Eagles shock the comp with their midfield

Shuey is 4th in the Age Footballer of Year Award and very underrated by the average punter. Nat Fyfe (Fremantle) 65 David Armitage (St Kilda) 40 Scott Pendlebury (Collingwood) 39 Luke Shuey (West Coast) 38 http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/age-footballer-of-the-year-round-9-votes-20150531-ghdo4l.html Masten and Gaff are elite running machines that run their opponents into the ground each week. If these guys don't run to create an option or extra man WC would not getting the results that they are..Rosa is a very good player but he is one of those guys that plays 2-4 games and gets injured, it's being like a revolving door for most of his career. He rarely gets a chance to strings games together and show how good he is really is.

I'm really looking forward to seeing Brant Colledge play tomorrow. It will be his 3rd game tor WC and his first game for the year. He was recruited as a key forward but he has been turned him into a midfielder and he has been excelling in that role in the WAFL. At 192cm (6"4) he is the same height as Mundy which makes him one of the biggest midfielders in the game. WC now has Yeo and Colledge as very big-bodied midfielders that can both take contested marks and kick lots of goals and they are only 21 and 20 years of age respectively. No Yeo, Sheed, Darling or Ellis, no problem because the depth is there. This WC midfield is going to be very hard to stop in the coming years. Good luck Brant! .

I'm pretty sure that Nic leads the AFL in hitouts to advantage and if that's correct it probably means that he has the least number of taps sharked by the opposition. He does win a lot of taps though.

Jax, The key player in all of this in Natanui - He gets plenty of Ruck Knocks which do not always go to our mids. The leading teams mids consistently steal his knocks. That is where the battles begin in our game -At the centre bounce and the ball ups. Can our Midfield step up and counteract this - Time will tell..

Thank you Daws. It takes a classy person to say what you did and I appreciate and respect that. Here's to a good weekend of footy!

Jax, I've given you a bit of stick in the past for your optimism towards West Coast but you have shown consumate class in your discussion. Wish I could say the same of others here on the Roar.

Maybe their league-lowest clanger(five-a-game fewer than Fremantle) and freekicks against(five-a-game fewer than Fremantle) rate has to do with their midfield,backs and forwards not yet having to cope with faster opposition mids,backs and forwards. Maybe their league-high scoring has to do with the slowness of the opposition backs. Maybe it will all come tumbling down. All I see is a higher level of presented skill which will be and should be tested I'd like to see Darling and McGovern in the same team,soon

I definitely thought they were duds. Gaff, Rosa and Masten in particular. Even Shuey at times. Hope they can keep proving me wrong.

Interesting comments. I think all 4 games are definitely winnable for West Coast. This really is the test for them as the sides they play all have ambitions for the same spots as the Eagles come finals time. So lets see, any game at Etihad is a struggle for the Eagles, Cats at the Cattery are always tough, but thats really the secret to being a contender in the AFL, you have to win a fair chunk of your away games. Darling, he'll be a decent sized winger, great relief kick option for the backline ''when in doubt, kick it to Jack''... reminded me of a guy I played juniors with, our job was simply to win the pill, kick it in his general direction, let him do the rest..... he ended up playing a couple of games in the VFL ;-) Fingers crossed for the next 4 weeks.

"I bet you can’t wait till you play some top teams so we stop levelling that last caveat at you" Yes I am and as much as I don't like it at times I understand why it is used and it's fair enough. They haven't been tested often enough lately but they soon will be and that's exciting win, lose or draw. I'm really not sure how they will handle the better teams and the tactics that will used against them, it is still an unknown. They allowed the Saints to have all of the momentum in the 2nd quarter last week and against the better sides that really concerns me. Especially teams with a tall and disciplined forward line like the Cats that will try to expose their undermanned defense. Last year they weren't able to stop teams that got a run on and it was one of the main reasons they lost some important games last year. I hope that they can stop the momentum quicker and minimise the damage in the weeks ahead. If they can they will win more than they lose and if they can't they will lose more than they win. So long as they are very competitive in the majority of their games for the rest of the season I will be happy. It's not always about the wins and losses with a younger team. It's how they go about it, what they learn and what they do when the blowtorch is applied. One area that I think WC has a clear advantage over practically every other team is with their running and endurance and it's rarely mentioned in the media. They have a number of very elite runners and they have been running both ways harder than their opposition lately which is one of the main reasons WC defense has been able to stand up. If they can stay close to the better teams at half-time they have a decent chance of running over the top them in the 2nd half. WC are the best 3rd quarter team in the comp and they are yet to lose a 4th quarter this year. They are able to run out games better than their opposition each week it seems. They are as fit or fitter than Port was last year IMO. WC has always had a very fit and strong running side. You can go back as far as Cuz who was one of the best gut-runners that I've seen. Upon arriving at WC Wellingham said that his pre-season at WC was significantly tougher than he had experienced at the Pies. WC needs to run, run and keep running. if they do that they are in with a good shot in most games.

but they haven't been losing the midfield battles since R19 last year (bar 2 games this year in R1 and R3 which was 5 weeks ago). So they have lost 2 midfield battles in their last 13 outings which is pretty good form. I also want to see them meet some better teams and it starts this week against the Cats without Yeo and Sheed in the team. Their midfield isn't up with the best just yet but it is edging closer and within 2-3 years it will be starting to get right up there. It's just too young atm and it needs some more time to develop e.g. Gaff (22), Shuey (24), Darling (22, he will start playing on the wing this year or next), Yeo (21), Colledge (20), Sheed (19), Duggan (18), Lamb (18, can play wing), Cripps (22), Hutchings (24), Tunbridge (22) and Lycett (22) all have a lot more improvement in them and they are complimented by quality players like Priddis, LeCras, Selwood, Masten, Rosa, Wellingham, Ellis, Nic Nat and Hill (18 goals in 6 games). The foundation for a very flexible side with a lot of midfield options is already in place, it just need some time that's all. Nic is fit for the first time in 2 years. You might be judging their midfield on previous years rather than looking at the one that is running on to the park each week this year. it looks and plays like a very different unit than it has in the past.

I’ll give you that, they are certainly confounding expectations from those who thought they were a bit slow and lacked zip and dash on the outside. Like most arguments of this nature in football, it’s not going to be resolved until September just how good they really are. Given the injuries West Coast have had to their key position players they’re doing quite well, albeit against some of the easier sides thus far. I bet you can’t wait till you play some top teams so we stop levelling that last caveat at you…

"I don’t think anyone thought their midfield was dreadful" Maybe you didn't Paul but some did. I think 'average' or 'pedestrian' or 'lacking depth' were the most common terms used when accessing their midfield and I disagreed with all three of them. I remember all of the pre-sesaon chatter. Few could see where the improvement would come from so most people had them finishing 12th-15th this year mainly due what they perceived as an average midfield.

"I feel it’s the main reason they’ve struggled so badly against Freo, Hawks and Sydney in recent times? WC haven't struggled badly against Freo. They outscored Freo in 2 games last year when WC didn't have a midfield. They had a shocker against Freo this year I agree and as good as Freo have been this year they should be able to give a better account of themselves next time. Last year they met the Hawks and Swans during their bad patch of games during the middle of the year and they were outplayed from start to finish but again, they didn't have a midfield last year so it's hard to know where they sit until they meet them again later this year. N.B. the 3 teams that you named have all played in a GF in the last 18 months so we need to remain cognizant of the fact you are comparing them to the cream of the crop and WC isn't quite there yet but I think they will be in time.

WC's midfield has been good enough to match or beat practically every midfield that is has come up against and there have been some good ones e.g. Mumford and the GWS mids were out-rucked and overpowered by WC and very few (if any) have been able to do that this year. Over the coming weeks they will meet some better credentialed teams and it will be interesting to see if WC's structures hold up. I'm expecting them to be challenged in the coming weeks. They will probably win some and lose some and that's fine. I'd like them to come out with a 4-0 or 3-1 record but I'd settle for 2-2 if they were very competitive in the 2 losses. This is still very much a development year for WC and I'm really looking forward to getting Mackenzie, Brown and Lamb back so that McGovern can be moved forward and Darling on to a wing. The midfield is young and exciting and Nic Nat is an x-factor that other teams don't have. The midfield is only going to get better with the likes of Yeo (21), Sheed (19) and Duggan (18) having massive upside ahead of them. Their midfield is starting to bat pretty deep and they can run a lot of different players through there when needed. Simmo has being working on their versatility and skills since he arrived at WC and it is bearing fruit. Their ball movement has been exceptional and I'm hoping that they can keep it up.

The question that I've still got on the Eagle's midfield is how they manage the high pressure teams. Their midfielders have excellent skills when given time. The disposal quality appears to drop dramatically against teams with good midfield pressure (they're certainly not an island here...) I feel it's the main reason they've struggled so badly against Freo, Hawks and Sydney in recent times. It might be where their lack of line-breaking mids hurts them? The forward line is quality, and when given good quality ball, dominates. I haven't looked at the numbers to confirm this, sounds like a case for Ryan Buckland to work his magic.

“After Round 8, is that still the general feeling?” Yes. Their midfield doesn’t come close to the best in the comp and will be the thing that holds the team back. Most teams would dream of a forward line containing Kennedy, Darling (when fit) and LeCras but they become ineffective if you lose the midfield battle. It’s the reason why the Eagles have been labelled flat track bullies, because when their midfield can get on top of the poorer teams and give their forwards first use they dominate the game. As soon as they come up against the better teams their midfield is exposed, and they simply can’t win. While I agree Yeo has been a bit of a revelation (and yes its still early days so I’ll reserve judgement) the Eagles are still yet to beat anyone of note this year. Yes they have beat the teams put in front of them but the real tests are still to come.

Well Shuey, Gaff and Wellingham all would be good players in a good side. Priddis was always the 5th banana behind Judd, Cousins, Kerr and Embley. As for Masten and Rosa... a lot of people have never been sold on them but the former is playing well now so good luck to him. Guys like Sheppard are finally getting a decent run, crikey, he would always do his job then get dropped after a big loss, leave him alone, the guy can play. Cripps is another one who took a while to find his feet, and their young guys are getting a few touches. The Eagles have needed for about 5 years a midfield general who could take charge around the clearances, get in space and kick a couple of goals ala Chris Judd or Nate Fyfe. They may have found it in Yeo (early days yet). For me they are still need another big midfielder... maybe Darling when he comes back could fill the roll. Lets face it, you put Nat Fyfe in any team and they are jumping ten spots. The Eagles coach seems a bit more secure in his position, he seemed like a deer in the headlights at times last year. Looks like he is believing in himself finally ;-)

Those stats are all inflated from them beating up on Carlton, Suns, Lions and the Giants so far this season. I don’t think anyone thought their midfield was dreadful, just that it wasn’t up with the elite teams. No-one they’ve played yet has changed that view.