Training Pre-Season 2023 (First game 18/3 v North)

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thewest.com.au

Jack’s pain could be unlucky Alec’s gain at Eagles

A potential serious ankle injury to Jack Darling could open the door for son-of-a-gun Alec Waterman to make a remarkable comeback to West Coast, seven years after being heartbreakingly delisted.
thewest.com.au thewest.com.au

A potential serious ankle injury to Jack Darling could open the door for son-of-a-gun Alec Waterman to make a remarkable comeback to West Coast, seven years after being heartbreakingly delisted.

The Eagles are waiting for the results of scans on Darling’s injured left ankle after he was left screaming in pain when an innocuous tackle by teammate Jeremy McGovern went wrong in match simulation on Friday morning.

Darling’s ankle twisted under the weight of both Eagles and he was carried from the ground, with fears he has suffered the dreaded syndesmosis injury, which could rule the forward out from anywhere between eight weeks to the entire season.

Prior to winning the 2018 premiership, Darling sustained a hairline fracture and some ligament damage to his right ankle after landing awkwardly on the foot of St Kilda defender Logan Austin in round 11.

He’d booted 28 goals in just 11 matches to become an All-Australian contender, but would not return until round 17.

Should Darling’s injury be on the serious end of things and force the Eagles to put him on the inactive list, then Waterman, 26, is in the boxseat to get another shot at the club where his father Chris won two premierships.

But the Eagles only have until Wednesday to make a decision, when the pre-season supplemental selection period closes or they will have to wait until the mid-season draft to fill the spot on the list.

Waterman was on West Coast’s list from 2015 to 2016 but did not play a game because of glandular fever and chronic fatigue.

He would return to Claremont, where he would star in the COVID-shortened 2020 season with 26 goals in 10 games.
Essendon would pick him up in the SSP that next year, where he would kick 26 goals in 22 games across two seasons before being delisted.

Waterman sensationally signed with the Eagles’ WAFL side after missing out on another opportunity in the AFL instead of returning to the Tigers.

West Coast also got permission to train twice a week with the AFL side as he looked to get an opportunity if an AFL-listed star was injured.

Waterman had a good hit-out in the Eagles’ match sim at Mineral Resources Park on Friday morning, kicking a goal after being set up by his brother Jake.

Jake Waterman, 24, is hoping to become a permanent part of West Coast’s forward line after the retirement of Josh Kennedy, having kicked just 18 goals in 20 games last season.

Darling’s untimely injury could open the chance for second-year forward Jack Williams to press his claim after two goals in the match simulation.

Reigning club champion and star defender Tom Barrass also spent time up forward after Darling’s injury, while ruckman Callum Jamieson has also spent significant time this pre-season working on his forward craft.

Darling kicked just 34 goals in 21 games last season, his lowest return (outside of the COVID-shortened 2020 season) since 2015.
 

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random260 said:
Holy s**t are people nuts? B Williams? You better not be referring to the b one as FF. The dude is a hunk of junk as a FF. The only reason he is chucked there is because he needs to rest.

If your going to get B William as FF just get Fraser mciness back he's about his level at least he can kick. ******* dooms day level if we see the B one as a FF

Dude has the mobility of a giraffe. Appalling set shot. Less useful version of F Mcinnes. There's no amount of development that can make B Williams into a focal point or Medicore forward player.
Click to expand...

The mobility of a giraffe. You haven't watched much of Big Bad Bailey have you.
 
Biggie said:
thewest.com.au

Jack’s pain could be unlucky Alec’s gain at Eagles

A potential serious ankle injury to Jack Darling could open the door for son-of-a-gun Alec Waterman to make a remarkable comeback to West Coast, seven years after being heartbreakingly delisted.
thewest.com.au thewest.com.au

A potential serious ankle injury to Jack Darling could open the door for son-of-a-gun Alec Waterman to make a remarkable comeback to West Coast, seven years after being heartbreakingly delisted.

The Eagles are waiting for the results of scans on Darling’s injured left ankle after he was left screaming in pain when an innocuous tackle by teammate Jeremy McGovern went wrong in match simulation on Friday morning.

Darling’s ankle twisted under the weight of both Eagles and he was carried from the ground, with fears he has suffered the dreaded syndesmosis injury, which could rule the forward out from anywhere between eight weeks to the entire season.

Prior to winning the 2018 premiership, Darling sustained a hairline fracture and some ligament damage to his right ankle after landing awkwardly on the foot of St Kilda defender Logan Austin in round 11.

He’d booted 28 goals in just 11 matches to become an All-Australian contender, but would not return until round 17.

Should Darling’s injury be on the serious end of things and force the Eagles to put him on the inactive list, then Waterman, 26, is in the boxseat to get another shot at the club where his father Chris won two premierships.

But the Eagles only have until Wednesday to make a decision, when the pre-season supplemental selection period closes or they will have to wait until the mid-season draft to fill the spot on the list.

Waterman was on West Coast’s list from 2015 to 2016 but did not play a game because of glandular fever and chronic fatigue.

He would return to Claremont, where he would star in the COVID-shortened 2020 season with 26 goals in 10 games.
Essendon would pick him up in the SSP that next year, where he would kick 26 goals in 22 games across two seasons before being delisted.

Waterman sensationally signed with the Eagles’ WAFL side after missing out on another opportunity in the AFL instead of returning to the Tigers.

West Coast also got permission to train twice a week with the AFL side as he looked to get an opportunity if an AFL-listed star was injured.

Waterman had a good hit-out in the Eagles’ match sim at Mineral Resources Park on Friday morning, kicking a goal after being set up by his brother Jake.

Jake Waterman, 24, is hoping to become a permanent part of West Coast’s forward line after the retirement of Josh Kennedy, having kicked just 18 goals in 20 games last season.

Darling’s untimely injury could open the chance for second-year forward Jack Williams to press his claim after two goals in the match simulation.

Reigning club champion and star defender Tom Barrass also spent time up forward after Darling’s injury, while ruckman Callum Jamieson has also spent significant time this pre-season working on his forward craft.

Darling kicked just 34 goals in 21 games last season, his lowest return (outside of the COVID-shortened 2020 season) since 2015.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure signing an SSP player is the right outcome for us, considering we could well be in the box seat for pick 1 or 2 in the mid-season draft again.

We could trade that pick for something juicy, like pick 1 in the national draft. Or Jordan Dawson, or something.
 
Does Alec Waterman have the same deficiencies as the rest of our forward line, i.e. lack of acceleration, pace and agility and therefore limited defensive ability when the ball hits the ground? If so then i don't see why we would add him to the list. Where would we play him and what problem would be solve?
 
Yeo_Check_Out_ma_Flow said:
I'm not sure signing an SSP player is the right outcome for us, considering we could well be in the box seat for pick 1 or 2 in the mid-season draft again.

We could trade that pick for something juicy, like pick 1 in the national draft. Or Jordan Dawson, or something.
Click to expand...
Plus the key forward position is our weakness in terms of back up even before Darlings injury. As key backs we have HEdwards, Rotham and Bazzo. Key forwards there is only J Williams who is still very young and maybe B Williams, Barnett or Jamieson who have been used more as Ruckmen. If we need a SSP I'd be looking for a big forward
 
Perhaps we will see the return of Hugh Dixon?


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com
 
We will miss JD on a number of levels.

1. He is currently our #1 goal kicker.
2. He is a big presence who can actually tackle.
3. And the big one. When he plays, he generally spends 100% game time on the ground. He's our only player that does that as a norm.

Not looking promising but hope the scans suggest a 4-6 rather than a 10-12. And we know that 10-12 weeks in Eaglespeak is either an amputation or season in normal English.
 
One positive is we’ll have to find a new way to move the ball out of defence besides Darling on the boundary every single time. Hopefully Cole, Hunt, Shuey ect can be a bit more creative.
 

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Could be a chance for Jake Waterman to cement a role in the forward line . He does know how to be a key forward he looked above WAFL level when he had the delivery years ago . Allen Ryan and Waterman may gel .
 
Losing Darling for two months, or even more so the entire season would be a massive blow and should not be minimized. He is now one of the experienced pillars of the team and would be a great foil and mentor for Oscar Allen. To put the weight of leading a new forward line on the relatively inexperienced Allen who is coming off a long injury layoff is a massive ask. It pretty well kills any remote hope of being competitive this year.
Whatever it is, it is and can't be helped. Hopefully, something positive will come out of it, maybe one of the Williams, McGovern or Barrass fills the gaping hole but it Is still a body blow. Darling was shaping as a key player and now it looks like he is out. MRP claims another victim. Too many serious ankle injuries.
 
Don't think you can blame MRP, Gov fell on his ankle, JD's probably lucky he didn't break in 2.
As much as it sux and I hope it's not serious, it'll force a change and some experimentation!
A lot have put some ideas fwd, will be interesting to see who's on the money!
 
Darling is a decent player. But, assuming he out for some significant chunk of the season, it is only a big blow if you being delusional about where in the development cycle our team is at and what the priorities should be. Such as if you think that 2023 is all about wins and losses and there is some massive difference for us or there is some big achievement finishing 10th instead of 15th at the end of the year.

I think the priorities should be
  1. Getting games into young players and therefore accelerating their development and more quickly filtering out who will make it and who will not
  2. Getting a much, much higher level of effort and better attitude from the playing group (especially concerning two way running and defensive pressure)
  3. Getting some kind of organisation hapenning onfield and clear plan in the players heads about how to move the ball when we have it (No more standing around like gumby after a short pass until the umpire blows his whistle for play on and then kicking it 8 metres sideways to a contest because they don't know what else to do)
  4. Adding value to and finding a role for players with clear talent but who have never settled which allows them to make the most of their strengths and minimise the liability from their weaknesses (such as Rotham and Waterman)
  5. Ideally staying in most games for most of the game and limiting horrible blow outs on the scoreboard even if the win/loss column is lopsided
When you know you are likely to be in the bottom 8 this season and you are still in the downswing phase of the development cycle (i.e. your list demographics suggest it is going to get worse before it gets better) then wins and losses don't really matter that much. You have to use different and more subtle metrics to measure success and progress that match where you are. If you have been down for a while and are now in the Upswing phase, such as Carlton, then wins and losses matter. Or if you are in a top 4 window like say Melbourne and Geelong then wins and losses matter also. But thats not where we are.

But you can only look at it that way if you are an intelligent supporter who is happy when their team is in a period of sustained success or taking concrete steps towards that, as opposed to dopey supporters who just want the dopamine hit from riding the short term emotional highs and lows of week to week wins and losses or have something to brag about in the office on Monday. Even if the wins are just pyrrhic victories that are neither part of nor building towards something meaningful.
 
Bacchus said:
Losing Darling for two months, or even more so the entire season would be a massive blow and should not be minimized. He is now one of the experienced pillars of the team and would be a great foil and mentor for Oscar Allen. To put the weight of leading a new forward line on the relatively inexperienced Allen who is coming off a long injury layoff is a massive ask. It pretty well kills any remote hope of being competitive this year.
Whatever it is, it is and can't be helped. Hopefully, something positive will come out of it, maybe one of the Williams, McGovern or Barrass fills the gaping hole but it Is still a body blow. Darling was shaping as a key player and now it looks like he is out. MRP claims another victim. Too many serious ankle injuries.
Click to expand...

Farang83150 said:
Don't think you can blame MRP, Gov fell on his ankle, JD's probably lucky he didn't break in 2.
As much as it sux and I hope it's not serious, it'll force a change and some experimentation!
A lot have put some ideas fwd, will be interesting to see who's on the money!
Click to expand...

First read these as Match Review Panel and was so amped to pry into what you maniacs were insisting.
 
Deplorable trumpster said:
Darling is a decent player. But, assuming he out for some significant chunk of the season, it is only a big blow if you being delusional about where in the development cycle our team is at and what the priorities should be.
Click to expand...

That's defeatist Freo talk - we should start each season fully planning and intending to win the Premiership.
 
Miguel Sanchez said:
Honestly, at this point everyone on this board, everyone on this site and probably everyone with some tangential connection to football knows your views on Waterman.

I know you obviously have an alert set up so that every time the name Waterman is posted you can immediately reply with some version of "He's a spud, he's bad, he's not WAFL quality" etc etc, but do you ever think you might get bored of it? Or alternatively do you think you might eventually exhaust every possible critical description to the point that you'll have to start making up insults just to keep things fresh? "Waterman is a pomegranate, Waterman is an axolotl, Waterman is a goranslubber" ... that sort of thing?
Click to expand...

Did Jake the snake cut his lunch maybe?
 

Darling injury prompts fears of horror 2022 repeat​

A year after a remarkable month of injuries shattered the Eagles 2022 season before it began, Jack Darling’s painful scream would have sent shivers down the spine of coach Adam Simpson on Friday.
 
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