West Coast battling manfully despite injury woes

Great win by WC over Port today. WC should have won by 5 goals but inaccuracy let them down. Some of you will need to find a new name for them because they are not the FTB's that some of you have delighted in calling them. All WC has to do is bring a 4 quarter effort. if they can do that I'm expecting more Top 4 & Top 8 teams to lose to them.

Haselby was a shell of his former self during the last few years of his career. Solomon was in and out of the side at the end. Headland never reached the heights we thought we would after coming home and his last few years were average as I recall. Tarrant was a big loss but those 4 guys combined don't scratch the surface of what WC lost. Compare the 4 guys you named to the retirements of Glass, Cox and Waters and it doesn't even come close. They were the Captain and Vice-Captain and the best ruckman of the modern era with 11 All-Australian nominations between them. How many AA's did Haselby, Solomon, Des and Tarrant have between them? You would need to replace those 3 guys with Pav, Sandi and McPharlin if you wanted to balance the ledger on retirements, no comparison I'm afraid. Morabito and Barlow were terrible losses as both of them were flying when it happened. Let's balance those 2 with Ezy and Brown. "Sandilands turf toe that kept him out for 8 matches. And Suban missing 14 games with a broken leg and Mundy missed 10 games with a fractured leg." Compare Sandi, Suban and Mundy against Darling, Selwood, Rosa, Ellis, Tunbridge and Lamb with a few more injuries not worth mentioning in this reply. Based on the above outs I would say that WC has been hit harder than Freo were in 2011. if you have more names to add to your list that may change things but as it stands now its WC with the greatest losses.

Your stats are showing hitouts from one ruckman to one player. I would rather see a far more valuable stat like the combined total hitouts to advantage from each individual ruckman to any player on their team. During the Fox telecast of the WC v GWS game they brought that stat up and Nic Nat was ranked #1 and by a significant margin. Well ahead of every other ruckman in the game. This was a Fox stat and I wouldn't know where to find a link to it but I'd be keen to see that stat to see if it was right. I'm happy to be corrected if Fox got it wrong or I misinterpreted it but that's what I remember seeing.

I think that WC have the raw talent on their list right now. There is no question marks over the strength of their defensive and forward lines, It's only the midfield that needs some tweaking and/ore natural development. Some of the midfielders are very young eg Yeo (21), Sheed (20) and Duggan (18) can all play and they should all become elite midfielders in the future. So should WC wait for them to develop or aggressively trade? If they were to trade/recruit a couple of gun midfielders it would expedite the teams development and WC would be in the Top 8 pretty quickly, maybe even Top 4. Don't be surprised if you see WC shoot up the ladder quickly in the next few years IF they have some luck on the injury front. If they keep having the injuries that they have had for the last few years scraping into the 8 might be the best they can hope for,

last year WC were unable to stop some of the better teams when they got a run on, struggling to get the game back on their terms, or at least slowing the game down when they needed to. That's the biggest takeaway from last year and that momentum shift needed to start in the midfield. With so many mids out injured and a new game plan they struggled in those areas. They look far more composed and settled this year, bar that one game against Freo but at least they came back in the 2nd half which was more than they were able to do last year.

AB - I can offer a theory for that Last year they arguably had the most potent forward line in the comp with 3 absolute A-graders in Kennedy, Darling and La Cras and the emerging star McGovern. The problem was getting the ball to them which the Eagles mid-field struggled to do against the best sides. But when they could get the ball and delivered it well to the forwards they smashed the opposition - hence why they are able to win big against weaker sides. The surprising thing this year is that they have still managed to smash weaker sides this year even with 2 of those guns missing from the forward line (Darling & McGovern). That is partly why I firmly believe the Eagles are only a couple of gun mid-fielders away from being a contender again. I think it really is a question of whether they already have them there in raw talent or will need to trade for them.

Thanks for the thoughtful reply Jax. As I said, I'm not really convinced that injuries are behind WC's stark pattern of wins and losses; it doesn't explain why they rarely lose to poor sides and in fact are probably the second-best team in the AFL (after Hawthorn) in their ability to totally destroy a weaker side. If the Eagles' performances were defined by their injury list, they shouldn't be capable of smashing anyone, even bottom sides. But I think you might be on to something in relation to game plan - or to be more precise, playing style. There just seems to be an all-or-nothing element to the way the Eagles play. If they get on top, they're totally on top. But if their opposition gets on top, they can fall away pretty badly. It's like they're trying to play Hawthorn's way but just don't quite have the cattle to execute it properly against high quality opposition. So when it works, they look awesome, but when it fails, they look pretty ordinary. Anyway, a good thread with some interesting discussion.

Johno - the Eagles also had a lot of injuries in 2013 but it is probably fair to say that they fell short of expectations - which would have been a part of the reason why Worsfold resigned. Last year they were again cursed by injuries and had a rookie coach and I think they finished around where they should have. As Jax has pointed out they were only one favourable result away from making the 8. This year their injury toll to key players has been almost unbelievable - the loss of so many big men is probably unprecedented. The fact that they are sitting 5th on the ladder is a remarkable achievement thus far - regardless of who they have beaten. Everything is relative - when the Eagles lost the 1st game to the Bulldogs everyone thought that was a bad loss because no-one rated the Bulldogs. But the Bulldogs are sitting 3rd and have just beaten one of last year's GF teams - so suddenly that performance by the Eagles doesn't look quite so bad. I still don't think the Eagles will make the 8 this year - if they do Simpson should be named coach of the year! No side can lose so many guns and expect to be consistently competitive against the really good sides. Even the Hawks - who have a lot of depth - will be tested over the next few weeks without Hodge and Lewis. As I said earlier - the injuries have forced the Eagles to blood some new talent earlier than they would have liked. It has turned the season into a development/rebuilding year which should set them up to be a force again next year when (hopefully) they can consistently field close to their best team

Dare I say it, but that list is kindly described as a joke. They've got Hannath on that list, but no Zac Clarke. Freo probably had the most effective ruck stats last year and likely this year as well. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/aaron-sandilands-nathan-fyfe-no-1-ruck-rover-combination-in-afl-reveals-champion-data/story-fni5f6su-1227212967312

you had them higher than me in 2012 and 2013 then but you're probably about right for 2015 with the injuries they have.

I put them top 4 in 2013 and top 8 in 2014. This year I had them 10-12 in my predictions

Don't get me wrong I'd love to see Bennell, or any of the guys you mentioned in WC colours. I just want to see Bennell get his attitude right first. A fast elite outside mid would be very nice for sure. While we wait for him to arrive you might be interested to know that... Yeo was #1 in his draft combine for both the vertical jump and agility running, he's going to be some player. Stephen Hill holds the all-time combine record for agility running with Yeo holding the #2 all-time record just behind Hill so I rate that test. That's speed through traffic with lot's of quick turns and changes in foot speed which is very handy. Kane Lucas was also #1 for the agility run in his combine. Gaff was #1 in the 3km run but that's more endurance. Nic's ability to give WC first use helps mitigate the lack of outside run to some extent but I'd still like to see a quicker mid on this list.

if you think they have under-delivered that must mean that you rank them as a Top 8 side because they missed the 8 by one game last year with no midfield available due to injury and they would have made the 8 if Sydney turned up to play against the Tigers.

Bennell is the pace that West Coast are desperate for - if you can find another kid with his toe (the young kid Garlett who just started with the Suns maybe) then great. But West Coast need an outside mid with elite pace

Johno, look at their injuries for the last 2-3 years. No-one said they are a Top 4 side with depth across all lines to cover those losses, quite the opposite. They are a young and people tend to forget that and I've made that point and a lot of others in the post above. Not sure what you are watching but WC's skills have clearly improved significantly this year

Some good points there johno, thank you. I think they are a finals team today but it would be very hard to do that this year with their current injury list, they're best 22-28 is good enough to play finals now. I would be open to trading for some of those guys. Who they traded and on what terms I am not sure but I rate Shuey and Gaff so it would have to be good. A few weeks ago someone said they would swap Gaff for Bennell in a heartbeat. I disagreed due to his lack of consistency and behavioral issues so I wouldn't take him unless I was very confident that he has matured. There are a lot of really good WA boys playing on other lists and history shows that some of them should come home at some stage.

Hey, I just put out what I think. I have looked at West Coasts future games and assessed that there are some must wins in the next 6 weeks to change peoples minds. I have looked at the past 2-3 years and believe that they have under delivered. West Coast identified skills as a problem area back in 2011 when they brought in Kempy as a part time mentor. I haven't seen the benefits of this program. Happy to be proven wrong about the Eagles, but I personally believe it won't be this year.

Actually what I think is my opinion and that is what the Roar is all about. Sports fans opinions. I personally think West Coast is 2 years away from finals. In that time they will develop Lamb, Colledge, Duggan and Sheed some more and hopefully get a bit extra out of Sheppard, Yeo and Hutchings. I think Ellis, Masten and Gaff will be pushed out of the team by the kids. If I was West Coast I would seriously think about putting a Gaff or Shuey on the trade table back to Victoria or the Gold Coast if they can snag one of Harley Bennell, Jack Martin, Jaeger O'Maera, Coniglio or David Swallow. They should even try and trade those guys for Rance.

you should get a sense of humour johno. I just gave you back a taste of what you have been dishing out at WC for a very long time. I do have a sense of humour btw but I'm tired of the consistently derogatory comments that you direct at WC. Never anything good to say when there is so much good stuff to comment on. Your comments about WC are clearly biased, one-eyed, dull, boring and not the least bit insightful.

Retirement that Freo had at the end of 2010 - Haselby, Solomon, Headland and then losing Tarrant to home sickness Season ending injuries - Morabito, Barlow Then you start piling on the injuries on top of that, including Sandilands turf toe that kept him out for 8 matches. And Suban missing 14 games with a broken leg and Mundy missed 10 games with a fractured leg. So the comparison is pretty accurate between the seasons. That's if West Coasts injury list gets worse it might compare to Freo's annus horribilus in 2011