West Coast Eagles Football Club

Yeah.

And then where did he go after that? West Coast Eagles.

West Coast.

West Coast was more when I played him.

The other Sunday game, Melbourne and Essendon, that's at 3.45 Adelaide time.

And then the West Coast Eagles taking on the Gold Coast Suns.

So we get to watch Port Adelaide and stuff the other two games, respectfully.

Get

Hashim, which is good news? Yeah, but another thing,

why are the Gold Coast Suns hosting West Coast at their home ground? Why is Optus Stadium hosting two games in a round? What's the

reason? So I think they like the fact that they're trying to reduce the travel factor.

So the rest of the fixture is on Sunday, North Melbourne and Port Adelaide Marble Stadium at 1.10 start.

Melbourne and Essendon MCG Sunday, 3.15 start.

West Coast and the Gold Coast at Optus Stadium, 3.10 start.

It's all part of the plan to make sure Tryan have Fremantle and the West Coast do less travel.

So there's two games at Optus Stadium in round one.

Jed Buse is going to join us.

He's coming over to play for the West Coast Eagles waffle site.

Good get.

170-odd games for John Lee.

What a start.

That's a really good get for him.

Apparently they've been working fairly hard West Coast and throwing a little bit around to try and make their waffle team a little stronger and have a crack at it.

I believe sign-on fees don't count in salary caps.

Which is interesting because once you add the likely bids at the top of the draft order for Port Adelaide NGA prospect Dougie Cochran and Carlton's father-son prospect Cody Walker...

West Coast's number three pick will become pick five.

So Essendon affirming to pick Ethan Drever, a Victorian kid who has risen up the draft rankings a little bit like Melody has with their first pick.

And that leaves Richmond ahead of the Eagles as the one club who might beat them to Melody.

WA kids are easier and cheaper to re-sign and retain.

It puts you in a better position to be able to retain others from elsewhere because there is more room left in the salary cap.

But West Coast might not have that choice.

And if they don't, the next player down the pecking order, Butler, is a player that definitely fits a need the club has.

Yeah, it was kind of a few of those little things that I'm like, yeah, I could definitely do this

Jed Buse, who has been recruited specifically to play in West Coast Waffle Team.

And what they are doing is they're putting a lot of resources around their young players in the Waffle, which hopefully makes them competitive, which hopefully aids their development, which is good.

But we always have to remember that what will shift the needle at West Coast is the development of their younger players and the improvement in those younger players.

So good that They have Jed Buse in to aid that, but the key is that those young players come on and become viable AFL players, and that's when we'll see West Coast start to climb the ladder again.

Well experienced.

I didn't realise he played that many games when I heard the interview this morning.

Yeah, a very good position.

And we've had one this year.

And she came and she didn't have to do her 88 days, but she just wanted to come and have a bit of fun picking oranges and see the West Coast.

So most of our backpackers in the last two years have been French or we get odd German backpackers.

Are you worried that what happened with the British people when they took away their need to do the 88 days will happen to people from other nations as well?

It's the third case the Justice Department has brought against James Comey in a year, this time accusing him of sharing sensitive national security information in 2016.

The former FBI director has been a target of Donald Trump for years after initiating the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

The AFL has confirmed both West Coast and Fremantle will open their 2027 seasons at Perth Stadium.

The Dockers will host the Western Bulldogs on March the 18th at ten past five in the afternoon, while the Eagles will play the last of the round one fixtures against Gold Coast on Sunday the 21st.

Which is interesting because once you add the likely bids at the top of the draft order for Port Adelaide NGA prospect Dougie Cochran and Carlton's father-son prospect Cody Walker...

West Coast's number three pick will become pick five.

So Essendon affirming to pick Ethan Drever, a Victorian kid who has risen up the draft rankings a little bit like Melody has with their first pick.

And that leaves Richmond ahead of the Eagles as the one club who might beat them to Melody.

WA kids are easier and cheaper to re-sign and retain.

It puts you in a better position to be able to retain others from elsewhere because there is more room left in the salary cap.

But West Coast might not have that choice.

And if they don't, the next player down the pecking order, Butler, is a player that definitely fits a need the club has.

A blockbuster here on March 18.

And we expect to have a doubleheader here as well with West Coast playing Gold Coast.

So a bit of a switch up there from opening round here.

More on AFL fixturing for Thought 3 and more on the league sense of theatre.