Round 9 Recap: Meh...sorry...MEH!

I'm not going to lie and say that I watched the whole game. In reality, I watched until halfway through the second quarter. Quite a sterling effort on my behalf. The game was predictably never even close to being competitive. The crowd was miniscule, GWS were a giant failure and we killed them. Just like we should.

Although I can't give an entire assessment on proceedings, some things of marginal relevance transpired.

- JJK and Darling kicked 5 each. JJK moves up to outright first in the race for the Coleman with 31 goals, 1 ahead of Lindsay Thomas. As evidence of how strong our forward line is when fully fit, there are 4 Eagles in the top 20. Darling is 11th with 22 goals, Lecras is 16th with 17 goals and Hill is 19th with 16 goals.

....

Okay, look, I don't have anything else to write about the game. Everything that happened was always going to happen. Naitanui was exciting. Masten and the rest collected tons of possession.

But, in season terms we are now (weakly) embedded inside the top 8.

In good news, I think the teams below us are fairly average. Carlton, Adelaide, Collingwood, North (wow-ee did you see that?!) and Richmond are all teams which don't exactly send shivers down my spine.

We have bounced back from an embarassing and abysmal start. We're 5-4, with wins against Melbourne, WB, GWS, North Melbourne and Brisbane. Barring something remarkable none of those teams will make the 8.  I still have serious concerns about this team's ability to beat the teams above it.The real test, and the real defining moment of our season comes after the bye. No disrespect to Richmond and Stkilda, both games we could lose if we don't play our best, but after the week off, things get a little nasty:

We couldn't have asked for a lot more from the last month. 4 games, 4 wins. Maybe fewer injuries and slightly stronger performances, but we'll take the 16 points and move on.

Richmond next Monday. That should be fun and I promise to watch the whole 4 quarters (except when Riewoldt has the ball, as I can't stand his face).

Round 9 Preview: A Giant Bore

Last Time they Met:

WCE 23.12.150 d GWS 10.9.69

We have the AFL to thank for games like this. Nobody likes a dead-rubber. Especially when it is played in front of a crowd of 4, 2 of which will be sleeping.

But I will be watching. Why? Nothing else to do really. But also because there are some interesting things to to keep an eye on:

1. The Margin
There's no doubt we will win. If we don't, you will never hear from me again. I would die of shame. But  although the win is beyond doubt, it's important to play well. Despite winning 3 in a row, we haven't been truly convincing. I hope to see a conistent effort today. Hopefully, we can kick straight, eliminate errors and really destroy these guys. We can't waver, as we have real games ahead of us.

2. Chasing the Coleman
It's games like these that forwards can kick big bags. JJK is right in the Coleman hunt, only 1 goal behind J. Riewoldt at 27 goals and equal with Cloke. It's interesting to note that JJK is the only one of these three that isn't a jerk. He's also been very good this season and let's hope he kicks 5+ today.

Pop Quiz! Who's the only Eagle to ever win the Coleman?

Um, so I can't think of anything else.

But here's some news, we've got more injuries! Although they're really more 'GWS injuries' with both Waters and old Selwood out with 'quads'. We know about Schofield's finger and Wellinghams non-trampolining ankle.

GWS Giants
B: Joshua Bruce, Stephen Gilham, Tim Mohr
HB: Matthew Buntine, Aidan Corr, Anthony Miles
C: Devon Smith, Toby Greene, Rhys Palmer
HF: Adam Treloar, Jeremy Cameron, Lachie Whitfield
F: Taylor Adams, Adam Tomlinson, Callan Ward
Foll: Dean Brogan, Tom Scully, Stephen Coniglio
Int: Curtly Hampton, Dylan Shiel, Adam Kennedy, Jonathan Giles
Emerg: Jacob Townsend, Thomas Downie, Setanta O’hAilpin
In: C.Hampton, A.Treloar, M.Buntine
Out: T. Bugg (iIllness), T.Golds, M.Whiley

West Coast
B: Jacob Brennan, Darren Glass, Mitchell Brown
HB: Shannon Hurn, Eric Mackenzie, Sam Butler
C: Andrew Gaff, Scott Selwood, Bradd Dalziell
HF: Mark LeCras, Jack Darling, Chris Masten
F: Dean Cox, Josh Kennedy, Daniel Kerr
Foll: Nic Naitanui, Matt Priddis, Luke Shuey
Int: Mark Hutchings, Brad Sheppard, Josh Hill, Matt Rosa
Emerg: Blayne Wilson, Ashton Hams, Andrew Embley
In: S. Butler, M. Brown, B. Dalziell, M. Hutchings
Out: A. Selwood (quad), B. Waters (quad), W. Schofield (finger), S. Wellingham (ankle)

I don't have anything else to say about this one. I'm already looking forward to the Tigers next week. An actual challenge! Won't that be nice?

Pop Quiz Answer: Scott Cummings, 88 goals, 1999.

Round 8 Recap: Exhilarating Ending but...

I hate to be the guy that constantly criticises and can't enjoy a win. But, I am sort of that guy.

Don't get me wrong: What a game (ending)! We looked dead and buried; 15 points down with under 7 minutes remaining. I was watching with a sense of resignation. Not disappointment really. Not after our first month of football. It was a familiar sense of doom. But man of the match (sorry Nic) Josh Hill kick started our resurgence with a few nice moves inside the 50 to snap a goal. Yes, he should've kicked it about 5 seconds earlier, but no harm done. And it was a great game by Hill. Commentators have been all over him this season, and they didn't give him much credit last either, but he showed his worth in the second half. He has a superb ability to mark the ball, has clean kicking skills (a rarity for us at this point) and he has that innate sense of being at the right place at the right time. Sure, it hasn't been a great start to his season, not alone there, but hopefully his performances can grow from here.

After the Hill goal, Shuey stabbed one through from close range to get us within a kick. He then had a chance from about 50 to put us in front but pulled a 'lecras' and shanked it horribly. A Roo marked, cleared, old Selwood takes the ball and....free kick for high! Contentious yes. But right? Initially I didn't think so, but after seeing a few replays I think it was the right call. To be honest, that's all Adam Selwood seems to do any more. He can win free kicks, but not do much more. Anyway, we all know what happened next- Naitanui proved he is far and away the most exciting player in the competition. Let's all take a second and pay tribute to the Melbourne Demons, who passed on Nic in the draft. Here's to you Dees, we will remember you're stupidity when you're gone. I'm sure Demons fans are thinking WTF! (as in Watt(s) the f-!)...sorry.

Nic vanquished the spectre of the Majak man, predictably irrelevant, and lit up the league. He might not be Mr Consistent, but football is all about these moments.

In other news, Scott choked back the tears, as he stared down the media pack stoically and handed out platitudes about 'controliing what we can control'. Apparently though, from what ABC radio said on Saturday morning, he gave an interviewer in the Roos dressing room a major expletive-laden spray when they tried to talk to him. Hilarious. Keep plugging away Scotty, one day you might win a tough game.

What else was hilarious was watching James 'Eddie Jr.' Brayshaw looking devastated in the rooms after the game. Right in the view of cameras- coincidence? I think not. At least it allowed us to capture this epic image of him:

Brayshaw Post-match

Now onto the bad news.  It was a vital win. An exciting win. But perhaps undeserved.

Look away now if you don't want to read my complaints...

......
......
......

Gone? Cool. I don't live in the fantasy world of some footy supporters. There would be no point in this blog if I did.

 We're 4-4. We struggled to beat a side, that although decent, is a marginal top 8 team. We were at home, we wasted chances, we botched possessions. Some have pointed to the injuries we suffered (Wellingham- ankle, Schofield- finger.) Fine, but our problems were prevalent from pretty much the start of the game. Start of the year really. Mentioning Wellingham, what an awful start to his Eagles career. The trampoline injury sounded funny, but it was so incredibly dumb for a guy being payed as much as him. In his first 2 games he was fairly anonymous. Now it's the non-trampolining ankle which has been injured. He's looking at 2 weeks out. (UPDATE: Out for 7 weeks now...and Schofield out for a month)

We've won 3 in a row, but we haven't looked convincing. After watching Saturday night's games, I can't see us getting close to any of those 4 teams (Collingwood, Geelong, Sydney, Fremantle). Not to mention Hawthorn. Unless we can lift our performances, eradicate the errors, up our intensity we will be lucky to make the 8.

GWS next week, I'm trying to summon any desire to watch that one.

-------
- In other news, remember Ashley Sampi? He's featured in the club's 'indigenous countdown'. Although it's pretty sad thinking of what Sampi could've been as a player, it's even sadder to think about his personal problems.
- Ablett thinks he's in America. Religion's fine, but leave it out of sport.  Would give 'God' give a crap about an AFL game? Not a Suns game that's for sure.

Round 8 Preview: Shutting the Daw and will Scott cry again?

 It's funny how a guy plays 1 good game and all of a sudden he's a star. I hate the way the media and fans have lumped Majak Daw and Nic Naitanui together. It's rather insulting to a guy who has played for 4 seasons, including finals, done great things in big games, an All-Australian. Now apparently, they're essentially the same guy.

Anyway, after tonight's game I'm fairly sure there will be no bad puns about the 'Majak Show'. The Eagles backline is just a tad more established than that of the Dogs. Which brings me to Darren Glass and his 250th game. There aren't enough superlatives to describe this guy; champion, legend, leader, Captain, bullet-proof. I ran out of them. But the point is he's the best fullback of his generation. Scarlett was always overrated in my opinion. Interestingly enough though, he had a massive opinion of himself. A notorious self-aggrandising arrogant player. Fletcher's longevity is superb, but I'm not sure his strength was ever in key positional player. Glass is the archetypal full back. He can take the other team's big dog and nullify their influence. He's hardly beaten in a one on one, shows surprising capacity to play on smaller, quicker forwards and above all, he never quits. Even when he only has one good shoulder. It may be his last season, I hope not, but he will forever be an Eagles champion. You can read more about how awesome Glass is here and buy some typically overpriced and unstylish merchandise here.

In terms of the game, it will be tough but we should win. North have played well this season against the best teams (at least in parts), most recently just going down to the Hawks. But they just can't pull off the upset. I can't envision a scenario in which North fly across country, play on the big stage under the bright lights of Friday night and beat us. Of course, we actually have to put in a good performance. No guarantees, but the team is slooooooowwwwwwwly improving. Brisbane was a step up from the Dogs and the Roos are another step up.

They are solid all over the park. Goldstein is a criminally underrated ruckman, whilst the midfield duo of Wells and Swallow are stars. Harvey is also back (this guy's still going?) and I'm sure he'll run around a lot, not pass to teammates, and generally be annoying.  Up forward Lindsay Thomas and Petrie are the big threats not to mention the best player that ever lived: the MAJAK MAN!

That being said, we should have too much for them: pretty much everywhere. We're bolstered by the return of Kerr, Waters and to a lesser extent Masten and old Selwood. Understandably Smith, Hutchings and Brown get the flick, whilst Dalziell may consider himself a little unlucky. Although I don't rate him, he has been solid over the past 2 weeks. Still, he's a stop-gap.

West Coast
B: Brennan, Glass, Schofield
HB: Hurn, Mackenzie, Waters
C: Rosa, S Selwood, Gaff
HF: LeCras, Darling, Masten
F: Hill, Kennedy, Kerr
Foll: Naitanui, Priddis, Shuey
I/C: Sheppard, Wellingham, Cox, A Selwood
Emg: Brown, Dalziell, Hutchings
In: Kerr, A. Selwood, Waters, Masten
Out: Brown, Dalziell, Smith, Hutchings

North Melbourne
B: S.McMahon S.Thompson J.Macmillan
HB: D.Wells  N.Grima  M.Firrito
C: S.Gibson S.Atley  R.Bastinac
HF: B.Cunnington  D.Petrie  B.Harvey
F: L.Thomas  M.Daw  L.Adams
Foll: T.Goldstein  A.Swallow  J.Ziebell
Int: L.Hansen  S.Wright A.Black  A.Mullett
Emerg: K.Harper  T.Hine  W.Sierakowski
In: Grima
Out: Sierakowski

So how will the night end? Most probably with Scott crying. He likes to cry, carp and complain when his team is bested. He even blames losses on the fact that an AFL game was played outdoors!

We should, must and will win this one. It may be tight but in the end I see a 4-5 goal victory.

Go Eagles!!!

P.S If you're going to the game, buy a scarf or cap to support the Wirrpanda Foundation.

Round 7 Recap: Baby Steps in Brisbane Win

It was tough. It was error-ridden. It was U-G-L-Y. It was 4 points. I don't believe completely in the expression 'all that matters is the result' but we needed to win and we did. We move to 3-4; 1 win outside the top 8, 2 wins outside of top 4 and 3 wins out of the top 2.

So 4 points. But the performance wasn't anything worthy of celebration. If we were playing a bona fide top 4 side we would've lost handily. Unless that team is Port Adelaide, because they've well and truly started their slide which should've bloody started against us. But we've moved on from that. Well 'we' have, 'me' not so much.

Anyway, yes it wasn't a great performance. The disposal wasn't very clean. There were several very poor turnovers. The ruck dominance of the All-Australian duo, Naitanui especially, wasn't capitalised on to full effect. Brisbane obviously tried very hard. They have a tendency to test us in recent times and perhaps there's something about them that we find hard to dominate. Because we just couldn't get a run on. It wasn't one of those games where we completely turned off for one quarter. That's promising. I think the effort was pretty consistent. Yet the application wasn't.

However, and here's the promising thing, we kept plugging away. Even after 3 quarters where we couldn't for the life of us build a lead, even after they hit the front with 10-15 minutes left, we continued to persevere. In the end, we got the goals we needed to get. 26 points is an extremely misleading margin. But we finished the stronger side and that's one of the only times you can say that this season.

Overall, it was the best win of the season. It's the only win where we were legitimately challenged for the entire game and still prevailed. That's 2 solid weeks of football in a row. North on Friday night is certainly a tougher test. They have played far better than their 3 wins suggest. Unlike us.

It's a big game and one we simply, yes again, 'must win'....

Round 7 Preview: The One Where We Win 2 in a Row

I sure hope it's that one, because although I already provided this season last rites in a fury-filled post-Power rage, we really would be done if we lose this game. Like totally. Seriously. Completely and utterly finished.

There's no reason why that should be the case though. Brisbane are pretty much the basket case they've been all through the ill-fated Voss era. Remember when he signed to become an assistant coach with us? Well, that was short lived because Matthews left the Lions and he took over the reigns. I remember feeling a little disappointed, if only because I was desperate for any positive news during those dark(ish) times. But upon reflection: PHEW! It's been madness at the Lions since he took control starting with the Fev. recruitment and ending with his...ending later this year (there I go again with premature pronouncements). We dodged a bullet.

Still, we can't take this lightly. We're both 2-4. They've beaten the mighty Suns and we the powerful Dogs, whilst both have preyed on the carcass of the Demons. So let's not get too arrogant (until after the victory at least).

Also, our recent record against the Lions is a little concerning. They have won 4 of the last 5 at the Gabba. I believe the last victory was in 2011 (too lazy to check) and Ernie's friend (eBERT) kicked an important late goal. Strange times.  We did have a dominant period against the Lions in Brisbane in the early 2000s with the Juddas going nuts in 1 special victory. We need to restart that dominance beginning Saturday.

If (yes, I know big if) we can do what we did against the Dogs; good intensity, clean skills, accurate goal-kicking we should be able to win. Better talent, better coaching, better guernseys. But I'm not overly confidence given recent times.

In team news, the loss of Kerr (knee) is a huge blow. He's our best midfielder, he attracts the no. 1 tag and he has sublime kicking skills. Masten misses with the flu and Sinclair is omitted. Bad luck to Sinclair as he has been impressive in his handful of games. But Nic's back. Hmmm...apparently "Masten has been the Eagles’ leading ballwinner this season, averaging 28 disposals per game to sit among the league’s top ten". That must be one of the most irrelevant stats ever. Anyway, Signor Pink, aka Matt Rosa, comes in for his first game. Decent player Rosa and his availablity should make a few players fear their security in the team, which is never a bad thing. Also, Mark Hutchings will debut. I know little about him, but from what I've read he's a mature age player with good clearance work. We'll see. Finally, the Good Sheppard also comes in. He showed a bit last season and it's a big game for him to push his case for a regular spot. For the Lions...blah blah blah.

Brisbane
FB: Mitchell Golby, Daniel Merrett, Ashley McGrath
HB: Joel Patfull, Justin Clarke, Elliot Yeo
C: Jed Adcock, Brent Moloney, Pearce Hanley
HF: Dayne Zorko, Jonathan Brown, Joshua Green
FF: Rohan Bewick, Jordan Lisle, Ryan Lester
Fol: Matthew Leuenberger, Tom Rockliff, Jack Redden
Int: James Polkinghorne, Andrew Raines, Simon Black, Sam Mayes
In: Raines, Black, Lisle
Out: Aaron Cornelius, Billy Longer, Marco Paparone

West Coast
FB: Eric Mackenzie, Darren Glass, Will Schofield
HB: Shannon Hurn, Mitchell Brown, Brad Sheppard
C: Matt Rosa, Scott Selwood, Andrew Gaff
HF: Mark LeCras, Jack Darling, Sharrod Wellingham
FF: Josh Hill, Josh J. Kennedy, Nic Naitanui
Fol: Dean Cox, Matt Priddis, Luke Shuey
Int: Mark Hutchings, Ashley Smith, Bradd Dalziell, Jacob Brennan
In: Rosa, Hutchings, Sheppard
Out: Daniel Kerr, Chris Masten, Callum Sinclair


We can do this. It won't be easy, but we should be better than the Lions. We must be better...mustn't we?

I'll be tweeting a little throughout the game @misaneagle and posting on the FB, so pop by. Or don't. No pressure. More of a group hang than a date anyway. Except that I'll probably be the only one there...sigh.

Round 6 Recap: Nothing (much) to see here.

I'm probably in the minority here, but yesterday's game didn't send me into raptures of ecstasy. Sure, it was a complete performance. Domination from start to finish. Naitanui ran around for a bit, the crowd went nuts. We won by 70 points. There were camels (literally).

Instead of feeling #inspired, the game left me feeling #unsure. Are we flat track bullies? We thrash teams like the Demons and the hapless Dogs, but any resistance and we fold. It took 6 weeks to get a win at home. It took 6 weeks to play 4 quarters of football. We're 2-4. 4 games out of the top 4. Worst of all, some guy had a Sydney scarf. That's a massive faux pas dude.

But still, it was a very strong performance. It was what we would've expected looking at the game at the start of the season. The Dogs were very, very, very poor. They offered nothing to the contest, which made it rather dull. It was a shame, because I think you gain more out of games where you're challenged for at least 3 minutes. But hey, everyone played well. It was disappointing that Naitanui was the sub, but understandable. Wellingham didn't blow me away, but apparently had 26 possessions. He did appear to be limping in the last quarter, but there's no report of an injury.

So nice win, but it'll mean nothing if we go to Brisbane and lose. We did lose there last year and it cost us top 4. Lose this year and it may cost us top 8.

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And a special mention to (a few of the) fans who were in Block 340 yesterday. It kind of makes it hard to enjoy the game when people are calling Priddis a 'f-wit', singing the tune to the french national anthem and shouting vive le frog when Lecras gets the ball. For the first 5 minutes it has a certain novelty factor. For the next 2.5 hours it's just ruins the experience. So, cheers.

Round 6 Preview: Slam Dunk Champion, Trampoline Extraordinaire Return

This fixture probably appeared a bit of a non-event at the start of the season. The Dogs were going nowhere fast, whilst we would be sailing through a relatively manageable schedule. Now, this game is a must win if we want to have a chance to make anything out of Season 2013.

The Dogs are still going nowhere. However, they've shown some steely determination in their win over Brisbane plus losses to Fremantle and Geelong. Not that I saw any of the Geelong game, as I was busy having my heart yanked out.

Our story is well known. A lethal cocktail of costly injuries, a seeming lack of desire, some rather indifferent coaching and woeful goal kicking have left us in dire straits.

It's not nice to find yourself in a must win game in Round 6. It's also not nice to find yourself winless from 3 encounters on your home turf. But we're here and this team has ran out of chances and ran out of excuses.

There is big team news of course. I probably don't need to repeat it, but yes...Brett Goodes is out suspended. A terrible blow to fantasy teams all over the country. Oh and we're boosted by the inclusion of some guy called Nic Naitanui. Never heard of him myself, but I've been told he can change games via his clearance work, tendency towards huge marks and timely, morale-boosting goals. Honestly though, the Eagles, nay football, just isn't the same without Naitanui. He energises and electrifies everyone who watches him play.

Almost as exciting, but not quite, is the debut of Sharrod Wellingham. He was recruited to add depth, experience and class to our fledgling midfield and I, for one, hope he doesn't go anywhere near a trampoline again.

Ashley Smith also returns. He's the forgotten man of this squad.  After playing 18 games in 2012, he managed only 5 last season. Apparently he played in Round 1, but I don't recall us participating in a Round 1 clash  so that must be a typo. But he is a very handy rebounding defender. He has a long kick and a penchant for coming forward and kicking goals. I do seem to recall his disposal can sometimes be a little iffy, which means he'll fit right in. New guy Swift Cripps is omitted (big surprise), Butler's injured (big surprise) and Hams is omitted (legitimately surprising).

WEST COAST
B: Mitchell Brown, Darren Glass, Shannon Hurn
HB: Beau Waters, Eric Mackenzie, Sharrod Wellingham
C: Andrew Gaff, Matt Priddis, Bradd Dalziell
HF: Josh Hill, Jack Darling, Chris Masten
F: Nic Naitanui, Josh Kennedy, Mark LeCras
Foll: Dean Cox, Scott Selwood, Luke Shuey
Int: Will Schofield, Daniel Kerr, Ashton Hams, Ashley Smith, Jacob Brennan, Matt Rosa, Callum Sinclair
IN: Sharrod Wellingham, NIC NAITANUI,  Ashley Smith
OUT: Jamie Cripps, Sam Butler, Ashton Hams

WESTERN BULLDOGS
B: Dale Morris, Jordan Roughead, Liam Picken
HB: Jason Johannisen, Mark Austin, Tom Young
C: Jack Macrae, Matthew Boyd, Adam Cooney
HF: Jake Stringer, Dylan Addison, Koby Stevens
F: Luke Dahlhaus, Liam Jones, Jason Tutt
Foll: Will Minson, Nick Lower, Tom Liberatore
Int: Lukas Markovic, Daniel Pearce, Patrick Veszpremi, Mitch Wallis, Clay Smith, Christian Howard, Daniel Cross
IN: Dylan Addison, Christian Howard
OUT: Brett Goodes (suspension), Patrick Veszpremi  (Omitted)

We don't just need to win this game. We need to play 4 good, solid quarters of football with consistent effort, cleaner disposal and a score which doesn't make us wish it was the pre-season cup.

This is the first of around...16 must win games. 

We have to win. 

Let's win.