WEST Coast pulled off arguably the biggest trade coup in its history last November when it secured star midfielder Tim Kelly from Geelong. The question now is how do the Eagles make the most of it?
While Kelly has done his bit on the track, completing a near flawless pre-season, his coaches have worked behind the scenes on how to best integrate another star into an already stocked midfield rotation.
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A lot of discussion and planning has gone into Kelly's addition, according to midfield coach Nathan van Berlo, and on Thursday night the Eagles will give a first glimpse into how their midfield will work in 2020.
The absence of Elliot Yeo and Andrew Gaff means only part of the picture will be painted against Essendon at Mineral Resources Park, and there is only so much that can be learned from a Marsh Community Series game in February.
The match will, however, tell us how serious the Eagles are about playing third-year tall Jarrod Brander on a wing and rotating premiership hero Dom Sheed through the forward line more regularly.
We'll also learn to an extent how often Kelly will step out of the centre bounces, where he averaged 2.2 centre clearances a game in 2019.
Van Berlo this week said the Eagles had been trying to give all of their midfielders second positions they can confidently roll through in games. For Kelly, that will be half-forward.
"It has been a lot of planning, but hopefully we've found the right mix," Van Berlo said.
Coach Adam Simpson has been keen to stress that Kelly is a seven-or-eight-year investment for the Eagles amid predictions the classy onballer could struggle early at his new club.
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Eagles champion Peter Sumich told Perth radio station 6PR recently that he believed Kelly might "find it a bit difficult" early before working through and emerging as a "very good player" for the club.
Kelly's outstanding summer, however, points to him doing what several star midfielders before him have done when changing clubs.
Dylan Shiel (Greater Western Sydney to Essendon), Adam Treloar (GWS to Collingwood) and Tom Mitchell (Sydney to Hawthorn) have all lifted their disposal and clearance numbers in their first season at new clubs in recent seasons.
Shiel, who crossed to the Bombers ahead of the 2019 season, lifted his clearance numbers from 4.5 to 5.3, while Treloar made a similar jump from 4.3 to 5.4 at Collingwood in 2016.
Mitchell made the most dramatic improvement of that group, jumping from 3.6 at Sydney to 6.3 at Hawthorn and becoming a ball-magnet, with his disposal average rising from 27.9 to 35.8.
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Former Gold Coast midfielder Dion Prestia is an example of a top-line player who moved clubs and struggled early, with his disposal and clearance numbers dropping slightly at Richmond in 2017 as he worked his way into form and became a crucial member of the premiership team.
Role, injuries, and experience can all be a factor in a player's transition to a new club, but there are clear examples for Kelly to follow in 2020 if he is to maintain his elite standard after a top-five Brownlow Medal finish.
Where he is unique to the above quartet is his inexperience at AFL level as he enters his third season. That, however, is yet to present a hurdle to the star 25-year-old.
He is also unique in that he will be pairing with elite tap ruckman Nic Naitanui, who plays his first pre-season game in four seasons on Thursday night.
Both have enjoyed long periods of training together and the sight of Naitanui tapping down to Kelly has been a regular one at Mineral Resources Park in recent weeks.
How the chemistry they have built translates on game day could be the most important insight we get into West Coast on Thursday night.
