West Coast Eagles - Life after Judd and Cousins
The West Coast Eagles Football Club will undoubtedly want to erase the year 2007 from the books, not from a on field perspective but certainly from an off field one. We all know of the turmoil surrounding the Eagles in 07 so there is no need to go through it all again. I will though mention that the Eagles are doing their best to try and turn the culture around over there by instilling a new leadership group, but it doesn’t seem to be having much of an impact if you take into account the recent incident with their number one draft pick Chris Masten.
Let’s go thorough the arrivals and departures for the Eagles:
ADDITIONS:
Exchange period – received: Josh J. Kennedy (Carlton)
Rookie elevation: Chad Jones, Jamie McNamara
Scholarship elevation: Ryan Davis (rookie)
NAB AFL Draft: Brad Ebert (Port Adelaide Magpies), Chris Masten (East Fremantle), Tony Notte (Swan Districts), Scott Selwood (Bendigo Pioneers)
DELETIONS:
Retired: Rowan Jones, Josh Wooden
Exchange period – traded: Chris Judd (Carlton), Mitch Morton (Richmond)
Delisted: Daniel Chick, Ashley Sampi, Ben Sharp (rookie), Llane Spaanderman (rookie), Ashley Thornton (rookie), Beau Wilkes (rookie)
The West Coast Eagles had a very good year on field considering all the other dramas they had. Finishing 3rd and losing to Collingwood by 19 points in the Second Semi Final. A disappointing exit considering that game was at Subiaco. The have certainly got some quality
losses to cover and any team that loses player of the calibre of Jud and Cousins you would think would struggle. The big question is can the others step up to the plate and take the reigns? The likes of Kerr, Embley, Priddis, Fletcher and Stenglein are the players that will need to create havoc in the middle.
Best Ruckman in the AFL
With the best Ruckman in the business in Dean Cox and being the 3rd best team in terms of hit outs these players will no doubt get their hand on the pill first on a lot of occasions. Priddis has already shown he is a quality player that can find the ball with ease (leading disposal getter) I reckon he just needs to be more damaging when he gets it. Kerr is a GUN, his ability to stand his ground when being tackled and get the ball to a team mate is brilliant and he will have to be the take the Number 1 midfield role you would think. The Eagles have at least 10-11 players they could rotate through there, and when you look at the stats from 2007 there were 11 players that averaged more than 20 possessions a game! With Mark Seaby having a great pre season the midfield of the Eagles is looking dangerous even with out Cousins and Judd.
Goal Scoring Power- Is there Enough?
Goal kicking power is something that has long been an issue for the Eagles, they were after Brendan Fevola so that is at the forefront of their minds and we know they think it may be a problem too. They are probably going to have to rely on the big 
“Q” Quenten Lynch again in season 2008. The improvement here needs to come from the likes of Mark Lecras, Brent Staker, and Ashley Hansen. I really like Brent Staker as a player, he can play as a tall forward but is extremely agile when the ball is on the ground. He kicked 20 goals last season and if he can lift that by 10 – 20 goals and Mark LeCras can keep improving (36 goals last season) then they may just battle through the season again. I reckon they could get a few more goals from the on ballers as well to take a bit of heat off the forwards. The word is that new recruit Josh Kennedy from Carlton has slotted in down in the forward half quite nicely and looks set to play a role down there.
The defence was rock solid last year and the top 3 in the Eagles best and fairest were all defenders. That doesn’t look like changing in 2008 with Best and Fairest Winner and newly appointed Captain Darren Glass leading from the front and with Adam Hunter, David Wirrpanda as supporting acts then a lot of forwards lives will be made tough down there.
Good Draft Picks
They have picked up some impressive youngsters in Masten, Ebert and Selwood. All look likely types and if the last 2 are anything like their siblings then they are sure to have a stellar career.
Quality Unit
The Eagles are a quality unit and although Cousins and Judd are HUGE losses I think they have the talent in this group that will be able to cover them. When you consider Cousins only played 7 games and Judd was less than half fit for most of the year and the midfield still managed to be quite dominant then I can’t see that being as bigger issue as some may think.
Ladder Position: Top 4
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A very good outlook of the club!
I think the forward line however is a bit too top heavy with Lynch, Kennedy, Hanson and Staker. So Staker will play more wing (like Goodes) and then along with LeCras who will play more midfield the Eagles will then need someone like Ebert (cousin plays for PA not brother) and Wirra (to play forward) to kick 30 odd goals.