Top pick Harley Reid is seen as the saviour for the battling Eagles who are at the lowest ebb in their history. Photo: AFL MEDIA
WEST COAST
2023 record: 3 wins, 20 losses (18th)
THE INS
Tyler Brockman (Hawthorn), Matt Flynn (GWS), Harley Reid (Bendigo Pioneers), Archer Reid (Gippsland Power), Clay Hall (Peel Thunder), Harvey Johnston (Sandringham Dragons), Loch Rawlinson (Sturt), Coen Livingstone (Perth)
THE OUTS
Shannon Hurn (retired), Luke Shuey (retired), Nic Naitanui (retired), Sam Petrevski-Seton (delisted), Luke Foley (delisted), Xavier O’Neill (delisted), Greg Clark (delisted), Connor West (delisted), Isiah Winder (delisted)
THE STRENGTHS
The one positive about being the worst team in the competition is that you get access to the No.1 draft pick. And in Harley Reid, the Eagles have got themselves an absolute ripper. The Victorian has long been touted as one of the best talents to come through the draft in many years, and he is sure to provide West Coast fans with some much-needed joy after a diabolical two years. After missing all of 2022 due to injury, Oscar Allen came of age last year, producing a career-best season up forward. The 24-year-old kicked 53 goals, and finished in the Coleman Medal top five remarkably while playing for the wooden spooner. Tim Kelly was another rare shining light for the Eagles in 2023. While everything was falling apart around him, the former Cat held his head high and led by example, averaging 28 disposals (13 contested), six clearances, five tackles and five inside 50s per game. Ruckman Bailey Williams had a breakout year, too, averaging 28 hitouts, 13 disposals (nine contested) and four clearances. Despite hitting rock bottom, West Coast still has names such as Kelly, Yeo, Sheed, Darling, Allen, Ryan, McGovern, Barrass, Cripps, Gaff and Duggan in its best 22. Whether they can all live up to their reputations, though, is another thing altogether.
THE WEAKNESSES
We haven’t seen many worse teams than West Coast in the past 50 years. The Eagles pinched a few wins late last season, but their woeful percentage of 53.0 says it all. To put that into context, Fitzroy’s percentage in its final season in 1996 was 49.5. Last year, West Coast was so uncompetitive, it resembled the Roy Boys in their final years, losing five games by over 100 points – all of which feature in the club’s top 11 biggest defeats – and a further five matches by over 10 goals. Another six games were lost by at least 40 points. The Eagles’ 171-point loss to Sydney in Round 15 was their worst-ever defeat, and their 122-point smashing at the hands of Adelaide a fortnight earlier made it into their all-time top five. Now, when this writer stated earlier in the piece that the Eagles had hit rock bottom, that was not hyperbole. Last year, they were dead last in the competition for offence, defence, disposals, contested possessions, clearances, contested marks, inside 50s, marks inside 50, scores per inside 50 and goals per inside 50. It doesn’t get much worse than that. You’d think if a team had so little of the ball, it would at least make a dent in the tackling category, but West Coast still found itself wallowing in 14th spot in that department. The Eagles basically gave up and stopped trying last year. It truly was shocking to witness. Given all of that, it’s quite remarkable how coach Adam Simpson has managed to hang onto his job. It’s not as if season 2023 was a one-off. Simpson oversaw a similarly horrendous 2022 campaign and in the last two seasons, the Eagles have won just five games out of 45 with a combined percentage of only 56.2. It’s hard to imagine another coach in world sport avoiding the axe after overseeing such a disastrous 24 months. Seemingly, the only thing that saved Simpson was the fact that he still had two years left to run on his contract, because for all intents and purposes, it looks like he has lost the players. If the Eagles struggle to win more than one or two games in the first half of the season, it wouldn’t be surprising in the slightest if he got sacked and paid out the final 18 months of his contract. While Simpson bears the brunt of the responsibility for what has happened to this once proud club, the senior players have to cop a lot of the blame as well. The professional standards have evidently completely nosedived, rendering the club a rudderless organisation, and making it hard for the younger players to learn good habits. With the 11 senior guys named earlier, on top of Hurn, Suey and Naitanui (who have all retired), it’s baffling how things have been allowed to get to where they have at West Coast. And on top of everything else, the Eagles were done no favours by injuries in 2023, with Naitanui (23 games), Harry Edwards (21), Liam Ryan (20), McGovern (14), Yeo (13), Shuey (13), Jake Waterman (12), Jamie Cripps (11), Tom Cole (11), Jamaine Jones (10), Hurn (10), Barrass (nine) and Sheed (eight) all missing huge chunks of the season. And unfortunately, the injuries are already starting to mount this year with Ryan and new recruit Matthew Flynn both suffering significant hamstring injuries. Ryan is expected to be available in the early rounds of the season, but Flynn might not be sighted until the second half of the year at least. West Coast desperately needs better luck in the medical room because it is quite literally starting from scratch, and needs everything going for it as it embarks on a long and painful rebuild.
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ONE TO WATCH
It’s hard to go past Harley Reid. The youngster is seen as the saviour for the Eagles, much like a former high draft pick by the name of Chris Judd who also arrived at West Coast after a similarly terrible period in its history at the end of 2001. Will Reid be as good as Judd? It’s a big ask. But there’s no doubt the kid oozes star quality already and you can expect him to have an instant impact this year.
UNDER THE PUMP
The writing looks to be on the wall for Andrew Gaff. The former star midfielder had his least impactful season in a decade last year, and the 31-year-old looks a shadow of his former brilliant self. While he is still a member of the Eagles’ best team (it’s pretty hard not to be at this point), he enters the final year of his contract under huge pressure to perform. If he doesn’t, it will be very interesting to see which direction West Coast goes.
BEST 22
B: Liam Duggan, Tom Barrass, Brady Hough
HB: Tom Cole, Jeremy McGovern, Alex Witherden
C: Andrew Gaff, Tim Kelly, Jayden Hunt
HF: Jamie Cripps, Jack Darling, Noah Long
F: Liam Ryan, Oscar Allen, Jake Waterman
R: Bailey Williams, Reuben Ginbey, Elliot Yeo
Inter: Harley Reid, Dom Sheed, Jamaine Jones, Tyler Brockman
Emerg: Ryan Maric, Harry Edwards, Elijah Hewett, Jack Petruccelle
Ryan should be available in the first couple of weeks of the year, but due to the uncertainty surrounding Flynn’s recovery timeframe, he has been left out of the team for now. Flynn’s injury has scuppered West Coast’s plan of playing him as the No.1 ruck and Bailey Williams spending more time in attack. The Eagles have lost lots of experience with Hurn, Shuey and Naitanui all retiring in one hit.
*all team stat rankings mentioned are based on differentials, not totals (apart from overall offence and defence).
