Analysis by Alex
At a glance
Top 5 Scorers
| Player | Games | Average | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harry Sheezel | 21 | 112.1 | 3 |
| Errol Gulden | 23 | 108.5 | 9 |
| Marcus Bontempelli | 23 | 107.3 | 12 |
| Caleb Serong | 23 | 103.9 | 22 |
| Matt Rowell | 23 | 94.7 | 49 |
Season Summary
For a list with plenty young names to make any draft league coach jealous, this year seems like a failure. However through some bold moves, the top end talent of the list improved dramatically through the year. While the results didn’t come on the field, the team should be better for what happened as we roll into the 2025 season.
Season Grade – C-
All-Australians
| Pos | Player | Average | Games |
|---|---|---|---|
| D2 | Harry Sheezel | 111.6 | 20 |
| M1 | Errol Gulden | 111.9 | 20 |
| M6 | Marcus Bontempelli | 106.7 | 20 |
| M9 | Caleb Serong | 105.05 | 20 |
| F5 | Dylan Moore | 88.15 | 20 |
DangerGawn Votes
| Rank | Player | Votes |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | Harry Sheezel | 18 |
| 5 | Errol Gulden | 15 |
| 9 | Marcus Bontempelli | 14 |
| 19 | Caleb Serong | 11 |
| 39 | Dylan Moore | 6 |
| 42 | Jordan De Goey | 5 |
| 47 | Christian Petracca | 4 |
| 78 | Matt Rowell | 2 |
| 92 | Archie Perkins | 1 |
| 97 | Jake Waterman | 1 |
Pre-Season Draft
| Round | Pick | Player | GP | Avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 13 | Mason Wood | 14 | 87.36 |
| 3 | 23 | Caleb Windsor | 18 | 59.78 |
| 3 | 30 | Cooper Simpson | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | 51 | Corey Wagner | 1 | 73 |
| 6 | 53 | Ned Reeves | 2 | 64 |
| 6 | 55 | Jake Waterman | 16 | 79.25 |
| 7 | 63 | Brayden Fiorini | 10 | 76 |
| 8 | 73 | Cam Rayner | 19 | 70.68 |
| 9 | 83 | Ryan Lester | 18 | 64.67 |
| 11 | 103 | Jack Graham | 7 | 56.71 |
| 12 | 113 | Liam Stocker | 2 | 43 |
| 13 | 123 | Paddy Dow | 3 | 66.33 |
| 14 | 133 | Kade Chandler | 17 | 58.35 |
| 15 | 143 | Mason Cox | 1 | 63 |
| 16 | 153 | Reef McInnes | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | 163 | Shane McAdam | 2 | 46.5 |
| 18 | 173 | Toby Pink | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | 183 | Dylan Williams | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | 193 | Josh Worrell | 7 | 74.71 |
Most Inspired Selection
Pick 55 – Jake Waterman
In a year where the forward pool was as shallow as we have ever encountered before, Rowan struck gold in the pick up of Jake Waterman in the 6th round. The Eagles aren’t exactly the most inspiring team to watch, and so to pick up one of their forwards was indeed a gamble, but one that has paid off in spades for this team. An 80 average in the 6th round for any position is great, and so it being a forward is just amazing. Being 26 years old has him right in his prime as well, and so assuming Rowan does indeed choose to keep him, this will help again with another weak forward pool in 2025.
Trades
| Date | Teams | Received |
|---|---|---|
| April 29, 2024 |  | Threat Level Midnight Round 1 pick Threat Level Midnight Round 2 pick Solomon’s Soldiers Round 2 pick Threat Level Midnight Round 3 pick Threat Level Midnight Round 4 pick Caleb Windsor Jaspa Fletcher |
 | Marcus Bontempelli Christian Petracca Solomon’s Soldiers Round 6 Pick Solomon’s Soldiers Round 8 pick | |
| March 20, 2024 | | Ollie Wines Callum Wilkie Threat Level Midnight Round 7 pick |
| Ivan Soldo Kiddy Coleman Solomon’s Soldiers Round 2 pick | |
| 6 February 2024 |  | Threat Level Midnight Round 5 pick |
| Matthew Johnson Jayden Hunt |
A couple of trades with an eye to small list improvements to start the season, and then one of the biggest trades in league history.
The previous 2 trades didn’t move the needle too much for this team – even trading Wines out made sense with a young player and a high pick coming back, but then they went for broke with the Soldiers fire sale netting them 2 A+ midfielders to make this team a force for the next few years. Their first pick in the draft is in the 40’s now, but coach Rowan isn’t too worried about that, instead trusting in the fact that his top 20 will be the equal of anyone, and so some shrewd drafting in the later rounds will move him straight up the ladder should all go to plan. A midfield of Bontempelli, Petracca, Rowell, Gulden, Serong is straight up scary for any opposition.
List at end of 2024 season
| Player | GP | Avg | Rank | Age |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harry Sheezel | 21 | 112.1 | 3 | 19.1 |
| Errol Gulden | 23 | 108.5 | 9 | 22.01 |
| Marcus Bontempelli | 23 | 107.3 | 12 | 28.09 |
| Caleb Serong | 23 | 103.9 | 22 | 23.06 |
| Matt Rowell | 23 | 93.7 | 49 | 23.01 |
| Dylan Moore | 23 | 92 | 53 | 25 |
| Christian Petracca | 13 | 90.2 | 59 | 28.07 |
| Willem Drew | 23 | 85.3 | 76 | 25.1 |
| Mason Wood | 18 | 82.6 | 93 | 30.11 |
| Jordon Sweet | 14 | 81.7 | 101 | 26.06 |
| Jordan De Goey | 13 | 79.8 | 108 | 28.05 |
| Jake Waterman | 20 | 76.6 | 139 | 26.03 |
| Zach Guthrie | 23 | 75 | 154 | 26.01 |
| Brayden Fiorini | 12 | 73.8 | 166 | 27 |
| Ivan Soldo | 8 | 72.5 | 178 | 28.04 |
| Lawson Humphries | 9 | 70.9 | 188 | 21.04 |
| Zac Bailey | 18 | 69.1 | 200 | 24.11 |
| Josh Worrell | 13 | 68.7 | 204 | 23.04 |
| Cam Rayner | 23 | 67.6 | 212 | 24.1 |
| Archie Perkins | 18 | 65.2 | 233 | 22.05 |
| Ryan Lester | 23 | 65.1 | 236 | 32 |
| Cameron Guthrie | 4 | 63.3 | 261 | 32 |
| Paddy Dow | 10 | 63.3 | 262 | 24.1 |
| Jayden Hunt | 20 | 62.3 | 273 | 29.04 |
| Matthew Johnson | 19 | 62 | 279 | 21.05 |
| Kade Chandler | 23 | 61.1 | 293 | 24.07 |
| Taylor Duryea | 21 | 61 | 295 | 33.04 |
| Jack Buckley | 21 | 60.5 | 300 | 26.08 |
| Judd McVee | 23 | 59 | 323 | 21 |
| Shannon Neale | 13 | 56.6 | 349 | 22.01 |
| Lachlan Cowan | 16 | 56.5 | 353 | 19.08 |
| Ben Miller | 21 | 54.5 | 381 | 24.11 |
| Jacob Wehr | 11 | 54.3 | 382 | 26.01 |
| Joe Richards | 9 | 50.9 | 418 | 24.09 |
| Mason Cox | 16 | 50.4 | 427 | 33.05 |
| Jack Petruccelle | 16 | 48.3 | 457 | 25.04 |
| Shane McAdam | 3 | 44.3 | 504 | 29.03 |
| Mitch Lewis | 4 | 43.8 | 508 | 25.1 |
| Keidean Coleman | 1 | 34 | 598 | 24.04 |
| Cooper Simpson | 2 | 23.5 | 638 | 19.06 |
Ages as of 31 August 2024
Averages are AFL H&A season averages (not DangerGawn games played)
Player to watch in 2025
Willem Drew
He’s not one of the big names outside of Alberton, but from everything you hear from in the club, Drew is seen as a vital member of this midfield. A tackle-bot if there ever was one, he tags in a way that makes his fantasy owners happy, as he isn’t afraid to get his own ball, while still shadowing and tackling the opposition’s best players. An average of 85 this year was almost 10 higher than 2023, and at 26 years old is in his prime now to take his game up another level in 2025.