For the believers, 2016 season still alive

[Moose1414]

Makes you wonder if the club doctors and coaching staff have access to Google??

Haha, I know for a fact that my Dr hates google. Warns me to stay away from it every time I see him.

 

[SpaceClef]

We all know that Naitanui makes us a much better side.

But how much of that is his actual impact on the game, and how much is psychological?

His centre bounce hitouts are incredible, as is his follow up defensive work. But there's no reason why we can't make up the difference with a concerted effort to apply manic pressure in the contests.

I have no doubt that our mids can all lift 10% to make up for Nic's absence. But whether they want to or not is the big question for 2017.

 

[squashface]

So for us to make top four, we have to win while Hawthorn and GWS lose to Pies and Norf?

Not a ridiculous proposition.

 

[Moose1414]

We all know that Naitanui makes us a much better side.

But how much of that is his actual impact on the game, and how much is psychological?

His centre bounce hitouts are incredible, as is his follow up defensive work. But there's no reason why we can't make up the difference with a concerted effort to apply manic pressure in the contests.

I have no doubt that our mids can all lift 10% to make up for Nic's absence. But whether they want to or not is the big question for 2017.

A lift across the ground can more than make up for him being out for the rest of 2016, it was mandatory anyway and Nic being out only rams home the message everyone needs to be putting in 110% Undoubtably players do approach the game differently when he's out there and thats a weakness more than a strength. Anyone can be a match winner though not just Nic, Simpson is talking now about going all unorthodox and revolutionary and throwing Darling into the ruck for finals. We might even get a taste of Lamb yet.

For 2017 if Lycett gets his fitness up to Dean Cox level and the midfield improves either by trade or development or both then the case could be made that is better than having Nic fit and available. He's such a unique player having him in the side basically demands a unique structure. Simpson calls it "a good problem to have'' and it is, but its a problem no other club has and having an high game time endurance athlete hold down the ruck over a power athlete on limited minutes is an easier thing to plan around. As is having a midfield that just approaches every bounce the same instead of sometimes getting the best hitouts to advantage possible vs spud efforts the next time around.

The silver lining to this is we've probably never seen the ideal game plan around Nic and the year out while bad for him personally and bad for us as fans allows the team to grow and for Nic to be used on return as an impact player coming off the bench which probably serves his body better. If he comes back the same player athletically in 2018 and Scotty is one of the premier ruckmen in the game with good chemistry with our mids then we may yet to have seen the best from the flying fijian, he could revolutionise the game on his return playing as a pure match winner who you throw into the ruck or forward pocket to unleash hell. As Carey said on the weekend in response to Dennis saying throw Kennedy into the ruck "you don't use a Lamborghini to plow a field" well yeah, why not let Scotty do all the hard work going forward and let Nic take all the glory, he's a once in a lifetime freak of nature let him play like one.

 

[Mr Blicavs]

Just curious guys, who comes in for Nic Nat?
By the way, your wins over GWS And Hawfies in the last fortnight is pretty solid form, and I'll be having a little flutter on you blokes to knock off Adelaide at home....even without Natinui

 

[Eagleboy68]

So for us to make top four, we have to win while Hawthorn and GWS lose to Pies and Norf?

Not a ridiculous proposition.

Yeah.
We would be there now with no chance of dropping past 5th if we had beaten Adelaide at home
Gifted them out spot in the top four we did.

 

[Cainozz]

Just curious guys, who comes in for Nic Nat?
By the way, your wins over GWS And Hawfies in the last fortnight is pretty solid form, and I'll be having a little flutter on you blokes to knock off Adelaide at home....even without Natinui

Most likely Jon Giles but wouldn't rule out Barrass coming straight back in with some tall blokes pinch hitting in the ruck when Lycett is off the ground. Cant see us beating Adelaide at AO though. We've had a great few weeks of solid form but Naitanui has probably been the main reason for that. We're an average team without him.

 

[kerrazy]

Most likely Jon Giles but wouldn't rule out Barrass coming straight back in with some tall blokes pinch hitting in the ruck when Lycett is off the ground. Cant see us beating Adelaide at AO though. We've had a great few weeks of solid form but Naitanui has probably been the main reason for that. We're an average team without him.

Disagree. The whole team has played manic pressure footy. This includes nic but he wasn't the reason we pressured as hard as we have.

And that's a positive we need to take out of this. Although nic kicked that wining goal against gws and had some good hit outs and defensive efforts against the hawks, in both games he wasn't the real game changer.

Shuey was the main reason we managed to beat the giants . Gaff and priddis for the hawks. Even lycett had a very solid game against hawthorn, which bodes well for the future

 

[Moose1414]

Just curious guys, who comes in for Nic Nat?
By the way, your wins over GWS And Hawfies in the last fortnight is pretty solid form, and I'll be having a little flutter on you blokes to knock off Adelaide at home....even without Natinui

From Simpson today:

"We’re going to have to find something different that might excite a few people and might be something people haven’t seen before.”

Simpson floated the possibility of using Jack Darling as a pinch-hitting ruck to support Lycett, as was the case in Friday’s final term.

“He was energised when he was running around the ground,” Simpson said of Darling’s ruck stint. “That’s not to say it will stand up for ever, but we’ve got to look at all our options and be brave about what we do.”

 

[boondy]

http://www.afl.com.au/ladder/ladder-predictor
If we win by 100. sydney lose by 100. hawks lose. gws lose . geelong lose by 100
Then we are top of the AFL ladder
Not impossible

 

[Mr Blicavs]

From Simpson today:

"We’re going to have to find something different that might excite a few people and might be something people haven’t seen before.”

Simpson floated the possibility of using Jack Darling as a pinch-hitting ruck to support Lycett, as was the case in Friday’s final term.

“He was energised when he was running around the ground,” Simpson said of Darling’s ruck stint. “That’s not to say it will stand up for ever, but we’ve got to look at all our options and be brave about what we do.”

Thanks mate....give it to those Crows next week

 

[Cainozz]

Disagree. The whole team has played manic pressure footy. This includes nic but he wasn't the reason we pressured as hard as we have.

And that's a positive we need to take out of this. Although nic kicked that wining goal against gws and had some good hit outs and defensive efforts against the hawks, in both games he wasn't the real game changer.

Shuey was the main reason we managed to beat the giants . Gaff and priddis for the hawks. Even lycett had a very solid game against hawthorn, which bodes well for the future

I totally agree that it wasn't just Nic's influence, a lot of players stepped up and the pressure was immense. However, i feel that he's almost the heart and soul of the team, he sets the tone in the middle of the ground with his clean taps and follow up pressure that no other ruck man in the game can match. The other players thrive off his energy I feel. How many times did we win the centre clearance with clean taps straight to Pridda and shuey who sent it forward? I'm being dramatic I know, hope the boys prove me wrong and back it up with a really strong performance against the Crows. Just seems a coincidence that as soon as he returned we were back to playing a similar style to last years footy.

 

[WUUBLY DUUBLY]

Look Nic is my all time favourite Eagle and watching him is a joy and I may never forgive this club for whats happened but the 2016 season is more alive today that its been at any point this season. This is a thread for anyone who isn't ready to roll over and die with one week to go before finals.

For the record, we've just beaten 2 of the hottest favourites for this years flag in GWS and Hawthorn and no it wasn't all Nic that got the job done.

Last week was Shueys best game ever

This week Priddis and Gaff played their best games of 2016 [Gaff's PB possession high last night]

Sheed is back in the side and we look a lot better for it

Yeo played forward last night and proved how desperately we need a third tall, looked ready to tear the game apart at any moment and apart from some brain fades caused huge problems for the Hawks defence

Gov has taken a huge step forward and is playing outstanding football at the moment

We've found a real player in Barrass who can now allow us to swing Gov into even more dangerous positions

Shep and Wellingham were epic last night with the overdue return of the 2015 small defence

Jetta is finally in the side and looks committed

Kennedy is going to win the coleman by 10 and is even a cheeky chance at cracking the ton if we go all the way to the GF, form forward of the comp.

Even I have to admit I didn't completely hate Le Cras game last night, is maybe in form

Lycett isn't Nic but he's still a good player and will contest the ruck fine going forward and has already had a good practice run at it. He'll cope, maybe even flourish

There is a lot of evidence things have finally clicked for this side and we just destroyed the Hawks and its the most open finals series in ages. We're a huge chance. Look around at the other sides in the hunt and realise they all have issues really apart from Adelaide.

Hawks have huge injury concerns of their own and are clearly not the force they once were, someone will likely take them out before the GF.

Sydney are strong but only beat North by a goal today.

North might even miss finals altogether and Melbourne take their place

If Melbourne make it, they will likely have to travel over here to play us in an elimination final.

GWS are still young and untested in finals heat and probably won't make top 4

Bulldogs have been crippled by injury

Adelaide look great but like us last year have bolted suddely into contention so how they handle finals is unknown, plus we match up well on them always and there is no MCG home ground advantage if they go to the GF.

Basically half the teams we might meet in a GF will be playing away from home and that is a huge equaliser for us.

So yeah, losing Nic is tragic but its not just him playing well there are a huge block of key players for us who have finally hit form now and look switched on and determined, the devastation of losing Nic should only strenghten their resolve.

I am at a season high for confidence right now, we're a massive chance for this year. As good a chance as anyone, probably a better chance than most in fact. Who's with me?

...agreed

 

[kerrazy]

I totally agree that it wasn't just Nic's influence, a lot of players stepped up and the pressure was immense. However, i feel that he's almost the heart and soul of the team, he sets the tone in the middle of the ground with his clean taps and follow up pressure that no other ruck man in the game can match. The other players thrive off his energy I feel. How many times did we win the centre clearance with clean taps straight to Pridda and shuey who sent it forward? I'm being dramatic I know, hope the boys prove me wrong and back it up with a really strong performance against the Crows. Just seems a coincidence that as soon as he returned we were back to playing a similar style to last years footy.

The team needs to realise that we don't need him to win games. We are not a one man team. The players need to use the last couple of weeks as motivation that they can mix it with the best in the comp.

It should be interesting to see the changes Simmo makes over the next week. The ruck set ups will be intriguing.

 

[WCErevival]

Darling in the ruck? It's Lynch all over again

 

[twce13]

its a sure thing

 

[Jootube]

As Carey said on the weekend in response to Dennis saying throw Kennedy into the ruck "you don't use a Lamborghini to plow a field" well yeah, why not let Scotty do all the hard work going forward and let Nic take all the glory, he's a once in a lifetime freak of nature let him play like one.

This is awkward.

Kennedy to Ruck 2017!

 

[boondy]

Norfs Ladder position cannot change now . Tank the last game wont they . Gives gws every opportunity doesnt it

 

[matt_bas]

As deverstating as the news about Nic is, I feel like this is a line in the sand type of moment for our club. We have been on an impressive run after beating GWS and belting The Hawks. And midway through the game I'm sure many of us were thinking we could pick a flag this year. I know I was. And then arguably our most favorite son Nic Nat went down with the dreaded ACL. Now do we go into our shell this week? Or play with nothing to lose? If you asked me 24 hours ago I'd say we're Don for not only this year but next as well. Now I'm pumped to see what we can do. I feel as though our players will come out and play with heart and determination this weekend. And if we win this weekend. If we beat Adelaide in Adelaide. If we beat a team that is fighting for a premiership themselves on there home deck, then any thing is possible. I'm calling it now, if we win this week, we will win the flag.
#wearewestcoast

 

[frenchconnection]

Yeah I agree 5th is in some way not worse and possibly even better than 4th, so I'm not so concerned about that. Heck, even if we're thrashed by Adelaide, we could well hold onto 6th. Doubt we'd drop to 7th.

Nic Nat's tragic loss certainly will be a dent - but one wonders how much of that is psychological, too. Maybe, as great as he is, he's become a bit too much of a crutch, we're too reliant on him. I think we still CAN play great even without him, despite what the stats say. Lycett would have to step up.

Realistically, I'd be very surprised if we get into the GF, but it's certainly not out of the realm of possibility, we have shown we can certainly turn it on. Shuey and Priddis have been phenomenal, how much of that is Nic Nat though? LeCras also taking marks in 50 and kicking straight. More pressure and run against Hawthorn than we've seen. I get the feeling the Eagles are a bit too reliant on home crowd atmosphere, sometimes, though. We really have to dig deep. I hope they don't just throw in the towel because of what's happened, and we at least challenge. Just show some pride, dig deep, give it as good as you've got.

I'll be pretty satisfied and chuffed if we just make a real go of it in finals, that's the most we can ask for.

I am fairly worried about the 12 month thing for Nic Nat, let's hope he can at least play some of next season. At least we don't have too many major players who are about to retire (Priddis could still potentially have a few more years left, whether he stays in the regular lineup remains to be seen). I think Butler will retire soon.

Have a feeling Butler will be on a year by year contract (if not already) depending upon how his body and form hold up.

 

[sey666]

Honestly I'm just still pissed we traded Sinclair because I argued fervently before that trade keeping him was essential to managing Nic's workload and that injuries to him and Lycett were always going to happen. Thats just a personal beef and not really what this thread is about and at the risk of derailing it i'll just say I'm not sure you can't blame the club. Doing an ACL is always unlucky but he was coming back from an operation in which they severed his plantaris tendon and about 2 minutes on google is enough to find that messing with that can't be completely dismissed in regard to ACL injuries. I'm not in a position to say what the risk factor was but personally I think there was some risk so I'm ok with blaming the club because my natural instinct in life as a worker bee is to always hate on management when things go wrong, because **** them.

"Later, Helms et al. examined the MR images of fifteen patients with sports-related injuries to the lower leg.9 The plantaris muscle and tendon, as well as the surrounding structures, were retrospectively examined for abnormalities. In all fifteen patients, evidence of rupture or strain of the plantaris muscle was present. An associated torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) was found in 10 of 15 patients."

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1978447/

If you did read the whole article, does it actually say anywhere that the removal of the plantaris tendon could lead to a torn ACL? Seems to me what they are saying is that the plantaris tendon could get damaged when there is an injury to the ACL.

For the record, Naitanui had no plantaris tendon when he tore his ACL and this tendon is absent in 8-12% of the population (this is from Wikipedia, I am no medical expert); does this mean that 8-12% of the population are at a risk of ACL injury? I don't think there are any surgeons out there (well qualified ones anyway) who would remove body parts from patients without looking at relevant literature and consequences of removing. If the club, and Naitanui obviously, consented to plantaris surgery with or without knowing there will be high risks (as you suggested) then we are stupider than Essendon.

Obviously, having Sinclair in the team instead of Lycett wouldn't have made any difference in this case; both would be doing roughly the same workload when Naitanui is playing. There is no way we would keep Lycett in our list beyond this year if Sinclair was still our 2nd ruckman behind Naitanui.

 

[boondy]

I totally agree that it wasn't just Nic's influence, a lot of players stepped up and the pressure was immense. However, i feel that he's almost the heart and soul of the team, he sets the tone in the middle of the ground with his clean taps and follow up pressure that no other ruck man in the game can match. The other players thrive off his energy I feel. How many times did we win the centre clearance with clean taps straight to Pridda and shuey who sent it forward? I'm being dramatic I know, hope the boys prove me wrong and back it up with a really strong performance against the Crows. Just seems a coincidence that as soon as he returned we were back to playing a similar style to last years footy.

Watched the game again focussing on Lycett . Did a lot of good things was very good . Feeling better about covering for Nic. I dont want Giles . Like the idea of a runner into the side or effectively Barrass to release a runner .

 

[frenchconnection]

We all know that Naitanui makes us a much better side.

But how much of that is his actual impact on the game, and how much is psychological?

His centre bounce hitouts are incredible, as is his follow up defensive work. But there's no reason why we can't make up the difference with a concerted effort to apply manic pressure in the contests.

I have no doubt that our mids can all lift 10% to make up for Nic's absence. But whether they want to or not is the big question for 2017.

For some reason when Nic plays a lot of our players seem to grow a leg. Obviously in the mind but without stating the obvious will miss the class of Nic's ruck taps and ground work. All that we ask is that they give it their best, ie not leave too much to too few!

 

[boondy]

Darling as the 2nd Ruck Rover gives us great mobility . Jetta might be feeling like fitting in after all its like xmas in finals. He played better than Rioli and Puopolo and quite a few Hawks didnt he . Like the idea of Barrass come in for Jenkins or Tex . He has good pace and has played a few good Afl games for match fitness . Nelson was good on Cyril . Play him on Betts or Cameron .

 

[boondy]

As deverstating as the news about Nic is, I feel like this is a line in the sand type of moment for our club. We have been on an impressive run after beating GWS and belting The Hawks. And midway through the game I'm sure many of us were thinking we could pick a flag this year. I know I was. And then arguably our most favorite son Nic Nat went down with the dreaded ACL. Now do we go into our shell this week? Or play with nothing to lose? If you asked me 24 hours ago I'd say we're Don for not only this year but next as well. Now I'm pumped to see what we can do. I feel as though our players will come out and play with heart and determination this weekend. And if we win this weekend. If we beat Adelaide in Adelaide. If we beat a team that is fighting for a premiership themselves on there home deck, then any thing is possible. I'm calling it now, if we win this week, we will win the flag.
#wearewestcoast

When Jako did his knee a kid called Fraser Gehrig emerged .
Mckenzie did a knee . McGovern
For the rest of the finals and next year Lycett could be the next big thing or maybe a 2nd 3rd ruck system could flourish something new