West Coast’s entrenchment in the top four was the story of the weekend, although it seems to have received very little play in the Victorian heartland.
Perhaps it was the introduction of first Thursday night game of the year, drawing away some of that ‘Friday night football’ attention. Carlton discovering a pulse deserved headlines, as does the continued woes of Port. Melbourne’s victory over Geelong drew worthy praise and acclaim.
Many of us have reserved our judgement about the Eagles this season, due to a draw that had turned out to be more friendly than anticipated. Each year, some teams get the rub of the green, others the short straw.
West Coast have beaten up a lot of weaker opposition this season, particularly at Subiaco. Losses had come against Fremantle, plus the Western Bulldogs and North Melbourne away from home.
Based on the losses, it seemed that the Eagles were a level below the genuine top-four sides like the Dockers, and were only middle-of-the-road themselves when travelling against a middle-tier team.
This might still be the case, but the win against an in-form Richmond on Friday night had substance to it. While this might not be a side that can go all the way this season, the building blocks for the near future are certainly there.
The margin was only 20 points over the Tigers, but this flattered the home side. This was mainly due to Richmond’s new-found defensive resilience, which can absorb more pressure than it used to. A tick in the Tiges corner, to be sure, but they looked a class below throughout the night.
The Eagles were clinical across the ground, particularly impressive in their defensive coverage and the way they moved in unison. Throughout the night, Richmond would switch the play as they love to do, and even create a loose man.
Several times, it looked like the Tigers were away and West Coast were out of position to, but by the time the ball had travelled to the Richmond forward line, the Eagles were perfectly positioned to intercept or defend.
How often do we bemoan the team that continues to kick the ball to the loose man in defence? Oftentimes it’s because the defending team has forced this occurrence. The man with the ball has no option, channelled into only one decision – kick it long and hope for a contest from his forwards.
West Coast are perfecting this art.
Fremantle are seen as the benchmark in defensive movement, while Hawthorn are the masters of all 18 players moving as one when it’s time to attack.
Adam Simpson and his coaching team would have one eye on the defensive prowess of the Dockers, as all clubs should, given they are the best in the league at what they do. Doubtless, being a crosstown rival also adds to this.
Simpson also spent four years as an assistant coach at the Hawks under Clarkson. It shows. He has taken those learnings with him.
West Coast’s attack is second only to Hawthorn’s in terms of hitting the scoreboard. They share similarities in that their forward-line players are multi-faceted and flexible.
Josh Kennedy is equally comfortable in a contested situation as on the lead, and is no slouch at ground level. Mark LeCras can play leading forward, crumber or creative midfielder. Josh Hill can both mark off a vertical leap and snap cannily. Jamie Cripps has a nose for goal and applies the pressure.
Nic Naitanui has kicked more goals than any ruckman. Jack Darling has only played two matches, but can be the workhorse up the ground, or lead from the square, swapping those roles with Kennedy.
This flexibility runs through the entire team.
Matt Priddis is the only genuine inside player, with Andrew Gaff the most outside. All others that go through there have a beautiful balance of hardness and run. Even Priddis gets plenty of uncontested possession, and Gaff the hard ball.
Elliot Yeo is symbolic of West Coast’s versatility across the lines. Whether it be standing a key tall in defensive 50, providing rebound from half-back, hard-nut midfielder, or classy finisher through half-forward, Yeo has done them all with aplomb.
I didn’t rate the Eagles highly before the season, and wanted to see more before being convinced as we’ve progressed to the halfway point of the year. They’ve turned me around. Sometimes you need to see a team live at the ground to truly appreciate their style.
Fremantle, Sydney and Hawthorn are three teams that almost everyone has finishing in the top four. Lock in West Coast for the remaining position.
Can the Eagles be there on grand final day? It’s not out of the question.
They’ll probably need a top-two finish, or to overcome a Freo hoodoo that is developing. They play the Hawks and Swans at Subiaco in the second half of the year, so get to measure themselves against the fellow contenders on their own turf.
But even if they don’t progress beyond a preliminary final, or perhaps not even get that far, it won’t be long before the Eagles are soaring again.
Jason
Guest
Being a West Coast supporter and keeping a very close eye on their progress and matches to come, I believe they can finish in the top 4 though I am not convinced they can push for a top 2 spot... Too me the Collingwood game is not the concern, West Coast find it very hard to beat Collingwood in Victoria at any given time.. The big question is whether they have the ability too knock off any of the other teams in the top 4 later on in the year? If they cannot beat at least one of them in Perth, I would think the Eagles are probably going to finish around 5th if they win the games which are expected also.. My Top 4 Certainties are Freo, Hawthorn and Sydney.. I would be very surprised if any of them fell lower than 3rd spot. All three teams are a class above the rest when they are on fire. GWS will slide, Collingwood have a tricky draw and will likely slide at some stage, Nth Melb will push into the 8, Bulldogs should hold a spot also.. Richmond is hard to tell because their form is up and down.. West Coast I cannot see finishng lower than 5th unless one of the sides below them more or less win all of their matches for the next 10 rounds.. Worst case scenario is a Home Elimination Final and I predict it will be against the Bulldogs :).. But if they can knock off one of the big 3 Freo Hawthorn Sydney West Coast Richmond Nth Melb Collingwood Bulldogs For Top 8...
Tin Man
Guest
"most susceptible to injuries", hasn't the first twelve weeks of the season already disproven that theory.
Baz
Guest
It helps that NicNat isn't carrying an injury anymore. Rather than commend him for battling through games with O.P. For 2 seasons, a lot of people simply wrote him off.
Don Freo
Guest
It's simpler than that Gecko. Most of their midfield was injured for long periods of time last year. This year they are back. Add Duggan and Sheed and, bingo. Hurn, Rosa, Selwood, Yeo, Le Cras...all out lots. Back now.
Gecko
Guest
I didn't go through all the comments but what's worth discussing is why the 2015 WC is so different from the 2014 WC. I reckon the biggest improvement is in their midfield. Midfield personnel haven't changed greatly but they're benefiting from a fit NicNat and perhaps guys like Gaff and Shuey becoming harder. Even after their impressive win over Richmond, I still have doubts about their midfield if opposition sides can play a more aggressive brand (following the example set by Dockers midfielders earlier this year). WC have a great forward line but that becomes less important if they start losing the clearances.
Nathan of Perth
Guest
Loving Simmo's work this year. I think West Coast are building to something special. The midfield strength has done a complete 180 on previous years.
Nathan of Perth
Guest
No longer true as most of our injury list has come back into the fold, so we're actually looking alright for depth and the system is pretty resilient.
D.Large
Guest
Yep, correct Axel.
D.Large
Guest
I can only assume Don Freo is a parody account.
D.Large
Guest
If WC do finish 4th, whoever finishes first can enjoy the weeks break as they'll be straight in the Prelim.
D.Large
Guest
Still not sure WC are a lock for the Top 4. Of the chasing pack behind the clear top 3 I think they're most susceptible to injuries.
Dalgety Carrington
Roar Guru
Out of curiosity I just did a quick round by round perusal of the disposal efficiency stats and Freo was more efficient than WC in every round right up until round 9 (Adelaide) and round 10 (Richmond), then out did them again in round 11 (Gold Coast). WC worst performance was actually in round 6 which shaded their "hurricane" game by 0.4%. So I'd say WC never lead the disposal efficiency stats in 2015 and in fact made up some ground in round 10 rather than dropping any.
13th Man
Guest
yeah they certainly do annoy me, the game against North was our first complete 4 quarter performance. My hope is that these were managed by Ross Lyon as we were already well up and that is why we faded in the second half. Hopefully we have learnt from the Port Adelaide final last year and won't flick the switch if we are up in the finals.
Cameron Rose
Expert
That Freo v Sydney game was certainly one of two halves, I'm not sure how much will be read into if they meet in finals, as it will have been four or five months. I'd like to see the Dockers stop having these lapses, even if most of them have been when they were well up.
Cameron Rose
Expert
I like the Hawthorn "unsociable" approach, a little whack here and there. whether it be fist, elbow or knee, just at the right times. It plays a part in their dominance.
Chaos
Guest
Lroy Rosa never goes for the hard ball? Guess you didn't watch this from last season. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2k12qTHx4Rs The Rosa you describe doesn't jump head on into marking contests.
DylanC
Roar Rookie
Where do you get your stats from jax?? WC were not number one last year for disposal efficiency. They were 12th! Do you just make stuff up to suit your agenda?
Jesse
Guest
As stated above if west coast was the best in all 4 of those categories they'd be sitting 12-0 right now with about 250%. That alone is proof that it's a ridiculous claim.
johno
Guest
That is true. I think WC do lack a bit of mongrel Sometimes mongrel can be interpreted as just being a seasoned AFL player. WC have a number of young kids that haven't been in the AFL long enough to stick it to the opposition. The Hawks are basically a bunch of hardened AFL players complemented by some silky skills. Freo have some good experienced heads and it always helps to have Sandi in your team.
Dalgety Carrington
Roar Guru
So what you’re saying jax is that I should give WC due credit for being the #1 in disposal efficiency? :D Look, because you seem so desperate for clarification jax I’ll try and (somewhat) indulge your gentle requests for reassurance this one time: Here’s a tip buddy, keep it simple. Example, a perfectly appropriate response to my post above might be something like “Oops, they are too, I should say we are #2”. Or perhaps “Really? I thought WC were #1”. But it’s your choice. Feel free to get all emotional and have a big rant, but a typical result is you find yourself claiming stuff that just isn’t there, because you’ve engaged a story that fits with your emotions rather than read things objectively in some clean air. I prefer (and try to) deal with one issue at a time. I’m not responsible for how much time you spend on here or the effort you put into your posts. As I’ve pointed out before, I generally wont respond to your questions/points if they shift the debate or are irrelevant to the point at hand. Big long posts aren’t all that enjoyable to me (I come on here for a bit of entertainment), they’re more often than not boring due to being full of fanboi stats and offer cover to avoid the key issue by constantly shifting sands and misframing the debate. Plus they can suck your time away from more important things in life, especially if you try and respond to all the ad naseum points. Regarding the 1.1% difference in disposal efficiency, it may not seem all that big when quoted like you have, but WC are .1% higher than the Hawks just below them and Richmond are 1.1% lower than WC and the are ranked 6th on that list. As for links…well. I might add a link if the stats are hard to find, but those ones really wasn't necessary because anyone can check them as they are readily available from the AFL website (although I only had that stat front of mind as the Freo website was trumpeting they were #1 in disposal efficiency just that day). I would prefer to add the table, as I’ve done before, but it doesn’t read all that clearly. Also, living in WA (and with you on tap here), I feel absolutely no need to champion the WC cause. There’s plenty of WA journalists doing that to the hilt. But the best validation you can get about them is their win/loss columns. Finally I understand you may be hurting due to being caught out a few times. Not being a fan of overly long fanboi posts I don’t even read your posts all that closely, but even just skimming over them I started to notice frequent exaggerations, half-truths, selective categorisations and complete falsehoods buried in amongst all the grinding detail. I understand you’re one of the more quixotic posters on here, but given your form for it (and if I’m interested enough) I will pick up on them when I see them. But please, feel absolutely and totally free to ignore my posts. In fact I encourage it. We’ll see how that goes. How’s that? Happier? I didn’t think so.