West Coasters Flag Prospects 2020

[Sash Cat]

Why were WCE so travel fatigued in 2019 but not in 2018?

 

[Capriati]

He was wrong. Collingwood should’ve been the premiers. You should be thankful the umpire’s ineptness during a critical moment gifted you a flag. Richmond were also the best side in 2018. Stop trying to put yourselves on our level. It’s insulting.

I acknowledge the betting market has WCE as one of the premiership favourites, but that doesn’t mean I agree with it. A good ordinary side + Tim Kelly - Willie Rioli won’t win the premiership.

We were the best team of 2018 and have our 4th flag in AFL era to show for it.

We flogged you by 8 goals. If you were the best side, you would have made the Grand Final. You didn't because you guys were running out of gas at the end of the season and had peaked too early.

Rioli was protecting the drop zone, although I would say that umps were reluctant to blow the whistle that day in general.

After that play Maynard got sheed high and there was no free given. Howell got caught holding the ball in a tackle by Rioli but they did a ball up instead.

After quarter time we were on top, and after half time were dominant.

 

[Boston tiger]

If it is a fortress, it's because we make it a fortress. Not all teams outside Victoria have a home ground advantage as strong as West Coast's.

Same as it doesn't hurt Richmond and Hawthorn getting to play the Grand Final on their home ground irrespective of finishing position.

The umpiring comment is childish and reductive.

Pretty hard not to talk about West Coast and their home ground fortress without talking about umpiring.

 

[Capriati]

Pretty hard not to talk about West Coast and their home ground fortress without talking about umpiring.

Oh please, that is immature and childish.

St Kilda blew up about a whole lot of nothing. The AFL looked in to it and determined that there was nothing in it.

It is the AFL's job to ensure that the umpires have received appropriate training to deal with conditions such as crowd noise etc.

 

[Boston tiger]

Oh please, that is immature and childish.

St Kilda blew up about a whole lot of nothing. The AFL looked in to it and determined that there was nothing in it.

They looked into it ?

 

[Boston tiger]

Oh please, that is immature and childish.

St Kilda blew up about a whole lot of nothing. The AFL looked in to it and determined that there was nothing in it.

It is the AFL's job to ensure that the umpires have received appropriate training to deal with conditions such as crowd noise etc.

Are you trolling ?

 

[Capriati]

Are you trolling ?

Why would I be trolling? AFL looked in to the trends of West Coast free kicks and determined that there was nothing in it, hence why WA umpires resumed officiating West Coast matches.

No Cookies | Herald Sun

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THE AFL says it is taking steps to investigate the reasons behind West Coast’s “noise of affirmation” as the Eagles’ free kick domination continues.
West Coast has won the free kick count in 61 of its past 73 home games against interstate opponents, including seven of eight Perth Stadium games.

AFL umpires coach Hayden Kennedy confirmed to the Herald Sun the league was investigating the trends behind the persistent pattern.

Kennedy said that while single-game free kick counts were irrelevant, the league’s umpires and game analysis team was mystified by the long-running trend.

Former AFL umpires boss Peter Schwab recently said the noise of affirmation was real — umpires convinced to pay what they suspected was a free kick when the home crowd roared.

The AFL has broken down the type of free kicks the Eagles receive at home and analysed their game style for patterns.

But Fremantle plays in front of similar crowds and is only +15 for free kicks at home games this year, while Richmond has a horrible free kick record at the MCG.
One theory is that West Coast has such powerful marking forwards in Jeremy McGovern, Jack Darling and Josh Kennedy that opponents often infringe to curtail them.

Another is that West Coast is an extremely disciplined tackling side — and often corrals opponents instead of tackling — but is adept at winning head-high frees.

Kennedy said the AFL had still not got to the bottom of the discrepancy given Richmond’s MCG crowd noise is incredible yet they often lose the free kick count.

“West Coast and Fremantle have the same crowd and different results in regard to hometown free kicks,” he said.

“We are certainly aware of it and the emphasis is on umpires over there to get into the zone. Pay free kicks according to what you see each and every week.

“If it so happens to be the numbers are different, so be it. If we as (umpire) coaches on the day see something wrong with our decision-making we need to attend to it, but the pure numbers are irrelevant.”

The league rarely schedules a full complement of Perth-based umpires for local games but most games would have at least one local umpire.

The umpires department is attempting to balance the number of times Perth-based umpires fly interstate and umpire at home.

St Kilda’s Alan Richardson admitted to being “really frustrated” by the decisions in Round 11, when his team trailed 12-25 in the free kick count.

Essendon smashed West Coast in a 28-point win last Friday but lost the free kick count 17-33.

Schwab said on SEN of the noise of affirmation: “You’re pretty sure the free kick is there and then the roar of the West Coast Eagles crowd for it probably confirms it — affirmation, as we talk about.”

Said Kennedy yesterday of that phenomenon: “You can’t really place yourself in the mind of the umpires. All we say is be in the zone, be in the right frame of mind and hopefully that leads to the best results.”

He said he had this week reinforced to umpires to keep their distance from melees and on-field flashpoints to guard against contact with players.

 

[Boston tiger]

Why would I be trolling? AFL looked in to the trends of West Coast free kicks and determined that there was nothing in it, hence why WA umpires resumed officiating West Coast matches.

No Cookies | Herald Sun

No Cookies

www.heraldsun.com.au

THE AFL says it is taking steps to investigate the reasons behind West Coast’s “noise of affirmation” as the Eagles’ free kick domination continues.
West Coast has won the free kick count in 61 of its past 73 home games against interstate opponents, including seven of eight Perth Stadium games.

AFL umpires coach Hayden Kennedy confirmed to the Herald Sun the league was investigating the trends behind the persistent pattern.

Kennedy said that while single-game free kick counts were irrelevant, the league’s umpires and game analysis team was mystified by the long-running trend.

Former AFL umpires boss Peter Schwab recently said the noise of affirmation was real — umpires convinced to pay what they suspected was a free kick when the home crowd roared.

The AFL has broken down the type of free kicks the Eagles receive at home and analysed their game style for patterns.

But Fremantle plays in front of similar crowds and is only +15 for free kicks at home games this year, while Richmond has a horrible free kick record at the MCG.
One theory is that West Coast has such powerful marking forwards in Jeremy McGovern, Jack Darling and Josh Kennedy that opponents often infringe to curtail them.

Another is that West Coast is an extremely disciplined tackling side — and often corrals opponents instead of tackling — but is adept at winning head-high frees.

Kennedy said the AFL had still not got to the bottom of the discrepancy given Richmond’s MCG crowd noise is incredible yet they often lose the free kick count.

“West Coast and Fremantle have the same crowd and different results in regard to hometown free kicks,” he said.

“We are certainly aware of it and the emphasis is on umpires over there to get into the zone. Pay free kicks according to what you see each and every week.

“If it so happens to be the numbers are different, so be it. If we as (umpire) coaches on the day see something wrong with our decision-making we need to attend to it, but the pure numbers are irrelevant.”

The league rarely schedules a full complement of Perth-based umpires for local games but most games would have at least one local umpire.

The umpires department is attempting to balance the number of times Perth-based umpires fly interstate and umpire at home.

St Kilda’s Alan Richardson admitted to being “really frustrated” by the decisions in Round 11, when his team trailed 12-25 in the free kick count.

Essendon smashed West Coast in a 28-point win last Friday but lost the free kick count 17-33.

Schwab said on SEN of the noise of affirmation: “You’re pretty sure the free kick is there and then the roar of the West Coast Eagles crowd for it probably confirms it — affirmation, as we talk about.”

Said Kennedy yesterday of that phenomenon: “You can’t really place yourself in the mind of the umpires. All we say is be in the zone, be in the right frame of mind and hopefully that leads to the best results.”

He said he had this week reinforced to umpires to keep their distance from melees and on-field flashpoints to guard against contact with players.

What is your point ? The league had to investigate something? Why ? What did they find ? West Coast get a shot load of free kicks probably due to noise affirmation.

 

[Boston tiger]

Oh please, that is immature and childish.

St Kilda blew up about a whole lot of nothing. The AFL looked in to it and determined that there was nothing in it.

It is the AFL's job to ensure that the umpires have received appropriate training to deal with conditions such as crowd noise etc.

It’s pretty immature and childish to boo every decision made against you. West Coast home crowd create the most hostile environment for an umpire by far. The free kick diff is so skewed it’s not funny.

 

[Capriati]

What is your point ? The league had to investigate something? Why ? What did they find ? West Coast get a shot load of free kicks probably due to noise affirmation.

The point I am making is that the comments about West Coast having a leg up due to umpiring is reductive and unfounded.

 

[Capriati]

It’s pretty immature and childish to boo every decision made against you. West Coast home crowd create the most hostile environment for an umpire by far. The free kick diff is so skewed it’s not funny.

I live in Melbourne and go to AFL games at MCG regularly.

The crowd boo there as well. In fact Richmond supporters are notorious for it.

Do you have anything substantial to contribute to this thread about west coasts 2020 prospects or are you going to continue to derail this thread?

 

[bzparkes]

Richmond supporters boo everything, an absolute cacophony of Booos every game. Pretty rich for them to bring up our crowd lol.

Ditto Collingwood.

 

[prodigy1311]

I'm not sure if you watched many of our games this year, and I'm pretty certain you're massively overrating your own team. Richmond got a dickride in terms of fixturing, so don't act like you're the best in isolation. If you actually had a genuinely balanced draw, you wouldn't be premiers.

Do you know how many games Nic played for us this year? Five, including two finals at the end of the year. He played 10 less games in 2019 compared to 2018 (15 vs 5) and was a massive reason we were even able to finish top 2 last year in the first place. Coming into 2020, he'll have a full preseason and (hopefully) play 20 games for us, which will probably see us finishing top 2 with the addition of Kelly. We'll have our best player back plus an elite midfielder to add on top of Shuey and Yeo. That is the equivalent of Cox, Judd, Cousins and Kerr from 2006 - not at the same level, but of a similar ilk. We now have three elite midfielders in addition to our superstar ruckman.

If you think Rance is a better player than Nic, or Graham/Pickett is equivalent to Tim Kelly, than I think you'll need to reconsider your knowledge as an AFL fan.

Now imho WC will contend next year no doubt but to say Nic is a better player than Rance is a bit rich..!

 

[Yoey]

Now imho WC will contend next year no doubt but to say Nic is a better player than Rance is a bit rich..!

Rance is decent but compared to Jacovich he is vanilla mate. Watch some of Jacko's highlights on utube and he is sublime whereas Rance is all manic and all over the place at times.

 

[Boston tiger]

I live in Melbourne and go to AFL games at MCG regularly.

The crowd boo there as well. In fact Richmond supporters are notorious for it.

Do you have anything substantial to contribute to this thread about west coasts 2020 prospects or are you going to continue to derail this thread?

I stated my reasons why I thought West Coast prospects aren’t that bright. One is oval size and the other is the jig is up with the umpires. Someone came up with something about an AFL investigation into the free kick differential at West Coast ?

 

[Boston tiger]

Richmond supporters boo everything, an absolute cacophony of Booos every game. Pretty rich for them to bring up our crowd lol.

Ditto Collingwood.

The MCG is a Richmond fortress but we can’t use the umpiring as a reason for it.

 

[Boston tiger]

I live in Melbourne and go to AFL games at MCG regularly.

The crowd boo there as well. In fact Richmond supporters are notorious for it.

Do you have anything substantial to contribute to this thread about west coasts 2020 prospects or are you going to continue to derail this thread?

Is it a hostile environment for the umpires week in week out ?

 

[Off Tap]

Also, WCE have had a massive drug culture for some time now and their premiership in the 00s is unfortunately tainted. I know a lot of it is recreational, but they can still impact cardiovascular health and your overall recovery process. You’d also be naive to completely rule out performance enhancing drugs. We all know what happened to Essendon when they started doping. You have to consider it as a possibility, especially with some of the stories you read about their dodgy doctors feeding them benzos like they were Skittles. Perhaps their distinct lack of games in comparison to Victorian clubs is more so linked to their drug use as opposed to sitting on a plane. I think that would be a much more plausible explanation.

So by your reckoning then every flag won is tainted. Even the ones won recently by Richmond.

 

[VicBased]

That sort of arrogance is what leads to defeat Not respecting the opposition.

Now you do realise that you are dealing with the supporters here and not the actual players. I think they might be in a different mindset. Sheesh!!!

 

[A Bit Dusty]

Now you do realise that you are dealing with the supporters here and not the actual players. I think they might be in a different mindset. Sheesh!!!

I don't think so did you watch the round 23 match against Hawthorn? The eagles players expected it to just happen then the whole season was gone from that point due to their arrogance. Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Kwality]

Richmond supporters boo everything, an absolute cacophony of Booos every game. Pretty rich for them to bring up our crowd lol.

Ditto Collingwood.

The suggestion is Vic fans arent as passionate as WA fans. Not noticed that myself, though I dont remember the brothers Scott squealing about Pies fans, certainly never Tiges fans.

How bout we leave this sort of crap to Bay 13.

 

[Hounddd]

West Coast will definitely have a huge say in the 2020 flag. Their midfield is fantastic and I think they pose the biggest threat to Richmond. With the Bulldogs next in line - can really see the Dogs pushing for top four, and they have the players and game plan to potentially trouble us in September.

 

[Kwality]

West Coast will definitely have a huge say in the 2020 flag. Their midfield is fantastic and I think they pose the biggest threat to Richmond. With the Bulldogs next in line - can really see the Dogs pushing for top four, and they have the players and game plan to potentially trouble us in September.

The biggest threat to Richmond is Richmond, 2 x GFs in a row is not something you've done in the AFL.

 

[Hounddd]

The biggest threat to Richmond is Richmond, 2 x GFs in a row is not something you've done in the AFL.

Kwality post

Richmond also hadn't won an AFL Premiership before 2017.

I guess you could also say the biggest threat to West Coast is West Coast, given they've never won a flag following a year from finishing 5th on the AFL ladder.

 

[Kwality]

Kwality post

Richmond also hadn't won an AFL Premiership before 2017.

I guess you could also say the biggest threat to West Coast is West Coast, given they've never won a flag following a year from finishing 5th on the AFL ladder.

This time last year the Eagles biggest obstacle was to make a GF ... you might want it to be about Richmond BUT it wasnt.
For 2020, Simmo will be working on our failures at the end of the season, the balance.