It's a very good year for footy in the west and may become great. Both Fremantle and West Coast sit proudly at one and two on the AFL ladder. But where are the best players from the west?
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Fremantle played 16 WA products this season, while West Coast had 21. But spare a thought for those who slipped through the cracks and became stranded interstate, left to languish below second place on the ladder.
How does a combined Freo and West Coast team of WA players stack up against the best of the rest…from the west?
The toughest selection decision for WA is who gets the starting ruck position? Aaron Sandilands or Nic Naitanui? You can't go wrong with either. They both make the team and share the load against Paddy Ryder who is going to have to go solo on this occasion. Matt Leuenberger hasn't made the cut.
In the guts Matt Priddis, Nat Fyfe and Chris Masten take on Andrew Swallow, Patrick Cripps, Tom Mitchell and Harley Bennell, provided he's behaving. The locals appear to have that battle won on paper but things get interesting if the interstaters feed the ball out to Lewis Jetta or Brad Hill, who would presumably be chased by brother Stephen.
Expect Stephen Hill to be chasing Bradley Hill...and vice versa. Photo: Quinn Rooney
Should the interstate team get it forward they have got some fire power. Lance Franklin is lethal at his best (and assuming he is available, given current health issues), Jesse Hogan can do some damage, Cale Hooker has become a valuable swingman, while Jeff Garlett managed 40 goals for a struggling Melbourne side.
If the ball gets delivered well into that forward line it's hard to stop. If it doesn't Jeremy McGovern, Michael Johnson, Luke McPharlin, Garrick Ibbotson, Elliot Yeo and Brad Sheppard have a field day.
At the other end, 2014 All-Australian Alex Rance has his hands full with Coleman medallist Josh Kennedy. Fortunately for WA if the West Coast spearhead has a quiet day, you'd expect Jack Darling, Mark LeCras and Michael Walters to kick a score. Hayden Ballantyne is watching on from the sidelines.
Josh Kennedy would be likely to give Alex Rance some headaches.
As with any representative side there are plenty of unlucky omissions. Eric Mackenzie, Jaeger O'Meara and David Swallow miss out through injury. Alan Toovey, Nathan Van Berlo, Ben Howlett, Cam McCarthy among others caused headaches at the selection table.
The stay-at-home side goes into this game heavy favourites but the boys who used to call WA home should put up a good contest. What do you think?
The WA-based Sandgropers:
F: Walters, Kennedy, Cripps
HF: Mayne, Darling, LeCras
C: S Hill, Priddis, Sheed
HB: Yeo, McPharlin, Johnson
B: Sheppard, McGovern, Ibbotson
R: Sandilands, Fyfe, Masten
Int: Naitanui, J Hill, C Pearce, Wellingham
The interstate West Aussies:
F: Fasolo, Franklin, Garlett
HF: Coniglio, Hogan, Hooker
C: B Hill, Cripps, Jetta
HB: Johannisen, Taylor, Rich
B: Stratton, Rance, Williams
R: Ryder, Swallow, Mitchell
Int: Matera, Bennell, Palmer, Duncan
Steve Allen is a producer with Radio 6PR and contributor to WAtoday's weekly AFL101 column. He also hosts the very entertaining (if occasionally esoteric) Interchange Podcast.