poita

I would have swapped the three year deal for Mithen with the one year deal for Lampard, but that's just me. We need to be very careful to balance the now (Pearce) with the future (Campbell) and ensure that Campbell is getting the opportunities that she needs to stick around long term.

Whilst a small forward is a definite need for this team, we should be looking for size in the midfield with a top 5 pick.

She must be on a salary that no longer befits her standing on the team - why else would you have to give back a draft pick for a 26 year old 2 x All Australian, 2 x premiership player?

Jordon is no longer at the club because he has no elite qualities, and could only win 11 possessions in consecutive games as a full time midfielder in rounds 19 and 20. His semi final effort was absolutely putrid. Good luck to him, but we can do much better. Sparrow is a tease at present. He has many of the tools needed to become a really good player, other than speed, but is also prone to going missing for long periods. I suspect he would benefit from serious competition for his spot, and potentially the occasional game at Casey. At the moment he seems happy to coast along and be an average player.

Hopefully we see Jake play further up the ground in 2024, because I don't think the lock down defender role is suiting him at all.

With Maddi Gay linked to a move elsewhere, that makes 8 players already gone or likely out the door. Plus more to possibly come. In isolation you can make a case for each of those players moving on but, without an idea of where replacements are coming from, it is a concern to be turning over more than a quarter of the list in a very short period of time. I have a lot of faith in our AFLW list managers, but the combination of our late season collapse and the subsequent mass exodus gives off a bit of a stench. The club would do well to get on the front foot and release some good news stories this week. Long term contract extensions for the (AFLW) captain and vice captain would be a good start.

Another PR triumph for the club - you'd think doing the right things by the supporter base would be an exceptionally high priority after the past three months, but apparently not.

I'm okay with turning over a large number of players this year, but only if we replace them with something better. Losing a mature midfielder in West for presumably a mid-range draft prospect who requires years of physical development to play midfield at this level is hardly improving the list. I'd rather lose Mithen from that group. I don't rate Sherriff, and Birch's football has fallen off a cliff in the past 12 months, so both are expendable. Birch should actually get us something decent in return as a 2x premiership player and All Australian. We definitely need to make a play for Parker as the best midfielder currently on the market. Otherwise we need to be hunting draft picks in the top 5-6.

I think we're 50/50 to play finals in 2024, and considerably less than that in 2025. Our depth in key areas is almost non-existent and we are very heavily reliant on Gawn and May to play full seasons, which is unlikely given their ages. The age profile of our list says that our fall, when it inevitably comes, will be pretty brutal. I doubt the coach and the list manager will survive.

There's a reason Marty Hore was delisted two years ago (several of them actually), and nothing that he has done since in that joke of a VFL competition, will convince me that he fills any of the gaping holes in our list. It's a really poor list management decision, unless we are trying to lift Casey back into finals contention.

Hopefully we are very active in this space this year.

Why the obsession with small and medium sized forwards? Why are we not prioritising key defenders, rucks and midfielders given the profile of our list, and likely retirements in the next 2-3 years?

I still can't work out why, if we didn't have a contract in front of Jake when he was fit and playing well, we suddenly decided to give him a contract after did his knee. Good luck to him, but this seems like a waste of a list spot to me.

Considering we started the trade period with two first round picks and a second round pick, its hardly a bumper crop of recruits.

It's quite extraordinary to me that we have promised Hore and Melksham rookie list positions and haven't brought in a back up ruckman. Its actually the worst piece of list management that I have seen for a long time. Even if Max stays fit, surely we can't be expecting him to play 23 games plus finals. Van Rooyen should only ruck around the ground when he needs to get into the game, otherwise I don't want him out of the forward line. That leaves Fullarton and Schache, and neither remotely resembles an AFL standard ruck.

So glad we are traded away a heap of draft capital to get mid-size forward number 20 for our list. Kolton might become a great player, but positionally it is the absolute lowest priority that we needed to address. I find it extraordinary that we haven't used a top 20 pick on a midfielder for 8 years now. Even more so given the issues around Brayshaw, Oliver and Viney. What's the plan if we lose a couple of midfielders for prolonged periods next year? Are we going to get Spargo to sit on Laurie's shoulders and see if they can reach Bontempelli's shoulders?

I still think we're insane not to make a play for West Coast's future 1st round pick. Particularly if the alternative is that we take Windsor or Watson.

Every single aspect of our game is poor at present, but our foot skills are simply atrocious. How can we have so many players who can't hit the side of a barn from 15 metres away?

I honestly can't see what Ivey and Bannon contribute that we couldn't get from two witches hats.

We all thought that keeping this list together was a good thing, but the reality is that we haven't added to the group in recent years and other teams have gone past us. We need to find a way to add foot skills and pace at year end. If that means trading a few experienced players (eg Mithen, Birch, Gay, etc), so be it.

We've got massive problems in every part of the ground at present, but it is the forward line that is the most bewildering. We have four genuine leading / marking options (Harris, Hore, Zanker & Bannan) and not one of them leads or plays in front. It's horrible to say, but Bannan and Zanker have played as though they are scared of getting hurt in recent weeks. If they can't get a cheap kick out the back, they are simply not interested. It's definitely not a talent issue, but there is something awfully wrong down there. The number of times a North player took an uncontested mark five metres in front of a Melbourne player inside our 50 was phenomenal, noting that we actually won the inside 50 count despite kicking just one goal. That's partly on the woeful disposal of some of our midfielders, but playing in front is something you learn in the under 8s. Fitzsimon was clearly our best forward yesterday, and I'd probably rate her game as 3/10. At least she was prepared to provide some effort and physical pressure. The rest were witches hats.

Aside from Hanks and Goldrick, they've all been truly awful. A totally inept performance.

If Adelaide win 100 - nil, their percentage would sit at 233.46%. If we win 50-49, our percentage would be 233.56%. If it is getting that close, every West Coast score is a big bonus to us. Similarly every point we prevent Brisbane kicking makes a big difference also.

I think the AFLW season needs to start mid-year, ideally during the AFL bye rounds, then run for 17 weeks + finals, such that we get to the grand final by end of October. The benefits would include: for at least part of the season you run alongside the VFLW comp, so players outside the 21 can play a game each week. you make the most of quiet periods in the AFL season around the bye weeks and post-GF to focus on AFLW. as much as the AFL want otherwise, you don't have 12 months of constant football and there is clear downtime for fans. Clearly supporter fatigue is having an impact on crowd numbers. in some markets double headers are an option, particularly where AFL games are scheduled for 1pm.

I hope we keep 6 and then see if WC are interested on draft night. Maybe offer to trade 6 for their 2024 1st round pick, which will hopefully be top 2. Then we'll see how keen they are on Curtin.