Which AFL club has had the worst off-season?
Veteran journalist Caroline Wilson believes the answer is West Coast – “by a million miles”.
The Eagles have been hit hard by injuries, with the likes of Luke Shuey, Oscar Allen and Jamie Cripps sidelined, while Brad Sheppard was forced to retire due to ongoing concussion issues.
Star forward Jack Darling is also currently refusing to be vaccinated, throwing his status up in the air.
Wilson also took aim at the club’s AFLW program, given their lack of support for the competition’s pride round.
“I’ll have to travel west to make a decision here (on which team has had the worst off-season). I mean, there have been issues at several Victorian clubs,” Wilson told the Don’t Shoot the Messenger podcast.
“Carlton has had an embarrassing backflip on a new executive, embarrassing for the new CEO Brian Cook, and Collingwood has had Jordan De Goey.
“The list goes on, but West Coast by a million miles has won the AFL club with the worst off-season.
“Oscar Allen is in a moon boot, their captain Luke Shuey is injured again, Jack Darling, another great forward, is refusing to be vaccinated, and they are the only AFLW club who didn’t wear a pride jumper when pride round was held in January.
“Their reasoning was embarrassing, very, very badly explained and back to the arrogant old West Coast.
“Their AFLW coach made the unfortunate comment that; ‘the pride thing has been done to death and I want to talk about the footy’ and that they didn’t have time to make a jumper or something. It was just ridiculous.
“On and off the field, Trevor Nisbett, who has been CEO of that club for a long time … he’s done a great job in many areas, but has had some black marks along the way including the drug saga of the early 2000s, but seriously, it’s been a shocker for them.”
West Coast will take on Fremantle in a practice game at Optus Stadium on Friday, as well as the following week in the AAMI Community Series.
The Eagles’ AFLW side currently sits in second last place on the ladder with one win and a percentage of 58.
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