No Shuey. No Gaff. No Kelly. No Yeo. No Sheed.

The West Coast Eagles midfield was decimated. 'No chance' said most of the football world as the Eagles tackled Collingwood at Marvel Stadium last Saturday.

The absence of those players drew a sharp focus from pundits predicting the likely outcome. Fair enough too.

There was more than a bit of talent within that handful of stars sitting out the game.

The one man standing who could lead an otherwise unheralded midfield group was Jack Redden. Highly accomplished, but it you looked up the term ‘unobtrusive star’ there would surely be a picture of Redden sitting alongside it.

There he was, driving the engine room and steering the likes of Xavier O’Neill, Connor West, Luke Edwards and Patrick Naish as the club recorded one of the great qualifying round victories in its history.

Again, Redden received few plaudits for his role. But make no mistake he was a key to it.

His statistics were modest; nine kicks, 13 handballs and four marks. Numbers don’t define leadership.

His work at the coalface was pivotal and in the last quarter and when Collingwood surged forward, he took a wonderful contested mark using his strength to out-body Josh Daicos and clutch a critical one-hander to his chest.    

Not for the first time Redden stood up when the midfield was under-manned.

The strong-bodied work horse, valued so highly internally, is not one to generate a lot of attention within the broader AFL spotlight. Remarkable really.

A hard-nosed competitor, traded to the Eagles for its first selection (#17) from Brisbane in the 2015  trade period, has been an integral part of this team for seven seasons. A blue collar tradesman who gets the job done.

He might have made an inauspicious start to his career at the Eagles after 129 games with the Lions but he has been a wonderful acquisition.

That quiet start could be attributed to a hernia issue he battled for a year or two, but there has been no clearer definition of his worth than the 2018 premiership campaign.

He shared Player of the Finals status with Dom Sheed and was exceptional with a total 63 possessions in the qualifying final against Collingwood and the preliminary final against Melbourne. He backed it up in the Grand Final.

Redden was one of six players who began their careers with other clubs to be a part of that premiership triumph – the others being Josh Kennedy, Jamie Cripps, Yeo, Lewis Jetta and Nathan Vardy.

Some canny recruiting right there.

Kennedy was involved in the most publicised trade, coming via Carlton when Chris Judd returned to his home State in 2007. He has been a marvel up forward as a two-time Coleman medallist and last week was honoured with AFL life membership.

Last night Cripps played his 200^th game, including his 16 for St Kilda before making his way back to his home State in the 2012 trade period, while Yeo, Jetta and Vardy were also key players in the club’s fourth flag.

Redden, who has now played 246 senior games – 117 of them in blue and gold – has been no less impactful.

He is a highly regarded teammate and clubman, his attention to detail paramount to his remarkable consistency.