both the SANFL and WAFL to the league. This coincided with the appointment of the VFL Commission in 1985.

Anyway in 1990 the AFL approached Port and Norwood about whether they would be interested in joining the AFL. Not sure if there was any secrecy involved but SANFL got wind of it and there was a SANFL special meeting at Victor Harbor where all clubs agreed any negotiation would be held with the SANFL and not individual clubs.

This is where there are two stories

Story 1 (The SANFL version and accepted media version)

After a few months Port decided to ignore the agreement and began negotiating with the AFL behind the back of the SANFL and the other 9 clubs and when Port announced their 1990 bid the SANFL took out a Court Injunction stopping the bid that led to SANFL forming the Adelaide Crows.

Story 2 (The Port version)

After a few months it was apparent that SANFL either wasn't interested in an AFL club in Adelaide or they were going to do everything in their power to make sure it wasn't Port. To the extent there were thoughts that Norwood may have been negotiating with the AFL for the license in secret. In order not to be burnt and left high and dry Port began negotiating for the license behind the backs of the SANFL. Port felt they were subsidising the rest of the league and most other clubs were benefiting from the SANFL Player Retention Scheme more than Port.

Norwood also tried to enter in 1997 with a bid to relocate Fitzroy to Adelaide which was backed by SA Cricket Association. At one stage wanted to join the AFL under a Norwood/Sturt merger. They have also expressed interest in being the 20th Team recently.

I don't know which one is the true version or it could be a bit of both but I think what it showed was there wasn't a level of trust.

ray_purchase · Aug 3, 2025

They delist Jai Culley.... a 22 year old 194 cm mid/forward who looked great for the Demons yesterday and who would comfortably be in their starting 18, and now they ask for draft assistance.

What a disgrace of a club West Coast are.

bzparkes · Aug 3, 2025

ray_purchase said:
They delist Jai Culley.... a 22 year old 194 cm mid/forward who looked great for the Demons yesterday and who would comfortably be in their starting 18, and now they ask for draft assistance.

What a disgrace of a club West Coast are.

Yeah, he kicked 4 goals and won the RS nom for us also once.

He's not a midfielder mate, too slow, which is why he was delisted.

I'd have been more than happy to persevere with him as a forward though. His delisting was a surprise in the end.

Broken_Chairs · Aug 3, 2025

ABAB said:
I'm not sure if you've watched Wardlaw to be saying that.

Hmm...

Player Comparison
Elijah Hewett	Name	George Wardlaw
Eagles	Team	Kangaroos
Midfield, Forward	Position	Midfield
31	Career Games	35
Swan Districts	Origin	Oakleigh Chargers
May 27, 2004	DOB	June 11, 2004
21yr 2mth	Age	21yr 1mth
186cm	Height	182cm
86kg	Weight	79kg
2022 National	Last Drafted	2022 National
Round 1, Pick #14	Pick #	Round 1, Pick #4
Eagles	By	Kangaroos
2025	Stats for Season	2025
17	Games	9
7.5	Kicks	9.3
8.7	Handballs	4.4
16.2	Disposals	13.8
1.6	Marks	1.1
0.6	Goals	0.3
0.5	Behinds	0.1
3.4	Tackles	4.7
0	Hitouts	0
2.8	Inside 50s	3.2
0.4	Goal Assists	0.4
1.0	Frees For	1.0
0.9	Frees Against	0.8
7.6	Contested Possessions	6.3
8.5	Uncontested Possessions	7.6
10.3	Eff, Disposals	7.2
63.6%	Disp. Eff. %	52.2%
2.6	Clangers	3.0
0	Cont. Marks	0
0.5	Marks I50	0
3.5	Clearances	2.7
0.8	Rebound 50s	0.6
0.7	One Percenters	0.7
0	Bounces	0.1
73.3	TOG %	58.9
1.5	Cent. Clear.	0.8
2.0	Stop. Clear.	1.9
4.0	Score Involve.	2.4
248.5	Metres Gained	279.0
2.9	Turnovers	3.6

Player Comparison
Reuben Ginbey	Name	George Wardlaw
Eagles	Team	Kangaroos
Defender, Midfield	Position	Midfield
60	Career Games	35
East Perth	Origin	Oakleigh Chargers
September 10, 2004	DOB	June 11, 2004
20yr 10mth	Age	21yr 1mth
191cm	Height	182cm
83kg	Weight	79kg
2022 National	Last Drafted	2022 National
Round 1, Pick #9	Pick #	Round 1, Pick #4
Eagles	By	Kangaroos
2025	Stats for Season	2025
20	Games	9
8.6	Kicks	9.3
4.8	Handballs	4.4
13.3	Disposals	13.8
3.4	Marks	1.1
0	Goals	0.3
0	Behinds	0.1
2.7	Tackles	4.7
0.1	Hitouts	0
0.7	Inside 50s	3.2
0	Goal Assists	0.4
1.2	Frees For	1.0
0.7	Frees Against	0.8
5.7	Contested Possessions	6.3
7.4	Uncontested Possessions	7.6
9.8	Eff, Disposals	7.2
73.7%	Disp. Eff. %	52.2%
2.7	Clangers	3.0
0.3	Cont. Marks	0
0	Marks I50	0
0.5	Clearances	2.7
4.3	Rebound 50s	0.6
5.1	One Percenters	0.7
1.3	Bounces	0.1
89.8	TOG %	58.9
0	Cent. Clear.	0.8
0.5	Stop. Clear.	1.9
1.4	Score Involve.	2.4
257.1	Metres Gained	279.0
3.6	Turnovers	3.6

I'm sure Wardlaw will be a gun, but it's pretty clear that splitting the Pick for Hewett and Ginbey was not a poor decision.

We have so many gaps across the list that we need to get creative to bring as much talent in as possible. Likewise, splitting Pick 3 for Baker, Graham and the best WA prospect Bo Allan last year meant we brought in some much needed senior leaders as well as young talent. Our best seniors unexpectedly had their careers cut short from LTIs or concussion, like it or not it was a list gap that required action.

Reality is if we just took the pick, the complaint would be we can't rebuild with one high end pick at a time and it's our fault for not being creative. If we split the pick we're idiots for not taking the high end pick.

Broken_Chairs · Aug 3, 2025

ray_purchase said:
They delist Jai Culley.... a 22 year old 194 cm mid/forward who looked great for the Demons yesterday and who would comfortably be in their starting 18, and now they ask for draft assistance.

What a disgrace of a club West Coast are.

Slow as treacle will never make it as a mid - and we have forward line talent. He wasn't the right fit for WCE and evidently wasn't best 18.

Wish him the best, but massive long-shot to make it at AFL level. Might work out for the dees if you keep him as that med-tall fwrd. Just limited otherwise.

bzparkes · Aug 3, 2025

Broken_Chairs said:
Slow as treacle will never make it as a mid - and we have forward line talent. He wasn't the right fit for WCE and evidently wasn't best 18.

Wish him the best, but massive long-shot to make it at AFL level. Might work out for the dees if you keep him as that med-tall fwrd. Just limited otherwise.

The irony of a supporter of the club that's received the most PPs in AFL history, and tanked for one in '09, complaining about other clubs getting them.

Just like their club did when Brisbane got one last time.

Freomaniac · Aug 3, 2025

Scotland said:
I would have taken Carlton's pick but there are a cluster of teams around Hawthorn's level and a cluster of teams worse than Carlton so it will be a few spots. If Adelaide drop another game to Hawthorn they should win I will lose my shit though.

I agree you should of taken Carlton's pick

swingdog · Aug 3, 2025

longdonkey said:
To be fair there are 2 versions of this story and at the end of the day you decide which one to accept.

The history is this-
in 1981, the SANFL decided to try to enter a composite team in the VFL but SANFL requests to the VFL in 1981 were politely declined due to the VFL not considering national expansion at the time. This was despite applications also coming from East Perth in the WAFL in 1980.

In 1985, The National Football Council commissioned a report that recommended South Australia enter a team into the VFL, as a joint effort between Norwood and Port Adelaide, two of the more successful and oldest SANFL clubs.

With financial troubles affecting half its clubs, the VFL evidently saw expansion as its saviour in 1986 and set the wheels in motion inviting both the SANFL and WAFL to the league. This coincided with the appointment of the VFL Commission in 1985.

Anyway in 1990 the AFL approached Port and Norwood about whether they would be interested in joining the AFL. Not sure if there was any secrecy involved but SANFL got wind of it and there was a SANFL special meeting at Victor Harbor where all clubs agreed any negotiation would be held with the SANFL and not individual clubs.

This is where there are two stories

Story 1 (The SANFL version and accepted media version)

After a few months Port decided to ignore the agreement and began negotiating with the AFL behind the back of the SANFL and the other 9 clubs and when Port announced their 1990 bid the SANFL took out a Court Injunction stopping the bid that led to SANFL forming the Adelaide Crows.

Story 2 (The Port version)

After a few months it was apparent that SANFL either wasn't interested in an AFL club in Adelaide or they were going to do everything in their power to make sure it wasn't Port. To the extent there were thoughts that Norwood may have been negotiating with the AFL for the license in secret. In order not to be burnt and left high and dry Port began negotiating for the license behind the backs of the SANFL. Port felt they were subsidising the rest of the league and most other clubs were benefiting from the SANFL Player Retention Scheme more than Port.

Norwood also tried to enter in 1997 with a bid to relocate Fitzroy to Adelaide which was backed by SA Cricket Association. At one stage wanted to join the AFL under a Norwood/Sturt merger. They have also expressed interest in being the 20th Team recently.

I don't know which one is the true version or it could be a bit of both but I think what it showed was there wasn't a level of trust.

Thanks very much.

PerthBoy86 · Aug 4, 2025

purplearmy said:
The Fitzroy Eagles don’t deserve any assistance.

Every Ali needs their Frazier, every Federer their Nadal, every Magic their Bird, don't you want a decent opponent to beat, the more to gloat over when you beat them?

Cleric · Aug 4, 2025

Altum Volantes said:
I have no hate for Adelaide but when did they become the gold standard of 'rebuild withoit assistance'?

8 years in the wilderness and yeah, having a good season (finally) but this mob has done NOTHING.

Win a final before you start patting yourselves on the back, even Longmuir's Dockers have done that.

They, along with Hawthorn, became the gold standard because they didn't linger at the bottom for years on end like North and WC have.

They didn't get any PPs, they just traded and drafted with what they had and changed things at their clubs that needed changing.
Its more than draft picks. Its keeping the good players you get, its having a good culture that players want to stay in, and its about being attractive to other players to come to. Then its about identifying the right kids to draft and the right players to trade in.
Adelaide has nailed it in all areas.
after the 2017 GF, Adelaide was fractured. There was disunity, disgruntled players, and an aging list. The coaching department was off their rockers with their inclusion of Collective Minds into the club, and all that had to be changed. As Sloane said on the footy show, he personally knows of a couple of players who decided not to come to Adelaide due to their reputation. Harrison Petty was one of them.

The club cleaned out the coaching department, got rid of the CEO, and created a cluture that was good.
In prior drafts the list mangers had stuffed up a number of first round picks. They turned that around and have nailed the draft since 2020.

We couldnt attract any decent players to come to the club. They turned that around and brought in Dawson, Rankine ANB, Peatling and Cummings.

Even without access to high draft picks they identified a number of delisted FAs in Keays, Keane, Murray and Hinge, all who are playing high level football in the team.

The club lost its way with not going for the best SA talent in the draft, and now are more prone to picking the SA kid. The team has a higher % of SA kids now than before.

The mob has done nothing?
That's a wild one. They have done everything they can do at this point, and are sitting at the top of the ladder.

WC can only dream of replicating what Adelaide have done.

You should be more worried about your own backyard.

Lia · Aug 4, 2025

ray_purchase said:
They delist Jai Culley.... a 22 year old 194 cm mid/forward who looked great for the Demons yesterday and who would comfortably be in their starting 18, and now they ask for draft assistance.

What a disgrace of a club West Coast are.

Jai is a good bloke but he will not be on your list for very long.

Altum Volantes · Aug 4, 2025

Cleric said:
They, along with Hawthorn, became the gold standard because they didn't linger at the bottom for years on end like North and WC have.

They didn't get any PPs, they just traded and drafted with what they had and changed things at their clubs that needed changing.
Its more than draft picks. Its keeping the good players you get, its having a good culture that players want to stay in, and its about being attractive to other players to come to. Then its about identifying the right kids to draft and the right players to trade in.
Adelaide has nailed it in all areas.
after the 2017 GF, Adelaide was fractured. There was disunity, disgruntled players, and an aging list. The coaching department was off their rockers with their inclusion of Collective Minds into the club, and all that had to be changed. As Sloane said on the footy show, he personally knows of a couple of players who decided not to come to Adelaide due to their reputation. Harrison Petty was one of them.

The club cleaned out the coaching department, got rid of the CEO, and created a cluture that was good.
In prior drafts the list mangers had stuffed up a number of first round picks. They turned that around and have nailed the draft since 2020.

We couldnt attract any decent players to come to the club. They turned that around and brought in Dawson, Rankine ANB, Peatling and Cummings.

Even without access to high draft picks they identified a number of delisted FAs in Keays, Keane, Murray and Hinge, all who are playing high level football in the team.

The club lost its way with not going for the best SA talent in the draft, and now are more prone to picking the SA kid. The team has a higher % of SA kids now than before.

The mob has done nothing?
That's a wild one. They have done everything they can do at this point, and are sitting at the top of the ladder.

WC can only dream of replicating what Adelaide have done.

You should be more worried about your own backyard.

Calm down.

You worked your way back from bottom, spent time in the middle and have had your first great (good?) season since 2017. Well done.

You still haven't actually done anything, in terms of winning finals, premierships etc

Don't break your shoulder patting yourself on the back just yet.

ray_purchase · Aug 4, 2025

bzparkes said:
The irony of a supporter of the club that's received the most PPs in AFL history, and tanked for one in '09, complaining about other clubs getting them.

Just like their club did when Brisbane got one last time.

We didn't delist guns like Jai Culley though. Thanks for a 194cm mid who can take pack marks.

Maybe you should be pointing the finger at your horrible list management. You won a flag in 2018 now you're asking for free picks.

bzparkes · Aug 4, 2025

ray_purchase said:
We didn't delist guns like Jai Culley though. Thanks for a 194cm mid who can take pack marks.

Maybe you should be pointing the finger at your horrible list management. You won a flag in 2018 now your asking for free picks.

Gun, lol.

Good luck to the kid, hope he has a decent career but downhill skiing when your team is well on top isn't much.

Couldn't get near it in our side last year.

THE_GUN · Aug 4, 2025

bzparkes said:
Gun, lol.

Good luck to the kid, hope he has a decent career but downhill skiing when your team is well on top isn't much.

Couldn't get near it in our side last year.

Forget about Culley being a gun player as we all know he is not but the question is would he be in your best 23 in 2026 ?
I would say he would easily be in the eagles starting line up next year.
23 year old dual position player with a big body in a period where the eagles need mature bodies

bzparkes · Aug 4, 2025

THE_GUN said:
Forget about Culley being a gun player as we all know he is not but the question is would he be in your best 23 in 2026 ?
I would say he would easily be in the eagles starting line up next year.
23 year old dual position player with a big body in a period where the eagles need mature bodies

He'd be playing WAFL, like he was last year with mostly the same players in the side.

Which would actually be a massive plus for us, because he was very good in the 2s and we have no mids there currently.

Too slow for AFL midfield and we need small forwards who can actually pressure which again, Culley's not fast enough for post-knee.

Scotland · Aug 4, 2025

Freomaniac said:
I don't think the AFL need to step in and save west coast. On field they have been bad for 4 seasons.

But off field? Well this isn't Port Adelaide of 2008 to 2011 when they lost 2 to 3 million dollars a year. Port Adelaide in 2012 lost 6.5 million dollars that season.

West coast eagles are making profits. Last I heard, they have 50 to 60 million dollars worth of assets.

West coast won't bleed to death anytime soon. Not financially anyway

This is a silly line of discussion. The AFL's PP formula has nothing to do with off field metrics. If they don't want to help WC then they will justify it based on any finals appearances that a club has made in recent seasons and any premierships that a club has won in recent seasons. That is their prerogative.

If you hadn't noticed the AFL already gives other clubs millions more than they give us via distributed central funding. They can afford to do this because the same cohort of clubs consistently subsidise the rest.

Last year Gold Coast got $35m, we got $17m. Brisbane won the flag, got Levi Ashcroft at pick 5 and Sam Marshall at pick 25, and the AFL gave them $30m.

WC's financial assets may as well be 10 year govt bonds for the amount of use they are in improving the playing list. Do you expect us to sit here and say 'that's OK, we have money so can afford to suck so keeping spending money on other clubs while also giving them preferential draft access'?

I don't want to hear about late season blow outs and how unfair it is that Adelaide, Freo and GWS get to play us twice this year. The AFL has mechanisms in place to equalise the comp that they have fixed to the point they are broken. They have discretionary mechanisms in place to equalise the comp via priority picks in whatever form they come. You don't get to **** up the draft and salary cap, knock back a request for assistance and then talk about the integrity of the comp.

WC will be fine, and if it takes longer to be competitive than it used to then it takes longer.

THE_GUN · Aug 4, 2025

Scotland said:
This is a silly line of discussion. The AFL's PP formula has nothing to do with off field metrics. If they don't want to help WC then they will justify it based on any finals appearances that a club has made in recent seasons and any premierships that a club has won in recent seasons. That is their prerogative.

If you hadn't noticed the AFL already gives other clubs millions more than they give us via distributed central funding. They can afford to do this because the same cohort of clubs consistently subsidise the rest.

Last year Gold Coast got $35m, we got $17m. Brisbane won the flag, got Levi Ashcroft at pick 5 and Sam Marshall at pick 25, and the AFL gave them $30m.

WC's financial assets may as well be 10 year govt bonds for the amount of use they are in improving the playing list. Do you expect us to sit here and say 'that's OK, we have money so can afford to suck so keeping spending money on other clubs while also giving them preferential draft access'?

I don't want to hear about late season blow outs and how unfair it is that Adelaide, Freo and GWS get to play us twice this year. The AFL has mechanisms in place to equalise the comp that they have fixed to the point they are broken. They have discretionary mechanisms in place to equalise the comp via priority picks in whatever form they come. You don't get to **** up the draft and salary cap, knock back a request for assistance and then talk about the integrity of the comp.

WC will be fine, and if it takes longer to be competitive than it used to then it takes longer.

I am in Favour of giving the eagles assistance and dont see the point of making them a lost cause for 10 years attempting to rebuild.

With a salary cap in place i just dont see what the point is in having limits on Rookie list spots and should be allowed to use the cap on having an extra 5-7 rookies to improve quicker as well as the flexibility to transfer funds from salary cap to soft cap.

I think this would be a better way to help clubs than just Priority Picks

bzparkes · Aug 4, 2025

purplearmy said:
The Fitzroy Eagles managed their club poorly, plain and simple. They have money. They don’t deserve picks.

So we just dive in a money pit, Scrooge McDuck style?

Because that's all WCE can do with the 'money'.

Freomaniac · Aug 4, 2025

THE_GUN said:
I am in Favour of giving the eagles assistance and dont see the point of making them a lost cause for 10 years attempting to rebuild.

With a salary cap in place i just dont see what the point is in having limits on Rookie list spots and should be allowed to use the cap on having an extra 5-7 rookies to improve quicker as well as the flexibility to transfer funds from salary cap to soft cap.

I think this would be a better way to help clubs than just Priority Picks

I am still flabbergasted that teams like North Melbourne are still forced to use 95 percent of the salary cap as a bare minimum.

I mean wait by the end of the decade. The playing list salary cap will be 20 million dollars. So 95 percent of that is 19 million.

Knock it down to 90 percent. That's 18 million dollars. 2 million dollars of wriggle room to lure a free agent for $800,000 a year or give key players a $200-$300,000 a year pay rise in their next contract.

If the club is crippled with injuries, I would be reviewing the footy department, more specifically the medical department.

Freomaniac · Aug 4, 2025

bzparkes said:
So we just dive in a money pit, Scrooge McDuck style?

Because that's all WCE can do with the 'money'.

If I was an eagles board member, I would be using that cash to get better medical staff

Purple Suit · Aug 4, 2025

Broken_Chairs said:
Hmm...

Player Comparison
Elijah Hewett
Name
George Wardlaw
Eagles
Team
Kangaroos
Midfield, Forward
Position
Midfield
31
Career Games
35
Swan Districts
Origin
Oakleigh Chargers
May 27, 2004
DOB
June 11, 2004
21yr 2mth
Age
21yr 1mth
186cm
Height
182cm
86kg
Weight
79kg
2022 National
Last Drafted
2022 National
Round 1, Pick #14
Pick #
Round 1, Pick #4
Eagles
By
Kangaroos
2025
Stats for Season
2025
17
Games
9
7.5
Kicks
9.3
8.7
Handballs
4.4
16.2
Disposals
13.8
1.6
Marks
1.1
0.6
Goals
0.3
0.5
Behinds
0.1
3.4
Tackles
4.7
0
Hitouts
0
2.8
Inside 50s
3.2
0.4
Goal Assists
0.4
1.0
Frees For
1.0
0.9
Frees Against
0.8
7.6
Contested Possessions
6.3
8.5
Uncontested Possessions
7.6
10.3
Eff, Disposals
7.2
63.6%
Disp. Eff. %
52.2%
2.6
Clangers
3.0
0
Cont. Marks
0
0.5
Marks I50
0
3.5
Clearances
2.7
0.8
Rebound 50s
0.6
0.7
One Percenters
0.7
0
Bounces
0.1
73.3
TOG %
58.9
1.5
Cent. Clear.
0.8
2.0
Stop. Clear.
1.9
4.0
Score Involve.
2.4
248.5
Metres Gained
279.0
2.9
Turnovers
3.6

Player Comparison
Reuben Ginbey
Name
George Wardlaw
Eagles
Team
Kangaroos
Defender, Midfield
Position
Midfield
60
Career Games
35
East Perth
Origin
Oakleigh Chargers
September 10, 2004
DOB
June 11, 2004
20yr 10mth
Age
21yr 1mth
191cm
Height
182cm
83kg
Weight
79kg
2022 National
Last Drafted
2022 National
Round 1, Pick #9
Pick #
Round 1, Pick #4
Eagles
By
Kangaroos
2025
Stats for Season
2025
20
Games
9
8.6
Kicks
9.3
4.8
Handballs
4.4
13.3
Disposals
13.8
3.4
Marks
1.1
0
Goals
0.3
0
Behinds
0.1
2.7
Tackles
4.7
0.1
Hitouts
0
0.7
Inside 50s
3.2
0
Goal Assists
0.4
1.2
Frees For
1.0
0.7
Frees Against
0.8
5.7
Contested Possessions
6.3
7.4
Uncontested Possessions
7.6
9.8
Eff, Disposals
7.2
73.7%
Disp. Eff. %
52.2%
2.7
Clangers
3.0
0.3
Cont. Marks
0
0
Marks I50
0
0.5
Clearances
2.7
4.3
Rebound 50s
0.6
5.1
One Percenters
0.7
1.3
Bounces
0.1
89.8
TOG %
58.9
0
Cent. Clear.
0.8
0.5
Stop. Clear.
1.9
1.4
Score Involve.
2.4
257.1
Metres Gained
279.0
3.6
Turnovers
3.6

I'm sure Wardlaw will be a gun, but it's pretty clear that splitting the Pick for Hewett and Ginbey was not a poor decision.

We have so many gaps across the list that we need to get creative to bring as much talent in as possible. Likewise, splitting Pick 3 for Baker, Graham and the best WA prospect Bo Allan last year meant we brought in some much needed senior leaders as well as young talent. Our best seniors unexpectedly had their careers cut short from LTIs or concussion, like it or not it was a list gap that required action.

Reality is if we just took the pick, the complaint would be we can't rebuild with one high end pick at a time and it's our fault for not being creative. If we split the pick we're idiots for not taking the high end pick.

Why are you comparing your pick 2 haul with a pick 3? You could have had either Cadman or Sheezel. Compare them.

Broken_Chairs · Aug 4, 2025

Purple Suit said:
Why are you comparing your pick 2 haul with a pick 3? You could have had either Cadman or Sheezel. Compare them.

Eh? Keep up buddy:

In 2022 NM traded pick 1 to GWS, who took Cadman
WCE had pick 2 but split the pick for what ended up as picks 9 and 14, WCE took Ginbey and Hewett
NM bid on Ashcroft at pick 2, which was matched. They then selected Sheezle and Wardlaw.
Sheezle was a known 'vic metro mumma's boy' who explicitly told non-vic clubs he didn't want to go. Cadman was already off the table.
Ergo, even though Sheezle was an option, the only viable choice for WCE at pick 2 was Wardlaw.
Therefore, the comparison I provided above is between Wardlaw vs Ginbey & Hewett.
The poster I responded to was suggesting WCE had made a poor decision to split pick 2 and Hewett was no good. I don't consider that accurate.

OK have caught up? Now try again.

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