Prediction Round 2, 2023: Changes vs GWS

[PremiershipNo4]

Geez, after that North loss I'm really writing off the season and all enthusiasm has been drained.

Had a quick look through our fixture and can only really see 1 maybe 2 wins for the year:

• North at home
• Hawks in Tassie

Yeah that 1st Rd performance was hard to take, I’m very hopeful that Hewett is that inside clearance player we desperately need. Still he’s only one player.
I am looking forward to seeing Hewett and Ginbey attending many centre bounces, still need to draft the best inside midfielder we can this year.
The Simpson contract length is a huge issue, if the players have lost faith in his message then we have a massive problem.

 

[WCErevival]

I wonder if the new turf at Optus will affect selection. High chance of injury if its rubbish. They may avoid selecting Yeo and Naitanui even if they are right to go.

 

[AsterixTheGaul]

how can the trio of Simpson, Knights and Schofield dish up some of the hardest to watch football? All three were highly competitive and hard at it yet we consistently loose contested football. And it’s deeper than that as we are starting to get picked off as opponents are standing off the contest waiting for our out numbered mids to cough the ball over.

Hough and Culley to come in

Gaff and Witherden sadly look like players of an outdated era

BWilliams and Exxon (along with Foley) are showing that our 2018 was a complete bust

 

[plays tall 1]

Yeah that 1st Rd performance was hard to take, I’m very hopeful that Hewett is that inside clearance player we desperately need. Still he’s only one player.
I am looking forward to seeing Hewett and Ginbey attending many centre bounces, still need to draft the best inside midfielder we can this year.
The Simpson contract length is a huge issue, if the players have lost faith in his message then we have a massive problem.

I’m not sure if they’ve lost faith in Simpson but judging from the level of effort displayed at times it seems as if there’s a culture of complacency among senior players. It was highlighted on Saturday starkly, through the contrasting debut efforts of Ginbey and Long and their hunger to tackle. If the complacency is allowed to continue it’ll affect the development of the kids coming into the team.

I’m not a huge Ross Lyon fan but he’s certainly not afraid of confrontation. One of his sayings is “execute one to educate a thousand”. This approach could be useful with the credits crew going forward. After all, how much worse can things get?

 

[Obeanie1]

We got along way to go to make even, hence the 2 wins out of last 25 games.

Avoided the question I see.

We won't be winning the midfield battle for a while. And before we win in the midfield we will break even. And then it's up to the better forward line and back lines to win or lose the game.

That's the point. You don't nececcarily need to win in the midfield to win games. You need to break even, aka not get flogged. Then win in the other two segments of the field.

 

[Obeanie1]

how can the trio of Simpson, Knights and Schofield dish up some of the hardest to watch football? All three were highly competitive and hard at it yet we consistently loose contested football. And it’s deeper than that as we are starting to get picked off as opponents are standing off the contest waiting for our out numbered mids to cough the ball over.

Hough and Culley to come in

Gaff and Witherden sadly look like players of an outdated era

BWilliams and Exxon (along with Foley) are showing that our 2018 was a complete bust

They are losing the game at selection making the same errors. Not selecting bigger more combative mids.

We miss Yeo and Culley our two best big inside mids and replace them with a 1st gamer and O'Neil.

 

[Miguel Sanchez]

Yeah, should’ve selected that bigger more combative mid that was available and on our list.

 

[Rowan18]

Yeah, should’ve selected that bigger more combative mid that was available and on our list.

West or Clark could have had a go, but I think it was good to back XON to see if he has it. Not looking like he does at the moment.

I'd drop XON and bring in Yeo/Culley if fit. If not, it sounds like West is next in line.

 

[Barrybran]

Gee there are some Negative Nancy's in here. We're going to get beaten frequently this season. Get used to it. The second quarter of last week's game can't happen but when we take the game on and get our skills right we will do well. That is going to take time though. The signs were there in the second half. The cattle are coming; they just need time to build their bodies and skills. What we saw last week is not 2022 and not even the back half of 2021.

 

[Obeanie1]

Yeah, should’ve selected that bigger more combative mid that was available and on our list.

West and Clark are bigger inside mids. West is a nutter who goes flat out.

Trew is also a bigger bodied mid.

We need to find out if they are up to it or not.

Swap one of Kelly or Sheed on ball with a player with some size and power to do the heavy lifting. Kelly and Sheed play more outside.

Rotate only one inside mid who is lighter / faster not three weeners all of the same type who don't tackle well and don't have the size or power to compete.

 

[Bender_]

Gee there are some Negative Nancy's in here. We're going to get beaten frequently this season. Get used to it. The second quarter of last week's game can't happen but when we take the game on and get our skills right we will do well. That is going to take time though. The signs were there in the second half. The cattle are coming; they just need time to build their bodies and skills. What we saw last week is not 2022 and not even the back half of 2021.

I'm not at the point of deep throating a revolver, but I am a fair bit annoyed with this week's result - and that's simply on the back of it being a very winnable game. Being outclassed is one thing, being outworked is entirely different and almost inexcusable. We had the class in this match-up but were put to the sword by some less skilled players that just plain wanted it more.

The biggest issue for me is that we are going to have maybe 5 wins this year, that loss against North makes our potential wins absolutely plummet. It's all well and good to accept we're in the trough of a cycle and we may not have the class to take it up to the majority of the comp, but dropping very winnable games due to lack of effort is incredibly frustrating and we need a sprinkle of wins to keep the motivation of the playing group up. And for the sake of the supporters I might add.

 

[Miguel Sanchez]

West and Clark are bigger inside mids. West is a nutter who goes flat out.

Huge.

 

[Obeanie1]

View attachment 1635486

Huge.

You should know it's not all about size but what you do with it!

Are you saying West isn't a combative hard at it mid who tackles hard?

We lacked urgency, hardness and intent. West delivers all that in spades and when fit has shown he can get the ball as well.

 

[WCErevival]

Tackling isnt really our problem. We have won the tackle count in our last 4 games (proper games not preseason). Some by a big margin.

 

[Frederico_WA]

You should know it's not all about size but what you do with it!

Missed opportunity to bring out the ole inspirational quotes from the lockerrooms ...

 

[Astro7]

I'm not at the point of deep throating a revolver, but I am a fair bit annoyed with this week's result - and that's simply on the back of it being a very winnable game. Being outclassed is one thing, being outworked is entirely different and almost inexcusable. We had the class in this match-up but were put to the sword by some less skilled players that just plain wanted it more.

The biggest issue for me is that we are going to have maybe 5 wins this year, that loss against North makes our potential wins absolutely plummet. It's all well and good to accept we're in the trough of a cycle and we may not have the class to take it up to the majority of the comp, but dropping very winnable games due to lack of effort is incredibly frustrating and we need a sprinkle of wins to keep the motivation of the playing group up. And for the sake of the supporters I might add.

I understand your points, it sure is frustrating and hard to watch. However Freo lost their 1st away game by more than us and they are supposedly in their premiership/finals window? Port flogged Lions after we beat them in a scratchy. Crows got done after looking like an awesome machine against us in a scratchy. Point is, the 1st round might not be a good sample to hold up as proof or evidence of where we're at? Not making excuses or wearing rose coloured glasses but am happy to wait out a few more games before wheeling out the guillotine!

 

[Frederico_WA]

Tackling isnt really our problem. We have won the tackle count in our last 4 games (proper games not preseason). Some by a big margin.

Its the tackles that we miss or don't even attempt that hurt us. I.e. Shuey deciding to shirtfront instead of tackle = north quickly transition to a goal

 

[Bender_]

I understand your points, it sure is frustrating and hard to watch. However Freo lost their 1st away game by more than us and they are supposedly in their premiership/finals window? Port flogged Lions after we beat them in a scratchy. Crows got done after looking like an awesome machine against us in a scratchy. Point is, the 1st round might not be a good sample to hold up as proof or evidence of where we're at? Not making excuses or wearing rose coloured glasses but am happy to wait out a few more games before wheeling out the guillotine!

Sure, but the likelihood of Freo and Brisbane winning more than 12 games is pretty high, dropping a game here and there will damage their finals position, but unlike us - they're likely to see wins more often than not. We just dropped one of the few winnable games for the year, hopefully we can bounce back this week but it's still disappointing.

I'm just frustrated with the weekend's game, I'm not looking for heads to roll just yet but I do want to vent as I think that losing winnable games like that are the most frustrating of all.

 

[greatwhiteshark]

Tackling isnt really our problem. We have won the tackle count in our last 4 games (proper games not preseason). Some by a big margin.

You should be tackling when you don't have the ball so we will find our tackle count is always going to grow.

 

[Hook461123]

I think a lot of supportors still had high expectations of this team bouncing back quickly and even challenging for finals this year. Now they are coming to terms that it may not be that easy of a rebuild.
I get a little frustrated with a lot of my eagles supporter mates talking about all the injuries we had last year every time I would bring up the holes on our list or our negative game style.

Anyway this week is going to be a good test of character for the boys. I hope to see us come out hard against an undermanned GWS.

 

[flyinghi64]

Yeo didn't sound like he was playing this weekend listening to him on the radio this morning.
He said the injury was enough to put him out for a couple of weeks.
According to him he will need to eat the grass up on Thursday training to prove his fitness. Not much protein in grass.
The only thing that may help is being a sunday avo game.

 

[daddy_4_eyes]

In: Hough, Culley and Hewett
Out: Witherden, Jamo, XON

Witherden just doesn't have what it takes to be an AFL footballer. I think he has poor awareness, so despite a good kick and the ability to find the footy, he is simply a liability in todays super fast moving game.

Jamo needs to keep building in the WAFL. 2023 is a year too early for him to be getting games in the seniors. Sheed in the ruck feels like a deliberate ploy by Simpson to force the midfield group to win the footy and not expect Naitanui-esque tapouts.

If we're getting games into the young mids, XON isn't it. 8 touches from 81% game time is trash.

Lets focus on getting games into the kids.
Bazzo, HEdwards & LEdwards shouldn't be too far behind either.

 

[Chris_6678]

Eagles rocked: Fresh McGovern injury worry as Yeo hopes fade

As West Coast look set to be without Elliot Yeo and Nic Naitanui for a second straight week, there’s fresh concerns on another multiple All-Australian. Here’s what we saw at Eagles training.

thewest.com.au

 

[THE A5]

View attachment 1635486

Huge.

Miguel “size does matter” Sanchez

 

[bzparkes]

I think a lot of supportors still had high expectations of this team bouncing back quickly and even challenging for finals this year. Now they are coming to terms that it may not be that easy of a rebuild.
I get a little frustrated with a lot of my eagles supporter mates talking about all the injuries we had last year every time I would bring up the holes on our list or our negative game style.

Anyway this week is going to be a good test of character for the boys. I hope to see us come out hard against an undermanned GWS.

That's because many people are in stage 2/3, whilst some still haven't got out of stage 1.

Meanwhile, the club appears to be in stage 5, after being in stage 1 in 2020-2021 and stage 3 for the first part of last season.