West Coast Eagles 2/3rd Season Review Part 2
Part One of West Coast Eagles 2/3rd Season Review is here.
Below is the start of my 2/3rds Season List Review. As I’ve gone through this I’ve tried to be as objective as possible. A number of times the thought “but I like this bloke” has popped up only to be repressed.
A note on “trade” - this suggests we shop the player to be traded - not that every player with this Status IS traded. That obviously depends on the market. If they are not traded, some should be retained, others delisted.
I’ll do this in parts. So here goes:
Armstrong, Steven
HT:180 WT:83 2008 Games: 7 Age in 2009: 25
2008 Grade: D Failed to make the most of his chances up forward and can’t convert midfield possession in WAFL into AFL impact.
2009 Status: Delist
Braun, Michael
HT:175 WT:75 2008 Games: 12 Age in 2009: 31
2008 Grade: C Has shown his hand and will retire at years end. End of a memorable career. Well done.
2009 Status: Retire
Brown, Mitch
HT: 194 WT:92 2008 Games: 0 Age in 2009: 21
2008 Grade: Incomplete Did an ACL in pre-season and consigned a promising 08 to the scrapheap. Twin brother Nathan making strides as CHB at Collingwood.
2009 Status: Retain
Butler, Sam
HT: 187 WT: 81 2008 Games: 3 Age in 2009: 23
2008 Grade: C Last 8 games will be important for Butler to regain touch and confidence after 18 injury ravaged months. Long term future if he gets himself right.
2009 Status: Retain
Cox, Dean
HT: 204 WT:102 2008 Games: 14 Age in 2009: 28
2008 Grade: A Our best player of the season and will, in all likelihood, become an AA for the 4th time at end of the season. Also in line for 1st Club Champion award. All in spite of a broken foot. Stellar.
2009 Status: Retain
Ebert, Bradley
HT: 188 WT: 85 2008 Games: 10 Age in 2009: 19
2008 Grade: B Even as a young rookie the signs are good for Ebert. As his body matures so will his impact upon games. Bright future.
2009 Status: Retain
Embley, Andrew
HT:190 WT:90 2008 Games: 13 Age in 2009: 28
2008 Grade: B Has improved after slow start which, as with every season, was impacted by injury. Move to HB has been positive although influence on games has been up and down.
2009 Status: Trade Bait
Fletcher, Chad
HT:179 WT:81 2008 Games:10 Age in 2009: 30
2008 Grade: D-Has been looked to for leadership and added input in 08 and has failed. Simply doesn’t provide what the team needs from it’s veterans.
2009 Status: Delisted
Glass, Darren
HT:192 WT:95 2008 Games:14 Age in 2009: 28
2008 Grade: B Not his stellar best of 2005-07 due to injuries but the first year captain has miraculously played all 14 games so far.
2009 Status: Retain
Graham, Jaymie
HT: 196 WT: 95 2008 Games: 6 Age in 2009: 26
2008 Grade: D Continues to dominate at WAFL level, but can’t translate it to AFL. Has no obvious position. At 26 is on the way out.
2009 Status: Trade / Delist
Hansen, Ashley
HT: 198 WT: 95 2008 Games: 6 Age in 2009: 26
2008 Grade: C- Only his last game gets him above a D. Needs to give better showing for rest of season. Injury prone, but part of leadership group. Has re-signed so likely to be back in 2009.
2009 Status: Trade / Retain
Houlihan, Tim
HT:189 WT:75 2008 Games: 6 Age in 2009: 20
2008 Grade: C+ Has shown enough at 19 to suggest he will develop into a handy player. Excellent tank and competes well. More games under his belt will be of great benefit for the future.
2009 Status: Retain
Part 3 Coming Soon…
Jul 9th 2008
Good review. I agree with most of it, though I think we’d be nuts to trade Embley unless we got a very good deal for him - he’s only just 27 and we’ll need some older wiser heads in the squad. Change to Retain/trade for me.
Also I’d probably bump Fletcher up to a C-, he’s had some good games this year along with some crap. His clangers tend to get noticed about 5 times as much as other players’ - no excuse, except comparatively (and by grading, we’re comparing player to player). I suspect he’ll retire by season’s end anyway, if not, stick an Essendon jumper on him and see if we can work a trade with Freo.
Jul 9th 2008
Agree with fordy that we should keep Embley. I would also only keep Houlihan if he does not take up a spot for someone like Davis or Wilkes.
Jul 9th 2008
So here’s the rationale on Embley.
He’s out of favour in terms of leadership, not sure why, but is no longer in the leadership group so something is going on there.
He has currency as a player and so could secure us an extra first rounder perhaps (it’s all hypothetical anyway).
He’s going on 28 and is injury prone.
= trade target
Just an idea
Jul 10th 2008
Yeah if the “something going on” is significant and he wants to leave, that’s a different story, the club should try to get maximum value for him in that case. “Going on 28″ is a bit harsh though, his 27th birthday was less than 2 weeks ago!
Jul 10th 2008
Actually I forgot to put this in my last post - here’s something I whipped up yesterday. It’s a comparison of list ages for the Eagles and Dockers - ignore the Dockers bit, except maybe as a comparison (I did it for a Freo-related thread on the Eagles Flying High AFL board). I find it quite interesting to look at the breakdown of our list by age - I reckon it shows that maybe it’s not rebuilding, but rather maturing, of the list that is required.
Jul 10th 2008
The ages of the Dockers and Eagles are interesting. People say that Freo has the better youngsters - but in reality, they must have one the oldest list in the comp. Not much scope to improve there I’d have thought. Whereas we certainly have pretty good potential in our list. Maturity will come and with will come improvement.
Next year I imagine we will be even younger still, particularly if I have my way
Jul 10th 2008
This will be interesting to you guys - http://sportal.com.au/AFL-opinion-display/time-on-eagles-side-42995
Ave list ages - we’re only behind carlton as having the youngest list. the oldest? guess.
Jul 10th 2008
Scary thing by that list was that Hawks has the 3rd youngest list
I think a lot of the reason why Embley was dumped from the leadership list was that he was in several fights (Kerr and Chick) and that he has been injury prone. However he has almost played every game this season and has been one of more consistent players. I think we would be mad to trade him.
I think why some people suggest that Freo has better younger players is that Mayne, Palmer and Ibotson have impacted better than Ebert (not fit enough), Masten (struggling with injury) and Selwood which I would have to agree with.
Jul 10th 2008
True but Ibbottson, Palmer and Mayne (who I don’t see what the fuss is about) is all they have got!
I reckon we want to come back in a few years and see how we compare then.
Jul 10th 2008
It will be interesting to see the average age next year. Replace Brauny with a teenager (12 years less), and possibly Fletcher and Wirrpanda (if they go - almost certain in Fletcher’s case IMO and possible in Wirra’s, 10 years less each), and even accounting for the extra year, the average age of the list has only increased by about 70 days. That would put us roughly where the Lions are now, 4th youngest, and quite possibly challenging for finals if things go right.
Of course, if you have your way, Bruce, replacing half a dozen 25ish players with 18 year olds will mean the average is under 22.
Jul 10th 2008
Glad you could work out the maths fordy because it’s beyond me. Of course every other list will change next year as well meaning who knows where we’ll be. Slightly better placed than right now I’d say.
Next post I am going to clarify “my way” because as it stand we have about 15 draft selections to make in November which is a few too many
Jul 10th 2008
Yeah I was being … ah, slightly facetious there.
And, for all that it’s an interesting way to procrastinate when I should be working, average list ages are really just a way for supporters of young teams to find a ray of hope (if their team isn’t performing), or glory in the prospect of sustained excellence (if it is). So many other things need to be looked at, like who is actually in the 22, and the quality of the youngsters, that it’s not a hugely meaningful stat IMO.