Eagles midfield will rise to challenge
Andrew Gaff has tipped West Coast’s midfield to match it with the best this season, saying criticism of the group has been misplaced.
Despite boasting some of the best key-position depth in the competition, the Eagles have finished outside the top eight the past two seasons.
The blame was placed largely on a midfield unable to cope with injuries to key players.
The club has moved to remedy the situation at the past two national drafts, bringing in six young runners, including top picks Dom Sheed and Liam Duggan.
However, Gaff said he believed the running division had been unfairly singled out.
He said it was ready to respond in the club’s second year under senior coach Adam Simpson.
“A couple of years ago when we were in the top four, top five, nobody was really saying anything about the midfield then, it was all sort of positive stuff,” Gaff said.
“You start losing a few games a bit, everyone seems to say that.
“We’ve got the best player in the comp at the moment, Matt Priddis, in the midfield and everyone else needs to step up around him.
“We feel we can match it with anyone in the comp and we’ve just got to prove that we can beat the best teams in the competition, like we didn’t do last year.”
The Eagles are set to name a near full-strength side for their final pre-season fixture against Fremantle at Domain Stadium on Sunday, March 22 — including ruckman Nic Naitanui, who has been carefully managed this pre-season.
Speaking at an event for club sponsor SGIO, Gaff said he hoped Naitanui would have a big impact this year.
“He showed two years ago when he did play basically the whole season, he was in the All-Australian team and probably the best ruckman in the comp and one of the better players in the comp as well,” Gaff said.
With Eric Mackenzie (knee) to miss the season and Jack Darling (foot) also struggling, Gaff nominated Tom Lamb and first-year defender Jackson Nelson as players capable of stepping up.
