When the West Coast Eagles decided to go all-in on Tim Kelly and ensure he was joining them following the 2019 season, the premiership window seemed wide open.
How times have changed.
At that stage, West Coast were a little over 12 months removed from securing the 2018 flag. Their list was littered with champions of the game – Hurn, McGovern, Naitanui, Kennedy, and they had some of the more underrated players in the league doing their jobs week in and week out.
Yes, things looked rosy for West Coast as they looked to remedy a 2019 season that saw them ousted in the second week of finals. Adding Kelly to a team already boasting names like Luke Shuey, Elliot Yeo, Jack Redden, and Dom Sheed seemed as though it would put the Eagles right back in the frame.
2020 denied them. A combination of poor form, hubs on the Gold Coast, and a number of men taken away from their families saw a despondent West Coast team amble through the first stages of the season, Though they would squeeze into the finals of that interrupted, hub-driven mockery of a year, a home loss to the spirited Magpies saw West Coast’s window start to close.
And it’s been closing ever since.
2022 slammed it shut, for now, at least.
As we head toward the 2023 season, Kelly lines up for year number four as an Eagle. What can we expect from him, and how does he achieve that which has avoided him to this point of his career – the form he displayed as a Cat?
Uh oh… standalone content for our Eagles members…. because I like them. Actually, I don’t mind all of you, this one just happens to be for them, though. And maybe you as well, if you like Tim Kelly… possibly even if you don’t like him. Want to join us?
