Round 7 sees West Coast take on the Tigers at 6.10 on Friday 29th April
also billed as
The Remake of Get Smart – Kaos v CONTROL
When the AFL commercial greedy suits set this game in the schedule, this was meant to be the 2 biggest clubs in the land (in terms of memberships at least) going for a head-to-head battle royal. A TV Ratings bonanza.
Strange as it seems, it is now being billed as the battle of the has been. This fixture features the team in position 17 with a 1-5 win loss hosting the team in position 12 with a 2-4 win loss. It only goes to show how quickly the cliff comes.
Now we can hear excuses from both teams. For the Tigers, no Dusty or Edwards but the majority of their best 22 is available. For West Coast, no NicNat, no Gaff, no Guv and the Eagles have been fairly harshly hit by Covid and a piss poor Strength and Conditioning team. That was further tested with Simpson insisting on his selection plan of credits in the bank and backing in your champions. That has meant that there are a bunch of Eagles not having played or trained together who cannot run out games, more comfortable social distancing and unable to put much pressure of the opposition.
Round 13 2021
To best understand this game, we are wise to go back to our previous encounter – round 13 on Sunday 13th June 2021. At that point, it was a battle of the heavy weights who had won the last 4 premierships. Richmond had just won an enthralling Dream Time at Optus and West Coast with a much-depleted team had just derailed the Teague Train and even broken the SCG hoodoo.
The match on the 13th was relatively low scoring but a cliff hanger. A battle of the heavyweights and an entertaining game.
But what nobody could have imagined was that since that night, Richmond have won 4 games, draw 1 and lost 10 games (finishing in 12th position at the end of 2021) and West Coast have won 3 games and lost 12 games (finishing in 9th position at the end of 2021).
It is fair to say that the teams are in transition. Neither club has publicly made statement to the supporter bases but the age profiles are rivelling Geelong.
Two of the great Clarkson proteges in Hardwick and Simpson butting heads with 2 very different styles of football. Richmond still play the chaos game, albeit Melbourne has taken their game style to a new level. West Coast still play the controlled possession game and to be fair, are probably the best at it. Reason being nobody plays it anymore as it is outdated.
So what does that provide for us on Friday. Firstly, having suffered from a bout of Covid and got the big “positive text” on Saturday morning, I will not be able to attend. Thank flock for that. Secondly, the game starts at Melbourne convenient time so anyone based in Perth will still have a decent night out after the game. That is assuming we get close to a full 75% capacity. Finally, the sooner Simpson admits that we cannot make finals, the better it will be for West Coast fans to see some of that enthusiasm in see new players, young midfielders played in the midfield, new game strategies, new ball movement, etc
My prediction:- KAOS to win by 4 shoe phones.
also billed as
The Remake of Get Smart – Kaos v CONTROL
When the AFL commercial greedy suits set this game in the schedule, this was meant to be the 2 biggest clubs in the land (in terms of memberships at least) going for a head-to-head battle royal. A TV Ratings bonanza.
Strange as it seems, it is now being billed as the battle of the has been. This fixture features the team in position 17 with a 1-5 win loss hosting the team in position 12 with a 2-4 win loss. It only goes to show how quickly the cliff comes.
Now we can hear excuses from both teams. For the Tigers, no Dusty or Edwards but the majority of their best 22 is available. For West Coast, no NicNat, no Gaff, no Guv and the Eagles have been fairly harshly hit by Covid and a piss poor Strength and Conditioning team. That was further tested with Simpson insisting on his selection plan of credits in the bank and backing in your champions. That has meant that there are a bunch of Eagles not having played or trained together who cannot run out games, more comfortable social distancing and unable to put much pressure of the opposition.
Round 13 2021
To best understand this game, we are wise to go back to our previous encounter – round 13 on Sunday 13th June 2021. At that point, it was a battle of the heavy weights who had won the last 4 premierships. Richmond had just won an enthralling Dream Time at Optus and West Coast with a much-depleted team had just derailed the Teague Train and even broken the SCG hoodoo.
The match on the 13th was relatively low scoring but a cliff hanger. A battle of the heavyweights and an entertaining game.
But what nobody could have imagined was that since that night, Richmond have won 4 games, draw 1 and lost 10 games (finishing in 12th position at the end of 2021) and West Coast have won 3 games and lost 12 games (finishing in 9th position at the end of 2021).
It is fair to say that the teams are in transition. Neither club has publicly made statement to the supporter bases but the age profiles are rivelling Geelong.
Two of the great Clarkson proteges in Hardwick and Simpson butting heads with 2 very different styles of football. Richmond still play the chaos game, albeit Melbourne has taken their game style to a new level. West Coast still play the controlled possession game and to be fair, are probably the best at it. Reason being nobody plays it anymore as it is outdated.
So what does that provide for us on Friday. Firstly, having suffered from a bout of Covid and got the big “positive text” on Saturday morning, I will not be able to attend. Thank flock for that. Secondly, the game starts at Melbourne convenient time so anyone based in Perth will still have a decent night out after the game. That is assuming we get close to a full 75% capacity. Finally, the sooner Simpson admits that we cannot make finals, the better it will be for West Coast fans to see some of that enthusiasm in see new players, young midfielders played in the midfield, new game strategies, new ball movement, etc
My prediction:- KAOS to win by 4 shoe phones.
