A selection squeeze may be on the horizon for West Coast’s star-studded midfield, but that’s hardly a concern of the group according to Dom Sheed.
Speaking to the media via videolink from Mineral Resources Park today, the 2018 Grand Final hero said the Eagles’ on ball brigade was more focused on developing their on-field chemistry than worrying about who might miss out on selection moving forward.
West Coast’s midfield has been firing on all cylinders in recent weeks, helping the Eagles become the first side to register five-straight wins in season 2020.
Nic Naitanui is in career-best form; Tim Kelly and Luke Shuey are hitting their straps; Andrew Gaff is winning the ball at will; and Elliot Yeo is soaring up the league standings for contested possessions and tackles.
Sheed has been pretty handy as well.
The 25-year-old is currently ranked fifth in the competition for total stoppage clearances and had a season-best outing against Geelong on Sunday, amassing 24 disposals, six clearances and two goals in a hot contest.
But with so many midfielders producing the goods week-in, week-out, there will inevitably be someone who misses out on getting a guernsey.
Fortunately, Sheed said that was the last thing on the collective’s minds.
“It’s a good problem to have for Simmo and the match committee with having so many great players in the team,” Sheed said.
“As Simmo said in his presser, a squeeze will be coming at some point, so when that is and who that is, we’re yet to find out.
“We’re a very system-based team. You go out, play your role and do that to the best of your ability. I don’t think anyone is going out sitting there and holding on to their spot thinking, ‘I need to play well or I’m out of the team’.
“We have very clear focuses as a midfield group before we go in to games. When the squeeze does come and if it comes, so be it.”
Sheed has been loving life in the club’s centre line this year.
In fact, he reckoned the group was the tightest it had been since he arrived at the Eagles in 2014.
Interestingly, Sheed thought the onball team was more in tune with each other due to regulations brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic that limited teams to training in groups of eight or less.
“The chemistry has slowly developed over pre-season and into this season,” Sheed said.
“We started slowly, but we’re building and hopefully we can keep building.
“When you work in groups of eight, we’re obviously in our midfield group, you can start to home in on finer details, I guess, of the stoppage and what we need to do as a midfield group. I think that’s helped in a sense.
“It helps when all the boys are fit and healthy too. The chemistry is good between us midfielders at the moment.”
