Over the next little while, I am absolutely certain you’re going to see dozens of columns and opinions about how to fast-track the rebuild at West Coast.
Why not jump the gun, huh?
The sad fact is that fast-tracking things can often cause further complications as it comes with significant risk. When it pays off, you look like a genius, and as an example of that we look at the Geelong premiership of 2022. In that team were players such as Gary Rohan, Zach Tuohy, Isaac Smith, and even Patrick Dangerfield, recruited from other clubs to fill needs at the Cattery. Hell, Tyson Stengle was a massive risk and he paid off in a big way.
But lost in the success are names such as Shaun Higgins, Jon Ceglar, and Luke Dahlhaus. Things didn’t quite go as well for them.
At the other end of the spectrum from the successful tactics of the Cats, Hawthorn attempted to fast-track their rebuild on the run, acquiring names like Chad Wingard, Jaeger O’Meara, Tom Scully, Jonathon Patton, and Sam Frost to extend their era of dominance and are now in full rebuild mode as a result of it not working as planned.
Of course, both these teams were still in a window of success whilst they were making these moves. This is vastly different to an Eagles team that is now forced to deal with the fact they are under pressure to improve rapidly but do not have the same “buying power” a chance at a flag brings.
The Eagles have to be both aggressive and intelligent if they are to build back to being a winner within the next few seasons. So, with that in mind, who should they be targeting and how do they get them?
First, we must look at needs. It’s no use recruiting like Carlton – taking whichever players are the best available and eventually squeezing them into a half-back role. No, West Coast must recruit on a needs basis.
It’s just a shame they need so damn much.
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