Coach NEW HEAD COACH - Welcome to West Coast: Andrew McQualter

[Dom sheed pocket]

What could Duggan say to appease the mob in here?

"**** we are so shit. I am so shit. Tim Kelly is so shit. As a team we are so shit. The players genuinely suck."

That'd inspire confidence coming from your captain yeah?

He could stop taking us for a ride.

Either he thinks that is an acceptable level of effort - and is part of the problem, or he should be honest and say- we need to have a long hard look ourselves and senior players need to play a lot better, becuase right now it’s just not good enough.

Let’s not forget, Duggan, Kelly, Oscar are all players on 800K minimum, Kelly a lot more than that.

If you want the big pay checks, you’ve got to hold yourself to those standards, otherwise be prepared for some pretty direct feedback.

 

[Goroyals22]

What could Duggan say to appease the mob in here?

"**** we are so shit. I am so shit. Tim Kelly is so shit. As a team we are so shit. The players genuinely suck."

That'd inspire confidence coming from your captain yeah?

Actually he should. Would show he accepts he is nothing more than a below average player and puts other below average players in the same boat..

Only thing that would show more leadership would be to resign the captaincy and state to set standards after the jones non chase he deserves the week in the wafl to up his game.

 

[garlic munchers]

Let's not sacrifice a winnable game, kids get confidence from winning.

Carlton ain't a winnable game.

Bombers 30/70, Melbourne 25/75 with our pop gun mids, with Roos 60/40 being arguably winnable at home/Bunbury.

Lose to Roos then Hands down we are in crisis mode.

 

[RookiePick]

What could Duggan say to appease the mob in here?

"**** we are so shit. I am so shit. Tim Kelly is so shit. As a team we are so shit. The players genuinely suck."

That'd inspire confidence coming from your captain yeah?

I'm booked to have coffee with several head coaches during gather round.

 

[rebel23]

Tbh ...all these soft chat Kumbaya sessions won't make a difference....

The only thing that will is getting dropped to the WAFL.

So Mini should just start dropping players who continuously can't stick a tackle.... Or won't go in for the hard ball... Or won't chase or won't give second efforts.

If they are scared for their spots you'll soon see a change in onfield behaviour.

Having experience and age on the field isn't a selection bonus if you aren't able to set good standards and actually perform.... (Case in point Graham, Kelly, Duggan Allan)

 

[JackOutback]

Carlton ain't a winnable game.

Bombers 30/70, Melbourne 25/75 with our pop gun mids and Roos 60/40 are arguably winnable at home/Bunbury.

Carlton don't have a win yet, if our effort is more akin to the Brisbane game and not the GWS game, it's winnable.

 

[No Hassle Hough]

Carlton don't have a win yet, if our effort is more akin to the Brisbane game and not the GWS game, it's winnable.

Admire your optimism.

Feel like Brisbane are just doing enough to bank wins with minimal injuries (they know it's a long season).

GWS, Gold Coast and Adelaide are going flat out now (how long they can sustain that is the question).

If we bring the same effort as the Brisbane game we may get close to Carlton, but without Gov it's going to be tough.

 

[DanWCE]

Admire your optimism.

Feel like Brisbane are just doing enough to bank wins with minimal injuries (they know it's a long season).

GWS, Gold Coast and Adelaide are going flat out now (how long they can sustain that is the question).

If we bring the same effort as the Brisbane game we may get close to Carlton, but without Gov it's going to be tough.

Carlton do get pretty lucky playing us without our key backs. Is this the third game in a row now?

 

[Bender_]

Carlton do get pretty lucky playing us without our key backs. Is this the third game in a row now?

We single handedly gave Curnow a Coleman and Walker a top 5 finish.

 

[PremiershipNo4]

Kudos to Mini for backing in Archer Reid, and throwing around the chess pieces in the midfield, he has backed Kelly in thus far, will be interesting to see how long that lasts.

 

[amazingjoshy]

What could Duggan say to appease the mob in here?

"**** we are so shit. I am so shit. Tim Kelly is so shit. As a team we are so shit. The players genuinely suck."

That'd inspire confidence coming from your captain yeah?

Nothing would appease some, but he could have (quite easily) said that the effort wasn't good enough and we're working hard to rectify that

 

[Ambrose Burnside]

Nothing would appease some, but he could have (quite easily) said that the effort wasn't good enough and we're working hard to rectify that

Needs more synergy.

 

[Barrybran]

Carlton don't have a win yet, if our effort is more akin to the Brisbane game and not the GWS game, it's winnable.

It's winnable from the perspective that we did pretty well against Brisbane and we virtually matched GWS for I50s. I think we're closer than many people realise but it will take time for boys to get certain things right. Carlton, as terrible as they have been, should still pump us. If we can get a little more creative moving the ball forward, we could pull off an early win.

 

[Barrybran]

Needs more synergy.

While I understand you say this in jest, it is partly true

 

[new breed]

Good bloke , calm , talks sense .

 

[JackOutback]

It's winnable from the perspective that we did pretty well against Brisbane and we virtually matched GWS for I50s. I think we're closer than many people realise but it will take time for boys to get certain things right. Carlton, as terrible as they have been, should still pump us. If we can get a little more creative moving the ball forward, we could pull off an early win.

I agree. Carlton aren’t as bad as their 0-4 record suggests and will be favourites, but it’s still ‘winnable’ given the injuries they are dealing with.

 

[SAweagle]

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Can’t see anyway Liam Baker isnt our stand alone captain next year.

The 3 richmond braniacs, Bakes could start doing some of those '"little things" by kicking the ball to teammates when he gets it.

 

[SAweagle]

What could Duggan say to appease the mob in here?

"**** we are so shit. I am so shit. Tim Kelly is so shit. As a team we are so shit. The players genuinely suck."

That'd inspire confidence coming from your captain yeah?

Being honest inspires confidence, and Duggan is flat out lying

 

[PremiershipNo4]

Needs more synergy.

Corporate wank speak right there, when Simmo said we just needed some Synergy, I just knew it was code for, I’ve got no ****ing idea what to do.
As Bob Marley sung
“You can fool some people sometimes
But you can't fool all the people all the time”

 

[SAweagle]

It's genuinely embarassing that Duggan and Allen are our captains

No mate, people are not even embarrassed that one of the co captains met a rival coach in Peth a week after THAT derby perfomance.

Read the room bro, its alllll good, its brilliant for the young eagles to see that sort of thing happening, old Reidy might even think well if skip can do it so can i, what's the harm? I don't really want to leave but let's have a chat anyway.

 

[Barrybran]

No mate, people are not even embarrassed that one of the co captains met a rival coach in Peth a week after THAT derby perfomance.

Read the room bro, its alllll good, its brilliant for the young eagles to see that sort of thing happening, old Reidy might even think well if skip can do it so can i, what's the harm? I don't really want to leave but let's have a chat anyway.

You seem really unhappy about everything. Would you like a hug?

 

[Avalor]

Mini - make a statement! Cut out the cancerous malaise. Duggan, Kelly in particular MUST NOT play this week against Carlton. Simply mustn't!

 

[HoneyBadger35]

Bit sick of the cancer rhetoric I think folks.

I can predict the responses to this, but I reckon if you can’t criticise the season some of our players are having without calling them cancer then you’re not trying hard enough.

 

[garlic munchers]

We single handedly gave Curnow a Coleman and Walker a top 5 finish.

And some bloke called Kemp who not even shade for Dean, a day out.

 

[Astro7]

Re: Mini, just want to see some good passages of play strung together and young players improving or at least gaining confidence (early days, needing that 50 game experience). Not fussed about wins, just want to see the game plan take shape, heading towards close losses even.

As a coach he's juggling many variables, injuries, seniors performances, the quality of oppo and coach on the day, experimenting/finding the right position for players to best suit his 'plan', while getting the players to be more flexible in their roles, to keep structure and shape, and still learning as a head coach. Then there's the added bonus of having to keep team spirits afloat and on the same page when they're getting belted week in-week out (selling the dream). The seniors have been through nearly 4-5 gruelling years of beltings and losses, little wonder their focus or performances slip. It must take its toll at times. Not making excuses for anyone, just trying to look at it without the angry pills!

There's a lot to pull together with a rebuild and a team on the canvas, and on shifting sands. I know all this seems obvious, but there's no simple quick remedy, it's the long haul. Might see improvement towards back half of the season, something to take into 2026 and build on, with that trade/draft.

I'm not sold on Mini as a coach yet, still too early. But I like the way he handles and answers the pressers, calm and focussed. Also not fully sold on the Baker, Graham, Owies thing yet, apart from their hard intent and leadership, and helping to embed the game plan (sometimes seeming as much a hindrance as a help?) As dual premiership players, their skills are underwhelming, but maybe need to see it play out more.(we will regardless). They're on 3 and 4 year contracts. Baker might last, but the others will be gone by then.

Fwiw, I'll be surprised if any seniors get dropped soon, maybe swung to different positions.