The Roar
The Roar

AFL
Advertisement

West Coast must forget about playing it safe

Roar Guru
10th December, 2014
47

Since their last premiership in 2006, West Coast have had a tendency to take home grown and safe midfield or small player picks with their top 30 draft selections.

Chris Masten, Brad Sheppard, Gerrick Weedon, Tom Swift, Murray Newman and Dominic Sheed all make up a growing group of West Coast top draft picks who have failed to meet expectation or truly deliver like a safe pick should.

While West Coast have made a habit of erring with their safe local picks, whenever they take a risk at the top of the draft it has shown a tendency to work.

In that same time frame West Coast has missed with its safe picks, it has had big wins on the risky selections. Jack Darling had behavioural risks, Nic Naitanui had performance risks, Andrew Gaff, Scott Lycett, Luke Shuey and Scott Selwood had ‘go home’ risks.

That core group of six have all delivered and are arguably the most important six players for West Coast heading into 2015 and a deep finals run.

Apparently, with that recent history in mind, there was no local talent when West Coast went onto the draft with their four live draft selections.

Instead they would bring across a quartet of Victorian footballers taking on go home factor risk, behavioural risk and performance risk in a draft that was all about high risk, high reward.

If anything Liam Duggan was the safest pick that West Coast went for at pick 11, a silky left footer who was listed to go to West Coast for a large chunk of the time in the draft lead up.

Advertisement

For that reason perhaps history says Duggan will be the one Eagle from this draft that does not work out. Seems unlikely given his foot skills and decision making are what West Coast are craving but still, this is West Coast and safe has not always worked out.

Risk has worked and Tom Lamb at pick 32 covers almost every risk imaginable for West Coast. Questions remain about his behaviour and personality at a football club.

Questions remain on whether his underage talent will work at AFL level. Questions remain about whether he will go home at some point. Using warped West Coast draft logic, Lamb might end up being the best player from the 2014 draft for them.

As for West Coast’s final two selections there is the go home risk with Jackson Nelson and Damien Cavka but now both appears to be approaching their first AFL pre-season with a chip on their shoulders after sliding down on draft day because of perceived flaws.

Nelson appears ready made to have an impact in defence while Cavka has the important elite trait of endurance. Both could be wise late round investments given again West Coast’s inability to make the right safe pick at the top end of the draft.

As for West Coast’s final pick in the draft Alec Waterman could be the start of an influx of father-son picks from the Eagles first two premiership squads of 1992 and 1994.

At least six and up to 10 players are being referenced as potential father-son picks for West Coast in the next five seasons as they reap the benefits of that first truly great West Coast team. West Coast has put a lot of work into father-son relationships with the club and Waterman could be the start of the benefits that this work brings.

Advertisement

That though is the future for West Coast. As for right now and this draft they have overlooked the flaws of Nelson, Cavka and Lamb just as they overlooked the flaws on Darling, Lycett and Selwood.

Risk has a funny way of working out sometimes.

close