2021 was a season of missed opportunity. Put simply, the gap between our best and worst football was just far too wide.

But what is just as critical as the events that defined our ladder position is that we don’t miss the opportunity now to reflect, learn and commit to actioning change with an even greater sense of purpose and intent.

We acknowledge that we didn’t get it right, particularly at the back end of the season, and it meant that we failed to qualify for finals for the first time since 2014.

The early exit meant that we conducted a forensic audit on our season immediately and we have identified a range of areas we need to address as we look forward to 2022.

We know we need to get better at every aspect of what we do. And we need to do it together.

After our last qualifying round match against Brisbane at the ‘Gabba, we were in quarantine for a couple of weeks, which presented another challenge in a year when there was no shortage of them. Everyone in the travel party in Queensland had restricted access to the club and if they weren’t at Mineral Resources Park, they were at home.

Those who did not travel, however, moved around the city unencumbered like everyone else.

So getting everyone together at the one time to firstly review the season and then draw the curtain on it was problematic.

While we could not get everyone in the football department in one room – players and staff – we did start work on analysing the areas where we fell short and set plans in place to begin the process of addressing those issues we identified.

We reviewed all aspects of our season, from our pre-season preparation, which was abbreviated last summer, to the individuals we select, the positions in which they play and how we play, ie our game plan.

While we fell short of our expectations – and those of our members and supporters this year – it wasn’t through a lack of effort that we failed to get the job done. But we can work smarter and that is one of the take-aways from the review.

Most people expected that when we ticked into the new year that 2021 would be different to last year. It was, in the sense that we didn’t have to relocate to an interstate hub, but we still faced three separate periods of quarantine and two lock-downs which is tough in a professional athletic environment.

Not as tough as the Sydney teams, in particular had it, and then later in the year the Melbourne clubs, but there were more than a few adjustments to make.

Players and staff had a good break at the end of the season, after we were able to get everyone together, and the focus immediately shifted to the pre-season. That is where our improvement has to start and our players are looking forward to it.

As happens in this business there are always changes in personnel in the off-season and we said goodbye to premiership midfielder Mark Hutchings, forward-ruckman Nathan Vardy, the versatile Brendon Ah Chee and another of our premiership players, Dan Venables, retired mid-season on medical advice.

Hutch was someone who was meticulous in his preparation and got the best out of himself while Vards was recruited from Geelong and was important to our structure, particularly his role in our 2018 success.

Venners did all he could to play again after a serious head trauma but he was advised to retire.

Chee was a valuable member of the squad through his time at the Eagles after coming to us via Port Adelaide and was a wonderful leader among our indigenous players.

Backline coach Jaymie Graham, who has been a valued and respected contributor in a variety of roles in the last eight seasons, has also departed to explore other opportunities in his quest to become a senior coach.

And Adrian Hickmott, our midfield coach who also served in other capacities in his 10 years at the club, opted to return to his home State and an opportunity at Hawthorn.

On the subject of coaches, I would also like to acknowledge the extraordinary work of Daniel Pratt over the last couple of years. He stepped away from the AFL program to coach both our AFLW and WAFL Eagles teams and did an exceptional job.

He was keen to coach his own team to further develop his skills and under difficult circumstances did a terrific job with both teams, where development and education were the keys.

In regards to the WAFL Eagles their level of competitiveness was determined by the availability of AFL-listed players and with our squad decimated by injuries for much of the year, the knock-on effect was profound.

While it was not solely a results-based program, it made it difficult to compete with some of the mature teams in the WAFL competition. The amateur and country players who were our top up players, giving us the opportunity to field a team, were outstanding and punched above their weight throughout the year.

And while wins were scarce, getting over the line in just four matches and finishing at the bottom of the table, their resolve was admirable. It was also important in the development of some of our younger players that we saw rise to AFL level during the year.

Players like Harry Edwards, Luke Edwards, Luke Foley, Connor West, who was recruited in the mid-season draft, Bailey Williams, Xavier O’Neill, Isiah Winder and Brayden Ainsworth built a form base at WAFL level and earned senior games.

We believe there is some exciting talent within that group and combined with the likes of Oscar Allen, Josh Rotham, Jamaine Jones, Zac Langdon and Willie Rioli, who will be available for the start of 2022, we have a strong nucleus moving forward. Adding Sam Petrevski-Seton to our list is also exciting and we look forward to his impact.

At the top end of our playing group I would like to congratulate Nic Naitanui on winning consecutive John Worsfold Medals as well as earning his third all-Australian blazer and his second in as many seasons. He was certainly outstanding in 2021.

Congratulations also to midfielder Dom Sheed who finished runner-up to Nic in his highest ever finish in the Club Champion Award. Dom shouldered a lot of the responsibility, particularly when Elliot Yeo, Luke Shuey and Tim Kelly were sidelined with injury and did a great job for us.

In third place was Andrew Gaff. It is difficult to imagine a player being more consistent and he has finished in the top five in voting seven times in the last eight seasons, winning the Club Champion Award in 2015 and being runner-up to Nic last year.

Jack Redden (fourth) and Jack Darling (fifth) were others who stepped up when other senior players were absent and were acknowledged by the match committee with their positions in Club Champion voting. JD was also our leading goal-kicker with 42 majors for the season, one more than
Josh Kennedy.

The Chris Mainwaring Medal, for best clubman is a highly coveted award and I’d like to congratulate Liam Duggan for his outstanding efforts  both on and off field in 2021. The emerging talent award was presented to Harry Edwards and he is a young man who we see as an important part of our squad going forward.     

Josh Kennedy won the Eagles in the Community Award – jointly with Jessy Edmunds, a member of our Supporter Operations team – and he did some amazing work to support his home town of Northampton and surrounding localities in the mid-west when they were hit by cyclone Seroja.  

It was also a year of major milestones, with the biggest of them all being the achievement of Shannon Hurn becoming the first 300-game player in the history of the club. It is great testimony to his resilience and durability that he was the first to achieve that mark in the 35-year history of the club and we expect there is more to come.

Key forward Josh Kennedy also played his 250th game for the club and he now sits in seventh position on the games played board in club history, while Nic Naitanui and Brad Sheppard reached the 200-game mark during the year.

Jeremy McGovern and Elliot Yeo both qualified for life membership by recording 150 games while Jack Redden posted his 100th game for the club.  

While the WAFL Eagles had a tough year they continued to front up each week and had some great moments. One of the ‘top-up’ players who was remarkably consistent was Kieran Hug and he was rewarded for his efforts by winning the fairest and best award.

Our AFLW squad continues to grow and I would like to acknowledge the remarkable debut season of Bella Lewis, who won the Club Champion Award and I wish Michael Prior and his team every success in the rapidly-approaching season.         

I would like to thank our loyal members and supporters. I know we didn’t always deliver to the levels you expect, but to have the highest membership tally for the second year in succession, more than 106,000 in 2021,
is amazing.

Being able to play in front of so many of you at Optus Stadium – and other venues around the country – is a genuine boost for our players. Obviously that couldn’t happen as often as any of us would have liked, but it meant we cherished it even more when our fans were in the house.   

Thank you also to everyone at the club for their unwavering commitment and support, starting at the top with chairman Russell Gibbs and the Board and CEO Trevor Nisbett and his executive team. While we didn’t achieve exactly what we were after, the strength of our club was again evident throughout 2021.

Craig Vozzo and the football department were exceptional in remaining focused on the ever-changing task when fixtures were often released mid-week and the logistical challenges were enormous as a result. With people like Ben Sharman and Peter Staples dealing with so many issues the players and coaching staff could mainly concentrate on preparation and performance.

I would also like to congratulate the Melbourne Football Club on winning the premiership. 

To Luke Webster, Gavin Bell, Mark Nicoski, Kyal Horsley and Tim Gepp, thank you for your tireless efforts in the last 12 months.

To Nicky and the kids, thanks for the balance you provide outside the AFL bubble. That is so important and clearly I couldn’t do what I do without your love and understanding.

We are looking forward with great excitement to 2022 and look forward to doing all we can to make the West Coast Eagles family proud. 

Adam Simpson
Senior Coach