TIGER10 - 14 February 2010 01:18 PM

From the blokes I have been talking to at the club they are well aware of how the system works and there will be no noses out of joint believe me. There also wont be that much disruption on a week to week basis. You may get a Waters or Wilkes returning but you wont get a major re-shuffle.

The newer draftees aligned to Freo for example are more likely to go back to the ressies and not the league side. I think the days of the WC and Dockers coaches pressuring WAFL teams to play their players in certain positions are well and truly over.

The styles are different anyway. There is no point in a bloke used to the way say the dockers play coming into the league side at Claremont and disrupting the flow of a game using tactics or playing a game style McPhee doesnt use.

Unfortunately Tiger10, the local AFL sides do flex their muscles a bit when their players aren’t playing. Jarman nearly lost an Eagles player last year because he was not playing him sufficiently.

I don’t agree with that muscle flexing but it is a fact of life. Fremantle sent a sharp message today to the WAFL especially given Smart’s Fremantle background and that message is that you don’t play our players, you will lose them.

Saw that in this mornings paper. Interesting to see he ended up at East Freo, would have thought Perth would have been keen to have him.
Good to see the coach, McPhee, standing up and saying no guarantees to play him.With 18 AFL listed players you’d have to say it was coming.

Another issue that needs to be taken into account is what happens with the 17 AFL listed players finals time ( if we make it). Those who qualify will they play in the finals.....will they be held back if either of the 2 local AFL sides decide it’s in the best interests to have “niggling injuries” operated on?

The reality of it Mr T is they will do whatever suits them and unfortunately the Tiges will have little say in it. So niggly injuries could be a problem in finals because they will be operated on in most cases.

More immediate will be the Claremont guys who have done all the hard work pre-season, only to be bumped back to Reserves when the real games start and worse still, those that consequently get bumped out to Ammo’s from the Reserves. You would hope that did not happen to the younger guys but Claremonts squad is full of young guys so it is probably inevitable.

Went to the preseason games last year, can only remember seeing Bedford and Sibasado playing, so think you’ll be right “outaloud”.
From the Eagles...... Stevenson, Weedon, Neates and Broome would be at Claremont each week. Wilkes, McKenzie, Jones, Swift, McGinnity a week by week proposition and Beau Waters if fully fit won’t be seen. From Freo .... Fyfe and Sibasado would be at Claremont each week. Schammer, McPhee, de Boer and Suban at the Dockers, Silvagni week by week.
So that’s 6 out 17 won’t be playing AFL ,5 regularly playing AFL and 6 a weekly proposition. So at worst 12 spots taken by AFL listed players, give and take injuries....unless the coach at Claremont/Eagles/Freo puts his foot down.

Mr Testicles - 17 February 2010 01:12 PM

Went to the preseason games last year, can only remember seeing Bedford and Sibasado playing, so think you’ll be right “outaloud”.
From the Eagles...... Stevenson, Weedon, Neates and Broome would be at Claremont each week. Wilkes, McKenzie, Jones, Swift, McGinnity a week by week proposition and Beau Waters if fully fit won’t be seen. From Freo .... Fyfe and Sibasado would be at Claremont each week. Schammer, McPhee, de Boer and Suban at the Dockers, Silvagni week by week.
So that’s 6 out 17 won’t be playing AFL ,5 regularly playing AFL and 6 a weekly proposition. So at worst 12 spots taken by AFL listed players, give and take injuries....unless the coach at Claremont/Eagles/Freo puts his foot down.

Not too many teams with that many AFL listed players playing regularly have done well in the finals.

Here’s why:

(a) AFL players don’t , for the most part, train with their WAFL team, I’ve been told, at most once a week;
(b) AFL players usually have a “preferred” AFL position on the team and the AFL tells the WAFL club the range of positions,where it wants to play the AFL player;
(c) There is no continuity with most AFL players, some may play most of the season but most, taking into account the AFL mandated weeks off, being held back for injury concerns or perhaps as an emeregency for interstate especially but sometimes local AFL games or being taken along for experience, won’t give you a great deal of continuity;
(d) A lot of AFL players are kids who are just starting out so if they aren’t any good, sometimes they are very bad so they are behind qualitative wise the rest of the WAFL squad;
(e)The WAFL club has control of the WAFL players of their teams coachoing , diet etc, they have little control over the AFL players; and
(f) If they prosper as players, they reach their aim of playing AFL and you don’t see them much.

A team like Subi was able to get to their finals without AFL players because they had good non AFL players playing for them as did SFFC last year.

Yes.....but the 1996 Premiership side was chock-a-block full of AFL listed players.....who’d we beat that year?

Mr Testicles - 17 February 2010 03:24 PM

Yes.....but the 1996 Premiership side was chock-a-block full of AFL listed players.....who’d we beat that year?

You beat an unlucky side ... by less than a goal - that said Claremont won and the Claremont is essentially the exception to a few years of WAFL.

I had a look at the Claremont team of that year, Claremont had from my reckoning 8 or 9 AFL players not 16. Also more than a few of them had been in the AFL system for sometime so were match hardened. A lot of the claremont 17 this year are essentially at the start of their career.

One side in 15 years is not a great ratio.

Mr Testicles - 17 February 2010 01:12 PM

Went to the preseason games last year, can only remember seeing Bedford and Sibasado playing, so think you’ll be right “outaloud”.
From the Eagles...... Stevenson, Weedon, Neates and Broome would be at Claremont each week. Wilkes, McKenzie, Jones, Swift, McGinnity a week by week proposition and Beau Waters if fully fit won’t be seen. From Freo .... Fyfe and Sibasado would be at Claremont each week. Schammer, McPhee, de Boer and Suban at the Dockers, Silvagni week by week.
So that’s 6 out 17 won’t be playing AFL ,5 regularly playing AFL and 6 a weekly proposition. So at worst 12 spots taken by AFL listed players, give and take injuries....unless the coach at Claremont/Eagles/Freo puts his foot down.

You Tiges have a real problem here.  All these AFL players on your list will end up biting you in the end.  I guess, while East Freo have a few, we don’t have a huge talent pool, so can live with AFL boys drifting in and out.  Unless someone does something positive, McPhee is on a long term hiding to nothing.

Given the high committment coupled with lack of money and profile in the WAFL these days, the windowof opportunity for young players is relatively small. Maybe some of the young talent may have to look elsewhere if this becomes an issue at Tigerland.

Stop it.....you’re depressing me! 9.50am and I’m close to cracking open a beer!

Mr Testicles - 18 February 2010 09:55 AM

Stop it.....you’re depressing me! 9.50am and I’m close to cracking open a beer!

Wouldn’t get too depressed.  Wouldn’t mind a few of those names down at East Freo.  Who knows, if your coach can get them to gel, they could have a real dinki di tilt at the flag.