Scotty Watters Reviews Round 18 of the AFL (13.07.2026)

**SPEAKER_1** (0:00)
Introducing Meta Glasses. You have questions, they've got answers.
Hey Meta, what's the capital of Peru?

**Scotty Watters** (0:08)
Lima. How do you say, where's the restroom in Spanish?

**Mark Duffield** (0:12)
Dónde está el baño?

**Scotty Watters** (0:14)
Hey Meta, is a hot dog a sandwich? Technically no. Spiritually, yes.

**SPEAKER_1** (0:20)
Hey Meta, what should I do with my life?

**Scotty Watters** (0:23)
That's one of life's biggest questions.

**SPEAKER_1** (0:25)
What do you think? Ask anything with the new Meta Glasses.
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**Mark Duffield** (1:02)
Ah, yes, he played for West Coast, he played for Fremantle, he played for the Sydney Swans, he coached the St Kilda Saints, he coached the Subiaco Lions to Waffle Premiership. Scotty Watters joins us on the show. Scotty, welcome.

**Scotty Watters** (1:15)
Good morning, Duff, how are you?

**Mark Duffield** (1:17)
I'm going all right, mate. Now, West Coast, is that a positive performance?
I think it clearly is a positive performance, but I guess in a measure of how much they're progressing, did they actually butcher a victory against a top eight aspirin at the weekend?

**Scotty Watters** (1:37)
Well, to answer both of your questions, it's definitely a positive performance.
They were still punching late in that game, and they just couldn't hit the scoreboard late. But I think it also still highlights just where there are some deficiencies in the list. They missed Jimmy down back. He was really emerging as a quality, consistent performer. They don't have another forward really, an outside waterman that can just grab a game in a quarter and kick two or three goals. They need one of those, and they need one more mid. So they're just list-wise and quality-wise, they're just still off the mark. But if you're looking at is that a cross or a tick for the year, that performance, I think it's still a tick. I think it certainly falls over the line as being a good result, even though it's not a win.

**Mark Duffield** (2:25)
So you mentioned Ruben Jinby. They miss him down back. There's no doubt about that he probably would have been leading their best and fairest when he went down injured. Do they still need another big defender to play on the big bodied forwards, do you think, on top of Ruben?

**Scotty Watters** (2:40)
Arguably, or they either need to find one externally or they need to really think about how they use the resources that they've currently got on their list.
I can't help it. The more I see Shanahan in front of the ball, I just think he just naturally, he's so comfortable, the way that he marks it, the way that he kicks it, he just gives you confidence. I think his future is in front, which might mean they just need to have a look at what other stocks they've got, because they do have some quality tools on the list and redeploy one of them down back and maybe look for a mature age key defender in the state league level to come in and support in the short term. But they need one more in each area of the game. I mean, all sides could say that, one more quality mid to support the emergence of Reed, who I really liked his game on the weekend. 27 possessions, nine clearances. Shadowed probably by Bonds, but you're looking at the future in Reed and the present in Bonds and Pelly. That was fantastic to watch. But they're not far off, but they're still just short a little bit in that top end quality.

**Mark Duffield** (3:45)
So this is a weird thing to say, I know, completely counterintuitive given the hype and hubbub that follows him around everywhere he goes. But Harley Reed, I reckon, has sneakily become one of the very best mids in the game. And we saw him go toe to toe with Bonds and Pelly yesterday and only come up just short really in the output he had on the game. And he's so more consistent, he's so more reliable, and he's so much more steadier. The top end is still there and the bottom end is closing up quickly.

**Scotty Watters** (4:21)
Yeah, I think you've summed it up really well. I mean, 12 months ago, it wasn't that long ago, we were either talking about him getting distracted in games and or you'd have a lot of really good halves. You know, you'd have a 16, 17 possession half, but then you'd get five or six possessions in the second half. And he's worked obviously really hard on his fitness over the break. He looks fitter, he strips better.