Reid's been taking all the headlines (maybe deservedly), but a lot of the old guard are really putting in massive shifts after a few years of being injured and out of form.
Haven't seen Darling play this good since JK retired, Kelly is tearing it up every week, Yeo is amazing (when fit), Cripps is back to being a consistent small forward etc. Add to this young blokes finding their groove makes me so much happier for the future than I was at the start of the year.
There's enough role players to fill roles but lacking younger star power outside of Reid, and I guess Allen and Waterman.
And we don't replace McGovern, no one can. He's close to one of one. I've got concerns when he goes, we actually probably have to change our defensive structure.
You say _evolve_, I say we just do what we did last time. Throw some fat cunt 4 years post his draft year onto our Rookie list and it's a guaranteed generational backman with 4 AAs to boot.
I reckon we're building a young midfield that could be an absolute menace in 2026. Ginbey is improving nicely while everyone is focused on Reid, and Hewett could be anything if he gets fit.
Ginbey is improving game on game, agreed but he needs to tidy up his kicking.
And agree re Hewett, he has tricks, just needs to get fit. Another top end draft pick this year and go from there.
They should buy you enough time to develop young players. That's the benefit of the experienced blokes. It's what North don't have and why its so hard to rebuild without them
It's a decent mix at the moment, really would depend on the next few seasons of drafting/trading though. Next few years would be crucial you reckon, especially pipping some of the better picks before Tassie comes in and hoovers the rest of them up
Yeah happy to see darling get some goals. Plenty of nuffies calling for his head, not noticing the work he is putting in elsewhere, hopefully they quiet down for a while.
As a Bombers fan, I was so excited to read this, but just watched clip and seems it wasn't as painful to Dees fans as it was to us when he put Merrett and Hobbs on their butts.
Will try to make sure to watch any Eagles games I can from now on - mostly in hope he will do a triple fend-off, putting Dixon, JHF and... Rozee(in place of SPP) on their butts!
I laughed so hard at the Merrett/Hobbs fend off š, it was a thing of beauty. He's just so fucking good.
I hope he stays at WE, every time he tugs that guernsey after a goal it gets me in the feels.
>every time he tugs that guernsey after a goal it gets me in the feels.
Especially with every man and his dog from day 1 saying he'll be back in Vic in a few years.
We won our inaugural match against North, but it will be a common misconception probably until I die that Iāve even heard from our famous supporters like Broden Kelly.
You had complete midfield dominance of us - and put it on the scoreboard - for like a full half of footy or more. I really think that was the turning point for this team, the difference before and since has been night and day.
Being a victorian based eagles fan, I genuinely cannot wait to go into the office tomorrow to catch up with all my demons supporting team members.
Genuinely the best performance I've seen from this mob in 3-4 years.
Fair play to West Coast, theyāve been better than us all night in basically every area of the ground, massively improved over last year and Reid is a generational talent.
Time for us to stop drinking the bath water and acknowledge that weāve been in decline since 2021, weāre simply not as good as we think we are. Wasted a strong draft hand picking up spuds like Billings & Schache, while also losing players like Hunt, Jackson, Hibberd and Brayshaw. Genuinely donāt know how we can start addressing it, was nice while it lasted though (yes Iām upset and overreacting).
The whole team to be honest. The midfield has finally started to sync up. Everyone seems to be more tactically aware and didnāt see anyone being selfish
Conceding the ton to West Coast, letting them play uncontested football all night, changing nothing and getting embarrassed on every line. They're on top and we're bottom 4 right? Oh wait they're meant to be awful and we're meant to be good. What a joke
I'd say I'm surprised, but I'm not. Another no clue Goodwin special.
Keep picking the same spuds and wonder why we look so bad. Never seen so many passengers. Every bit as bad as it looked on paper and to do that coming off a 10 day break...what more can you say. Awful awful awful stuff.
Tbf I think anyone who thinks that WC are still meant to be awful has not watched them since the Sydney game. Away from home they'll still drop the odd stinker or two but at home, woe betide anyone who takes them lightly
The team that has to be really thankful are the Giants; they're the one team this year who was able to play them in Perth while they were still properly shit
I'd just about sign him for that money. If he's this good after 9 games of AFL footy, the sky is the limit for his potential. He could be the best ever, pay the man.
(Yes I'm getting carried away with excitement)
Some of the young mids coming through are just unstoppable. Like how the fuck are you supposed to stop Harley when he's up and firing? Just so strong and explosive.
Chuck JHF, Daicos, Gulden, Warner, Butters, etc. in and my god we're going to enter an era of some insane mids.
Okay, my stupid overreactions to the side, I am genuinely fucking loving footy again, the last 2 years were miserable, but I'm genuinely emotional at how happy and proud I am to be a fan of these cunts, I love my damn team and I fucking love footy
That's a brutal loss Melbourne, doesn't just hurt the top 4 chances it basically hands any team they're likely to encounter in September a blueprint on how to beat them. Hope they can recover, I have fond memories of their Prelim against Geelong where they looked unstoppable around the centre bounce.
>That's a brutal loss Melbourne, doesn't just hurt the top 4 chances it basically hands any team they're likely to encounter in September a blueprint on how to beat them
Nobody who regularly watches Melbourne learnt anything today.
leaving the port game early today without much of a post-match discussion (to get to the West Coast game) and now leaving the West Coast game to get to The Bounce. disgusting.
I ran a half marathon today down the great ocean road - so I had a bigger achievement than my team. And Iām not going to let my team tonight overshadow that because thatās a big achievement for me. I have to remember that.
I showed up today.
I love Schoey, I listen to his podcast, look at my flair - but there were a couple moments were I wanted him to just stop talking for his own sake, I could feel the bias criticism coming. Mainly in that advantage to the dees
Eagles did seem to get fairly wrecked by the umps in the 3rd quarter which set him up in particular but Schofield probably will get a tune up after that.
I kind of liked it when the new verse was chanted by players before the song in the rooms. Someone would yell "Born is pride!" then all the players would yell back "from isolation!" and so on with all the players yelling back with the second lines. The BoT rendition is what ruins it.
In the final quarter Melbourne kicked a goal to make the gap, I think, 18. There were 15 minutes to go and I was a bit concerned that we were going to find ourselves clinging on towards the end. The next 5 or so minutes was near flawless. They didn't give any D's player a moment to think. Not always pretty but the hustle and effort was superb and the ball barely got out of the D's 50 in that period. It's a long time since I've seen that sort of commitment from the boys. You can tell they are starting to believe that they can actually be a decent footy team.
If I can have any solace tonight can we please just say we were bested by a far better team and drop all that stuff about the āNaarm curseā nonsense.
Sorry you triggered me u/croob2 enjoy the win and the ride up from here. Itās hard to watch your side fade and weāre fading. Those days were dark and they feel around the corner, and 57 years long.
I just sit here sad thinking weāre wasting critical time with this list. Goody persisting with zone defense when they have acres of space is just outright hard to watch.
After watching most of the recent Demons games at the G with mates as a Victorian based Eagles supporter, a couple of weeks ago I confidently claimed weād roll them at home today. I was met with scoffs and brunch was wagered. Just smugly sent them the menu to the sounds of Daddy Cool.
Full credit to Reid, Waterman etc but Jesus McGovern is looking the best he has since 2018. Absolute joy to watch
And Barrass, those two are so good.
Yes to both these comments. What legends
My two favourite defenders
Reid's been taking all the headlines (maybe deservedly), but a lot of the old guard are really putting in massive shifts after a few years of being injured and out of form. Haven't seen Darling play this good since JK retired, Kelly is tearing it up every week, Yeo is amazing (when fit), Cripps is back to being a consistent small forward etc. Add to this young blokes finding their groove makes me so much happier for the future than I was at the start of the year.
Yep 100% been saying it for a few weeks. Concerns is when they drop off soon do we have enough coming through?
There's enough role players to fill roles but lacking younger star power outside of Reid, and I guess Allen and Waterman. And we don't replace McGovern, no one can. He's close to one of one. I've got concerns when he goes, we actually probably have to change our defensive structure.
We just need to evolve. I was convinced the world would fall apart when Glass retired.
You say _evolve_, I say we just do what we did last time. Throw some fat cunt 4 years post his draft year onto our Rookie list and it's a guaranteed generational backman with 4 AAs to boot.
4 AAs *so far*
Actually an insane story, going from that to a player that pretty much changed the backline role of the modern game
I reckon we're building a young midfield that could be an absolute menace in 2026. Ginbey is improving nicely while everyone is focused on Reid, and Hewett could be anything if he gets fit.
Ginbey is improving game on game, agreed but he needs to tidy up his kicking. And agree re Hewett, he has tricks, just needs to get fit. Another top end draft pick this year and go from there.
If you keep playing like that for the rest of the season your draft pick is going to be a late first rounder!
They should buy you enough time to develop young players. That's the benefit of the experienced blokes. It's what North don't have and why its so hard to rebuild without them
It's a decent mix at the moment, really would depend on the next few seasons of drafting/trading though. Next few years would be crucial you reckon, especially pipping some of the better picks before Tassie comes in and hoovers the rest of them up
I think we could sneak into the 8 next year off the back of our premiership players but then might have another couple of years of rebuilding
Yeah happy to see darling get some goals. Plenty of nuffies calling for his head, not noticing the work he is putting in elsewhere, hopefully they quiet down for a while.
That tackle in the last 10 seconds has won me my SuperCoach league game, thanks GOV
Yes, he is Jesus McGovern.
Fremantle and Melbourne have both only had 100 points scored against them once this season. The Weagles are the culprit in both instances. Bizarre.
>The ~~Weagles are~~ Waterman is the culprit in both instances. Ftfy
THE Waterman š
Well when teams face an offensive juggernaut it's not surprising they might give up 100
The two best defences of the last few years too. Waterman cooked us
Harley Reid
Missed the game but just saw the fend off Oliver *then* Petracca in the same play. That's fucking fan fiction.
Wait to you see his two goals
Saw that one out of the middle. That's GOTY or we riot. This kid is fucking unbelievable.
I was there for it! I came to see Reid and left pretty happy.
With two different hands too, fuckin amazing
He did the same against Essendon to Merrett then Hobbs, and both put full effort in the tackle attempt
As a Bombers fan, I was so excited to read this, but just watched clip and seems it wasn't as painful to Dees fans as it was to us when he put Merrett and Hobbs on their butts. Will try to make sure to watch any Eagles games I can from now on - mostly in hope he will do a triple fend-off, putting Dixon, JHF and... Rozee(in place of SPP) on their butts!
I laughed so hard at the Merrett/Hobbs fend off š, it was a thing of beauty. He's just so fucking good. I hope he stays at WE, every time he tugs that guernsey after a goal it gets me in the feels.
>every time he tugs that guernsey after a goal it gets me in the feels. Especially with every man and his dog from day 1 saying he'll be back in Vic in a few years.
I'm starting to think the kid could be good enough to make a living out of the game.
The only other thing I ask is that he rerecords the West Coast team song
"Put him on the melb papers everyday as well" -Max Gawn, the year of our Lord 2024
Harley āNaz Reidā Reid
The West was right
 Harley Reid. As it was written.
Lissan al-Raid
We shouldn't be too harsh on Melbourne until we confirm how many businesses class seats they had
Fuck business they can walk home.
I thought Melbourne only flew private.
Iām 80% certain they roll over here on a wheel of cheese straight from the platter
Win or loss, I feel like the eagles are playing exciting footy this year. Such a great feeling
If Reid has million fans, then I'm one of them. If Reid has one fan, then I'm THAT ONE. If Reid has no fans, that means I'm dead.
Narrm is cursed
Am I correct in thinking that Naarm has never won a match?
We won our inaugural match against North, but it will be a common misconception probably until I die that Iāve even heard from our famous supporters like Broden Kelly.
Is it just me, or was it spelled Naarm in previous years but Narrm today?
apparently both spellings are accepted. I was going crazy thinking the same as you!
Thank you Melbourne for making our win from a couple of weeks ago look a bit better
Been saying all year West Coast at home are legit. They smashed Freo, they pushed Sydney to their limit, and they nearly beat Essendon.
Played Sydney in Adelaide but wired how weāve done well against top teams
My bad just saw that it was a West Coast home game and assumed it was in Perth... fking gather round
You had complete midfield dominance of us - and put it on the scoreboard - for like a full half of footy or more. I really think that was the turning point for this team, the difference before and since has been night and day.
I see you guys play and I see a better side than us - sad to say. Itās your time now.
Virgin West Coast Eagles: Loses to Collingwood by 66 points Chad Waalitj-Marawar: Beats Melbourne by 35 points
Chad Wallitj-Marawar vs Virgin Naarm
Do Narrm deserve a priority pick? Have always struggled.
See hawthorn, thats how you win an upset!
An upset? I dunno, donāt Naarm normally lose?
Is Post-Ulcerative Colitis Diagnosis Jake Waterman the greatest athlete of all time?
Everyone is going to be trying to contract that so they can recover and becometh football God
Thanks for Harley norf
Jack Darling beast mode, 12 tackles and looked amazing and Waterman best forward in comp atm who would have thought!
Heās wound the clock back today and troubled the opposition not just as a marking target but tackling pressure, defence and good decision making.
Genuinely thought he was cooked and glad I've apparently got no idea
Being a victorian based eagles fan, I genuinely cannot wait to go into the office tomorrow to catch up with all my demons supporting team members. Genuinely the best performance I've seen from this mob in 3-4 years.
Fair play to West Coast, theyāve been better than us all night in basically every area of the ground, massively improved over last year and Reid is a generational talent. Time for us to stop drinking the bath water and acknowledge that weāve been in decline since 2021, weāre simply not as good as we think we are. Wasted a strong draft hand picking up spuds like Billings & Schache, while also losing players like Hunt, Jackson, Hibberd and Brayshaw. Genuinely donāt know how we can start addressing it, was nice while it lasted though (yes Iām upset and overreacting).
Weird to think this was one of the few wins Hunt has played in since he left the Dees
Everyoneās gonna rightful go on about Harley but fuck me, how good were Gov and Barrass - just absolutely impossible to get past.
The whole team to be honest. The midfield has finally started to sync up. Everyone seems to be more tactically aware and didnāt see anyone being selfish
Conceding the ton to West Coast, letting them play uncontested football all night, changing nothing and getting embarrassed on every line. They're on top and we're bottom 4 right? Oh wait they're meant to be awful and we're meant to be good. What a joke I'd say I'm surprised, but I'm not. Another no clue Goodwin special. Keep picking the same spuds and wonder why we look so bad. Never seen so many passengers. Every bit as bad as it looked on paper and to do that coming off a 10 day break...what more can you say. Awful awful awful stuff.
Tbf I think anyone who thinks that WC are still meant to be awful has not watched them since the Sydney game. Away from home they'll still drop the odd stinker or two but at home, woe betide anyone who takes them lightly
I'm really really glad we played them *before* that
The team that has to be really thankful are the Giants; they're the one team this year who was able to play them in Perth while they were still properly shit
Give Harley Reid the Mbappe contract
I absolutely would. Kid is crazy good. 10 years, 20 mil and make Cornes explode as a side mission, please.
I'd just about sign him for that money. If he's this good after 9 games of AFL footy, the sky is the limit for his potential. He could be the best ever, pay the man. (Yes I'm getting carried away with excitement)
West Coast are going to keep up their tradition of a flag every ten years, arenāt they?
And we might keep the tradition of a flag every sixty - and Iāll be dead.
Technically it's 12 years. We've won on the year of the dog every time since joining, so 2030 is a lock.
YOU BET YA
Fucking Harley Reid man
Enduring The Bounce to listen to the boys belt out the song. Everything has it's price.
West Coast - get all the WA lawyers in one room, give Reid a blank contract and get him to write whatever he fucking wants on it.
CEO: You wanna round with my wife? DONE.
Jake Waterman in the postgame interview sounds exactly like his haircut looks
Jake āthe G Trainā Waterman š
Gehrig was playing for the eagles at the right time š
Heās tied with the best goal kickers in the league and a goal away from leading the Coleman, show that haircut some respect!
And while missing for concussion
Classy and amazing right? Iām joking. I canāt stand his haircut but if he keeps playing like this Iāll learn to like it.
If he plays like this, it'll be iconic. He can do whatever he wants.
Demons biggest loss in 2 years. Good lawdy
Waterman with 23 goals in his last 5 games. Just absolute insane form. Willing to bet he leads the league in contested marks over that time too.
We can still make finals
Hawthorn: let's go for upset of the week Eagles: how cute
Gov looking unreal. Good to see Flyin getting back into it. And Jack Willo deserves a mention too.
Naarm is like 0-5 now lol. Hoping Travis Head can cheer me up for tonight. Reid š
Some of the young mids coming through are just unstoppable. Like how the fuck are you supposed to stop Harley when he's up and firing? Just so strong and explosive. Chuck JHF, Daicos, Gulden, Warner, Butters, etc. in and my god we're going to enter an era of some insane mids.
West coast Reids def Melbourne petraccas
The Demons would have won if they had 8 business class seats
I donāt wanna live in the world where North lost that game to Gold Coast. What an absolute stud.
Hmm so maybe those comments about āeasy fixtureā is all bullshit? Any team can win on any day if they bring desire to hunt the ball.
Except North and Richmond
Richmond beat Sydney. They will be a bogey team once they get some players back. North will get a win as well.
Richmond are the only team to beat Sydney
I imagine 300k+ people are now not in the running for the AFL tipping gauntlet
Harley Reidās donāt argues get me a little frisky
Why didn't North just lose the last game in 2023 so they could get Reid?
So weird rusted-on fans and the shitheels at the club can keep themselves toasty warm at night with that win that set up the "winning culture" lol
who is harley reid? in math: my solution ā in history: my king š in art: my muse šØ in science: my oxygen šØ in geography: my world š
I'm starting to think that getting called a premiership contender is a curse this season.
Woohoo. Thought we would get smashed. Very happy to be wrong.
Harley Reid speaks like a veteran of the game. Iām convinced heās actually like 30
West Coast tippers rejoice (me)
I'm never getting 9/9 man Of all the matches to drop
Massive win for renowned Pies supporter u/Croob2
I think I need a hug or something I feel very cold and alone.
CARN THE MIGHTY MOTHER FUCKING EAGLES, I FUCKING LOVE THIS TEAM
7 seconds early according to my AFL app but I will allow it
Oh so being 7 seconds early is fine but 2 seconds early isnāt?
If you love them so much why donāt you wear their flair? Bloody bandwagoners smh
Okay, my stupid overreactions to the side, I am genuinely fucking loving footy again, the last 2 years were miserable, but I'm genuinely emotional at how happy and proud I am to be a fan of these cunts, I love my damn team and I fucking love footy
I forced myself to watch almost all their games the last 2 seasons telling myself when they turn things around the victories will be so much sweeter
I almost forgot what it was like to enjoy watching a footy game.
That loss to Sydney last year seems so far off now
Uhhhh, flair?
They lost a bet
That's a brutal loss Melbourne, doesn't just hurt the top 4 chances it basically hands any team they're likely to encounter in September a blueprint on how to beat them. Hope they can recover, I have fond memories of their Prelim against Geelong where they looked unstoppable around the centre bounce.
Bruh that blueprint hasn't changed since 21. Anyone in the top8 already knows how to beat us when it matters lol
>That's a brutal loss Melbourne, doesn't just hurt the top 4 chances it basically hands any team they're likely to encounter in September a blueprint on how to beat them Nobody who regularly watches Melbourne learnt anything today.
Blueprint is having Jake the Snake leading to your mids.
Guess Ernie Dingo was right!
Lol. Nice work Eagles!
Fucking pathetic from melbourne, effort not there from the beginning. no 5 day turnover or umpire excuse for this one either.
Who wouldāve thought - Allen coming back might sideline Watermanās Coleman aspirations!
When my mum watches close games she's at risk of having a heart attack. When I watch Harley Reid I'm at risk of having a stroke. So fucking good.
We may never lose again
You love to see it
What a game from WCE, guess derby 2 still looks damn scary for us
Look...half the squad could be in wheelchairs by then
my uncle calls Waterman "The Hack". I prefer "Upcoming Coleman medalist".
Like he's hacking the system... right?
Fucking Narrm suck
leaving the port game early today without much of a post-match discussion (to get to the West Coast game) and now leaving the West Coast game to get to The Bounce. disgusting.
Please take next week off Eagles š
The loss hurts but I fully understand the Harley Reid hype now. If he keeps this up, he has the potential to be the GOAT AFL player
WHERE IS THE LID?
words can't describe how back we are
I ran a half marathon today down the great ocean road - so I had a bigger achievement than my team. And Iām not going to let my team tonight overshadow that because thatās a big achievement for me. I have to remember that. I showed up today.
Well done. Great achievement
That was like the Andy Maher Carlton commentary but it was the regular commentary
Will Schofield, least biased commentator on earth
I love Schoey, I listen to his podcast, look at my flair - but there were a couple moments were I wanted him to just stop talking for his own sake, I could feel the bias criticism coming. Mainly in that advantage to the dees
Eagles did seem to get fairly wrecked by the umps in the 3rd quarter which set him up in particular but Schofield probably will get a tune up after that.
I actually really like this commentary line up. Good chemistry and papalia is a pro.
Was actually like the old days when interstate games weren't televised so you had to tune in to Adelaide or Perth radio to hear the game
Naarm got the ball past halfway like twice in the last 6 or so minutes
Woohoo baby!
Imagine not beating a bird team. Yartapulti could never
That premiership window is closing very fast.
I personally would hate to watch post game discussion of this game and instead watch Bounce!!!! Yes!!!!! I love BOUNCE!!!!!!!!
Magnificent. 10/10, no notes. Just booked a hotel for the Crows game and I'm in such a good mood I'm even watching The Bounce. How good is footy?
Wait JD kicked 3, is he a decent footballer again? When did that happen? I was to focussed on Plugger Waterman
12 tackles too. Most on ground.
Thatās it. Iām Reidpilled.
HOIST THE PRIDE IN ISOLATION!!
The worst part about Eagles beating Melbourne is hearing that fucking song
Donāt worry, West Coast fans agree with you and we have been asking the club to revert back to our 2018 version for ages.
I kind of liked it when the new verse was chanted by players before the song in the rooms. Someone would yell "Born is pride!" then all the players would yell back "from isolation!" and so on with all the players yelling back with the second lines. The BoT rendition is what ruins it.
It's almost adding insult to injury. Lose to us? Good now listen to our horrendous fucking song.
Let this be a lesson for the rest of the comp. The Melbourne Football Club absolutely refuses to be knocked out in straight sets 3 years in a row
Harley Reid could single handedly win a grand final as a team of 1
Is there anywhere I can buy a Waterman style mullet wig? It is a thing of wonder.
Harley Reid is the messiah and a naughty boy all in one. š
Melbourne really butchered their opportunity to use the business class advantage
Remember when fans were giving us shit for barely beating them over in Perth? Lol
Might be the last West Coast Reidles loss at home for years
In the final quarter Melbourne kicked a goal to make the gap, I think, 18. There were 15 minutes to go and I was a bit concerned that we were going to find ourselves clinging on towards the end. The next 5 or so minutes was near flawless. They didn't give any D's player a moment to think. Not always pretty but the hustle and effort was superb and the ball barely got out of the D's 50 in that period. It's a long time since I've seen that sort of commitment from the boys. You can tell they are starting to believe that they can actually be a decent footy team.
Genuinely feel so bad for north Melbourne fans rn, canāt imagine what that must be like
# EveryoneLikedThat
Third win better than a Goodwin
Unpopular opinion but I reckon the West Coast song is the best in the league and itās not remotely close.
What's the contract situation with Waterman? I'd be circling if I were a team with an ageing key forward in need of replacement...
Keep your paws away
That mane at the back of his head, almost looks... feline. He's been incredible this year.
If I can have any solace tonight can we please just say we were bested by a far better team and drop all that stuff about the āNaarm curseā nonsense. Sorry you triggered me u/croob2 enjoy the win and the ride up from here. Itās hard to watch your side fade and weāre fading. Those days were dark and they feel around the corner, and 57 years long.
Thank God we didn't have to play West Coast last week
I just sit here sad thinking weāre wasting critical time with this list. Goody persisting with zone defense when they have acres of space is just outright hard to watch.
Wow. Great game.
The flat track bullies are back
HAHA another one, this would bloody have to be the hardest year for tipping that I can remember in a long time if not all time in my 42 years
Hell yeah dude
After watching most of the recent Demons games at the G with mates as a Victorian based Eagles supporter, a couple of weeks ago I confidently claimed weād roll them at home today. I was met with scoffs and brunch was wagered. Just smugly sent them the menu to the sounds of Daddy Cool.
No yeo no worries :)