What I would do if I was the Eagles’ coach Part 2
See Part One here - some fan solutions for the plight of the West Coast Eagles.
2. Work out what we’ve got
We need to work out who our best 18 players are, where they fit into the team structure (ie positionally), what their strengths are and then build a game plan around that.
Right now I feel we’re playing out of past accomplishments.
We do need to take into account our home ground (plenty of run) but we also need to build around our strengths relative to the rest of the competition. We’re not the same side that won the 06 flag no matter how many “Premiership Players (TM)” are playing.
What are the strengths in our list? And how can we maximise them? Right now I don’t think we are getting the best out of Kerr’s explosiveness, or Priddis’ in and under play, or Lynch’s kick etc.
We need to break the mould on some players and build our team based upon their strengths. Quality will always win out in the end.
3. Be clear on what we stand for
Mark Harvey from the Dockers got drilled earlier in the year on On the Couch when asked what his team stood for. He couldn’t say.
Right now I reckon Woosha could give a fair answer, but is that message being reflected in the play of our senior players? No, it is not.
The answer I’m talking of is work rate.
It’s what Woosha constantly harps on about this through all his press conferences, time and again. But talk is cheap and maybe the message has got old.
I think we need to be clear on what we stand for. I like what Ross Lyon did at St Kilda by dropping Dal Santo and Milne - two key players - because they refused to comply with what the team stood for.
Perhaps if our side took a moment to get on the same page about what we stood for as a club we might see some of the character and effort that we for so long associated with the club return to our play.
Stay tuned for Part 3…
Jul 16th 2008
Who cares if Woosh could explain to ‘on the couch’ what we stand for. Gerard et al might nod knowingly, but more importantly do the players understand?
What does ‘moving forward’ precisely mean? And what about ‘excited by the challenge’?
You can trot out any Woosh post match/ mid week interview and I’ll bet he mentions both at least once.
As a supporter, there’s no moving forward at Eagles games, until we can take no more and get out of our seat to leave. And don’t even think about being excited about the challenge of next week. Chances are if he’s dribbling them out ad nauseum to the press, the players are hearing the same line.
How about ‘put your head down, your ass up and grab hold of the bloody pill!’ I think ‘work rate’ is over rated. You can chase tail all day without touching the ball and have a commendable ‘work rate’.
If we are (gulp) the worst team in the comp, and are unlikely to win any more games this season thus finishing (gulp) last, then screw the game plan as it currently exists. I propose we do nothng but play man on man, which will sort out who has the skills and footy nouse to make it into the starting 22 next season.
We may continue to lose, but could it be worse than watching the current weekly capitulation?
Jul 17th 2008
Agree with Nudenut! 22 on 22, none of this zone and loose man rubbish, the game is simple. Play it simple and the kids and old farts will learn and we fans and coaches will learn who is an asset to the team or not.
Jul 17th 2008
I think at some point you have to recognise we are not doing the basics well and if the basics are not being done well you can forget about being a good (let alone top) team. Fancy game plans are useless because they can’t be executed.
We have nothing to lose over the next few weeks. Your plan NN sounds like a winner. As much as I hate to acknowledge it, a spoon would actually benefit us more than anything.