Premiership Eagle Will Schofield is adamant that West Coast are capable of finishing in the top eight this season.
The Eagles finished 17th last year, winning just two games and avoiding the wooden spoon only by percentage.
While SEN SA’s Kym Dillon is tipping the Eagles to go further downhill and finish bottom this season, Schofield has the opposite view on his former club.
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“In my experience, in 14 years of footy, I’ve played in a wooden spoon so I know what it takes to win a wooden spoon, I’ve played in a premiership, I’ve played in a losing Grand Final,” he told SEN SA’s The Run Home.
“I really do think that West Coast are a far more likely chance of making the top eight than winning the wooden spoon.”
Having spent time with the club throughout pre-season, Schofield believes the side is drastically different to last season.
“Speaking to a few players, I think the feeling is right, now that might sound a bit strange from a footy point of view,” he said.
“I’ve done the highs and lows and very rarely does who is on your list have anything to do with you winning the premiership.
“Now of course you need talent, of course you need good players but more often than not the best team in the country is the feeling, it’s the culture, it’s the way players are connected and what I’m seeing over here, it makes a bigger point than who’s available.”
Even though Schofield placed emphasis on the importance of culture, he is still tipping West Coast to boast a top tier list this year.
“The West Coast Eagles will bring 12 players that played under 10 games for the football club last year back into that list,” he said.
“You can’t compare the last year, it’s not going to be the same team, it’s going to be a different team.
“Let me just throw these names at you, Oscar Allen played zero games last year, Dom Sheed played one, Elliot Yeo played five, Tom Cole played zero, (Nic) Naitanui played eight, (Jeremy) McGovern 10, so there’s six guys under 10 games.
“There’s best and fairest winners, All-Australian winners, I mean one of them is the best rucks the competition has seen in the last 20 years.”
Of that group of players, Schofield is expecting Elliot Yeo and Jeremy McGovern to have massive bounce back years.
“You can only look at them training right, I’ve seen Elliot Yeo train, he’s been best on ground the last two times I’ve seen them train,” he said.
“Jeremy McGovern, he’s a four-time All-Australian, I think you can put him down as a five-time All-Australian, I think he’ll have the best year that he’s had in the AFL.”
One of the biggest critiques of West Coast is the age of their list, however Schofield is quick to dismiss those concerns.
“It is ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous, Geelong says hold my beer, (Patrick) Dangerfield, (Tom) Hawkins, (Joel) Selwood, these guys, I’ve heard all this before,” he said.
“Then they’ve got a young brigade, they’ve got guys that they’ve brought onto the list, and that’s what I was a little bit shocked at.
“Who have they added, some category Bs and Jayden Hunt, well how about Reuben Ginbey, Elijah Hewett, Jai Culley, Noah Long, Campbell Chesser.
“There’s five guys that I think will play a lot of footy.”
The Eagles will have their first chance to put Schofield’s expectations to the test when they take on North Melbourne in Round 1.