Culture. One word, two syllables, myriad meanings.

It’s one of the buzz terms of the last decade. Traversing sport and business.

The reference to culture has been a common thread when analysing the West Coast Eagles’ nightmarish start to the 2022 season. Little has changed internally in terms of the environment, but externally there has been a barrage of people questioning the club. People making judgment about perceived short-comings.

One win from 11 games will do that. You expect it. Especially when the club has been as successful as it has over its 35-year history.

But is culture just about winning?

It didn’t seem to be a problem when the club made two grand finals in four seasons, winning the 2018 premiership.

Is it purely based on sustained success?

Does one bad season – albeit with some mitigating circumstances – take a club from a competition benchmark with more members (106,000 in 2021) and more finals appearances than any competitor since it entered the League into a basket case?

No question the first three months of the 2022 campaign have fallen well below club expectations. Even allowing for the extraordinary injury and health issues some of the performances have been extremely poor.

It has led to cries from every corner of the football world to clear out anyone over 30 and start again. Pension off the old boys and ‘play the kids.’

Never mind that it’s impractical simply because of the low player availability, but what would that do for club culture?

Thanks JK, Bunga, Boots, Nic, Gaffy and Jack. We’ve enjoyed the ride boys, but if you wouldn’t mind clearing out your lockers.  

Clearly the club will not kick their modern day stars to the kerb. They deserve – and will receive – far greater respect than they are being afforded by some opinionated ‘fans’ on various social media platforms. Not only do they continue to contribute on-field but they have an important role to play in the club’s re-build.

First-year defender Brady Hough touched on it at a press conference during the week. As an Eagles fan he grew up admiring those blokes and pinches himself that he is now sharing a locker room with them.

He’s taking pages out of the Shannon Hurn defensive play book every week.

Josh Kennedy, Luke Shuey, Nic Naitanui, Andrew Gaff, Jack Darling and Jack Redden are similarly playing a strong educational role in the development of the next generation.

Young players will get their chance; most of them have already this season, given there has been 13 club debutants, including five who are not even on the senior list!

The only players who have not tasted senior football who have been available are Rhett Bazzo and Zane Trew. They had interrupted training programs and are just starting to string together some games for the WAFL Eagles.

There’s a fair chance both will play in the second half of the year. To play them any sooner would have been counter intuitive. Before elevation to the highest level they need to be ready physically and have a body of work behind them.

With Jai Culley joining a growing list of youngsters at the Eagles via the mid-season rookie draft on Wednesday night, there is a strong presence of players embarking on the embryonic moments of their careers.

Again there were queries around the decision for not taking a second selection in that draft.

Well, it came down to respect. There are four senior players on the inactive list and one of them, in particular, is working hard to play at some point during the season.

Tom Cole is a premiership player. An important aspect of the club’s future. The carrot of getting into the middle is a great incentive for him.

Respect is intrinsic in the West Coast Eagles culture.