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

[Doashuey]

Intraclub is this afternoon

What will finish quicker? The intraclub or the Aussies first innings?

 

[JackOutback]

And it took McGovern to reach 30 before changing to ultra low carb beer?

Like really?

Suppose when you sign a long million dollar a year contract no need to focus on fitness hey Gov?

That's fair, though, cause low carb beer tastes like shite.

 

[Astro7]

A fully fit Yeo throughout 2023 would be quite something especially if he sets himself to make up for lost time



AFL football moves on quickly and its observers can have short memories.
One bad season and a player’s reputation can be diminished. Three in a row and he is almost forgotten.


If you asked a footy critic who the “almost forgotten” men are at West Coast they might consider the length of that list and ask if you would like them in alphabetical order.

And the problem with putting them in alphabetical order is the one you should put first is the one who would be listed last: Elliot Yeo.

In a team that performed so poorly in 2022 and many assume will struggle in 2023 – destined for the bottom of the ladder – the biggest single piece of the puzzle is Yeo, and he looks the fittest he has been since he was stricken by osteitis pubis in 2020.

Stung by criticism of his performance and his preparation in 2022, Yeo is looking like the athlete who was West Coast’s most valuable player in their 2018 premiership year and may prove to be their most important player as they attempt to climb from 17th spot on the ladder to somewhere near the eight.

The Eagles have him earmarked for a mix of roles between halfback and the midfield to try and maximise his value while not overloading a body that has proven fragile for three seasons.

If he continues to move the way he has in recent weeks, a permanent return to the midfield might not be far away.

“It has certainly been a pleasing summer to date for Yeoey,” Eagles football operations manager Gavin Bell told SEN radio this week.

“I am very much looking forward to seeing Elliot get his speed and power back and I think we are seeing that now. He is such a dynamic player and so good for us in so many aspects of the game.”

Bell still believes the halfback/midfield mixed role will be the starting point for Yeo to be reassessed according to his capabilities and the team’s needs in the run into round one.

“He can play either role. He has been an All-Australian in both roles so he gives us some flexibility and some speed, power and intensity around the footy,” Bell said.

As mentioned earlier, there are a long list of Eagles players who have had their reputations hammered.

It prompted a club edict to players to come back for the pre-season in good condition. Bell said it also provided strong motivation for a different kind of summer preparation which saw players take it on themselves to get together and train together even during their downtime.

“Last year we got ourselves into a good spot and then after Christmas we hit the cluster of injuries and then Covid got us and made it very difficult for us to get the extra work in to enable us to play AFL football week in and week out,” he said.

“Our players had a different sort of program over the summer, over their off-season – it was fairly stripped back, a bit more running, and it gave them the opportunity to be able to train together. They organised that themselves, got together and pushed each other along to try and improve what we have been doing and where we are at.

“When you have a year like we had you realise you need to be at the top of your game to be competitive and to win games of footy.

“We weren’t able to do that last year for various reasons and I think that has given some real strong motivation to our leaders to come back in ripping nick.”

Yeo finished the 2019 season at the height of his powers, about to turn 26. He had won his club’s best and fairest in 2017 and 2018 and finished second to Luke Shuey in 2019.

He made All-Australian teams in 2017 and 2019 and been nominated but not picked for the team in 2018.

In West Coast’s 2018 finals campaign, which resulted in the club’s fourth premiership, he shared player of the finals honours with Jack Redden.

In an age where “big bodied mids” have dominated the AFL landscape a 2019 statistical comparison between the 190cm, 91kg Yeo and some of his contemporaries makes for interesting reading.

And even that comparison does not do the 2019 version of Yeo justice. Nathan Fyfe, Patrick Dangerfield, Patrick Cripps and Dustin Martin are all naturally attacking players.

Yeo’s real value when the Eagles were up and going was that he could either be the attacking midfielder carving teams up, or the bloke that got sent to Fyfe, Dangerfield, Martin, Cripps and co to stop the Eagles being carved up.

In the first western derby played at Optus Stadium in front of a heaving crowd of 56,521, the underdog Dockers were giving the Eagles, heavy favourites going in, all they could deal with.

With the game on the line Fyfe started pressing forward to try and win the match. Yeo went with him and several times what looked like it was going to be a Fyfe contested mark became a nullified contest.

Asked about the threat Fyfe posed after the Eagles had won by eight points, coach Adam Simpson replied he was just grateful to have Yeo to cope with him and others like him.

It wasn’t just about stopping the gun mids either. For a period before Brad Sheppard emerged as West Coast’s “go-to” lock down small defender, Yeo was the one likely to be sent into defence and onto the likes of Toby Greene.

Yeo has been restricted to 10 of West Coast’s 18 games in 2020, 12 of their 22 in 2021 and just five of 22 last year when he ripped a calf muscle in the first practice match played against Fremantle and did not return until round five against Sydney. Then he was both injured and concussed against Port Adelaide in round six, not to appear again until the round 14 clash with Geelong.

There were promising signs when he had 20 disposals playing as a defender in one of just two West Coast wins for the season against Essendon in round 15 but he was mothballed for the season after round 16 against Richmond.

Interesting fact: While many believe West Coast’s midfield requires serious renovation, of the top 30 in the 2019 Brownlow Medal count, five were players who will play in the Eagles’ engine room this year: Yeo, Andrew Gaff, Luke Shuey, Dom Sheed and Tim Kelly, who finished fifth in that count while at Geelong.

And while many will dismiss the Eagles’ mids as too old, of those five only Gaff (30) and Shuey (32) have turned 30. Yeo is 29, Kelly 28 and Sheed 27.

Food for thought. And possibly a gentle “jog” for us with short memories.

View attachment 1608751

Praise be the voice of reason! I enjoy the clarity you bring to the debate along with the gentle memory jogs!
With all the negativity around our midfield, I could never understand how they just suddenly lost all their skills and were bound for the scrap heap? If you remove the cataclysmic season from hell and the waning game-plan from the previous few seasons together with the covid-travel debacle, there's no reason why these guys shouldn't be around their best with a good pre-season under their belts! Then add the list of midfield inductees since...what's there to be negative about? Time will tell soon enough I guess.

On a side note, Simmo mentioned a growing list of half back players, including Shuey, Yeo and Ginbey. But no mention of Shuey playing forward? Perhaps depends on the game and oppo moves - horses for courses?

 

[Obeanie1]

You don't really believe that's why Gov is in good nick, do you? He looked in good nick last season.

Govs an Albany boy, Wilson Brewing are in Albany... He just slipped in a little tongue in cheek pay day. It worked. We're all still talking about it!

He changed something in the past 12 months and looks fitter than he ever has.

Question remains. Why did it take this long for him to do what was needed to get back to AFL fitness levels?

Coming out of a multi million dollar contract sure looks like a key motivator.

 

[Obeanie1]

Do they have an intraclub today/

An intra club bath?

Maybe!

Nothing like a group bathing session to build comradery.

A team that bathes together sticks together. And they stop drinking their own bath water. Guaranteed.

Dog races at the beach........not even close!

 

[Carbine Chaos]

That's fair, though, cause low carb beer tastes like shite.

Mm disagree, after doing the low carb diet for months someone bought me a Better Beer case for Christmas. Loved it and still drinking it now.

So it may just come down to desperation haha.

 

[bzparkes]

Mm disagree, after doing the low carb diet for months someone bought me a Better Beer case for Christmas. Loved it and still drinking it now.

So it may just come down to desperation haha.

Better beer's not bad, especially considering the price. It's about as good as anything else around that level.

Better off just sticking to vodka, lime & soda if you want to avoid carbs, calories though.

 

[Keys]

He changed something in the past 12 months and looks fitter than he ever has.

Question remains. Why did it take this long for him to do what was needed to get back to AFL fitness levels?

Coming out of a multi million dollar contract sure looks like a key motivator.

He made AA in 2016,17,18,19 when you could hardly say he was a physical specimen

Missed games in 2020 and 21 due to injury including soft tissue problems.

Was back to full fitness to start 2022 and was in good shape. He lead our B&F until he got that knock to his ribs that sidelined him for the season and was arguably back to his AA form

So let’s not pretend it’s only this off season he started working on his fitness. It started 18 months ago as part of a realisation that as he’s getting older he needs to trim down

 

[Dark Sharks]

Intraclub is this afternoon

Just hope no injuries.

 

[ToastieBoy18]

He changed something in the past 12 months and looks fitter than he ever has.

Question remains. Why did it take this long for him to do what was needed to get back to AFL fitness levels?

Coming out of a multi million dollar contract sure looks like a key motivator.

Mate get a grip. The bloke won 4 All-Australians, the last of which was in 2019.

2020-2021 he was down on form, due to injury.

2022 he started the season as the highest ranked player in the competition after 6 rounds, when he got injured and his season was derailed. This wasn't due to being unfit, they were contact injuries which can't be helped.

Short memory. If he gets a good run at it this year with injury, he will be back to his best working in tandem with TB.

 

[ToastieBoy18]

He made AA in 2016,17,18,19 when you could hardly say he was a physical specimen

Missed games in 2020 and 21 due to injury including soft tissue problems.

Was back to full fitness to start 2022 and was in good shape. He lead our B&F until he got that knock to his ribs that sidelined him for the season and was arguably back to his AA form

So let’s not pretend it’s only this off season he started working on his fitness. It started 18 months ago as part of a realisation that as he’s getting older he needs to trim down

Pretty much recited this post in mine without seeing it.

Short memories from our fans are pissing me off.

 

[Ambrose Burnside]

Wait til you see what they say about Nic Nat.

 

[Obeanie1]

Mate get a grip. The bloke won 4 All-Australians, the last of which was in 2019.

2020-2021 he was down on form, due to injury.

2022 he started the season as the highest ranked player in the competition after 6 rounds, when he got injured and his season was derailed. This wasn't due to being unfit, they were contact injuries which can't be helped.

Short memory. If he gets a good run at it this year with injury, he will be back to his best working in tandem with TB.

2019 is a long time ago.

Are you saying McGovern was fit in 2020 and 2021?

It is as obvious as the nose on your face that close to the entire squad backed off after the 2018 flag.

Shuey basically admitted that we were below AFL requirements 12 months ago. And that's why everyone is noticing how much fitter we look now.

 

[ToastieBoy18]

2019 is a long time ago.

Are you saying McGovern was fit in 2020 and 2021?

It is as obvious as the nose on your face that close to the entire squad backed off after the 2018 flag.

Shuey basically admitted that we were below AFL requirements 12 months ago. And that's why everyone is noticing how much fitter we look now.

He had significant time off with injury during both of 2020 and 2021.

He came back in 2022 as fit as ever and started the year on fire - even though the rest of the team either had COVID or were injured.

Very easy to sit there and join in with the media and say that he was unfit. But I suggest you take the time to go back and look. He certainly wasn't one of the ones who Shuey was referring too.

 

[Obeanie1]

Pretty much recited this post in mine without seeing it.

Short memories from our fans are pissing me off.

Pointing to credits in the bank pre 2019 pisses more people off.

Stop making excuses.

Are you really satisfied that the squad worked as hard as other teams did since 2019?

They didn't. The captain pretty much admitted that. And the results reflected that.

 

[flyinghi64]

Can we PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE avoid using, mentioning, posting memes, anything relating to that "I" word.

 

[Ambrose Burnside]

Thought all the reports said that squad looked good last year too, until the disastrous practice matches.

 

[RookiePick]

View attachment 1609371

UGH. I was just about to suggest the mods give you and your bad ju-ju a day off.

 

[ZergMinion]

Jeez there's a lot of superstitious claptrap going on in this thread right now. Sure we all have injury PTSD, but nothing anyone says here on BigFooty has any effect on whether any players cop injuries today.

Before anyone cites chaos theory, not posting about injuries is just as likely to cause injuries as posting about injuries.

 

[ToastieBoy18]

Pointing to credits in the bank pre 2019 pisses more people off.

Stop making excuses.

Are you really satisfied that the squad worked as hard as other teams did since 2019?

They didn't. The captain pretty much admitted that. And the results reflected that.

Your initial comment was based around Gov not being fit and why it has taken him so long to get back to AFL fitness?
Now you are talking the whole squad?

If we focus on Gov;

As Keys said, he wasn't exactly the fittest player going around when he won 4 all-australian jumpers in a row. He did what he had to, to get himself right to play every week. Clearly it worked for him.

2020 and 2021 he was injured for long periods which obviously affected his fitness.

2022 he got his body right before he broke down with a contact injury.

Hardly making excuses haha

 

[Keys]

Thought all the reports said that squad looked good last year too, until the disastrous practice matches.

They were and in interviews different people from the club have said as much

The “admission” from Shuey that they weren’t fit was, I believe, an acknowledgment that when playing our fitness wasn’t up to standard. Something that Simpson was saying before last season ended and was due in large part to the snowball effect of a cluster of injuries compounded by covid that never allowed players to catch up until this offseason

 

[THE A5]

So this year we don’t have an intra club game leading to the preseason games?

 

[Keys]

Praise be the voice of reason! I enjoy the clarity you bring to the debate along with the gentle memory jogs!
With all the negativity around our midfield, I could never understand how they just suddenly lost all their skills and were bound for the scrap heap? If you remove the cataclysmic season from hell and the waning game-plan from the previous few seasons together with the covid-travel debacle, there's no reason why these guys shouldn't be around their best with a good pre-season under their belts! Then add the list of midfield inductees since...what's there to be negative about? Time will tell soon enough I guess.

On a side note, Simmo mentioned a growing list of half back players, including Shuey, Yeo and Ginbey. But no mention of Shuey playing forward? Perhaps depends on the game and oppo moves - horses for courses?

Just to be clear, whilst I agree with what was written, those words are Mark Duffield’s not mine

I posted the article for other’s benefit- he’s been writing some good content on WCE of late

 

[Keys]

So this year we don’t have an intra club game leading to the preseason games?

Please keep up Vishy

Intraclub is later this afternoon (5.40pm)

 

[Bender_]

What's the score FFS?!