TOPIC:

Freezin wrote:

Obviously the faithful will forgive, EF won as many games this year, as Wiley won in 3 years.....Can't help but show some faith,....each year, bar 2020, which was only half a season, Monaghan has improved EF win/loss ratio and ladder position... the trend is north, not south like under Wiley.

Not actually sure, bar Murdock, if those pre lim changes were injury related or not....the loss of Murdock hurt EF the most.......Burton for Holmes is pretty much a like for like height wise, whilst Monaghan jnr is the closest height wise to McGuire in terms of replacements.....kicked 2, so did what he got selected for.

Rueben McGuire was named in the team but does not play. Probably was under some sort of injury cloud and this is why Eddie Simpson was named in the team knowing that Rueben may not be right. An eye might have been on having him fully fit for next weekend. This is conjecture though. 

Senior Seagull wrote:

Was hoping the Gummies would get up for my dear old tragic EF mate but wasn't to be. Great to see Mad dog Marsh live up to his name, I think the Cl boys would have been right in his face from the start, he seems to be an easy target for that sort of stuff and loses the plot if things dont go his way. Can be a super player and and game breaker but so inconsistent, thats why Harry is far better value.

Given EF will get some real quality back next season with guys like Dixon and Stranadica, if they can keep their best 22 on the paddock they will be top 2 finished imho.

Good to see Harry back at his old home ground yesterday watching his brother play. Maybe the club should try to get the two together on the field. Squad debt does seem a slight issue. Harry would help in that area. Dixon, Strnadica, Joyce should be targets too. Perhaps Tim Bockman will be approached. The likes of those missing yesterday Boekhurst, Murdock, McGuire, Leggett, Murphy, Tucker to factor in. Though Hagan and Cleaver may not be around next sesaon. 

All in all a pretty good year for you guys when you consider who was taken by the vultures in the preseason and midseason drafts. We can't take injuries into account when looking at missing players as that's just part of the game but when AFL clubs take WAFL players and then they are used primarily as top ups for their ressies, then certainly something needs to be done to make sure the AFL clubs aren't gaming the system.

It's a shame Strnadica didn't pull the pin from WCE before June 30 as he would have been very handy up forward and in the ruck but as SS says, if things return to relative normality and you get a few back from the AFL clubs next year, then we should see a very strong Sharks in 2023.

Totally agree BC.....gutted the team fell short, but in all honesty it may of been one bridge too far......EF were the only team in the top 5 to lose 4 players to the AFL drafts last minute, picked up a god send recruit in Goddard.....

Whilst I agree injuries are part n parcel of the footy year.....those long term injuries to O'Reilly and Leggett mid season,  then Boekhorst leading into the finals and then Murdock for the prelim, meant EF were missing a 1/3 of their best 22 by that CL prelim game....pretty sure WP, Cl and SF would of struggled as well with that sort of player loss.

Plus EF played 2 colts boys in the finals, dont think the other teams did that.Think EF did well to make the 5 let alone 2nd position, especially after the last few years of minimal success. Well done to the club for their efforts, to FF2 it was a choke, to me it was a big step forward, the club came from a long way back to compete against the likes of WP, Cl and SF who play finals most years over the last decade.....




 

Good summation Freeze, EF should have plenty of optimism going forward after they get over this loss.

Joshua Browne did well at West Coast this season - should be another player brought back for next season.

Very true about Browne Ti Em, went out to WCE on loan to get some league footy into him. Obviously a difficult job playing in that WCER side that got smashed most weeks, hopefully he does come back, if not picked up by WCE as rookie maybe. Would add some run to our midfield, especially with Boekhorst out with is ACL.