Other clubs already reviewed are: Western Bulldogs, Richmond Tigers, Geelong Cats, Fremantle Dockers, Carlton Blues, Essendon Bombers, St Kilda Saints, Melbourne Demons, Hawthorn Hawks & Collingwood.
Dean Cox had another amazing year unlike his Eagles team mates.
What Happened Last Year
Last year was a nightmare with Cousins and Judd leaving the club and the once feared midfield become a shadow of itself with Kerr being in the headlines for the wrong reasons. It meant that the Eagles were sanctioned for ill discipline which caused players to be on notice and players putting the club on notice.
On field it was not much better with injuries to key players of Staker, Kerr, Hansen, Glass, Hunter and the list went on. The good news was that players like MacKenzie, Notte, Ebert, Masten, Wilkes, Davis and Selwood were given the exposure and showed a lot. What was a worry was that they lost several games by 10+ goals which hurts.
The New Season
Every new season brings hope and while many are not expecting much from the Eagles, history shows that this club does not sit out of finals for too long. All the young players will benefit of their exposure last year and expect many to step up to be exciting established players.
The forward line still looks shaky but if Kennedy, Hansen and LeCras can stay fit they can kick 70+ goals between them. A lot will depend if the Eagles stars can stay on the field in Cox, Glass, Hunter, Kerr etc. While finals realistically is probably out of reach expect them to show more heart and determination than last year.
Likely Finish: 14th to 10th
Players to Watch
Chris Masten – Was restricted to injuries last year and with a full pre season he will be ready to show why he was a number 3 pick in the 07 draft.
Masten had an injury troubled 2008 but he showed enough to star in an injury free 2009
Daniel Kerr - Injuries, bad attitude and the loss of his midfield mates caused Kerr to have an 08 season to forget. If Masten, Butler, Priddis and some others can help Kerr, expect him to be a smoky for a Brownlow.
Brent Staker – Last year was a break through year for Staker after struggling to find a position in the Eagles line up. He played some great games on the wing in the second half of the season and expect him to continue to improve playing similar as Richo and Goodes.
Need to Improve
Matt Rosa - Was destined to step up last year but injury and form stopped that. Can be a threatening wingman but needs to improve his work rate and getting the ball for himself.
Jamie McNamara - Is developing but slowly for the AFL system, needs to work on his foot skills but has nothing wrong with his work ethic.
List Cloggers
Chad Fletcher - His fall of grace, skills and decision making after his near death ‘drug overdose’ in Las Vegas has left a cloud over him and as the Eagles rebuild he may be left out.
Mark Seaby - Good pack mark and one of the top 20 ruckman in the competition but plays in the same team as Cox. Asked to be traded last year and unless he gets a regular spot will be off to a new club in 2010.
Tyson Stenglein – With Priddis and Selwood they are similar style players and Stenglein went backwards last year and may suffer with a delisting at the end of the season.
Your Views of West Coast in 2009?
Did West Coast recruit well? Can they quickly rebuild and get back into finals or will they be spending some time in the bottom 8? Will Nit Nat play and will he star?
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March 19th, 2009 at 11:57 am
Ones to watch Daniel Kerr, as cox agrees, wacth him!…. so he doesnt cheap shot ya in the nuts
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March 19th, 2009 at 12:01 pm
I Wouldn’t expect the eagles to do much better than they did last year, they have too many players who have shocking injury runs and need to stay fit to have a future, I think they will spend most of this year around the bottom of the ladder, finals is definately out of reach except for a miracle
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March 19th, 2009 at 12:15 pm
While I agree a lot depends on if the players can stay fit or not I very much doubt the Eagles would spend another year towards the lower end of the ladder. The players they do have (Kerr, Cox, Embley, Glass, Hunter etc) if fit are good enough to star and drag the club from its horrible showing last year.
Not saying it will happen but they are at least a 50% better side than last year with the injuries.
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March 19th, 2009 at 2:59 pm
can’t see them finishing higher then 14th, sorry jer, midfield is a big query and there ain’t to many avenues to goal. We might have to keep a tab on this because if Hansen, Kennedy and Le Cras kick 70 between them i will buy an eagles membership as well!!
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March 20th, 2009 at 11:40 am
I actually think their forward line has the most potential now than it has for ages. In the Grand Final years, the Eagles relied on Cousins, Judd, Kerr etc to kick ~3-5 a game on top of Lynch and Hansen. Now we have McKinley, LeCras and Kennedy who have the potential to kick bags of goals on top of Lynch, Hansen etc.
It is still not as potent as other clubs forward lines but better..
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March 20th, 2009 at 12:07 pm
I am thinking you have been sucked in by their publicity Jeryman.
and as for this statement, “Mark Seaby – Good pack mark and one of the top 20 ruckman in the competition”
ummmm…he got shopped around at bargain basement prices, and no one wanted him…..and with ruckman in short supply, that tells you something. I hope he can get better, but I dont think it can/will happen at WC.
http://www.theroar.com.au/2009/03/19/west-coast-ask-punters-to-believe-again
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March 20th, 2009 at 12:09 pm
sorry about mispelling your name!
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March 20th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
No probs about the miss spelling of the name Mark, actually a new way of spelling it
In regards to Seaby, I thought his possible trade bait would be raised and please let me explain why I still rate him as a top 20 AFL ruckman.
1) Reason why clubs were cold was ’cause of the asking price WCE had on him (top 10 pick) and remember the 2008 draft was the last draft before the new clubs come in (meaning for the next 5+ years W Syd and GC get extra picks) and so understandably clubs wanted their picks.
2) Top 20 ruckman means that he is better than at least 3 other 2nd tier ruckman at other clubs. I will list the ruckman at the other clubs and hopefully it will show what I mean.
Adelaide – About same as Tippett & Maric
Brisbane – (Charman better) Seaby better than Leunberger & Clark
Carlton – Better than Warnock, Kruzuer & Cloke
Collingwood – (Fraser better) Seaby Better than Wood and Bryan
Essendon – (Hille better) Seaby Better than Bellchambers & Laycock
Fremantle – (Sandilands better)
Geelong – (Ottens better) Seaby better than West & Blake
Hawthorn – About same as Talyor, Campbell & others
Melbourne – About same as Johnson & Jamar
Kangaroos – (Petrie, Hale & McIntosh better)
Port Power – (Lade & Brogan better)
Richmond – (Symmonds better) Seaby better than Vickary
St Kilda – (Kosi better) About same as King and Seaby better than Gardiner
Sydney – (Jolly better) Seaby better than Pyke and others
Bulldogs – (Minson & Hudson better)
In going at my above list, he sits around equal 15th with some other ruckman.
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March 23rd, 2009 at 12:59 pm
I would agree with Deano that they will struggle to finish higher than 14th, however i think they could finish higher if like Jermayn said they stayed fairly injury free, however we all know that that is wishful thinking because no matter how hard a team tries to stay injury free, they always end up with a few.
i am suprise jermayn that you think so highly of Will Minson from the Bulldogs, i would agree with you that he is a better ruckman and can also be very valuable up forward but i didn’t think you rated him better than Seaby…but i disagree that he is similar to King, King might be a bit old and not as versatile as he used to be but i still think he is substansially better than Seaby. also we must remember that Seaby seems to hide in Cox’s shadow and if he ever wants to be known for the talent he has he needs to step out and dominate as often as he can….
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March 23rd, 2009 at 2:39 pm
I think Seaby can be a better ruckman than Minson (and Hudson), Seaby has a better marking and kicking ability than Minson. His ruck work and around the ground work will only improve as he gains confidence and opportunity to play in the ruck. Last year when playing he only got like 30% of game time in the middle. Remember Cox was a 2nd tier ruckman for his first 50 odd games until Gardiner was injured. Seaby just needs opportunity and I think it will happen else where next season.
btw King is useless, robotic, slow and could not cover the ground to save his skin.
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July 6th, 2009 at 1:54 pm
Can you give me a great picture of David Wirrapunda!!!
Please if posible
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July 6th, 2009 at 2:02 pm
Hi Emma!
For the best Wirrapanda images I would suggest to search for them on Google or some other image search tool…
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