2nds West Coast Eagles WAFL Watch 2024

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I mean, the Beagles made the WAFL finals before the injury tsunami hit.

Doesn't that indicate there isn't much wrong with the WAFL arrangement and more to do with our injury/surface management? We're talking basically unprecedented extended levels of player unavailability here.

The WAFL should concern itself more with making Perth more competitive.

Well said
 
I mean, the Beagles made the WAFL finals before the injury tsunami hit.

Doesn't that indicate there isn't much wrong with the WAFL arrangement and more to do with our injury/surface management? We're talking basically unprecedented extended levels of player unavailability here.

The WAFL should concern itself more with making Perth more competitive.


Yeah good measure. We will only be able to compete at wafl level when we are challenging for premiership and have best level of depth in afl. And even then, ONLY win 50% of games.

Yep nothing to see here. Everything is peachy.
 

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Yeah good measure. We will only be able to compete at wafl level when we are challenging for premiership and have best level of depth in afl. And even then, ONLY win 50% of games.

Yep nothing to see here. Everything is peachy.
Not what I'm saying at all.

I'm saying we can compete fine when we have a normal injury list. The biggest way forward for the club is to find out what has happened with our fitness and training methods over the past couple of seasons.
 
Not what I'm saying at all.

I'm saying we can compete fine when we have a normal injury list. The biggest way forward for the club is to find out what has happened with our fitness and training methods over the past couple of seasons.

Exactly, it’s the biggest issue at the club. Look within and stop blaming everyone else.
 
Not what I'm saying at all.

I'm saying we can compete fine when we have a normal injury list. The biggest way forward for the club is to find out what has happened with our fitness and training methods over the past couple of seasons.

I guess we have different levels of measure for being able to compete. Winning 3 games in a season in wafl isn’t competitiveness. How many does team have to win to show that balance is ok this year with “normal amount of injuries”?

Injuries argument is just cover to argue to do nothing. Lack of number of senior wafl standard players has been an ongoing issue.

Let’s see how many games skinny 18 year olds can win in wafl with normal amount of injuries.
 
The stand alone team worked in 2019 as has been mentioned

Some things worth mentioning about that year :
• Our list size was 46 with the inclusion of Riach and Bines as Cat B rookies albeit Bines wasn’t much good and was limited to just 4 games due to injury
• Our top up players included Brady Grey, Andrew Fisher, Nic Reid and Drew Petrie who started playing mid year and played 11 games including both finals
• In the semifinal we lost to Claremont we had 17 AFL listed players

Fast forward to 2021
• AFL list sizes were reduced to 42 (from 44) and we had no Cat B rookies so our list was 42 players down from 46
• Rioli (doping suspension) and Venables (concussion) were retained on the list despite not being able to play
• The sub rule was introduced in the AFL meaning one extra player would as required for AFL duties each week
• The net result of the above was the WAFL side had an overall reduction of 7 listed players potentially available
• Due to Covid we had no side in 2020 meaning we lost the likes of Grey and Fisher, whilst also missing out on the chance to sign on McInnes and Masten who may have played for the Beagles in 2020 after being delisted in 2019 (Both players had a good relationship with the club)

So even before factoring in injuries which started to take hold throughout 2021 we were already down 7 available listed players and our top ups lacked the same depth as 2019

It meant that we had games in 2021 where we were uncompetitive but still won 4 games with a percentage of 65

To further exacerbate those problems, uncertainty over the future of the standalone side ahead of 2022 saw us lose Hamish Brayshaw to East Perth and again miss the opportunity to sign delistees like Hutchings. The delay also meant we missed the boat in attracting new recruits from elsewhere

Then 2022 and 2023 were totally destroyed by the injury and covid (2022) problems that saw us often fielding a team with 5 or fewer listed players with the 22 made up from players out of amateurs or country leagues. With a reasonable number of players in the preseason games we were competitive and won all three albeit they were preseason games

Going into 2024 we have 44 on our playing list courtesy of having 2 Vay B players and have been able to recruit Ruscoe and Gilbee with some slightly more generous concessions. We’ve also brought in (Luke) Yeo and Spadanuda who were decent colts players. Maybe Bailey Banfield as well

Have lost Alec Waterman (who was injured for most of 2023 anyway) and some other solid top ups like Browne and Sumich.

Nelson may be lost to a knee injury as well

But as with all our problems at the club, until we reduce our injury toll nothing will improve. Having 15 (or more) players regularly unavailable can’t be sustained

Keeping our injury list under double figures allows us 10+ listed players in the WAFL plus half a dozen some decent top ups will give us a shot at being regularly competitive

What might need to be sorted is a contingency plan for when we have only 5-6 players available. I don’t think substantially more concessions are needed

Ultimately I think there’ll be a full AFL reserves but that probably waits until Tassie join the comp.
 
The stand alone team worked in 2019 as has been mentioned

Some things worth mentioning about that year :
• Our list size was 46 with the inclusion of Riach and Bines as Cat B rookies albeit Bines wasn’t much good and was limited to just 4 games due to injury
• Our top up players included Brady Grey, Andrew Fisher, Nic Reid and Drew Petrie who started playing mid year and played 11 games including both finals
• In the semifinal we lost to Claremont we had 17 AFL listed players

Fast forward to 2021
• AFL list sizes were reduced to 42 (from 44) and we had no Cat B rookies so our list was 42 players down from 46
• Rioli (doping suspension) and Venables (concussion) were retained on the list despite not being able to play
• The sub rule was introduced in the AFL meaning one extra player would as required for AFL duties each week
• The net result of the above was the WAFL side had an overall reduction of 7 listed players potentially available
• Due to Covid we had no side in 2020 meaning we lost the likes of Grey and Fisher, whilst also missing out on the chance to sign on McInnes and Masten who may have played for the Beagles in 2020 after being delisted in 2019 (Both players had a good relationship with the club)

So even before factoring in injuries which started to take hold throughout 2021 we were already down 7 available listed players and our top ups lacked the same depth as 2019

It meant that we had games in 2021 where we were uncompetitive but still won 4 games with a percentage of 65

To further exacerbate those problems, uncertainty over the future of the standalone side ahead of 2022 saw us lose Hamish Brayshaw to East Perth and again miss the opportunity to sign delistees like Hutchings. The delay also meant we missed the boat in attracting new recruits from elsewhere

Then 2022 and 2023 were totally destroyed by the injury and covid (2022) problems that saw us often fielding a team with 5 or fewer listed players with the 22 made up from players out of amateurs or country leagues. With a reasonable number of players in the preseason games we were competitive and won all three albeit they were preseason games

Going into 2024 we have 44 on our playing list courtesy of having 2 Vay B players and have been able to recruit Ruscoe and Gilbee with some slightly more generous concessions. We’ve also brought in (Luke) Yeo and Spadanuda who were decent colts players. Maybe Bailey Banfield as well

Have lost Alec Waterman (who was injured for most of 2023 anyway) and some other solid top ups like Browne and Sumich.

Nelson may be lost to a knee injury as well

But as with all our problems at the club, until we reduce our injury toll nothing will improve. Having 15 (or more) players regularly unavailable can’t be sustained

Keeping our injury list under double figures allows us 10+ listed players in the WAFL plus half a dozen some decent top ups will give us a shot at being regularly competitive

What might need to be sorted is a contingency plan for when we have only 5-6 players available. I don’t think substantially more concessions are needed

Ultimately I think there’ll be a full AFL reserves but that probably waits until Tassie join the comp.


I forgot about reduced list sizes and inactive players. Pretty easy to see the difference when you spell it out like that.

It's a shame. I'd like to think in another world we would have had supporters watching the WAFL Eagles one day and the seniors the next. Pumping some more gate and bar money into the clubs.
 
So based on keys analysis, we would need extra 3 wafl quality players just to win 50% of games.

Thats assuming cat b rookies are of some wafl standard, otherwise it’s 5.

Let’s not forget that in 2019 we had senior players like Vardy, Petrie on top of all those players keys mentioned playing large amounts in wafl. 2 games we won had barrass in seconds with/without Naitanui.

There is no way even with zero injuries our wafl squad is better than names in 2019.
 
Some new players appearing on our list on the WAFL site today

72 Oscar Armstrong - 20yo, 192cm, 76kg from Augusta-Margaret River. Played 10 reserves games for Souths last year
73 Allan Narkle - 23yo, 176cm, 75kg from Toodyay. Played for South Mandurah last year, played NTFL last month.

Add to those the other new players we know about
62 Revis Alone - 20yo from Kelmscott, originally a Kwinana rookie.
54 Kye Barker - 23yo, 192cm, 82kg. Played 13 senior games for Souths in 2020/21, was at Collie last year.
55 Jason Gillbee - 19yo, 191cm, 80kg, ex GWS rookie.
50 Trey Ruscoe - 22yo, 193cm, 89kg, ex Collingwood
52 James Spadanuda - 19yo, 176cm, 75kg from East Freo, played reserves and colts last year
51 Harley Sparks - 22yo, 187cm, 78kg, originally from East Perth where he played 22 league games, was at Carey Park last year.
71 Luke Yeo - 19yo, 185cm, 75kg from East Freo, played reserves last year.

Probably continuing
48 Jackson Nelson
53 Mitch Henderson
56 Harry Creasey
57 Josh Burke
58 John Levien
59 Cooper Nitschke
60 Tyler Mouritz
61 Darby McCarthy
63 Ethan Hansen
64 Andries Mercer
67 Jack O'Sullivan
68 Nick Watson
70 Shannon Lucassen
71 Ethan Sambo
75 Jack Eastough
76 Rhett Lloyd

Unsure if they're continuing
51 Jarrod Garlett (still appearing on the list but Sparks has been given his number)
60 Joey Deegan (still appearing on the list but Mouritz has been given his number)
71 Jayden Johnstone (still appearing on the list but Yeo and Sambo both appearing in his number)

Probably gone
62 Jack Downsborough (no longer shows up)
65 Jack Stevens (ditto)
66 Tyler Collins (ditto)
72 Riley Pobjoy (ditto)
74 Daniel Frost (ditto)
77 Kalani Brooks (ditto)
78 Dylan Chatley (ditto)
79 Angus Cutbill (ditto)

Definitely gone
50 Zane Sumich (Claremont)
52 Jed Kemp (Perth)
54 Josh Browne (VFL)
55 Alec Waterman (Claremont)
73 Josh Edwards (Perth)

Some more newbies showing up

Mitchell Anderson - 178cm 23yo who’s played a handful of ressies games for East Freo
Ben Avery - 24yo from Wembley, doesn’t seem to have any prior Wafl experience
Rory Charles - 19yo who played for Claremont reserves last season, also designed their indigenous jumper. Is a graphic designer who works at the club so might have been made to shift over under what I’m going to call the Brayshaw rule.
 
I mean, the Beagles made the WAFL finals before the injury tsunami hit.

Doesn't that indicate there isn't much wrong with the WAFL arrangement and more to do with our injury/surface management? We're talking basically unprecedented extended levels of player unavailability here.

The WAFL should concern itself more with making Perth more competitive.
Celebrate Happy Hour GIF by Arrow Video
 

Sam Rotham has decided not to play with West Perth this year and will instead play ammos for Whitfords

Allows him to keep his job at West Coast. I kinda understand why the club are doing it but also feel this is all a bit sad and somewhat unavoidable.

Feel like he might have been caught in the crossfire between west Coast and Alec Waterman who was given a job as part playing for the Beagles. Then I suspect the club put their foot down when he indicated he wanted to go back to Claremont but keep his off field role

So they made bit a blanket rule even though Rotham was playing at West Perth when he got the Eagles community job
 

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Sam Rotham has decided not to play with West Perth this year and will instead play ammos for Whitfords

Allows him to keep his job at West Coast. I kinda understand why the club are doing it but also feel this is all a bit sad and somewhat unavoidable.

Feel like he might have been caught in the crossfire between west Coast and Alec Waterman who was given a job as part playing for the Beagles. Then I suspect the club put their foot down when he indicated he wanted to go back to Claremont but keep his off field role

So they made bit a blanket rule even though Rotham was playing at West Perth when he got the Eagles community job

+Brayshaw as well
 

Sam Rotham has decided not to play with West Perth this year and will instead play ammos for Whitfords

Allows him to keep his job at West Coast. I kinda understand why the club are doing it but also feel this is all a bit sad and somewhat unavoidable.

Feel like he might have been caught in the crossfire between west Coast and Alec Waterman who was given a job as part playing for the Beagles. Then I suspect the club put their foot down when he indicated he wanted to go back to Claremont but keep his off field role

So they made bit a blanket rule even though Rotham was playing at West Perth when he got the Eagles community job

Pretty big indicator of what WAFL players think of playing the for the Eagles seconds team. He chose to play amateurs instead of playing for the club he works for.

I agree its sad bit it's certainly avoidable. But wrapped he chose amateurs instead of playing for the Eagles.
 
Pretty big indicator of what WAFL players think of playing the for the Eagles seconds team. He chose to play amateurs instead of playing for the club he works for.

I agree its sad bit it's certainly avoidable. But wrapped he chose amateurs instead of playing for the Eagles.

He’s contracted to West Perth for a couple more years, I just assumed he wouldn’t be able to get a transfer?
 
Pretty big indicator of what WAFL players think of playing the for the Eagles seconds team. He chose to play amateurs instead of playing for the club he works for.

I agree its sad bit it's certainly avoidable. But wrapped he chose amateurs instead of playing for the Eagles.
If you are a West Coast supporter, why do you think that
Surely Sam would have made the club improve.
 

Coaches and players for the 2024 Beagles confirmed.
 
Hope like with the senior team we aren't as hopeless as last year. Hopefully our kids get some continuity and confidence in a stable not devastated by injury team. It's not going to help Archer Reid develop into a tall forward if he barely sees the ball.
 

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