WA football?

[GVGjr]

They must be screaming in the west with the position of both of the sides on the ladder.
Did here really anyone see this coming? I could see the potential for Freo to miss the 8 but not the Eagles and for both sides to miss I think sportsbet would have offered great odds.

Is it just because West Coast is missing the likes of Judd, Cousins and of course Kerr via suspension or did we all overrate their lists?

I'm convinced the eagles will bounce back quickly next season but Freo might struggle.

[LostDoggy]

Its because MJP went back ;)

Eagles have given up.
Dockers are crap full stop.

Are they tanking for the 2 good WA draft picks?

[1eyedog]

They must be screaming in the west with the position of both of the sides on the ladder.
Did here really anyone see this coming? I could see the potential for Freo to miss the 8 but not the Eagles and for both sides to miss I think sportsbet would have offered great odds.

Is it just because West Coast is missing the likes of Judd, Cousins and of course Kerr via suspension or did we all overrate their lists?

I'm convinced the eagles will bounce back quickly next season but Freo might struggle.

Freo have struggled since their inception. As MS stated, the most underachieving team in the comp over the past 5-6 years.

[LostDoggy]

Eagles will bounce back. Steve Woodhouse is a very smart man. Best 'young' list in the competition by a mile

Freo are the opposite. Should never of signed Harvey. They have 4 quality players and the rest are b graders at best. They remind me of Hawthorn under Schwab or Stkilda under Lyon/Thomas.

[Bulldog Revolution]

Agreed about the Eagles, there is a lot of talent on that list, and a lot of young and emerging: talent Hurn, Rosa, LaCras, Kennedy, McKinley, Butler, Ebert, Masten, Selwood etc

Plus top liners in Cox, Kerr and Glass

and then guys who are good senior players: Embley, Priddis, Waters, BJones, Hansen, Selwood, Hunter, Braun, Stenglein, Staker

[LostDoggy]

I have no doubt the Hall-Staker incident exposed the Eagles for being soft.

Harvey is useless.

[1eyedog]

Harvey is useless.

It's interesting isn't it. Harvey was the coach in waiting having been guided by the great coach of our era, Sheeds. He was so talked up Harvs and had so many wraps on him. I'm sure when he went to Freo he went purely for a new experience and probably felt obliged to take the role after C.C got the arse. He sort of just fell into it it seems. He must be absolutely devastated, but he had to try his arm at some stage.

[LostDoggy]

Harvey gets what he deverses. He didn't apply for the job us as we aren't glamour
Thank you very much. :)

[Sockeye Salmon]

But why was he talked up so much before he got a job?

The media have their favorites and push them up time after time. Perhaps they thought he would give them decent interviews (certainly the best way for a coach to keep his job long term), perhaps it was just the 'Essendon sell more papers' thing.

[The Underdog]

I'm never surprised by Freo. They have some good talent but they are the Richmond of the West. Just mentally wierd. They need better midfield depth, although Palmer looks to be one out of the box.
Surprised that West Coast have fallen this quickly, but they'll trade off some older players at the end of this year, pick up some good picks and be back up top in 2-3. Kennedy and McKinley already look like they'll be good up forward. They're too professional and well resourced to stay down for long. They will however "tank" the rest of this year to make sure they're at the pointy end of the draft ie. Cox will go in for season ending foot surgery in 4-5 weeks, etc.

[Sockeye Salmon]

Worsfold would be negligent if he didn't make sure they finished up with a top 2/3 draft pick.

They will rebound very quickly from this.

[bornadog]

But why was he talked up so much before he got a job?

The media have their favorites and push them up time after time. Perhaps they thought he would give them decent interviews (certainly the best way for a coach to keep his job long term), perhaps it was just the 'Essendon sell more papers' thing.

Yes and guys like Choco Royal don't get a go and never will. He would be a much better coach than Harvey.

[ledge]

For some reason Choco has as much chance as Libba has of coaching at senior level.
Probably Bond too, some blokes no matter how hard they try or well they do they just wont get a gig.
Sometimes i wonder if size plays a factor, i mean its pretty hard to have a good yell and scream at a team if 90% are larger than you and you just arent going to intimidate.

[Sockeye Salmon]

For some reason Choco has as much chance as Libba has of coaching at senior level.
Probably Bond too, some blokes no matter how hard they try or well they do they just wont get a gig.
Sometimes i wonder if size plays a factor, i mean its pretty hard to have a good yell and scream at a team if 90% are larger than you and you just arent going to intimidate.

If the bloke yelling at you saying "if you don't ****ing chase one more ****ing time you'll spend the rest of your ****ing career playing VFL ****ing reserves" had the power to make it happen, regardless of how big he was, it would be intimidating.

[ledge]

Thats true, but you still have to be able to yell and scream and if you have a poofy voice it just doesnt work, players dont listen they gang up and before you know it your sacked!
Anyway obviously something isnt right for them not to get gigs.

[dog town]

Dont think Harvey is to blame. He coached them well enough to be in winning positions against us and Geelong. From that position its pretty much up to the players. They just stopped taking the game to us yesterday.

[Twodogs]

It's interesting isn't it. Harvey was the coach in waiting having been guided by the great coach of our era, Sheeds. He was so talked up Harvs and had so many wraps on him. I'm sure when he went to Freo he went purely for a new experience and probably felt obliged to take the role after C.C got the arse. He sort of just fell into it it seems. He must be absolutely devastated, but he had to try his arm at some stage.



I always felt that Sheeds was damning him with faint praise. Talked his 'abilities' up until he left to coach another club and then that was one less club that Sheedy would have to worry about hurting his team.



I was rapt when he turned us down because we dodged a bullet.

[Twodogs]

Dont think Harvey is to blame. He coached them well enough to be in winning positions against us and Geelong. From that position its pretty much up to the players. They just stopped taking the game to us yesterday.



Harvey's been sucked into the very culture that Freo would have been hoping he'd fix. His defence of Josh Carr on Footy Classified a couple of weeks ago was schoolgirlish. The "He had every right to kick Ablett right in front of the umpire because the mean nasty Geelong players kept hitting his hand" was exactly the wrong thing to say in the circumstances. It should have been "Carr was stupid to do what he did and it's cost the club dearly-there will be a club imposed punishment on top of the five weeks(?) he got"


Going on TV and attempting to defend the indefensible was ill advised and just plain stupid. I wont even go into the childish way he conducted himself for the rest of the interview.

[Stevo]

Simply you cannot take out as many stars from a team like the Eagles and not expect a slide. It's been bigger than most of thought but they will right this next year.

Harvey like many of us overrated the Fremantle list and thought a few more experienced guys would add to the depth and they would be fighting for a top 4 spot. They now need to start rebuilding again. Harvey has lost the protection that a number of the media were giving him and will have to get some results soon.

[FrediKanoute]

Simply you cannot take out as many stars from a team like the Eagles and not expect a slide. It's been bigger than most of thought but they will right this next year.

Harvey like many of us overrated the Fremantle list and thought a few more experienced guys would add to the depth and they would be fighting for a top 4 spot. They now need to start rebuilding again. Harvey has lost the protection that a number of the media were giving him and will have to get some results soon.

Totally agree re the WCE - you take 2 star players out of any AFL side and they would fall in a heap....maybe only exception would be Geelong. They are well placed to pick up a couple of kids, get some more time into younger players and will probably trade away some of their established players who are going nowhere (most likely to Freo)

Freo - where do you start. They are simply a disfunctional club with poor recruiting policies, lack of discipline and the inability to stick cosistently to a game plan. I liken Freo to the French Rugby Union side......on their day they can be absolutely brilliant, but you simply never know which Freo team is going to show up - the worldbeaters or chumps.

[LostDoggy]

Simply you cannot take out as many stars from a team like the Eagles and not expect a slide. It's been bigger than most of thought but they will right this next year.
A slide from top 4 to bottom 4?
They are missing 2/3 stars from a premeriship side? They are way better than bottom 4side and by rights they should be a finals sides. Its obvious they have given up in 2008 and will bounce back easily.

[Sockeye Salmon]

Simply you cannot take out as many stars from a team like the Eagles and not expect a slide. It's been bigger than most of thought but they will right this next year.


They didn't have Cousins for most of 2007 and Judd couldn't get out of first gear and they were top 4.

They'll be back soon so enjoy watching them lose while you can.

[LostDoggy]

They didn't have Cousins for most of 2007 and Judd couldn't get out of first gear and they were top 4.

They'll be back soon so enjoy watching them lose while you can.

They only finished top four last year because of their great start to the year, they limped home from roughly round 15. Judd was BOG for the first 7wks, then got injured and struggled. Take out Cousins and JUdd, add a injured/suspended Kerr, injured Glass, injured Cox, injured Priddis, out of form Hansen, retired Chick ,retired R. Jones, out of form Q. lynch, injured Lecras, Embly's poor form etc etc.

There forward line has been a problem for 4 yrs, but they managed to get through with the midfield supply.

I dont think they will be back 'soon', they are to smart for that. They will rebuild properly, they wont rebuild to come back and finish 6th.

[Topdog]

They only finished top four last year because of their great start to the year, they limped home from roughly round 15. Judd was BOG for the first 7wks, then got injured and struggled. Take out Cousins and JUdd, add a injured/suspended Kerr, injured Glass, injured Cox, injured Priddis, out of form Hansen, retired Chick ,retired R. Jones, out of form Q. lynch, injured Lecras, Embly's poor form etc etc.

There forward line has been a problem for 4 yrs, but they managed to get through with the midfield supply.

I dont think they will be back 'soon', they are to smart for that. They will rebuild properly, they wont rebuild to come back and finish 6th.

Yep, thats true they had a great start last year before being very poor in the 2nd half of the year.

They got some excellent draft picks last year and will do the same this year.

I'd expect them to 2 do 1 of 2 things next year.

1. Come top 4.
2. Finish just outside the 8 if they don't believe they can finish top 4.