- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
How much pressure can a side that finishes in the bottom three be under?
When you’re in a two team town, and your fanbase has been spoiled ever since they entered the AFL, enough pressure to produce diamonds.
Today, we are going to go through the West Coast Eagles list detailing the five players that are under the most amount of pressure, they will range from the very young to the very old and everyone in between.
I think the West Coast Eagles are a curious case as they enter the year with a new coach for the first time in over a decade, a year in which they made contentious drafting decisions but acquired senior talent.
Read on for my list of the most under pressure players at the club.
A strange selection from the first round of the 2021 National draft where the Port Adelaide Power traded with West Coast to get ahead of Essendon to get Josh Sinn.
He has plied his trade reliably at WAFL and AFL level, however, he still remains on the cusp of the best 23 and heading into a make or break year for the youngster behind Reuben Ginbey, and other defenders on the West Coast list.
I expect that Chesser’s career may be somewhat derailed as draftees in 2021 still had their draft years’ derailed by the pandemic resulting in a disconnect in scouting reports.
Moreover, with more senior talent coming in in the form of Liam Baker, Jack Graham, and Matthew Owies, he may find himself further on the outs than he already is.
It is incumbent on individual players that they put their best foot forward to show their wares, however playing in a position as log-jammed as half back can result in some players being deprived of the opportunity to show their value to the side.
Pressure Gauge: 6/10
I am going to be up front with my readers, I am struggling to fill this list out, there are more players that I can list here but I am not sure of them.
Matt Flynn is the player I am going to list here as inhe still has years left in his deal however, he finds himself in a position where he’s behind Bailey Williams in the ruck department and he doesn’t show any signs of advancing beyond that.
Despite me waxing poetically on the chances of Matt Flynn, unlike several other players on this list he has a couple of years remaining on his deal, I just do not see how he can be anything more to a West Coast side that is not lacking in the ruck department.
He goes to number four on this list because I could not find anyone else to put here but knowing my luck and football nous he’s going to go for the Coleman-Brownlow double for the first time since Plugger.
Now with news of him limping from the track adding insult to injury I believe that is going to be a matter of compounding problems for the young man.
Pressure gauge: 6.5/10
The reason I have this part as a two-fer is since Owies and Baker were thtoe product of the infamous pick 3 trade that had driven the West Coast fans up the wall.
They are each good and valuable players to have in any side, however, they’re somewhat surplus to requirements. Furthermore, the Eagles gave up pick 3 to get them and 14 in return, and whilst they still got Bo Allan at the draft pick 3 was a significant price to pay for two flankers.
Owies is controversial because he has been something of a down hill skier at Carlton running into an open goal not putting in the effort required of small pressure forwards.
Liam Baker gains possession. (Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
Baker on the other hand is less controversial, but he is still primarily a wing-half back selection that does not justify the cost of pick 3. I would have agreed that the trade was less contentious if they got Shai Bolton, but Baker they could have walked through to the pre-season draft and gotten him through that selection mechanism.
As a result of these trade machinations, it places additional stress for the players when they do not need more stress, and as a result they will have to hit the ground running in front of an unsympathetic west coast crowd.
Pressure gauge: 8/10
Pacey small forwards are extremely valuable to any AFL side, particularly since the Tigers dynasty. Their work goes often un-noticed, and unrewarded. The reason that Brockman finds himself on the pointy end of this list is primarily attributable to the fact that he’s heading into a make or break year, and being out of contract compounding matters.
He lacks the record both at Hawthorn, and West Coast to show that he would be a viable small forward at AFL level, and compounding the issues he has seen a decline in key performance indicators, notable tackles, goals, and matches played.
Without a quick reversal of fortunes Brockman may find himself on the outer making way for the aptly named Malakai Champion, or the recently arrived Matthew Owies.
Pressure Gauge: 8.5/10
Honourable Mentions:
Harley Reid: More in jest than anything else, but while he remains without a contract there will be murmurings of him requesting a trade back to Victoria.
Tim Kelly: He has been serviceable for the Eagles since he came over from Geelong, and I appreciate the unique concerns that resulted in his trade in the first place. However, he has failed to live up to the immense price the Eagles paid for him.
Jake Waterman. (Photo by Daniel Carson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
Jake Waterman: Lightning doesn’t strike twice. He played well above his previous capacity last year kicking 53 goals from 23 matches last year thanks to his unique frame as a third tall forward that has seen something of a resurgence over the last few years. Now the Eagles fans are aware of what he is capable of, and as a result there will be increasing pressure to perform to those capabilities.
Jack Petrucelle: Honestly, I considered putting him No.1 on this list, but he is not important enough to the Eagles structure to warrant going anywhere near there. He is also in a similar situation to Brockman, and is out of contract this year.
One of the few Eagles players with any trade currency, and the Eagles extended him for a further two years when he’s already the wrong side of thirty.
I don’t disagree with the decision, but I am entering into this situation with my eyes well, and truly opened as a player he has been injury prone, and they have been soft tissue injures; these are not players known for their longevity.
As apart of the Brisbane go home five, Yeo has carved out a niche at the Eagles as a bullocking midfielder/half back, but I do believe father time will catch up to him sometime in the next two years, and as a result I am certain that it will be playing behind his eyes.
Being a leader to an extremely young Eagles side, and with a spoilt fan base rewarded with a flag roughly once every eight years the incentives for players at West Coast are different than those back east.
Pressure gauge: 9/10
So folks, what did you think of my predictions, and are there any other players under more pressure that are not mentioned above?
Who’s in your ultimate team? Pick the best team and compete with other fans for daily prizes on Draftstars. For the best odds on the game try out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Think. Is this a bet you really want to place? Set a deposit limit.