Season Review 2022 – West Coast EaglesThursday, November 10, 2022 - 10:50 AM - by Chris Pike

IT was a rough season on a number of fronts again in the WAFL for the West Coast Eagles, but it wasn’t without some positives and continued development of emerging players.

With West Coast struggling through injury and COVID at AFL level early in the season, that filtered down to the WAFL side and the start to 2022 was especially challenging losing the opening nine matches by an average of 55.7 points.

However, once they were able to pull together a stronger line-up, they showed their potential with an outstanding breakthrough win against South Fremantle under lights at Mineral Resources Park in Round 10 by 41 points.

That would prove the only win of the season, though, with the Eagles finishing with a second straight wooden spoon on the back of averaging just 45.4 points a game while conceding 92.8.

It wasn’t a season without positives though. Harry Creasey ended up winning the fairest and best award on the back of playing 16 of the 20 matches, and averaging 17.1 possessions largely off half-back.

Josh Browne was another player to impress in the midfield averaging 21.9 possessions in his 14 matches while Ethan Hansen, Mitch Henderson, Joey Deegan, John Levien and captain Zane Sumich were other players to battle hard.

There were players coming back from West Coast's AFL team as well keen to impress to either break back into that side or to show they should remain on the list in 2023.

Patrick Naish, Isiah Winder, Greg Clark, Josh Rotham and Jackson Nelson were among those to have especially strong second halves of the season.

Josh Burke ended up being the leading goalkicker with 16 goals just ahead of Jack Williams who finished with 15.

Highlighting the troubles West Coast had throughout the season was the fact they used a league-high 55 players with only one player managing to play all 18 matches and that was Hansen.

Jack Williams was the only player to then play 17 of the 18 while only Creasey and Henderson played 16 matches.

Moving forward, the Eagles will look to find ways to be more competitive for longer in 2023 but some of it will be as simple as having a healthier West Coast AFL list which will automatically lead to more listed players being available more regularly in the WAFL.

West Coast showed in the win over a finals bound South Fremantle what they are capable of with a healthier Eagles list so there could be a sharp rise with more players available on that front in 2023.

FINISHING POSITION: Last, 1-17, 49.0%

WHAT WENT WELL: It was a rough year purely from a point of view of being able to put a competitive team on the park which flowed down from the troubles West Coast was having at AFL level. However, the lone season win in Round 10 under lights at Lathlain over South Fremantle showed what was possible. Harry Edwards, Luke Foley, Xavier O'Neill, Jackson Nelson, Alex Witherden, Sam Petrevski-Seton, Greg Clark, Isiah Winder, Patrick Naish, Ethan Hansen and Josh Browne along with Nic Naitanui all starred in that win. It was a glimpse of potential they couldn’t quite replicate but it shows that with more top level players available, they can still be a more than competitive outfit. 

BEST PLAYER: While Harry Creasey won the fairest and best award for his performance off half-back throughout the season and Patrick Naish was influential in his 11 matches, their most consistent performer was Josh Browne throughout 2022. He played 14 of the 18 matches, averaged 21.9 possessions a game and his consistency was impressive. He never had fewer than 15 touches in a game and had a best of 36 in Round 5 in a heavy loss to eventual premiers West Perth.

DEBUTANTS
Josh Browne – Round 1 
Joey Deegan – Round 1
Logan Young – Round 1
Jack Williams – Round 1
Darby McCarthy – Round 1
Josh Burke – Round 1
Jed Kemp – Round 1
Jack Eastough – Round 2
Rhett Bazzo – Round 2
Josh Edwards – Round 2
Andries Mercer – Round 3
Caelen Penny – Round 4
Riley Pobjoy – Round 5
Josh Underwood – Round 5
Patrick Naish – Round 6
Jayden Johnstone – Round 7
Jai Culley – Round 8
Callum Jamieson – Round 12
Ethan Regan – Round 16

MOST IMPROVED: John Levien is a player who got his start at WAFL level with 38 games combined at Perth and South Fremantle, and always showed good potential largely across half-back. However, the more opportunity he received to lock down a regular league spot this season at West Coast saw him secure his position and show what he's capable of. He played 12 of the 18 games for the season, averaged 15.5 possessions including over 20 on three occasions in the opening six rounds to show he's someone who can be relied upon as part of the WAFL contingent moving forward.

OUTLOOK FOR 2023: Again this largely will depend upon the health of the West Coast list at AFL level and the pressure there is on for spots there. If the Eagles are performing better at AFL level and have a smaller injury list, then the flow on effects for the WAFL team is that there are players coming back of high quality and with the determination to perform to try to get back into the AFL. That in turn makes all the other players around them better, puts greater pressure on to perform. If they can top up with some recruits like Jackson Nelson and have a strong core of WAFL players then topped up with the West Coast-listed players, then they can quickly have a bounce back season in 2023 despite claiming the last two wooden spoons.