An equivalent fixture to the Round 11 Adelaide Crows Vs West Coast Eagles game held at Adelaide Oval, might have been the under 17s (WCE) taking on the colts side (Crows). There was a mismatch in size and maturity and just about every other metric; there was always going to be a point where the Crows flexed some muscles and ran off with the game.
In summary, West Coast sort of stayed in the game till just before half-time, then the regular goals to the Crows after that put things to rest, and they doubled the Eagles’ score, winning by a lazy 11 goals. There’ll not be a lot of analysis of who did what in this game, as it seems a bit pointless, other than to say the Crows were much better than West Coast.
“And you may ask yourself, “Well, how did I get here?” (Talking Heads – Once in A lifetime.)
Let me take you back to a day I remember quite well. There was statewide expectation. We were young and unafraid. The build-up had been years in the making. Failure and successes. Reality checks. Derision, scorn and disrespect. Work hard, we did. Did what needed to be done.
Then on that Saturday with streets deathly quiet, one side of the country sat glued to the television. At about 3pm the siren sounded and West Coast Eagles had become the first non-Victorian club to win the AFL Premiership. I can but wonder how the galaxy of Eagles legends born that day in 1992 look at the 2025 version of West Coast. Is there a parallel? Has the great football lifecycle returned them to the 1987 version, which had a lot to learn and a mountain of work to do. Maybe not, since the 1987 competition newbies, “the weagles” won 11 games that debut year. This latest WCE version has one win on the board for 2025, five for 2024, and three in 2023. So they are a long, long, long way down the tube at the moment. Is there any daylight to be seen?
I acknowledge here that the Adelaide Crows had similar trajectory to their first flag, joining the competition in 1991 and collecting the first silverware in 1997. Doubtless, many SANFL fans have reflections just like mine of that great day (and 1998 for that matter, when they proved it was no fluke).
The observant will have noticed I have said “we” more than once in the above. Perhaps revealing I was a player or had some other involvement. I did not. (From the junior ranks I was destined for a glittering AFL career excepting that I was fat and slow and my attitude sucked.) In WA though, “we” ALL went for the ride with WCE to those first couple of flags. It was us against “them” (the evil Victorians), the whole underdog makes good and wins the girl and the whole shooting match. Just distant memories now. Did we really win the flag or is it some AI scam thingy?
Not that I really care because I now live in Melbourne and having been enchanted by the dark side, have followed the Pies for a long time. Sometimes though, from the closet, with people I know very well and completely trust, and maybe I’ve had beers, I might confess to occasionally watching an Eagles game. I call it the residual sandgroper effect.
For the R11 fixture what I saw in West Coast were missed opportunities. Adelaide defenders relished in lapping up intercept marks from inept entries into the forward fifty. Inept, in that these kicks favoured the defender, not the attacker. Forwards robbed of opportunity to do their job, which is to take a mark, make at least a contest, maybe get a score. Yes, it was windy, and the ball was doing its own thing in flight; but so what? We are talking about elite sports people, after all. You can stuff up one kick, but you can’t stuff them all up and expect happy days.
I saw Adelaide do enough to beat the 18th team in the competition. They outclassed the Eagles significantly, mostly with ball movement, and a victory of less than ten goals would have been only a mediocre performance. I got the feeling Adelaide had (deservedly) all the confidence that they would win this game, whilst the Eagles had the opposite. Convincing themselves they would ultimately lose (last week’s victory was an aberration) because they are just the under 17s and the Crows are the big boys and have bigger muscles and more body hair.
So it looks to be a long season for the Eagles will continue. Concerning to the outsider looking in is the habits of losing teams can become entrenched. I still feel they are short of a gun midfielder. They can’t get over that critical mass of talent, skill and energy to the point of winning enough of the centre clearances. They win some, but never enough and never for long enough as the game progresses. For mine, I think the way out is to recruit a big name midfielder to be a foil for and to take some headlines from Harley Reid. Think back to engine room WCE combinations like Judd/Cousins/Kerr in 2006. Those three were all fantastic as individual footballers but as a combination, the effect was exceptional. I think Harley Ried is a start, they need one more. Thinking out aloud, maybe a Petracca/Oliver/Degoey, someone of that ilk who are proven performers who can tip the balance a bit more in the Eagles favour. That kind of astute draft pick may enable some of the other very useful players on the West Coast list to take the next step, being regular winners instead of consistent losers.
It just seems the whole WCE thing is held back at the moment. Is the West Coast dilemma the result of well meaning, yet side-effect-riddled tinkering with the National Draft? The whole point of the draft was spread the talent evenly, and for those of us old enough to remember the game has benefited handsomely. Decisions to allow clubs to gamble (yes gamble) away draft picks on hopes and whispers is a direct compromise of the intent of the draft. Just as significantly, decisions by clubs to appease individual players who want to exit contracts because they miss family or friends or the surf break on the other side of the country wouldn’t pass the pub test, ever. I guess half the AFL fan base has to make those kinds of sacrifices as part of their daily lives without any of the giant financial benefits given to the best AFL players. Think of FIFO workers or those young men and women who undertake training in the defence force; they have to live with their decisions. My point is the predicament West Coast finds itself in is what could easily happen to other clubs unless there is more restriction on player movements.
Anyway, back to the game.
With the great Taylor Walker having a day off, the presence of Riley Thilthorpe was more noticeable around the ground with 17 disposals. seven marks, and four tackles. Physically big players seem to influence the passage of play, especially when they’ve been taking marks. Opposition players maybe subconsciously opt for passing options to areas they are not.
The first quarter flattered WCE. At least one goal was from a Riley Thilthorpe defensive clanger that was intercepted by Harley Reid and converted to a goal. Galling for the Crows as their defence had been supreme until that time, including three intercept marks from Mark Keane.
In the second half, Josh Rachelle pretty much got off the leash. His return of five goals for the day was an indicator of how damaging he can be when he’s not paid sufficient defensive attention. Jordan Dawson and Reilly O’Brien were consistently damaging out of the centre for the Crows, and were joined by Izak Rankine and Sam Berry as best on the day.
The standout for West Coast in my opinion was Reuben Gibney. This guy has heart and would get a game in the WCE teams of old just on that metric. I thought Jake Waterman’s return of three goals from seven disposals was pretty good considering the quality of footy coming into his area. He seemed to have collected a significant shoulder injury late in the game. The Eagles’ unlucky run of injuries continues. Liam Ryan with just four behinds from 11 disposals was disappointing, considering the football gifts he has. Sandy Brock at centre-half back showed some good signs for the future of the club, including five marks.
Adelaide venture to play at Sydney in at the SCG next week and will go into that game with confidence. West Coast host Geelong next week. Really hard to see them winning that game, considering their respective ladder positions.
