West Coast must forget about playing it safe

lmao Johno. I'm not saying that he's the best player in the game. I am just trying to say that he is under-valued by some people. Can we drop this now? I'd love to move on from this.

Fer gawds sake - okay you've got me - Naitanui is the best player ever to have donned a footy jumper. When he gets his average 12/13 possies a game its more akin to 35 touches for a normal human being. When he taps to a team mate its more than when another ruckman does it, because he has pizzazz! When he lays one tackle in 80 minutes of footy that's like 10 tackles laid by some no name defender, except Nic only lays them when the games on the line and someone has to step up! Otherwise he cannae be bothered, if ye ken wha' I mean catboy! The mans a living god!!

do you remember the dying minutes of the 2006 Grand Final? Daniel Chick... 1. smother 2. takes possession 3 handballs to Hunter 4 shepherds for Hunter That's only one stat in the sheet but without it WC would probably not have won the premiership. if that was the only stat that Chick got that day it wouldn't matter as it was by far the most important one.

My mistake, Ray made the joke comment so I'm sorry about that but I don't agree with the rest of your post. Your logic means that one-perceners are useless in football nowadays because if it doesn't create a stat then it can't be valuable, that's very flawed logic. This is the problem with so many people, they look at the stat sheet but the stat sheet doesn't say that he set up a minimum of 5 scores. In 2012 and 2013 Nic was #1 in the AFL for initiating scoring actions ie he kicked off a chain of events that resulted in a WC score and he was the best in the game at it. That's probably one of the most important stats in the game of AFL but it won't be in the newspaper stat sheet you read. it could be via a tap, tackle, pressure act, intercept, hand into a pack that gets the ball out or so many other acts. Seems there is no changing your mind and that you will have to wait with some of the other stragglers before you see it, not my problem. I'll enjoy watching him while you bag him as it's very special. As he gets fitter he will dominate games for longer periods of time but I doubt he will ever be the stat king that you want him to be. he's unique and he can't be fully appreciated doing it the old-school that you are using, so be it.

I agree 100% and I have done so all along - please read just below this post and you will see my very first post stated this at the start of the 2nd paragraph... "They started playing it safe after losing Judd and started ignoring potentially better picks from interstate and that was a mistake I never agreed with" I hope that puts an end to this now lol

I think Sheed will come good. He's got a level head, courage and a sweet left foot. The pace got to him this year a bit but he'll be better for the lesson. Nothing soft ever came out of Boulder!

Point out where I used the term "joke" in reference to NN? I said he was poor to say the least. Someone who gets 3 possessions and lays 2 tackles in a game like the international rules game is someone who is not involved. 0 marks, 0 scores, 1 effective possession by my count. If there was fantasy points on the game he would have scored about 20. I am sure if you asked him he would honestly say he didn't impact the game.

And back to the actual point of the article and my comments - that the effect of Judd leaving was that West Coast went safe on their recruiting and picked local talent over possibly better interstate players. So before you rant again about the wrong points Jax please ask yourself why West Coast has taken the route they have since Judd left. Look at the players listed above by me - 23 locals and you can add to that the likes of Lewis Broome, Liam Bedford, Ryan Neates, McGovern, Hutchings, Main, Powell and Darling, - 31 players across 7 drafts - that's a huge amount just from WA given that the best WA players in that period were taken by Gold Coast, Melbourne and GWS (Swallow, Bennell, Matera, O'Maera, Martin, Hogan, Coniglio) Freo in the same period have picked up 22 locals, more telling has been that in the last 5 national drafts they have only picked up 3 locals compared to 10 for West Coast

Let's make this very clear, you are not some spokesperson for all Freo people Don. In fact from what I've read you do great disservice to represent yourself as such.

Oh Dear Freo As...you'd better change your moniker. Freo people are very fair and you are embarrassing us. Don't carry on like one of those feral teams. Freo is not like that. The heart and soul of Freo the City and Freo the club is inclusiveness.

LoL...that's right the Sunday Slime and The Worst are def con 5 fully awake aren't they?...

I agree with all of that Lroy. I'm not blaming Malthouse but I do think that's where it started, Mainy was a big influence on Cuz but I'm not blaming him either. It was an unfortunate series of events over many years that culminated in Cuz ultimately getting delisted and admitted into rehab. It was a different era back then as you say. Carey used to go out on Fri nights after games and party till all hours. It was much more common back in the day. Future WC coaches, boards and administrators had opportunities to address this earlier but it's very hard to spot an addict, especially if you haven't had personal experiences with it before as I suspect most at WC hadn't seen close up before. I used to see Cuz out a few times a year via mutual friends and it was occasional and recreational for a number of years. Ben spiralled from being a recreational off-season user to a full blown addict very quickly during the off-season after winning the 06 flag. Addiction is a disease no question about that and Dale Lewis was right. Ice is incredibly addictive for anyone predisposed to it like Cuz obviously was. Very sad, he was such a great footy player.

He already has shown what he can do but your too blind to see it Ray. Saying that only WC fans see his value is a big fat lie and wrong.

I'm a Freo fan...and a NicNat fan. Not only"narrow-minded Eagles fans" rank him.

Natinui needs a screamer of a season in 2015. He is just advertising material right now. As for seeing him play (ie GOOD) , don't blink .you miss it. Only narrow viewed WC fans see him in another matter. The rest of Australia are thinking he really is a dud. Excuses,excuses thats all you hear. Come on big Nic Nat justify yourself . Come on prove that your really a big time match winner. Otherwise ,your just a youth who had promise and bombed out as a adult.

Bit hard on Sheed. I think they've taken the right steps. How else can you do it when Omeara, swallow, h. Bennell, martin, pickett, and more are all recently drafted east before eagles had a chance?

Its a tough one that. I had a teammate once who did the same thing, great player, liked to party. He stopped drinking and couldnt get a touch. Paul Van Der Haar allegedly had to be woken up in the gutter one Saturday morning by a passer by, he went home to bed, had a blinder for the Bombers that afternoon. Different strokes for different folks. Bit of a long bow to blame Malthouse, he had been gone for 6 or so years by the time Cuz began having problems. We dont know when it started, from all reports ice is incredibly addictive, he may have gotten hooked in the pre season while not playin footy, away from regular club activities and the playing group. Maybe the guy suffers from depression? Cant we just accept addiction as being a medical condition and stop demonizing him? Ill raise the Dale lewis comments. He said recreational drugs were rife at all clubs, that was 20 years ago. The AFL and the media attacked him remorselessly. Turns out he was telling the truth. Eagles, I suspect, have been no better or worse than any other club.

Judd bleed Blue & Gold for every minute that he adorned the WC jumper. He did the same for the Blues. Those acts of total commitment to a cause deserve genuine respect from any lover of our game. I am eternally grateful for what Judd gave to WC. Don't allow my earlier comments to muddy the waters in respect to my position on Judd's standing in WC's history He's a champion, at two clubs, he gave both clubs all that he had, that's undeniable, period! When he announced that he wanted to be traded he also made it very clear that he would interview clubs as part of his process and that he would ensure that it would be a win/win deal. He succeeded. It's abundantly clear to any astute observer of the game that Judd held the WC line all the way through his process. Sticks said that Judd was playing for WC in 2008 if the Blues didn't blink first. The Blues blinked, and the rest is history! Judd did everything that he could to ensure that WC landed Kennedy, even if it was to be to his own personal detriment. I respect him for that and I'm eternally grateful. Thank you Juddy, you're a champ!

Actions as you expect from a ruckman historically vs new age actions that part-time observers don't see ie subtle, important and powerful. The league will wake up within a few years I hope, he's a gun but only a few have the foresight and vision to spot it early. See you in a few years when you wake up!

Plenty of actions, just without anything actually useful, like the ball. So yeah, I think I am onto something.