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The West Coast Eagles have gone into each of the last two seasons amongst the premiership favourites, yet have failed dismally considering their lofty expectations.
In 2020, they lost a home elimination final against Collingwood in a game they were expected to win easily, and in 2021, they missed the finals after losing seven of their last nine games.
Is this team done? Do they have the hunger? Are they too slow? We’re going to analyse the list on paper and hopefully answer a few of those questions!
BEST 22
B: Josh Rotham, Tom Barrass, Alex Witherden
HB: Liam Duggan, Jeremy McGovern, Shannon Hurn
C: Andrew Gaff, Luke Shuey, Dom Sheed
HF: Jamie Cripps, Jack Darling, Liam Ryan
F: Oscar Allen, Josh Kennedy, Willie Rioli
Foll: Nic Naitanui, Elliot Yeo, Tim Kelly
I/C: Jack Redden, Luke Edwards, Sam Petrevski-Seton, Jake Waterman
DEFENCE
The Eagles defence will again be led by the two key pillars in Jeremy McGovern and Tom Barrass who were both poor last year compared to their usual standard. McGovern in particular had a terrible year after a relatively poor year in 2020 as well.
In 2019, he ranked first in intercepts per game and third in total contested marks, whereas last season he was ranked thirteenth in intercepts per game and wasn’t inside the top twenty for contested marks.
That’s a significant drop off for a player who was known as the best defender in the competition at one point and he will need to recapture that form for the Eagles to be playing in September.
One of the main issues with the Eagles defence is the lack of foot speed and rebounding out of that back fifty and I’m not sure they’ve addressed it.
Jeremy McGovern (Paul Kane/Getty Images)
Shannon Hurn was the best out of those half backs/back pockets last year ranking thirteenth for rebound 50s per game and eighteenth for meters gained per game, but he can’t be expected to keep doing that now at the age of thirty-four.
Outside of Hurn, the Eagles are going to be relying on both Alex Witherden, who had a much improved season last year and can improve again, and Liam Duggan.
Duggan had a career-best season last year, averaging nineteen disposals per game. He has the ability to become one of the better defenders in the competition, but just needs to add consistency to his game. This is a big year for him.
The inclusion of Sam Petrevski-Seton one would assume was also to strengthen up this part of the ground. He hasn’t delivered on his potential as of yet, but he’s quick, skilful, and good at reading the play at his best which is exactly the type of player this team needs.
He could be a brilliant recruit if he can play his best football consistently.
MIDFIELD
The Eagles midfield is star-studded with names, but they showed absolutely nothing last season and were a major reason why the team struggled so much in the second half of the season.
They ranked sixteenth in disposals per game, so essentially couldn’t get their hands on the ball at any stage of the game, and ranked eighteenth in tackles per game which shows signs of a lack of effort considering they didn’t have the ball.
The good news is, it’s a new year and it is very fixable. The two players with line-breaking speed in that midfield in Luke Shuey and Elliot Yeo played seven and twelve games respectively last year and if they can both play full seasons, it’ll go a long way to them returning to finals.
Yeo is a contested ball beast, ranking third in centre clearances per game last season and fourteenth in contested possessions per game, whilst Shuey also ranked seventh in centre clearances per game.
(Photo by Will Russell/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
The improvement needs to come from the guys who were just flat out horrendous compared to their usual standards last season. Tim Kelly had a poor year. In 2020 he influenced the scoreboard regularly, ranking third in goal assists per game and tenth for total inside 50s for any player.
There was none of that last season and he needs to get back to that form so that this team can improve. A big pre-season so he can get back to the type of stats he had in his second year at the Cats (twenty-five disposals a game and twenty-four goals) is needed.
The main weakness that was exposed last year was pace in that midfield. There is a lot of sameness about the likes of Dom Sheed, Jack Redden, and Tim Kelly. Factually, they all lack foot speed (at least this current version of Kelly) and considering they are such big parts of their midfield, it’s a huge issue.
They haven’t really fixed this area of the ground much at all, and against the faster teams like Melbourne, Richmond, Essendon, and even North Melbourne to a degree, they have the potential to be destroyed on the spread.
There isn’t a whole lot of young talent coming through that midfield either and it’s something they’ll need to address going forward.
ATTACK
The Eagles forward line is the strongest part of their side and I expect it to be much better than what it was last year – for multiple reasons.
I concede that Josh Kennedy is another year older (now 34), but I also think he won’t regress this season. He kicked 41 goals last season and it’s hard to see him not doing that again. These champion key forwards just find a way to hit the scoreboard regularly and he will be the focal point again.
The big improver will be Oscar Allen who I think incredibly highly of. He could be the best forward in the competition this year if he is played forward all season, which I think he has to be, and can find some natural improvement.
He kicked twenty-eight goals last season and played at least a quarter of the season in defence which is one of the better results in terms of goal kicking considering I’m basically saying he’s kicked twenty-eight goals from fourteen games. He is going to turn twenty-three early on in the season and he is the guy that they need to build this forward line around for the next decade.
The Jack Darling situation is obviously a precarious one as he is still very important to the structure of this side considering he plays that second or third tall role very well.
He finished the season as the leading goalkicker last season and even then, he was probably down on form considering he kicked fifty-nine goals in 2019 and forty-eight in 2018. I expect him to get vaccinated, but obviously, if he doesn’t it’s a big loss.
Willie Rioli coming back into the fold could be very important for this Eagles set-up. Last year, I didn’t think they provided much forward fifty pressure at all and a hungry Rioli will increase that pressure dramatically. He also averages a goal a game throughout his career (28 goals when he played a full season in 2018) which is better than basically all the Eagles smalls bar Liam Ryan.
Liam Ryan is the other big name in this forward line (call it the fab five) who needs to get through the majority of the season. He kicked twenty-four goals from fourteen games last season and was on track for a thirty-seven goal season which is something he can easily achieve.
He could easily be a fifty goal a year small forward given his natural talent and if he can get to somewhere near those heights this season, it will go a long way to the Eagles being back in September action.
PREDICTION
The Eagles are another team who are in that bunch fighting for the finals (with the likes of Essendon and Carlton who I have already previewed), however, the difference with them is that they have the runs on the board and are much more trustworthy.
There are multiple premiership players and experience still in this team, and even though some people may see it as their issue (in some ways it is), the past tells us that these older teams keep performing for longer than we expect (Geelong, Hawthorn, North Melbourne under Brad Scott).
Pace is an issue as I’ve already mentioned and the game plan may need to be altered, but I still think the Eagles have the cattle to play finals with key position players like Kennedy, Allen, McGovern, and Barrass and that’s why I’ve got them sliding into the bottom half of the eight.
PREDICTED FINISHING POSITION: 8TH
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