AFL 2024 so far...

West Coast 2024 season began with an inauspicious start facing a tough first up game against the power on their home deck the Eagles fell 50 points short after falling away in the last quarter Harley Reed debuted Tyler Brockman played his first game for the club and Campbell chess kicked his first AFL goal on the siren Eagles first home game of the season came in round two against gws and given we had won the same fixture 12 months previous there was a degree of hope we could replicate that success this time instead we received a brutal reality check going goalless in the middle two quarters of the game to record a 65o loss round three similarly would be a rematch of a game we won the previous year this time against the Bulldogs at Marvel given the heroics of our late season upset last year there was belief this game could be an opportunity for us to get our season properly started instead while the Eagles effort level and intensity was there the skill level was left wanting we kicked three goals 12 on our way to a demoralizing 76o loss despite having the same amount of inside 50s as our opponent so the discontent amongst fans was pretty palpable after the first three rounds but it has to be noted that while the results on paperwor poor the consistency of effort throughout games had definitely improved upon 2023 not that that was a particularly High bar prior to the swans game during gather round there were genuine fears this Clash could be another blood bath given what happened at the scg in 2023 up to this point Harley Reid had had a quiet but promising first three games without really generating massive highlights against the swans we saw Reed release the shackles and kick a brilliant first goal at AFL level from this point the Eagles seemed to grow a leg but Jamie Crips kicking a brilliant set shot goal not long after we l at halftime trailed narrowly at 3/4 time and managed to stay within four goals of the swans at the final siren it feels odd to get excited by losses but given the dominance of the Swans in 2024 this game demonstrated the Eagles had clearly come a long way the week after we took on a depleted Richmond we conceded the first four goals of the game but from that point on on we were treated to the Harley Reed Show Reed had 27 possessions a goal and seven clearances while Elliot yo continued His Brilliant season with a monstrous 15 clearances of his own it may have been a depleted opposition but it felt good to win again the fun didn't stop there however the last time West Coast hosted a western Derby they put in a shameful effort to lose to freem manle by 101 points this time it was a very different contest the Eagles piled on the first seven goals of the game to effectively kill it off in the second quarter and Harley Reed exploded once again with three goals and 19 possessions at the final break the Eagles had opened up a 64-point lead and would Coast to a drought breaking six-goal derby win suddenly watching the Eagles felt exciting again a fit Y mcgaven in particular was paying dividends while Harley Reed was looking every bit as good as Jud at the same age out of nowhere it seems Jake wman also exploded to be one of the best performed forwards in the game kicking 11 goals across two weeks after years of being poor in these areas the Eagles had vowed to start their rebuild with contested ball pressure on the ball carrier and playing front half footy to this point in the season the Eagles were second in the competition for contested possessions a trip to the goal Coast the following week brought us back down to earth slightly with the sun's two good to the tune of six goals taking on the bombers at op us the following week presented both an opportunity and a challenge the bombers were firmly entrenched in the top eight but the Eagles recent home form gave us plenty of reason to believe we could win three home games on the bouns and we can be proud of a seven goal to four second half but ultimately wasn't enough a late brain fade by Jamie Crips might have proved costly as we fell short by one straight kick round nine presented another tough test this time against the reigning Premier at Marvel Stadium from the outset the Eagles never really looked in the contest although the ability to arrest Callingwood momentum in the second half was at least another sign of progress from last year we fell 11 goal short and were well beaten by Collingwood side that had looked slick despite their injury situation round 10 might have been the best Eagles victory in recent memory taking on Melbourne at Opus you could be forgiven for thinking the Eagles would be no match for the powerful demons Midfield but if you thought that you couldn't have been more wrong as Eagles and Harley Reed brw force their way to a six-goal win Reed kicked what may end up being goal of the Year capping off possibly his best performance yet with seven clearances 21 possessions and a couple of goals as good as this win was and it shouldn't be forgotten quickly the form that followed was closer to resembling the 2023 West Coast side over the next 3 weeks the week after after we were mercilessly pumped by an Adelaide side that a struggle this year narrowly avoiding a 100 Point loss by just one point this was followed by another disappointing loss at home to St CA losing to the Saints is no disgrace but the lackluster manner in which we played was disappointing nonetheless Harley Reed was unbelievable in the first half of the game before windhager brought a Relentless tag that stopped Reed and by extension West Coast in Reed's frustration he was suspended for 2 weeks for a dangerous tackle on St kilder Darcy Wilson this low energy form was brought into another disappointing loss the following week this time to the previously winless North Melbourne the Eagles were missing key midfielders in Reed Tim Kelly and Jaden hunt but this was no real excuse we were asleep for the first three quarters and were well dominated in the middle of the ground by North young Midfield so we sit at the buy with three wins and 10 losses on the plus side we've already equaled last year's win count although given the better injury run this should always have been the expectation whilst our best form has been exciting and even scintillating it would be important for us to recapture some of this form in the second half of the year and put an end to some of the malays we've seen in the last 3 weeks the biggest positives have undoubtedly been Harley Reed Elliot yo and in particular Jake Waterman Reed is possibly the most exciting young talent in the league yo has reestablished himself as an elite clearance mid and Jake wman is still third in the common despite missing several games the defensive trao of barass mcgaven and Hoff in particular have also been outstanding it would have been a hard sell to tell an Eagles fan we'd meaningfully improved in the first half of this year without prob probably our best player in Oscar Allen who has missed all but one game this year with the returns of Allan Reed Kelly and Hunt due in the coming weeks I have a feeling we will see some more exciting Eagles footy in the second half of 2024