Expectations for 2025

[bigmikles089]

Not quite the shrewd analysis I was expecting at a football forum. Seriously, I was disappointed when Simpson beat him for the role. Felt we would have done much better recruiting Suma.

Suma couldn't strategise his way out of a wet paper bag relative to Simmo. He was a great player but that doesn't automatically correlate to being a good coach.

Further to this, his ability to mix with his playing group was raised as an issue by a few WA football contacts - especially when he was coaching the U18's a few years back.

 

[HitTheNailOnTheHead]

 

[HitTheNailOnTheHead]

Suma couldn't strategise his way out of a wet paper bag relative to Simmo. He was a great player but that doesn't automatically correlate to being a good coach.

No problems. I'm sure many feel the same way. I just happen to disagree. That's life.

Further to this, his ability to mix with his playing group was raised as an issue by a few WA football contacts - especially when he was coaching the U18's a few years back.

First I've heard of this. Maybe you could elaborate.

 

[squashface]

No problems. I'm sure many feel the same way. I just happen to disagree. That's life.



First I've heard of this. Maybe you could elaborate.

You only have to listen to Schofield and Masten on Backchat laughing at the prospect of him coaching to know how respected he is within the playing group that was under him.

 

[HitTheNailOnTheHead]

You only have to listen to Schofield and Masten on Backchat laughing at the prospect of him coaching to know how respected he is within the playing group that was under him.

Haven't heard that. Got a link you could share?

 

[KERRPOW]

I think we need to lift out expectations.

we have brought in 3x 27o's to take the brunt off the youngsters.

im expecting 10 wins tbh.

 

[We_The_West]

I think we need to lift out expectations.

we have brought in 3x 27o's to take the brunt off the youngsters.

im expecting 10 wins tbh.

Ginbey has said Hewett is TTHD…

Finals

 

[Bender_]

8 wins

 

[WA footy mad]

With the likes of Baker & Graham we are definitely going to be a more competitive side. Lets just hope they brought these older players in the side to help the young players. We are not in the window for a finals berth actually a long way off so it will take a few more successful drafts to make us competitive again. Next years prediction similar amount of wins to this year, but hopefully good signs of improvement in our younger brigade of players.

 

[Beutbrute]

I'm not expecting that we will go much better in the first half of the year than last season, but our game will click towards the second half of the year similar to what we saw with the Hawks last season.

Missing out on the 8 by a few games but we will Make Eagles Great Again

 

[Scotland]

The expectation is that we don't finish the season with a percentage in the 50s or 60s. Competitive sides don't do that. And it's rare to go from uncompetitive to contending without intermediate steps. If we are trotting out 10 goal losses early in the year without another injury crisis pitch forks should be out. If we start poorly I expect a lot of heat to be directed at Pyke and McQualter for bringing in two Richmond players.

We added 3 experienced players so if they are not all in the best 22 in Round 1, why did we add them? If they don't make the team better, why did we add them? Draft obviously hasn't happened yet but we have picks 12 and 26 so not expecting to draft a ready made star.

Brisbane went from 3 years in the 60s to one of 74%, one of 89% and then finals for the last 6 years in a row. That 2018 Rd 23 side (their last year outside finals) had 9 premiership players from 2024 aged 26 or under in it.

Melbourne went from scoring 11 and conceding 20 goals a game in 2013 to conceding 15 in 2014, to scoring AND conceding 15 a game in 2016. They've mostly been competitive since and if not for imploding off field would still be a contender.

We are a 69 for, 102 against team based on 2024. The Premier are 94 for, 76 against. So we're 51 points off the pace.

Do we have as much talent on the list as those teams did? Jury is out but I would not be betting the house on it. Petracca, Brayshaw, Oliver, Viney, McLuggage, Rayner etc. came from top 5 picks and F/S selections. Are we 2018 Brisbane or 2016 Melbourne, or are we realistically not at that point yet? We were better in 2024 but beat North and Richmond who are also historically bad, Melbourne who hit the self destruct button, Gold Coast who had an away record of 0-9 going in and Freo who are mentally fragile (seriously how did they miss finals from 12-6?).

What I want to see is a forward line of Allen, Waterman and Jack Williams (Darling was OK in the role he was asked to play but not having him forces us to not try and squeeze 3 key forwards + 2 Williams in which was horrible), Tim Kelly

11

Tim Kelly

Age

30

Ht

184cm

Wt

83kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

23.6

5star

K

13.5

5star

HB

10.1

5star

M

3.4

3star

T

4.0

5star

CL

4.9

5star

D

19.9

5star

K

12.3

5star

HB

7.6

4star

M

3.1

3star

T

4.7

5star

CL

3.6

4star

D

21.6

5star

K

10.4

4star

HB

11.2

5star

M

2.8

3star

T

3.8

5star

CL

3.8

5star

playing a mid/forward role where he actually kicks goals again, more midfield minutes for Reid, Hewett, Baker, Harry Edwards at FB and some semblance of a plan for how to transition the ball out of defensive 50. Our go to has been to give the ball to Witherden or Rotham and hope for the best which is both a poor strategy and no longer an option.

 

[Cuzz09]

we are 69 for 102 against

if we can get to 80 for and 90 against that's a good target imo

Sent from my SM-S908E using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[Patron]

Looking at the teams around us it's hard to see how we finish higher than third or second last again tbh.

We will be better than Richmond who are basically a Monty for the spoon. We could be better than North but they are bound to shoot up the ladder soon, and they did well with their cheap senior acquisitions (parker, darling, daniel) which will improve their experience and depth.

Adelaide and Melbourne are the other teams we could hope to get above, but I quite liked Adelaide's off season recruiting and if Tracc/Oliver come back healthier it's hard to see us leapfrogging them.

I think we will improve again, but not sure it will show much by way of wins or ladder position, but there's always a chance a few teams cop injuries or implode.

 

[Cuzz09]

hopefully Hawks implode

Sent from my SM-S908E using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[Bacchus]

Hard to be very optimistic.

Hope we are not savaged by injury like we have been the last few years.

Maybe our floor will improve with the experienced recruits.

The recruit I am most excited about so far is the coach. A fresh set of eyes, fresh message, fresh game plan may revitalise the group.

We were going nowhere the last few years.

 

[Rowan18]

The expectation is that we don't finish the season with a percentage in the 50s or 60s. Competitive sides don't do that. And it's rare to go from uncompetitive to contending without intermediate steps. If we are trotting out 10 goal losses early in the year without another injury crisis pitch forks should be out. If we start poorly I expect a lot of heat to be directed at Pyke and McQualter for bringing in two Richmond players.

We added 3 experienced players so if they are not all in the best 22 in Round 1, why did we add them? If they don't make the team better, why did we add them? Draft obviously hasn't happened yet but we have picks 12 and 26 so not expecting to draft a ready made star.

Brisbane went from 3 years in the 60s to one of 74%, one of 89% and then finals for the last 6 years in a row. That 2018 Rd 23 side (their last year outside finals) had 9 premiership players from 2024 aged 26 or under in it.

Melbourne went from scoring 11 and conceding 20 goals a game in 2013 to conceding 15 in 2014, to scoring AND conceding 15 a game in 2016. They've mostly been competitive since and if not for imploding off field would still be a contender.

We are a 69 for, 102 against team based on 2024. The Premier are 94 for, 76 against. So we're 51 points off the pace.

Do we have as much talent on the list as those teams did? Jury is out but I would not be betting the house on it. Petracca, Brayshaw, Oliver, Viney, McLuggage, Rayner etc. came from top 5 picks and F/S selections. Are we 2018 Brisbane or 2016 Melbourne, or are we realistically not at that point yet? We were better in 2024 but beat North and Richmond who are also historically bad, Melbourne who hit the self destruct button, Gold Coast who had an away record of 0-9 going in and Freo who are mentally fragile (seriously how did they miss finals from 12-6?).

What I want to see is a forward line of Allen, Waterman and Jack Williams (Darling was OK in the role he was asked to play but not having him forces us to not try and squeeze 3 key forwards + 2 Williams in which was horrible), Tim Kelly playing a mid/forward role where he actually kicks goals again, more midfield minutes for Reid, Hewett, Baker, Harry Edwards at FB and some semblance of a plan for how to transition the ball out of defensive 50. Our go to has been to give the ball to Witherden or Rotham and hope for the best which is both a poor strategy and no longer an option.

It's pretty simple for me. New coaches need a year to work out how to coach and bed in a gameplan. Expect us to be bad to start the season as we get everything to click (when Simmo started in 2014 we stopped being able to score for a while). Then a big improvement second half as the players adjust. We won't make finals.

If we trade Warner in for 2026 I'd expect us to push for the 8 (barring an injury crisis). All our young talent from 2021-2023 drafts will have had 3-5 preseasons (Reid most importantly) and be developed enough to make an impact. That combined with the mature role players should see us become competitive.

Hit that milestone and we can start doing a Hawthorn and trading in missing pieces (ironically we may also be looking to buy a KPD).

 

[Rowan18]

Looking at the teams around us it's hard to see how we finish higher than third or second last again tbh.

We will be better than Richmond who are basically a Monty for the spoon. We could be better than North but they are bound to shoot up the ladder soon, and they did well with their cheap senior acquisitions (parker, darling, daniel) which will improve their experience and depth.

Adelaide and Melbourne are the other teams we could hope to get above, but I quite liked Adelaide's off season recruiting and if Tracc/Oliver come back healthier it's hard to see us leapfrogging them.

I think we will improve again, but not sure it will show much by way of wins or ladder position, but there's always a chance a few teams cop injuries or implode.

I think Adelaide is straight into the 8. Richmond is a lock for the spoon. Melbourne is probably bottom 4. North should improve, but so will we, so I figure we'll be second or third last (North the other) but with a much higher win total.

 

[Astro7]

I'm not disappointed or upset by the trade picks and the same will probably apply to the draft, because basically there's nothing I can do about it and everything is an unknown quantity at this stage. What's the point of melts and doomism until the choices and results are proven?

I'm optimistic with this season and our future until proven otherwise. I look forward to seeing the impact of the new coach(es), the new gameplan, the new players; and the improvement of existing players during the preseason and scratchies. I'm genuinely excited about the new season (until I'm not?). Especially excited with the prospect of Hewett, Long, Hutch and new players.

The coach has embedded Baker, Graham and Owies (due to their hard work, tenacity, leadership and familiarity with his methods) into each line across the field. This may prove to be a mini-masterstroke (excuse the pun). Owies may surprise!

I believe we will improve on last season by a few games at least.(8-10 wins)
I trust there is a creative solution to the ruck dept, I'm confident the backline will hold up and I hope the management has put some serious effort into addressing the WAFL situation with noticeable improvement on last season?

 

[Scotland]

I'm not disappointed or upset by the trade picks and the same will probably apply to the draft, because basically there's nothing I can do about it and everything is an unknown quantity at this stage. What's the point of melts and doomism until the choices and results are proven?

Because we fumbled the bag badly. Pick 3 in this draft should get a better haul than pick 12 and Liam Baker. That's not to say that whoever is drafted at pick 3 will be Chris Judd and whoever is drafted at pick 12 will be Luke Molan or Ashley Watson or Barry Brooks, but our draft hand should be stronger.

The reality is with our list as it stands we are always just a couple of injuries away from being uncompetitive. Not we have a couple of key players out so aren't at our best, we have a couple of players out and can't even compete with Adelaide. Thank **** Jake Waterman had a career year as Allen missed all of 2022 and half of 2024 and we'd be otherwise still relying on a 32 year old Jack Darling. Next year we'll have McGovern turning 33 and Edwards who has played 40 games. When one of those go down our third choice key defender is...Jamison I guess? Our midfield with Yeo, Reid and Kelly firing at the same time is good, but they don't always fire and they all miss games (Reid is certain to be suspended again in 2025). Hopefully having more rotations with Baker and Graham will help in that area but those guys aren't A-graders. I really hope Hewett gets a decent run at it in 2025.

 

[Bleedblueandgold]

I think Adelaide is straight into the 8. Richmond is a lock for the spoon. Melbourne is probably bottom 4. North should improve, but so will we, so I figure we'll be second or third last (North the other) but with a much higher win total.

Looking at the fixture I'm thinking 6 wins to start with, perhaps snag a couple more.

 

[Keys]

Home games

• Gold Coast
• Essendon
• Melbourne
• St Kilda
• Geelong
• Carlton
• GWS
• Richmond
• Adelaide
• Sydney

Away games

• Brisbane
• GWS
• Hawthorn
• Richmond
• Adelaide
• Collingwood
• Port Adelaide
• Melbourne
• Bulldogs

Neutral games

• Fremantle
• Carlton (AO)
• North Melbourne (Bunbury)
• Fremantle

Split our home games - 5 wins
Win one road game - 1 win
Split our neutral games - 2 wins

Total - 8 wins which is about as realistically optimistic as you can get

The margin in our 18 losses last year were :

<12 points : 2
13-24 points: 2
25-42 points : 4
43-60 points : 2
61-90 points : 6
90< points : 2 (but none over 100 - just)

If we can limit the 60 plus losses to no more than 4 with nothing over 90 and only a couple of others over 42, then that would be an acceptable season.

Unlikely to get us out of bottom 4 but would be a trend in the right direction, especially if a lot of the improvement is driven by our 22 and under cohort

 

[3agles87]

Home games

• Gold Coast
• Essendon
• Melbourne
• St Kilda
• Geelong
• Carlton
• GWS
• Richmond
• Adelaide
• Sydney

Away games

• Brisbane
• GWS
• Hawthorn
• Richmond
• Adelaide
• Collingwood
• Port Adelaide
• Melbourne
• Bulldogs

Neutral games

• Fremantle
• Carlton (AO)
• North Melbourne (Bunbury)
• Fremantle

Split our home games - 5 wins
Win one road game - 1 win
Split our neutral games - 2 wins

Total - 8 wins which is about as realistically optimistic as you can get

The margin in our 18 losses last year were :

<12 points : 2
13-24 points: 2
25-42 points : 4
43-60 points : 2
61-90 points : 6
90< points : 2 (but none over 100 - just)

If we can limit the 60 plus losses to no more than 4 with nothing over 90 and only a couple of others over 42, then that would be an acceptable season.

Unlikely to get us out of bottom 4 but would be a trend in the right direction, especially if a lot of the improvement is driven by our 22 and under cohort

No trip to Goomba stadium or the SCG, that is worth about 20 percentage points alone.

 

[Scotland]

Even if you lose by 40 or 50 or 100 or whatever, it's the games we are never in that are jarring.

We were never in Rounds 1-3, 8, 12, 17, 18, 20, 24 and 25 this year. That's 10 out of 23. Games like the Lions, Bombers and second derby we competitive then either fell away late or had poor quarters. You can cop that watching a poor side but when it's 96-8 before you kick your second goal and 114-14 at half time then 'winning the third quarter' means **** all. If you aren't going to respond before the game is over before half time then you may as well just go through the motions because that is what the other team is doing.

 

[Astro7]

Because we fumbled the bag badly. Pick 3 in this draft should get a better haul than pick 12 and Liam Baker. That's not to say that whoever is drafted at pick 3 will be Chris Judd and whoever is drafted at pick 12 will be Luke Molan or Ashley Watson or Barry Brooks, but our draft hand should be stronger.

The reality is with our list as it stands we are always just a couple of injuries away from being uncompetitive. Not we have a couple of key players out so aren't at our best, we have a couple of players out and can't even compete with Adelaide. Thank **** Jake Waterman had a career year as Allen missed all of 2022 and half of 2024 and we'd be otherwise still relying on a 32 year old Jack Darling. Next year we'll have McGovern turning 33 and Edwards who has played 40 games. When one of those go down our third choice key defender is...Jamison I guess? Our midfield with Yeo, Reid and Kelly firing at the same time is good, but they don't always fire and they all miss games (Reid is certain to be suspended again in 2025). Hopefully having more rotations with Baker and Graham will help in that area but those guys aren't A-graders. I really hope Hewett gets a decent run at it in 2025.

TBH I'm not interested in talking about pick #3 or #12, that's been discussed ad infinitum over countless pages. Overall (and with all due respect) yours is a very negative outlook and I hope you find some joy this season. Jake Waterman was always going to come good, the signs were there before he got sick. I'm sure other players will stand up this season, others will fall away, others will get injured and there might be a few surprise packages ahead.
The 3 amigos are all solid hardworking ground ball getters.
Since the abysmal covid downhill slide we've apparently become mired in negativity.
There have been a lot of changes at the club in recent months, most are changes that have been called for. Still a few tweaks to go, I say bring it on!

 

[Scotland]

One man's negativity is another man's reality. I certainly hope I am wrong and WC not only perform a lot better in 2025 but start to show signs of being a future contender.

Jake Waterman

2

Jake Waterman

Age

26

Ht

192cm

Wt

92kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

11.3

3star

K

7.9

3star

HB

3.4

3star

M

5.2

5star

T

1.2

3star

G

1.0

4star

D

9.8

2star

K

7.8

3star

HB

2.0

1star

M

5.8

5star

T

0.3

1star

G

1.5

5star

D

12.2

3star

K

7.6

3star

HB

4.6

4star

M

4.6

5star

T

1.6

4star

G

0.8

4star

always showed signs of being a good player but no one predicted he would be an All Australian. I would've been rapt for him to play every game and kick 30-40 goals as the second forward let alone be leading the Coleman at stages. The WA SOO key forwards would be Waterman, somebody and Jesse Hogan

23

Jesse Hogan

Age

29

Ht

196cm

Wt

100kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

15.0

4star

K

9.3

4star

HB

5.7

4star

M

6.4

5star

T

1.4

3star

G

1.9

5star

D

10.3

3star

K

6.0

2star

HB

4.3

3star

M

5.3

5star

T

0.0

1star

G

0.0

1star

D

13.0

4star

K

9.0

4star

HB

4.0

3star

M

6.4

5star

T

1.4

4star

G

1.8

5star

. No one had that on their bingo card.