Team: WEST COAST
Ins: Bradd Dalziell (Brisbane Lions), Brad Sheppard (East Fremantle), Gerrick Weedon (Claremont), Koby Stevens (Gippsland Power), Ryan Neates (Claremont). Rookies - Lewis Broome (Claremont), Andrew Strijk (West Perth), Ashton Hams (South Fremantle), Jarrad Oakley-Nicholls (Richmond)
Outs: Mark Seaby (Sydney), Adam Hunter (retired), Chad Fletcher (delisted), David Wirrpanda (retired), Tyson Stenglein (retired), Brent Staker (Brisbane Lions)
Draw: Once again, the draw hasn't been particularly kind to the Eagles. Where in 2009 West Coast faced several top-eight sides from the previous year early in the piece, this time they're all coming during the middle stages of the season when the Eagles play six finalists in seven matches from Round 13 onwards. To make matters worse, in this run the only non-finalist is Fremantle and the Eagles haven't beaten their cross-town rival since early 2007. Fortunately for coach John Worsfold, five of those seven games are being played at Subiaco and if the Eagles can negotiate this stretch, along with a last-round away assignment at Geelong, then the club could go a long way towards returning to the top eight.
Strengths: The ruck is an obvious candidate for a West Coast strength, considering it features a leaner meaner Dean Cox and the flair of Nic Naitanui. But apart from the ruck, nothing really jumps out as West Coast has solid players across every line. From a more obtuse perspective, the real strength for the Eagles may just be the fact that John Worsfold has been rebuilding for two years now and the players blooded during a calamitous 2008 campaign all have bigger bodies and plenty of experience under their belt for the season ahead.
Weaknesses: The main area of concern for the Eagles relates to the club's midfield and whether players like Chris Masten, Brad Ebert, Scott Selwood, Tom Swift and Luke Shuey can step up and fulfil the roles once played by Cousins, Judd, Kerr etc. Kerr, of course, is still there but has only shown glimpses of his best over the past two years after suffering a horror run with injury. With that in mind, Worsfold is really relying on his young brigade to live up to its potential and form a cohesive unit with the experienced campaigners in there like Cox, Andrew Embley and Adam Selwood. Another area of concern that doesn't seem to have been quite eradicated is West Coast's susceptibility to opposition run-ons. In the past two seasons the Eagles really struggled to wrest back the momentum once an opposition team was up and going and this trait highlighted itself once again in the recent NAB Cup loss to Port Adelaide.
X-Factor: Naitanui. Anyone that braved a wet and wild Subiaco last June to see Naitanui really announce himself against the Hawks will have earned some serious pub kudos over here in the west. In a final-quarter blitz, Naitanui defied the elements and scored three sensational goals as he almost single-handedly turned a two-point deficit into a 20-point win over the reigning premiers. The scary thing about 'NicNat' is he's nowhere near the finished article.
Best 22:
B: Brown, Glass, Mackenzie
HB: Butler, Waters, Hurn
C: Masten, A.Selwood, Swift
HF: Ebert, Kennedy, Embley
F: Nicoski, Lynch, LeCras
R: Cox, Kerr, Priddis
IC: Naitanui, Rosa, Shuey, McGinnity
After Round 22: 10th. After Round 17 last year, serious questions were being asked of West Coast's development. At that stage the club had won just four games for the season, including one of the last 10 and questions were being raised about it tanking for a priority draft selection. Worsfold, as he's so often done, adamantly declared the group was still focused on bigger things, while vehemently denying any suggestions of tanking. The naysayers were soon forced to eat their words as West Coast won four of the last five to finish in 11th position as all the elements the Eagles had been working on throughout the past two years suddenly clicked. The run was there, the midfield skill was there and the club had forwards like Mark LeCras and Josh Kennedy to finish off the good work further up the ground. The late-season surge culminated in an 80-point victory over a mentally and physically exhausted Richmond side at Subiaco that had Eagles supporters rejoicing. But whether they started rejoicing too soon remains to be seen. What we do know about any West Coast side is that it will pressure and harass the opposition into turnovers. The youngsters now also may have the skill and confidence to really exploit these mistakes and if this happens, then West Coast could go a long way. But a lot still depends on how the Eagles cope with injuries and whether they can improve upon a dreadful travelling record that's seen them win just once on the road in the last two seasons. Sportal experts believe West Coast will miss the finals three years in a row for the first time in its history.