West Coast co-captain Liam Baker has not reached the playing heights of his previous years.
Speaking on The Outer Wing, hosted by Mark Stevens and Digby Beacham, presented by TABTouch, the journalism duo discussed Baker's season, and how his form has slipped as the Eagles look to improve.
"He's been poor," Beacham said.
"I was a massive fan of him last year, and I think the recruitment of him was vindicated because he won the John Worsfold Medal. He was elevated to the co-captaincy alongside (Liam) Duggan.
"But he's had a really poor season. I wouldn't think that Liam is in the top eight in the Best and Fairest, and he won it last year. I might be proven incorrect, but the level Liam Baker is at right now, as opposed to what we witnessed 12 months ago, the drop-off has been stark."
His player rating is the lowest it's been since 2020, which had reduced quarters.
According to WheeloRatings, Baker is recording 8.61 player rating points this year, with the defensive aspect of his game falling off a cliff. The last two years, he has recorded over 11 player rating points each season on average.
"He's not the player he was at Richmond," Stevens said.
"He was just an animal. He's not playing at that level. There's a lot of question marks on Eagles players.
"On paper, they should have won that game. Collingwood's young side, Dan McStay, he's playing well, but they made him look like Wayne Carey."
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