Savour the moment, friends. It was a memorable win Sunday, not only because it was Freo, but because of the manner in which we achieved victory.
Prior to the bounce I had a general feeling of unease. It was hard to be confident considering recent history. Events prior to the bounce increased my anxiety exponentially. When Embley was ruled out, I stiffened slightly, but Kerr's omission left me in a state of despair. No Norm Smith Medalist, no (Near) Brownlow Medalist. I admit, I thought it gave the Dockers the edge. It was a 50-50 game before those changes, but the quality and experience of those two left a gaping hole. Though I'm a believer in Gaff, Shephard's inclusion did little to ease my fear.
Surprisingly, we dominated from the first bounce and never looked back. It suggests to me that the 2011 version of the Eagles team has (finally) adopted a 'team' mentality. If one man is unfit the next in line must step in and do his job. It's such a vast improvement from the last few seasons where we seemed unstructured and for the most part in disarray.
No doubt this mostly stems from a highly successful game plan developed around the notion of forward pressure. But the fact that we are now implementing it for nearly entire matches is so impressive.
Moreover, we just aren't seeing the constant turnovers and inefficient kicking of last year. Admittedly, there were a couple of costly ones yesterday. I seem to recall S. Selwood and Masten turning the ball over. Overall though, we were sharp.
As far as individual performances go, Darling is a Champion. It's rather amusing that with all of the Gold Coast's picks they failed to get the best prospect in the draft. His contested marking and kicking are great, but it's his pace and pressure which continue to amaze. I thought Naitanui had another very good game yesterday, whilst Cox assumed a forward role for much of the first half. All over though, most players outplayed their opponents.
I think the game was probably the best moment of the Post-Juddas era. Freo are a quality side and we easily dispensed with them. We're 7th on the ladder now and I think we can make the finals. Of course, it's contingent on our ability to continue to play high pressure football. With that caveat, a quick glance at the fixtures reveal 12 winnable games remaining. I think I ruled out Geelong and Collingwood, but the gulf between those 2 and the rest is such that we are right in the midst of finals contention.
Next up Bulldogs at home. They're an interesting proposition; not the force of previous seasons but still exuding talent and class. I hope Kerr and Embley will return, yet time will tell.
Until next time.
Misanthropic Eagle
PS May that timer above count up for eternity.
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