Opinion
The Eagles selling their future to win a flag has caught up to them.
There’s a common notion amongst sports fans that supporters of a club would give up anything for the ultimate glory in their sport but in actuality, it isn’t that simple.
The Eagles won the flag in 2018, after finishing runners-up in 2015 and enjoyed six consecutive seasons in the top eight.
They were a good team over that period of time. Josh J Kennedy was unbelievable, Nic Naitanui incredible, Jeremy McGovern at his peak, unstoppable.
Elliot Yeo’s toughness, Luke Shuey’s explosiveness, Andrew Gaff’s exploits on the wing, Jamie Cripps was the most underrated small forward going around and Jack Darling’s work as an undersized key forward was great.
That was 2018. The fact almost all these players are not only deemed as best 22 in 2023, but also in the top dozen players at the club speaks of the harsh reality that the Eagles have created for themselves.
For a while, it has felt that the Eagles are a club that hasn’t quite had a proper grasp on where they’re at.
Maybe it’s blind loyalty to their heroes, most of whom are injury-prone, but right now there’s no avenue to success for the Eagles.
We’re coming off a good showing in the Derby in terms of competitiveness, following a win against the Giants for West Coast.
The concentration of so many injuries happening at one time feels unlucky and a dampener on what has been a period with positive signs, but really, luck has nothing to do with the Eagles at the moment.
Between 2015 and 2020, all those seasons that the Eagles played in finals, they had two first round picks – Daniel Venables and Jarrod Brander.
Reuben Ginbey of the Eagles. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)
Nailing draft picks is difficult, having later picks than most other clubs makes it even harder. Taking Oscar Allen and Liam Ryan in the second round of 2017 was a wonderful feat, but the Eagles have handcuffed themselves with poor draft since 2014, until recently.
There were the recruitments of Jack Redden and Tim Kelly that demanded such prices, as well splitting into further second round picks.
Redden was a big part of the flag team. Kelly is a super talent and worth recruiting, however he was seen as the cream on top to extend the window, when he should’ve been seen as the next player to usher in a new generation.
It’s been four seasons since the Eagles won the flag and they’re cellar dwellers with no clear path to climb the ladder.
Injuries to Naitanui, Shuey, McGovern, these aren’t unlucky. Heavily relying on these players in the team’s structure, that’s not unlucky.
There’s no clear backup ruck option – Bailey J Williams is having a crack and some will see it as developmental minutes for a young player, but he’s more suited to a forward/ruck role if anything and is only a serviceable fill-in. Drafting Harry Barnett was important.
McGovern is rumoured to be getting another deal with the Eagles but there was an opportunity to perhaps cash in and try get a decent return out of contending team who’d have overpaid for a veteran with pedigree.
The toughest aspect that faces the Eagles is that they should clearly commence the rebuild, which one suspects they’ve finally accepted, but all their best players bar Oscar Allen, are 26 years of age and older.
Ultimately, it means that if this is a slow burn for the Eagles, which it inevitably will be, the timelines are way off for this playing group.
Perhaps the biggest slice of luck to come out of the Derby in terms of the injuries, is the fact that coach Adam Simpson will finally have to give the kids an extended run in important positions.
Already, the last two drafts have been positive – Reuben Ginbey was the highest pick the Eagles have had since Andrew Gaff in 2010 and is playing as a full-time midfielder, while fellow first round pick Elijah Hewett is the perfect, modern day option.
In taking Harry Barnett, Coby Burgiel and Noah Long, the Eagles arguably won the 2022 draft and have five players who can be a part of their next premiership team. Add Jai Culley to this group and it’s six.
Despite having a great name for a politician, Jeremy McGovern decided to try his hand at AFL.(Photo by Ryan Pierse/AFL Media/Getty Images)
2021 saw them take more speculative players, but ones that should get playing time nevertheless.
Trying to form a core group cannot be done through one or two drafts, though.
Now is the time where we need to find out if the Eagles have any other players on hand, the ones that have been around a while.
The Eagles have 10 players still in their teens, and 10 aged 28 and over.
In between, we know what to expect from Barrass, Duggan, Ryan, Dom Sheed. We know that Allen is the prodigal son and perhaps the only actual potential star in that bracket.
The price of winning the flag means that it’s time to see what the rest of the guys have and if they’re up to the standard of senior football and contributing.
Harry Edwards, Connor West, Jamaine Jones and Samo Petrevski-Seton have been maligned at times but have shown the best signs.
Jack Petruccelle, Josh Rotham, Luke Foley and Xavier O’Neill have games under their belt.
Bailey Williams and Callum Jamieson are athletic.
It isn’t an awe-inspiring list, but it’s what the Eagles have and it’s what they’ll have to rely upon for the rest of 2023 and in the years to come.
The most recent draft crop is the most exciting group of talent brought into West Coast for well over a decade, but they’ll need time to develop and get up to speed.
By the time that happens, the most important players on the current list will either be long gone, or in the back-end of their careers.
The light at the end of the tunnel is there, but at the moment, it’s extremely faint.
Eagles fans had the delight and joys of winning the premiership and will always have that season in their hearts but to do so, they signed themselves up for long-term pain that the club hasn’t experienced in its near four-decade existence.
Ginbey and co will lead the charge eventually, but it’ll be a long wait to replicate that 2018 feeling against for West Coast.
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