Mark Duffield - The Editorial (05.10.2026)

SPEAKER_1 (0:01)

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Mark Duffield (0:24)

Hello, everybody. Welcome to the SENWA radio studio. We're out here at Optus Stadium Monday morning in Perth, and we are here thanks to Beaumont Homes, award-winning design, built to be loved forever. Going to be sunny in the city today.

23 degrees is going to be the maximum made in WA for WA. This is Mornings with Mark Duffield on SENWA. So, it was a landmark win for Daisy Pierce's West Coast Eagles AFLW team yesterday in a derby, their first in nine tries. A potentially landmark trade period for West Coast about to get underway. Decisions looming for Jack Viney and Trent Rivers, while Geelong's Brian Myers appears to have made his decision and won't be coming despite doing a medical with West Coast. Hard to figure that one out. And at Fremantle, a landmark event may well be immanent for the highly respected senior assistant Jamie Graham, who is shortening by the minute for North Melbourne senior coaching position. The withdrawal of Nathan Buckley from the process over the weekend, leaving Graham a short price favourite to win the role ahead of Daniel G and Syracusa and Corey Enright. Let's start though with AFLW, and we're going to talk with Code Sports AFLW guru Eliza Riley later in the show. But what we can say before we speak to Eliza is that this win franks West Coast as one of the form teams in the competition. It marks four wins on the bounce now after four losses to start this season. And while Ella Roberts franked her status as one of this competition's guns, at least, well, she's been that for at least a year now, a number of other West Coast players played key roles in this win. So Roberts won her second derby medal as best of field, but the efforts of Amy Franklin in attack and Charlotte Riggs in the ruck were every bit as pivotal to the outcome of this game. So Franklin kicked a brilliant goal, more like Buddy than Amy. She created another for teammate Keely Skepper and was a constant marking threat deep in attack to keep Freemantle's defenders on the back foot and not able to offer much in the way of rebound. Amy Franklin is 23 now. She's four years on from her AFLW debut, which ironically came at Freemantle. And she's a reminder for all this managers, both in AFLW and in the AFL, that quality young talls take time. Franklin is improving week by week now, and she looms as a major weapon for Daisy Pierce in the run into finals. The teenage ruck Riggs, she is still just 19 years of age, was an absolute revelation in her battle with all Australian Mim Strom. And while Strom did plenty for the Dockers, particularly in the third quarter, Riggs impacted the game in a pivotal way at pivotal moments. She is strong, she is skillful, and watching her development is going to be a lot of fun over the next few years. So the WA teams are now locked in a 14-battle-for-8 spot on the AFLW ladder. The Dockers hold that 8th spot at the moment, but they do face competition trendsetters North Melbourne next week. The Eagles have Port Adelaide, and Port won't be pushovers either. They are placed in a similar segment of the ladder as the two WA teams.

Now, West Coast Men's Program, they have four list spots available as it stands, and they have their eyes on Viny, who is expected to decide whether to join them or Essendon in the coming days. It's basically a given that Jack Viny will leave Melbourne. Melbourne has told Jack Viny he will not be in their best 23 next year, and they have made it clear he is welcome to explore his options. Now, the aim of getting Viny in for West Coast is clear. They want muscle, they want experience, and they want support for Harley Reed and Willem Dersma in their midfield. There are just two things for West Coast to be sure of where Viny is concerned. He's 32 He played one game last year after an Achilles injury. So whatever you do, make sure there are no red flags in the medical. And the other thing is make sure the price at the draft table is extremely low. As I've said, Melbourne has made it clear to Jack Viny he's unlikely to be in their best 23 next year. And they've said go and explore your options. So for West Coast, this should come at the price of an oily rag. He's an old player.