2023 West Coast Eagles season

Last updated

West Coast Eagles
2023 season
Coach Adam Simpson
(10th season)
Captain(s) Luke Shuey
(4th season)
Home ground Optus Stadium
AFL season Finished 18th (last)
Leading goalkicker Oscar Allen
Highest home attendance47,940 vs. Carlton (round 7)
Lowest home attendance36,219 vs. Gold Coast (round 9)

The West Coast Eagles are an Australian rules football team based in Perth, Western Australia. Their 2023 season was their 37th season in the Australian Football League (AFL), their tenth season with Adam Simpson as coach, and their fourth and final season with Luke Shuey as captain. They ended the season with 3 wins and 20 losses, and a percentage of 53.0%

Contents

Background

Luke Shuey 2018.3.jpg
Adam Simpson 2018.1.jpg
Luke Shuey (captain) and Adam Simpson (coach)

The West Coast Eagles are an Australian rules football team based in Perth, Western Australia, that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). They ended the 2022 home-and-away season seventeenth, or second last, on the ladder, with only two wins and twenty losses, their worst result ever. They only narrowly avoided winning the wooden spoon because North Melbourne's percentage was worse. [1]

Prior to the start of the 2023 season, West Coast were widely expected to fare similarly to 2022. Out of a group of ten AFL.com.au journalists, all predicted that West Coast would finish the season 13th on the ladder or worse, with four predicting they would finish 16th. None of the journalists predicted that West Coast would finish last however. [2] Fox Sports used a Pythagorean expectation formula to predict that West Coast would finish the season 17th. [3] A group of Western Australia-based people from Nine Entertainment was more optimistic though, predicting West Coast would finish 12th, saying that they were unlucky with injuries in 2022, and that an influx of young players would help them be more competitive. [4]

Luke Shuey was voted in as captain for the fourth consecutive season. Jeremy McGovern remained a vice-captain and was joined by Tom Barrass, who replaced Nic Naitanui who declined to continue as part of the leadership group. [5] [6] Adam Simpson remained as coach for his tenth season. The assistant coaches are Matthew Knights (midfield), Jarrad Schofield (strategy and stoppages), Daniel Pratt (backs) and Luke Webster (forwards). The development coaches are Jacob Brennan (development coordinator), Mark Nicoski (forwards) and Kyal Horsley (midfield). [7]

Jayden Hunt joined West Coast as an unrestricted free agent on the first day of the 2022 trade period. He had previously played 114 games for Melbourne. [8] [9]

Playing list

Changes

Josh Kennedy retired at the end of the 2022 season, as was widely expected. [10] [11] Jack Redden also retired at the end of the season, albeit unexpectedly. [12] [13]

Removals from playing list
PlayerReasonGamesRef.
Josh Kennedy Retired293 (271 at West Coast) [10] [11]
Jack Redden Retired263 (234 at West Coast) [12] [13]
Additions to playing list
PlayerAcquiredFormer clubFormer leagueRef.
Jayden Hunt Unrestricted free agent Melbourne AFL [8] [9]

Statistics

Playing list and statistics (as of round 9) [14]
PlayerNo.Games Goals Behinds Kicks Handballs Disposals Marks Tackles Notes/Milestone(s)
Liam Ryan 1341309391511
Jake Waterman 2810878351134618
Andrew Gaff 3902941011953231
Dom Sheed 451154691232016
Jayden Hunt 5943116521684322
Elliot Yeo 62001862453
Reuben Ginbey 791145801251170
Elijah Hewett 830211142551
Sam Petrevski-Seton 106204828762118
Tim Kelly 119531101512613147
Oscar Allen 12924117128995016
Luke Shuey 13412373673717
Liam Duggan 14900137571946127
Jamie Cripps 15345152035125
Luke Edwards 166003841791620
Campbell Chesser 183021582387
Brady Hough 193001682467
Jeremy McGovern 20300361753221
Jack Petruccelle 21641332659818
Alex Witherden 2381096471433117
Xavier O'Neill 245233129601024
Shannon Hurn 2560089371262311
Zane Trew 262005131815
Jack Darling 27910125430843421
Tom Cole 284003232641910
Luke Foley 29400282250136
Jamaine Jones 31922104691733122
Bailey Williams 3291049641131028
Rhett Bazzo 3320036920
Josh Rotham 3560041950247
Connor West 366332939681212
Tom Barrass 379007442116574
Greg Clark 396123852901918
Callum Jamieson 4020053831
Harry Edwards 4210042631
Noah Long 445222336591013
Jai Culley 49552142842815

Season summary

In the 2023 AFL season, each team played 23 games and had a mid-season bye. West Coast played North Melbourne, Fremantle, Carlton, Richmond, Essendon, and Adelaide twice, and all the other teams once. Only one game was played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the venue of the grand final, against Richmond. There were three games at Adelaide Oval as a result of the Gather Round, where West Coast played Geelong in Adelaide. Other venues included four games at Docklands Stadium in Melbourne, one game at The Gabba in Brisbane, one game at the Sydney Cricket Ground, and one game against Hawthorn at University of Tasmania Stadium in Launceston, Tasmania.

Results

Regular season results [15]
RoundDayDateResultScoreOpponentScoreGroundAttendanceLadderMarginRef.
GBTGBT
1 Saturday18 MarchLost121082 North Melbourne 121587 Marvel Stadium A21,27411th-5 [16]
2 Sunday26 MarchWon1416100 Greater Western Sydney 111581 Optus Stadium H44,6499th+19 [17]
3 Sunday2 AprilLost91367 Fremantle 1612108 Optus Stadium A56,09012th-41 [18]
4 Sunday9 AprilLost9963 Melbourne 1912126 Optus Stadium H42,45816th-63 [19]
5 Sunday16 AprilLost131189 Geelong 2110136 Adelaide Oval N30,12017th-47 [20]
6 Saturday22 AprilLost10969 Port Adelaide 1613109 Adelaide Oval A31,63817th-40 [21]
7 Sunday29 AprilLost6844 Carlton 2314152 Optus Stadium H47,94018th-108 [22]
8 Saturday6 MayLost81058 Richmond 1514104 Melbourne Cricket Ground A28,29317th-46 [23]
9 Friday12 MayLost6743 Gold Coast 1617113 Optus Stadium H36,21918th-70 [24]
10 Sunday21 MayLost4226 Hawthorn 2210142 University of Tasmania Stadium A18th-116[ citation needed ]
11 Saturday27 MayLost61046 Essendon 141296 Optus Stadium H18th-50[ citation needed ]
12 Saturday3 JuneLost8957 Collingwood 1812120 Optus Stadium H18th-63[ citation needed ]
13 Saturday10 JuneLost8452 Adelaide 2712174 Adelaide Oval A18th-122
14 Bye
15 Saturday24 JuneLost5434 Sydney 3119205 Sydney Cricket Ground A18th-171[ citation needed ]
16 Sunday2 JulyLost12577 St Kilda 121385 Optus Stadium H18th-8
17 Saturday8 JulyLost5535 Brisbane Lions 1620116 The Gabba A18th-81
18 Sunday16 JulyLost81260 Richmond 141498 Optus Stadium H18th-38
19 Saturday22 JulyLost10969 Carlton 2114140 Marvel Stadium A18th-71
20 Sunday30 JulyWon101272 North Melbourne 10767 Optus Stadium H18th+5
21 Saturday5 AugustLost11672 Essendon 101373 Marvel Stadium A18th-1
22 Saturday12 AugustLost4933 Fremantle 2014134 Optus Stadium H18th-101
23 Sunday20 AugustWon14892 Western Bulldogs 121385 Marvel Stadium A17th+7
24 Saturday26 AugustLost12678 Adelaide 1721123 Optus Stadium H18th-45
Key
HHome game
AAway game
NNeutral game

Ladder

PosTeamPldWLDPFPAPPPtsQualification
1 Collingwood (P)23185021421687127.072Finals series
2 Brisbane Lions 23176021801771123.168
3 Port Adelaide 23176021491906112.768
4 Melbourne 23167020791660125.264
5 Carlton 23139119221697113.354
6 St Kilda 231310017751647107.852
7 Greater Western Sydney 231310020181885107.152
8 Sydney 231210120501863110.050
9 Western Bulldogs 231211019191766108.748
10 Adelaide 231112021931877116.844
11 Essendon 23111201838205089.744
12 Geelong 231012120881855112.642
13 Richmond 23101211856198393.642
14 Fremantle 23101301835189896.740
15 Gold Coast 2391401839200691.736
16 Hawthorn 2371601686210180.228
17 North Melbourne 2332001657231871.512
18 West Coast 2332001418267453.012
Source: afl.com.au
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) percentage; 3) number of points for
(P) Premiers

WAFL team

Robert Wiley was West Coast's WAFL coach. [7]

Awards

Reuben Ginbey was nominated for the Rising Star award in round three, making him the first Rising Star nomination from West Coast since Oscar Allen in round 21, 2019. [25] [26] Jai Culley was nominated for the Rising Star award in round six. [27] [28]

Awards received by West Coast players
AwardAwarded byPlayerResultRef.
Rising Star Australian Football League Reuben Ginbey (round 3)Nominated [25] [26]
Jai Culley (round 6)Nominated [27] [28]

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The West Coast Eagles are a professional Australian rules football club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 as one of two expansion teams in the Australian Football League (AFL), then known as the Victorian Football League. The club plays its home games at Optus Stadium and has its headquarters at Lathlain Park. The West Australian Football Commission wholly owns the West Coast Eagles and the Fremantle Football Club, the AFL's other Western Australian team.

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It's obviously different to the build-up of any normal game... We don't care what else is happening in the country, which is great."

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