WEST COAST
By Conor Morrissey
It was a season to remember for West Coast, who overcame absences to key players to win perhaps the most famous of the club’s four premierships.
West Coast suffered a five-goal-to-zero start on the big stage against Collingwood, which must have brought back dark memories of their miserable showing in the 2015 Grand Final.
However their backline, led by big men Jeremy McGovern, Tom Barrass and Will Schofield, completely put the brakes on the Magpies, and eventually the famous forward line partnership of Josh Kennedy and Jack Darling came to life.
But the most memorable moment came off the boot of Dom Sheed, whose clutch set shot put the Eagles in front by five points with two minutes left.
It was the last thing anyone in the media expected six months earlier.
In 2017, Drew Petrie kicked 16 goals from 16 games and Sam Mitchell racked up high numbers as always, but when people wrote West Coast off due to the spate of retirements last season, they overestimated the playing impact those two had had in their twilight.
In fact, Sam Mitchell polled his lowest number of Brownlow votes since 2004.
Brownlow medallist Matt Priddis also retired, and like the other two, his 2017 was a long way from the pinnacle of his esteemed career.
The departures of Sam Butler, Josh Hill and Sharrod Wellingham were – understandably – somewhat overlooked, but the same theory applied: their best football was long in the rear-view mirror.
The predictions of a drastic slide down the ladder seemed to imply the Eagles had been heavily reliant on their older players.
Amid all the lowly predictions from media pundits, a few things happened: Nic Naitanui returned, Liam Ryan and Willie Rioli came in, and the defenders completely stopped handballing.
West Coast were far more boring in defence and far more exciting in attack this year, as they would kick the ball around and spread defences out by switching the ball back and forth from wing to wing, until they had space up forward to capitalise on a lethal combination of six terrific and unique forwards.
Jack Darling burst out of the blocks in the first half of the year and powered the Eagles’ brilliant 10 game winning streak with some inspired football, and they went into the bye sitting pretty at 10-1, despite having Luke Shuey and Josh Kenendy miss chunks of footy.
Kennedy, Darling, Ryan and the reborn Mark LeCras all had different struggles with availability in the second half of the season and West Coast fell away slightly, going 6-5 in the second half of the season.
In fact, it took until week one of the finals series for Darling, Kennedy, Ryan, Rioli, LeCras and Jamie Cripps to play in the same team, but in the meantime they still qualified for second position.
Two massive lowlights came within a month.
First, Nic Naitanui, whose return had completely transformed the midfield, suffering a second ACL injury, and then Andrew Gaff, in the best form of his life, broke the jaw of young Docker Andrew Brayshaw with a sickening punch, resulting in both Eagles missing the rest of the season.
Nathan Vardy, Scott Lycett and Dom Sheed stepped up thereafter, all contributing to the premiership push, and the same went for Will Schofield when he came in for dependable defender, Brad Sheppard, in the finals series.
The “flat-track bullies” tag long since shrugged off, the Eagles went 3-0 in the finals series, with a gritty win over a gallant Collingwood in Perth, and then a thrashing of Melbourne in the Preliminary Final.
They entered the season with speculation around three free agents, and they retained the most important one in Jeremy McGovern, but it looks likely that both Andrew Gaff and Scott Lycett will leave.
But if Geelong’s Tim Kelly finds his way to West Coast this year, the Eagles look well-positioned to achieve the long-term success that eluded them after their 2006 premiership.
COLLINGWOOD
By Zac Standish
Euphoria, pride, surprise and most importantly heartbreak.
These were the overriding emotions experienced by all Collingwood fans in season 2018, as they overcame all odds to make its first Grand Final since 2011, however just fell short to a better side on the day.
It will forever be known as the one that got away, as despite leading for the vast majority of proceedings, were pipped right at the end by a more experienced West Coast outfit.
Despite the loss on Grand Final day, 2018 was a success anyway you look at it for the Collingwood Football Club, as the players completely bought into a renewed game plan, despite a season ravaged by injury.
With coach Nathan Buckley under extraordinary amounts of pressure following a string of under-performing seasons, it was a rocky start for the men in black and white after conceding the first two games of the year.
The biggest turning point came just four rounds into the season, when the Magpies travelled to the City of Churches to take on reigning grand finalists, Adelaide.
With absolutely no expectations, the visitors dominated the Crows from start to finish, with a 48-point win on the road announcing to the rest of the competition that they had arrived.
Their stunning victory was quickly followed by a string of excellent performances, as Collingwood began to rapidly make its way up the ladder.
A big mid-season win against an in-form Melbourne on the Queen’s Birthday would again solidify their place as an elite team, with the possibility of finals - for the first time in five years - fast becoming a distinct possibility.
Despite their improvement across the board, the Magpies’ main weakness was their inability to topple the absolute best, accumulating only one win against the eventual top-eight in the home and away season, resulting in many not seeing them as a threat come finals.
But much like they had done for the majority of the year, Collingwood continued to surprise.
A gallant loss to the second-placed West Coast at Optus Stadium in the second qualifying final showed the growth of the young side, instilling supporters with confidence that they can deliver on the big stage.
Having dealt with a strong Greater Western Sydney side in the semi-final, Collingwood faced a rampaging Richmond side in the preliminary final.
With the odds once again stacked against them, produced their masterpiece, smoking the reigning premiers from the first bounce to book their place in the Grand Final.
With only slight changes from their 2017 squad, Collingwood adopted a Richmond-like philosophy to their football this season, with forward half pressure and speed on the ball delivering great results.
In such a successful year, it was a relatively even spread as everybody played their roles brilliantly at the Holden Centre.
However, there are a few individuals that need to be recognised for their efforts in 2018.
Class midfielder Steele Sidebottom took his game to a new level this season, taking himself from an unsung hero to genuine star of the competition.
Brodie Grundy emerged as a class ruckman, earning his first All Australian nomination for his stellar season, while Mason Cox spearheaded the new Magpie attack, alongside future stars Jaidyn Stephenson and Jordan De Goey.
After narrowly missing out on the premiership in 2018, expectations will be high for Collingwood as they look to back up a breakout season.
Boasting the competition’s best midfield, an underrated albeit potent attack, as well as a host of quality players to return from injury, this side is as well-placed as any in the AFL at the moment.
Now, they face the challenge of backing up their 2018 campaign with another strong season in 2019, as they look to build a black and white dynasty for years to come.
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