From West Coast’s need to tag a superstar of the game to Fremantle’s new attitude, The West Australian’s Mitchell Woodcock takes a no-holds-barred approach to this week in football...

Daicos Dilemma

Sending a tagger to Nick Daicos from the first bounce is a non-negotiable for West Coast coach Andrew McQualter when the two teams meet at Marvel Stadium on Saturday.

McQualter has been reluctant to employ full shutdown jobs on the opposition star midfielders early on in his tenure as he tries to instil the new gameplan into the team.

This is admirable, but he must take a horses for courses approach with the next decision.

They need to learn their lesson from Bailey Smith’s first-quarter antics in their loss to Geelong earlier this year.

Smith went unchecked for the term and went rampant, racking up 15 disposals, four score involvements and four clearances.

McQualter eventually sent Brady Hough to run with Smith, and while he still had a big impact for the Cats, it was not as bad as it looked early on.

Daicos can do similar if not more damage if he runs around without plenty of attention under the roof of Marvel Stadium.

The 22-year-old loves playing against West Coast. In only three appearances against West Coast, he averages 33 disposals and a goal, racking up eight Brownlow votes in that time.

Under the roof at Docklands, he averages 30 touches and a goal and against the Eagles there last year he earned three Brownlow votes with 36 disposals, seven tackles seven clearances, six inside 50s and a goal.

Hough should return to the side after missing the loss to Carlton with illness and be given the task of running with Daicos for four quarters.

The likelihood of the Eagles being able to stop Daicos is low, but they must at least attempt it if they are any hope of the upset of the season.

It is also probably going to take a team defensive effort to ensure he doesn’t run free but put simply there are few players in the AFL who can have a bigger impact on the game than Daicos.

Time To Wing It

McQualter has been strong on selection integrity in his first year at West Coast and this must spell danger for a few senior players.

Their first quarter effort against Carlton cannot be forgotten over the bye and some experienced Eagles must pay the price for not being able to stand up.

Jayden Hunt was subbed out with only two disposals on the wing and is averaging only 13 disposals from 14 games this season.

Hunt not had more than 18 disposals in a game at all this season and has not had more than 12 touches in his past four games.

Tyrell Dewar has shown what he can do on one wing and Jack Hutchinson and Ryan Maric are being given a chance on the other.

Hunt must go back to the WAFL to earn his spot in the best 23.

Tim Kelly and Hutchinson also might find himself back in the WAFL after only 10 touches and seven touches against the Blues respectively.

The Eagles will be without co-captain Oscar Allen as well opening the door for Archer Reid to return.

Harry Edwards is under an injury cloud giving Jobe Shanahan the chance to debut, while Tom Gross, Lucca Grego and Hamish Davis are all pushing for more gametime.

There are going to be some serious calls made in the final half of the season for McQualter and they should start this week.

Tough Freo Are Good Freo

I have been strong in my criticism of Fremantle not being tough or ruthless enough in their poor performances earlier this season.

So, you must praise them fully for the way they played in their win over Essendon at Optus Stadium on Thursday night.

The way Fremantle attacked the footy and tackled was with an intensity that should personify their performances for the rest of the season.

Several of Pat Voss’ tackles were intense but legal, showing the young Bombers that no matter how hard they fought they were never going to be in the game.

And then there were the incredible brave acts of two players fighting for a spot in the best 23 in Nathan O’Driscoll and Matt Johnson.

Both players went back with the flight of the ball and while they shouldn’t be encouraged to because of the concussion related issues plaguing the league, they both came away OK and should be praised.

The ruthless and unsociable Hawthorn side that won premierships between 2013 and 2015 played in a similar manner.

They were uncompromising but fair. Beat up on weaker teams and when it came to fellow contenders, they intimated them before they walked out of the changerooms.

Fremantle can do that as well and back it up with their excellent skills with the talent that is ladened throughout their list.

I even like the Shai Bolton pointing to the scoreboard when Essendon defenders were trying to get into his face.

It’s a healthy arrogance from Fremantle that should be a trademark for the remainder of their 2025 season.

The big test will come if they can back it up against St Kilda on Sunday afternoon.

Fixture Farce

Can someone please give me a good reason as to why the only two games on Sunday overlapped?

The “Expansion Cup” clash between Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney was an excellent contest that had you hooked until the final siren.

Both teams traded momentum and goals, threw punches and played brilliant football.

It was a game that a neutral footy fan would love.

You know what else neutral footy fans love? Watching Sam Darcy and Marcus Bontempelli.

So, it was flabbergasting that the Western Bulldogs game against Richmond started before the end of the Suns and Giants clash.

The bye rounds are annoying as it is, but if we’re going to have them then there is no way that there should be overlapping games if there are only two on the one day.

Surely, they could have started the Bulldogs-Tigers game an hour later, allowing for AFL fans to watch both in full.

The AFL does so many things right but little errors like this affect the product way too much.