2007 at a glance
A SEASON of ultimately unfulfilled promise for West Coast, which started the year as reigning premier but endured plenty of off-field trouble and was tipped out of the finals in straight sets by Port Adelaide and Collingwood..

 

2008 to date
The Eagles’ campaign started solidly enough, beating the Lions in Perth. But it’s been pretty much downhill from there, with West Coast winning only one of 14 since. John Worsfold’s side has looked a shadow of its former self, and has lost each of its last three games by 57 points or more. The recruitment of Lions premiership captain Michael Voss as an assistant coach for next year has been one of the few positives of recent times.

 

Worsfold has enjoyed a charmed run in his six completed seasons at the helm – guiding the Eagles to the finals each year. He now faces his biggest challenge in retooling his side in the post-Chris Judd and Ben Cousins era.

 

The primary absentee for West Coast will be star onballer Daniel Kerr, suspended for three matches for striking Richmond’s Matthew White. Young gun Chris Masten, tough utility Beau Waters and big man Mitch Brown are gone for the season, while Shannon Hurn and Matt Rosa are still at least a month away. Sam Butler (groin) and Mark LeCras (knee) are both listed for tests.

 

Dean Cox has battled a foot injury at times this season but the three-time All-Australian ruckman has still been the Eagles’ most consistent player. Cox has averaged more than 21 possessions-per-game, ranks top-five at West Coast in disposals, marks and goals, sits second in the League for hit- outs and is among the competition’s top 20 in both contested possessions and centre clearances. A class act and a unique talent who will pose a big challenge for Lions star Jamie Charman, particularly in the absence of Matthew Leuenberger.

 

Ben McKinley is still a fair way off being a genuine week-in, week-out forward threat but he has booted 24 goals from 11 games this season, including a haul of five straight against Port Adelaide in round five. McKinley, who entered the season with only one career game to his name, knows where the goals are and plays bigger than his 184cm and 82kg.

 

Cox has been the best ruckman in the competition over the last four years, while Eagles skipper Glass is a two-time All-Australian who has the strength to go toe-to-toe with either Jonathan Brown or Daniel Bradshaw. The departures of Judd and Cousins has meant West Coast has had to blood some youngsters but there has been plenty of experience around the kids – the side which lost to Richmond on the weekend featured 13 premiership players. The newcomers have shown promise, including NSW/ACT scholarship product Ryan Davis, Scott Selwood and Tim Houlihan.

 

Weaknesses
The absence of Kerr will rob the Eagles of by far their best midfielder – a player capable of extracting the ball from the clinches and breaking the lines. The rest of the midfield lacks zip, despite the industrious nature of the likes of Matthew Priddis. Glass appears to have been playing hurt and it remains to be seen whether Adam Hunter, who has been inconsistent this year, is still equipped to stand Brown or Bradshaw. All the Eagles’ premiership experience has counted for little this season with less than one per cent separating them from bottom-of-the-table Melbourne. Last week West Coast allowed Richmond to kick 11 goals in the second quarter alone.

 

Running hot
Cox had an enormous statistical game in a losing side against the Tigers – 23 possessions, 43 hit-outs, 11 marks and five tackles … 2006 Norm Smith medallist Andrew Embley has averaged more than 23 possessions-per-game this year, missing out on topping the 20 disposals mark on only three occasions … McKinley has kicked five goals from just 13 kicks in the past two matches, and for the season his stats read 24 majors from 68 kicks.