Shades of Stevie J and Gaz and Pendles, they reckon
Murphy Reid being incredible, finding some positives in the Eagles carnage and talent pathway highlights.
G’day friends! Happy opening round week.
The concept sucks, I agree. The fact they caved and added an MCG game means it’s now just a round where WA and SA get excluded for some reason. Cool!
But footy is footy and we haven’t seen a game played properly in anger since the W wrapped late last year, so no matter how poorly they treat the State, they know we’ll all be watching. Also cool!
In today’s newsletter: Why it will be hard to overlook Mason Cox, more Murphy love, the two players who will lift the Eagles’ midfield floor, plus a rundown of the standouts from the WA U18 boys and U18 girls practice games - including the first ever Freo & West Coast father-daughter split.
Let’s get stuck in.
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FREMANTLE
It’s increasingly hard to see Mason Cox being overlooked in round one. I dislike round one selection stories - it’s just one game - but this is a valid one. Do I think he’s better than Sean Darcy? No. But Darcy has missed both practice games now, even though he played the reserves game on Saturday. Cox has been better than solid in both games. He probably deserves a shot. But the question to ponder is that with no more practice games left, is Darcy better playing another WAFL scratchy, or should they just bring him in if he’s fit enough?
There were three excellent signs for Fremantle’s midfield on the weekend. The first, clearly, was Murphy Reid’s 30 touches and just general excellence. It was enough for Kane Cornes to say he was giving shades of Stevie J, Gary Ablett Jr and Scott Pendlebury. He’s still likely to play mostly forward, but can be rolled through the middle to mix things up. The second was Hayden Young’s eight clearances in the first half. He’ll only get better as the season progresses. The third was Neil Erasmus - he looks like he’s taken a step up after his finish to last season. If he keeps his pre-season form up he’ll offer great depth to a midfield which has been shallow at times.
How good is Josh Treacy hey? Was unreal last week further up the ground. Kicked five this time. Big season looms.
WEST COAST
One of the original goals of this newsletter was the find the positives in footy. First attempt: it’s just pre-season. We’ve seen sides get pumped before and it mean nothing in the regular season [the way it happened was quite concerning though, I agree].
Josh Lindsay is everything they promised. He’s already the best kick in the team, and they need to find a way to get it to him as much as possible when exiting the backline. He’s had the best impact so far of the three first-rounders, even though I expect the others to be better long-term. The kick inside 50 to find Willem Duursma was something special.
Deven Robertson will be a solid player all season. He might not give you 9/10 performances, but he’s a steady 7. You need a couple of those. Hamish Davis will be similar this year, but his ceiling is far higher.
TALENT PATHWAYS
WA’s U18 boys squad played a scratch match on the weekend, with the summer squad split into two teams - WA Black and WA Gold - and bolstered with some extra colts players who had been nominated by their clubs.
Chris Ch’Ng, who runs the @wafootyprospects Instagram account and works in the S&C team at East Fremantle, gave us a rundown of some of the players who impressed:
Leo Steed (Swan Districts): The standout best on ground on Saturday. Steed’s burst of speed and penetrating kick was on show. An underrated prospect externally, but highly rated within the program.
Jimmy Artemis (East Fremantle): The bottom-aged prospect looked classy in the midfield for WA Black. Artemis weaved through traffic to drive the ball forward. Firming to be part of WA’s midfield on-ball brigade at the U18 champs after taking out the State’s MVP award in the 16s last year.
Lucas Robinson (South Fremantle): Showed his ball-winning ability as a big-bodied mid. In the contest, Robinson won the hard balls and was able to feed out to his teammates.
Fin Yeo (East Fremantle): The Sharks livewire displayed immense defensive pressure during the game. Although he didn’t end up with any majors, he set up his teammates to get WA Black the win.
The girls U18 program also had their first hit-out last week against the WAFLW U23 All Stars. It was a tough match-up against bigger, more experienced players but the State Program’s new Head Coach and Talent Manager Kate Orme let us know a couple of their standouts. She gave us the names, we provide the background.
Cara Dziegielewski (West Perth): No surprises here. The reigning U18 All-Australian ruck and the State’s leading AFLW draft prospect this season. She’s got high-level athleticism, great second efforts and tremendous potential. Will be keen to see what the ruck/forward split is this year.
Lexi Strachan (West Perth): Will be WA’s leading on-baller at the championships this year after impressing off a wing in ‘25. Wins plenty of the ball and uses it well. No shock that she was a standout last week.
Miley Hynes (West Perth): A bottom-aged midfielder who is quick, skilled and basically didn’t take a minute off last week in a tough game. She’s eligible for the draft next year and will be a massive story. Why? Because she can nominate as a father-daughter pick for both West Coast and Fremantle. Her dad is Eagles premiership player and Sandover medallist David Hynes, one of a handful of players to run out for both clubs - and you only need one game to qualify as a father-daughter.
That’s the lot for today. Thanks again for reading.
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