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Under 18's shine as WA sides sink further into abyss

I went to the Fremantle game early yesterday to get a glimpse of some of the much touted talent set to be drafted this year from WA’s rich stocks.

It was fantastic to see some of the great talent running around on Subiaco against a NSW/ACT side that found it hard to compete with our hardened football state.

All eyes were on Nick Naitanui and Daniel Rich who are expected to go one and two in the draft respectively but neither really dominated the game and instead it was some lesser known names who starred for the home side.

Despite this I saw glimpses of why both players will be some of the hottest property we have seen in football for some time.

Natanui’s leap is enormous and his ability at ground level is incredible given his height but it was his second efforts and attention to one per-centers that impressed me most.

At one point the ruckman was standing the mark when he smothered the ball, knocked it to his advantage, hand-balled to a teammate, received a handball back and delivered beautifully into the forward line.

Natanui will not only be a great ruckman but an extra midfielder, in todays athletic running game this will be crucial.

His current ability and unlimited potential will have recruiters licking their lips and probably certainly see him go number one in the draft.

Daniel Rich was well held for most of the day but he’s the sort of player who only needs a few touches to be damaging.

What makes him so attractive is his ability both to get his own ball in tight, contested situations and at other times break free into space and deliver the ball exquisitely onto a teammate’s chest.

I saw him do both to great effect and to see him up close you realise how sturdy and nuggety he is and you’d expect for this reason he would be hard to intimidate and tackle.

Of todays current crop he reminds me most of Gary Ablett junior and name me a club that wouldn’t love him running around for them.

WA belted NSW/ACT by 70 points without the services of talented trio Chris Yarran, Tom Swift and Anthony Morabito and a few lively types were also revealed in the forward half particularly Lance Daly and young Bennell.

It will be fantastic to see how the same players go against tougher opponents in South Australia and Metro and Country Victoria.

Overall I think WA have to be a huge chance to again take out the championships and we can expect a large number of WA kids to again be plundered in the 2008 National Draft.

Now to the bad news: both WA teams failed to inspire on the weekend in any way, shape or form.

To be belted by 100 points at any time by any team has to be concerning for the Eagles hierarchy.

After taking such a great step forward last week the Eagles took a tremendous step backwards again.

Inconsistency is to be expected with such a young side but an 150 point turn around from last week certainly isn’t.

Watching the game it just seemed the Eagles lacked the ability to hit targets and make the most of opportunities like Collingwood could and the magpies made them pay.

Dean Cox continues to be fantastic for the Eagles but again lacked friends in this lackluster effort.

Despite the devastation of an 100 point loss the West Coast will again be buffeted from worse criticism by the much obliging Dockers team down the road.

Fremantle is perhaps in the grips of their worst crisis since their inception which says a lot.

Fremantle may not be losing by 90 points but they are creating a new monkey to get off their backs by their absolute inability to win and show heart when and game is there to be won.

In addition you have a captain who is feeling the pressure of continually having to win the game for his side and somehow against all odds managing to find the post each time.

This side is sick and getting sicker by the minute.

On the weekend they played a sluggish, virus infected Port Adelaide side that had been struggling to see out games and on the back of a monster first quarter from Aaron Sandilands looked to be heading for defeat.

Yet despite the best efforts of a loyal and passionate crowd it was the Port Adelaide side that found something when they needed it most, not the hapless dockers.

More concerning for the dockers was the coach’s desperate attempt to get his team up by dragging them in front of the cheersquad at three quarter time this indicates there is a serious problem and the coach is desperately searching for an answer.

The club needs a serious look at their board, management and playing personnel.

Applications for the now vacant CEO’s position closed last week and the worst thing Fremantle can do is appoint someone from within, they need to search for someone with an outside eye willing to make real change for Fremantle’s long term future.

Neither Shaun McManus or Matthew Carr should have been offered new contracts this year and McManus should be given his farewell game ASAP.

The club needs to begin some professional tanking by ditching older players who will not be involved into the future and playing the younger guys who’ve been starved of regular opportunities.

The exception to this is Peter Bell who still has real value as a mentor and leader and the only true champion the Fremantle Football Club has ever had.

Those guys who haven’t come up to AFL standard need to be dropped off the list as well because one gets the feeling that most of Fremantle’s future lies in the under 18’s championships and guys like the super impressive Rhys Palmer who once again showed up his senior teammate’s as Fremantle’s best player.