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I could give you several solid reasons why I’m tipping the West Coast Eagles to win the AFL premiership in 2017, and by the end of this article I will have. But there’s really only one, a very big one, that ties it all together and make it seem possible to me.
Drew Petrie.
Nah, I’m just pulling your leg, it’s Sam Mitchell (although The Big Dish will be a handy recruit and more than earn his rookie contract salary this year, mark my words).
Move over Dion Prestia, Tom Mitchell, Brett Deledio, Jaeger O’Meara. More over Lynden Dunn. Sam Mitchell was the best player to change clubs in 2016. I predict he will, by a very comfortable margin, be 2017’s recruit of the year.
Somehow a bloke with four premierships, including one as captain, five best-and-fairests, three All-Australian guernseys, and yes, a Brownlow Medal (not to mention the equal most career Brownlow votes of all time, adjusted for previous voting systems) is criminally underrated.
The question is often asked as to whether Chris Judd or Gary Ablett junior is the best player of this modern generation, but Mitchell is just as deserving of being in that conversation.
Sure, he is 34 years old – but he has always been durable and, despite copping a hard tag every week in 2016, still performed at a very high level.
So what does he do for West Coast? Suddenly they have a midfield built around two Brownlow medallists. Everyone’s job gets a little easier. Either the taggers go to Mitchell and Luke Shuey and Andrew Gaff run with more freedom, or someone makes the wildly irresponsible decision of leaving Mitchell untagged – bad idea.
However, it’s not just the excellent performances he’ll be able to contribute for the Eagles come game time, but the leadership he will provide both on and off the field, the knowledge of how to succeed and win premierships that he can pass down to his younger teammates.
Oh, and did I mention yet that the Eagles landed him for draft pick No.88 and change? A pretty cheap price for an A-grade midfielder who I reckon will revolutionise their entire team.
But, enough about Mitchell for now. Let’s look at some of the other reasons why the Eagles can contend for the flag in 2017.
Let’s not forget this time last year they were close to a flag favourites after being runners-up the year prior and recruiting some more talent in Jack Redden and Lewis Jetta, not to mention the return from injury of Eric Mackenzie.
Things didn’t go to plan – none of those players provided half the level of quality that they had in previous years. Form was down more or less across the board for West Coast. Opposition coaches figured out how to break their defence, and they struggled, ultimately bowing out in the first week of finals courtesy of the eventual premiers.
However, as I said just last week, progress isn’t always linear. We laugh at Damien Hardwick when he talks about taking a step back to take two steps forward, but that expression is cliched for a reason.
Improvement doesn’t tend to happen at a constant rate, it comes with peaks and troughs. Last year was a down year for West Coast, where they failed to live up to heady expectations. But they haven’t lost their talent, and in 2017 I expect they will rise again.
Redden and Jetta are not failed recruits just yet. Mackenzie with a year in his legs may be ready to get back to his best form. And there is still so, so, so much untapped potential in the likes of Elliot Yeo, Jack Darling, Scott Lycett, Dom Sheed and Liam Duggan, just to name a few.
The Eagles have one of the best forward lines in the league and could make a claim to the best tall defender pairing in the game if they can combine a revitalised Mackenzie with the already elite Jeremy McGovern.
They currently boast the oldest and most experienced list in the league – their time to win a premiership is now.
There is just one big question mark hanging over them that I see, and which will cause many to write them off. That is the fact Nic Naitanui will miss most of the season due to an ACL injury suffered late last year.
That is no small piece of adversity to contend with, but it is not something that can’t be overcome. He is currently aiming for a return in Round 16 of the season – if he can make it back by then, there’s enough time for him to build fitness and form and possibly be the late boost that pushes the Eagles into a premiership.
Maybe they’re not the most likely choice, but my gut says that with an A-grade new recruit, an excellent coach, and plenty of mature talent on the books ready to bounce back from the disappointments of last year, the West Coast Eagles are ready to win their fourth AFL premiership in 2017.