After few experts gave them any airtime earlier in the season, the West Coast Eagles now find themselves at the pointy end of the ladder.
Rarely can a side have been sitting second on the ladder so anonymously after seven rounds. Hands up if you knew they also have the highest percentage in the comp?
Fremantle have been drawing all of the plaudits headed west their way, with precious little left over for their cross-town rivals.
Much has been made of the injury curse that has struck down several of the Eagles key position players – Mitch Brown and Eric Mackenzie out for the season with ACL injuries, Jack Darling with foot problems, and even first-year prospect Tom Lamb with knee issues.
Josh Kennedy’s elbow injury continues to be managed. Jeremy McGovern had to sit out on the weekend with a corked calf.
In fact, the side that took down Gold Coast by 92 points on Saturday night was missing at least half a dozen players from the best 22, all of which can lay claims to being in the starting 18.
It’s been a grand effort given that injury list so far, no doubt, but is there a suspicion that West Coast have been catching opposition sides at just the right time?
The Round 1 defeat at the hands of the Western Bulldogs became a lot more respectable in retrospect that it appeared at the time, so fair play to that.
Round 2 was at home to Carlton, which is currently enduring a season-long nadir of uncompetitiveness. Josh Kennedy and co. were kicking goals for fun in the second half.
In Round 3 they were blown out of the water in what has become the patented Fremantle style, but were allowed to put some respectability back on the scoreboard late.
Since then, we’ve seen four wins on the trot.
Round four saw a trip up to the Gabba right in the middle of Brisbane’s worst patch of the season. It was a month of football where they lost four matches by a combined 278 points. None of the other three sides that beat them in this stretch are currently in the eight, which gives an indication of the level the Lions were playing at.
GWS flew over to Perth in Round 5, for their yearly drubbing. The Giants results before, and certainly since, tell us of a playing group that was either due a mental let down, or immaturely got ahead of themselves and thought their form was just going to continue.
Round 6 brought a stirring come-from-behind victory over Port at the fearsome Adelaide Oval. As is now clear, the Power are not travelling like the side most thought they were going to be. Still, victories in South Australia are not to be sneezed at.
The just concluded Round 7 again saw West Coast catch an uncompetitive team at just the right time, the Suns down on form and confidence, and missing a host of their very best players.
None of this is to unduly denigrate the Eagles, and their fans will no doubt howl derisively (or more likely boo) at some parochial Victorian talking them down.
We’ve all heard the saying that you can only beat what’s put in front of you, and West Coast have indeed done that most of the time, also handing out some thumpings in the process.
But it is also right to acknowledge that the vagaries of the draw mean that some teams get the best of it, while others get the worst.
Gold Coast are going to be a much tougher proposition for other sides when Gary Ablett, David Swallow, Nick Malceski, Jack Martin, Steven May, Rory Thompson, Adam Saad and Tom Lynch are back.
Carlton will likely get competitive at some point during the year and spring a surprise or two, and Brisbane have already turned that corner. Port will get their mojo back at some point, and we’ve seen what GWS can do when they’re not having a downer.
The future is bright at West Coast, with the likes of under 23’s Andrew Gaff, Dom Sheed and Elliot Yeo leading the way. There’s another host of players that aren’t much older, and it has all combined for some exciting football.
But if Eagles fans are wondering why their side isn’t getting much media love at the moment, it might be because they’ve been blessed with a fortuitous run, and still have to prove themselves against the best sides playing well.
West Coast might be very, very good. They might be middle of the road. They might not even make the eight. I’m happy to reserve my judgement for the moment.
jax
Guest
'I don't believe that Freo are unbeatable' I wish you had said that earlier. Would have saved a lot of time.
swanny
Guest
he is taking a very long time to learn then. That would be a touch concerning for West Coast if that is the case and after 6 years in the AFL system and Nic Nat still hasn't learnt the game. I don't think thats the case, i think he is just highly overrated and not that good. (having said that Jack Watts was picked before him in that draft! and he is 10 times worse!)
swanny
Guest
that was proven last night
13th Man
Guest
i don't believe Freo are 'unbeatable'. No team is 'unbeatable' however West Coast have shown nothing recently to suggest they can match it with Freo. Most recent evidence is 9 goals to none in the first quarter which suggests WC have a long way to go.
jax
Guest
You are so wrong on some many levels but I'm not going to keep rebutting. I've said what I wanted to stay and I stand by it.
jax
Guest
It has nothing to do with you not singing WC's praises. it has everything to do with your assessment of the playing list and the notion that WC has 'no chance' of beating Freo. Even after WC outscored them across two games last year while they had a severely depleted midfield. I have said many times that Freo would rightly go in as favourites. That means that they should win but it doesn't mean that they will eg GWS v Hawks just a few weeks ago. I'm just disputing 'the fact' that you deem Freo as 'unbeatable' when it comes to playing WC. No team is unbeatable and that includes my team WC and i think it would be wise of you to look at it the same way but that's only my opinion. If you want to go on believing that Freo are unbeatable who am I to stop you.
johno
Guest
It was written by Hackdorn - you need a tonne of salt with what he writes. From everything I have read it was Harvey they had to convince. As far as comparing Freo's decision to go for Morabito first instead of Fyfe .... I reckon if Mora hadn't done his knee we'd be talking a 2 way tie between the 2 for the Brownlow.
13th Man
Guest
Priddis is WCE's most important player with Kennedy a close second. Priddis pretty much carries that midfield on his own. Maybe getting some help from Yeo now but guys like Masten, Shuey and Gaff are pretty ineffective. Priddis carries that midfield and that is why he won the brownlow. Kennedy is obviously a great player but Naitinui is pretty average, You could play Lycett and Sinclair as your two ruckmen and get a similar result to having Nic Nat. You might as well trade him for a top quality midfielder, he really is very overrated.
13th Man
Guest
I think Swans are better than the Hawks
13th Man
Guest
"open the other eye and enter the real world?" What so just because i am not singing West Coast's praises that means i don't know what i am talking about? I have said multiple times that West Coast has impressed me this year but i think they have a long way to go before they get anywhere near the likes of Freo, Sydney and Hawthorn. I think the majority of people seem to agree with me that WC won't beat Freo anytime soon.
Nev
Guest
13th man I can't quite agree with you when comparing McFarlane vs Mckenzie - pretty close McFarlane has been very good and so has Johnson but you can't just right off Mckenzie Darling vs Mayne -again very even Mayne is having a great year(obviously Darlings not playing) Pearce vs Gaff again very even IMO but theirs no way Pearce is way ahead their Neale vs Shuey - I agree Neale is ahead but Shuey I think has improved this year Barlow is better than Masten agreed but Masten has also improved this year Mundy and Fyfe are A graders for sure I rate them both very highly (Mundy grossly underrated ) Walters and Ballentyne are better than Hill and Cripps (no arguments there Big Sandi is having a good year, but while Nic Nat isn't killing the pig at the moment, if you compare Nic Nat and Sandi at the same age you'll find Nic Nats stats are better,so we will just have to see how Nic Nat continues ( to me he is playing to his instruction, is still learning the game ) So you are right for some of the match ups , but what I will say us lets have another look at things at the end of the year But I gotta say if you wouldn't take Nic Nat Mckenzie Darling or McGovern - mmm not sure about that
jax
Guest
Your Brownlow numbers for WC are wrong and you were selective with who you picked but I'll address that later. Freo does have a better list as I have stated numerous times. Freo has been building it's list for a lot longer and it's also a lot older than WC's list so let's be clear with this - the age gap means that we are comparing people in the work force (Freo) with people entering high school (WC). WC outscored Freo in both derbies last year kicking 7:12 and 11:15 and do you remember that we didn't have a midfield in 2014, not a bad effort. WC is the most accurate team in front of goal in 2015 and off-memory they finished 2014 as the 3rd most accurate team so you definitely got them at a good time and fair enough that was WC's mistake. If WC had kicked straight Freo would have lost both games and we wouldn't be having this conversation. WC wasn't good enough on the day and I'm fine with that because I am comfortable with where WC are at. I've picked up some mistakes in your WC Brownlow votes but let's be clear this is the umpires voting. * LeCras has 27 votes (not 21) and he missed 2 years with injury and he has an AA and Pearce doesn't. LeCras earned most of his playing as a forward and we all know that mids get more votes than forwards. Pearce doesn't come close to Lecca I'm afraid. * you omitted Shuey and he has 32 votes (6 less than Barlow and he is 3 years younger) * you omitted Selwood and he has 20 votes - 15 of them in 2012 and he's been in and out of the side with injury ever since but due back in a week or two. * Gaff has 18 votes (not 10) and he is 2 years younger than Hill so he will easily overtake Hill this year and is therefore tracking well ahead of Hill. * Wellingham has 7 votes and he had to compete with Swan, Pendles and Beam to name a few. Yeo is a star - Jonathon Brown said he is a star and I agree with him. You can see what he had to say about Yeo by jumping to the 42m 50s mark of this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mb_2ET1Lvdw - you will also see that WC had 9 of it's best players missing last week and 8 of them haven't played a game or won't be playing another one in 2014. Freo has a great list and are rightly flag favourites. I give credit where it's due and Freo deserves credit atm. It would be nice if people like 13th opened their other eye and entered the real world. My comments were a rebuttal to 13th because he said Freo "will beat WC anytime of year" which is short-sighted and false. You guys can keep believing what you want and I will stick with my opinion but underestimate WC at your peril. I'm sure that Lyon and the players won't underestimate them and it would be good to see their fans follow their lead instead of going off on ridiculous tangents.
13th Man
Guest
Jax, in my opinion McPharlin is better than Mackenzie (so is Johnson) I prefer Mayne to Darling as he is a fantastic pressure player. Pearce beats Gaff hands down Neale is way better than Shuey Barlow beats Masten Mundy beats all of your midfield Fyfe beats just about anyone Walters and Ballantyne beat Josh Hill and Cripps Sandi better than Nic Nat (who i really don't rate highly at all, Sandi, Goldstein, Jacobs all better ruckmen) So of West Coasts players i would only take 3 of them (Kennedy, LeCras and Priddis)
Daws
Guest
Jax your optimism is admirable, but Freo have won the last 6 derbies straight. Of course they will win sometime in the next few years, but even then I argue that Freo still has a better list. Look at Brownlow votes (a weak example, but at least somewhat representative of form). I've put them against someone of comparable age and position: Fyfe 76 Mundy 51 Priddis 101 Barlow 40 Masten 16 Neale 1 Yeo 0 Hill 18 Gaff 10 D.Pearce 31 Leras 21
jax
Guest
You have to give something to get something. WC has 12 ruckman/key talls on their list. Even if 6 of them are injured at the same time they can still field 6 talls so losing 1-2 for the right trade would not be the end of the world.
Dalgety Carrington
Roar Guru
Winter is coming, in a week and a half to be more precise. Just as well, otherwise we wouldn't be in footy season (or global warming is more advanced than predicted).
Lroy
Guest
Jesus man what is wrong with you?? Quality key position players don't come around often, you don't trade them ever. Midfielders are a dime a dozen.
Mick
Guest
The Hawks and Swans forward lines will be a good test for the backline of Wet Toast
Dalgety Carrington
Roar Guru
So no answer huh?
Dalgety Carrington
Roar Guru
Shuey would've been the number one target for about five minutes. He's just not that effective. They're more likely to cover Gaff…and that's saying something.