West Adelaide coach Mark Mickan wants the Bloods to regain respect in 2017 SANFL season

WEST Adelaide shocked SANFL followers in winning the 2015 premiership and then again by sliding to the bottom of the ladder last season.

WEST Adelaide shocked SANFL followers in winning the 2015 premiership and then again by sliding to the bottom of the ladder last season.

The two-year rollercoaster raises many questions. Who are the real Bloods? Were they lucky in 2015? And can West rebound this year to make the finals?

Coach Mark Mickan believes his side is much better than its showing last season and can be a top-five contender but first he wants it to regain respect.

“We lost a lot ... from the fact we weren’t competitive,” Mickan said of West’s 2016 season, which included just two wins and an average losing margin of 59.3 points.

“All we can do is go about our business and understand we’ve got to provide maximum effort every time we go on the track and make sure that translates into game day.”

Mickan said a myriad of factors were behind his club’s slide, including several players having injury-interrupted pre-seasons, skill level falling away, lack of depth to cover absent stars and “taking the foot off the pedal, to a degree”.

The former ruck star brought up last season to his players soon after training resumed and said the club would learn from its mistakes.

West's Aaron Fielke battles against Norwood's Andrew Kirwan. Picture: Dylan Coker

“We feel like we’ve made good progress, with our fitness in particular and having more people on the track than we had at this time last year,” he said.

West has lost three premiership players – Travis Tuck, Adam Hartlett and Ryan Willits – to retirement. Justin Hardy also pulled the pin, while Zac O’Brien and Trent Stubbs have left after one season.

The club’s recruits are headlined by the returning Tom Keough (Gold Coast), key defender Jake Wilson (Werribee) and fleet-footed duo Zac Bates (Geelong) and Nathan Batley (Woodville-West Torrens).

A silver lining to last season was youngsters such as Brett Turner (11 games), Chris Burgess (11), John Noble (six), Izak Rankine (three), Nick Favretto (13) and Murray Waite (eight) featuring at league level.

Overall, Mickan is taking a glass-half-full approach to the final year of his contract.

“I feel we’ve got a lot of improvement in us and a lot of reasons to be optimistic,” he said.

Tom Keough at Gold Coast Suns training. Picture: Jerad Williams

GUN RECRUIT

Tom Keough was one of the SANFL’s best tall defenders when he was rookie-listed by Gold Coast at the end of 2015.

Now he is back at the Bloods after one season with the Suns and looms as a perfect replacement for retired backman Adam Hartlett.

ONE TO WATCH

Mason Middleton is developing nicely as a key tall who can play at either end of the ground.

He kicked 17 goals from 17 matches last year, was named in the best eight times and, at 22, should continue to improve.

RISING STAR

After playing 11 games last season, Brett Turner is pushing his case over summer to become a league regular.

He was a national BMX champion, a former state junior basketballer and had been an AFL draft prospect in 2014 but was overlooked.

BIG OFF-SEASON

Veterans Shannon Green and Taite Silverlock appear likely to bounce back from moderate campaigns if their pre-seasons are any indication.

Hugh Haysman is another to impress on the training track.