There is reportedly going to be a sequel to the much beloved, critically acclaimed (at least in my eyes) animated/sports epic 'Space Jam'. But this is an Eagles blog, so this is neither the time nor the place to dwell on such a tantalising prospect.
I only mention it because the theme song of 'Space Jam' is such that it seems appropriate to kick-start blog posts relating to Season 2014. Yes, the doom and gloom, the self-pity and the wallowing over last year has finally concluded.
I'm feeling fairly upbeat after a couple of strong performances in pre-season against the Dockers (twice) and the Swans. It is completely meaningless, but it's better than looking bad I suppose. I can't say I watched more than 7 minutes of the first 2 games but I glanced at some stats and recaps.
I did, however, attend the practice match against Freo a couple of weeks ago. It was a very pleasant evening, with half the ground closed, all spectators were shielded from the dwindling but hot sun under the cover of the grandstand. The crowd was in fairly good spirits, some seemed to take the game a little too seriously (booing at a practice match? Save it for Round 1 guys) but it was a nice and relaxed night. Oh and we played very well. The Eagles were clearly the more focused and intense of the two teams. The Dockers seemed a little slow and a little disinterested. UPDATE: The Dockers are still painfully difficult to beat...and watch.
After watching so many live games last year, I was struck by two things from our perspective:
1) We were very clean with possession
2) We moved the ball quickly and quite directly.
Whether these improvements hold for the season proper remain to be seen. But we looked confident and dedicated. Good omens.
I usually write several preview posts where I provide rather questionable predictions regarding the upcoming season. After much thought (over the past 25 seconds) I have come to the conclusion that I am just too lazy to do so again this year. Lazy and cognisant of the fact that many of those predictions had nothing to do with the Eagles...or football.
I guess this post will have to fill that void that I'm sure loyal readers will have been eagerly awaiting to be filled...
Here's how I see 2014 going down;
- Top Goalkicker: Kennedy will be our top goalkicker, kicking 63. Lecras, sporting a new hair do, and hopefully having more luck with injuries will bounce back from a disappointing 2013. Darling was decent last season, will he kick it up another gear?
- Our record- 11-11. It's a pessimistic prediction, but we do have many difficult games, an unproven coach, an unproven team. I think the competition should be fairly strong this year although there are many teams that could go either way (Essendon Buyer's Club for example).
- Best New recruit: This is tough, as there were some solid if not spectacular off-season recruits. Draftee Sheed? Yeo? X-Ellis? Maybe Adam Simpson, who should at least inject some rookie enthusiasm into what was a fairly lifeless outfit last season.
- Biggest Improver: I predict that Andrew 'Anonymous' Gaff will lose that middle name I assigned to him 3 seconds ago. He was a major disappointment last season, unable to break a tag and largely ineffective. As a player with superb foot skills, we (both him, the team, coaching staff) need to find a way to get him into the game.
- Biggest Disappointment: Perhaps not making finals. As you can discern from my record prediction above, I'm agnostic about our prospects. Start well and finals are a possibility, but nothing is certain.
- Must See Game: As always there are some great games; Derbies (but they contain a Ross Lyon team so 'zzzzzzz'), home games against the Pies, Swans and Roos. But personally, and perhaps ridiculously, I'm quite looking forward to our first ever home game against GWS. They have some exciting players, Cameron, Patton etc. and may actually be competitive this season. We should only win by 67 points.
There you have it. A short season preview, which I started 3 weeks ago, complete with 3 days to spare until bounce down.
Stay tuned for the Round 1 Preview in the next couple of days!
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