Season 2014 Preview: Y'all ready for this!?

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!

Round 1 Review: Eagles win...but still lose.

I came away from yesterday's win with a due sense of dread. A win, sure, but a win that felt more like a thank-less win, less celebratory more contemplative. 

We won by 4 points, against a bottom 6 side without some of their best players and most evidently without a ruckman. Sure we were without casual-player Kerr and inconsistent Naitanui, but it would have been quite an effort to lose. Yet, we nearly did. I'm not arguing that we played poorly. I thought we showed some positive signs. Cox was at his dominant best (until the final quarter when cramps compelled him to form the fetal position). Gaff, starting as a sub, showed some silky skills. Darling looks strong, if not a little rigid and inflexible.

Yet, in general, the skills of some of our players allowed North to stay in the game. Ebert continues to amaze me with his inability to kick a football properly. Scott Selwood had a few clangers. Last season we had a tendency to turn the ball over at the most inopportune times. Nothing I saw yesterday convinced me that much had changed.

Now to the real bad news. I’m sure you all saw it. Following a goal he kicked in  the 3^rd quarter, Mark Lecras seemed to clutch his groin in pain. Well, it turns out he has an adductor tear and will be out for 7 to 10 weeks. I can’t overemphasise how great a loss this is. Lecras is the most skilful player in our team (outside of Kerr). Morover, yesterday he seemed to be spending s a substantial amount of time in the midfield. This loss deprives us of what could have been a coming of age season for Lecras. In a more tangible way we lose the 63 goals he kicked last year. More pressure is now on the likes of Ashton Hams, who yesterday did close to nothing.

Geez...I don't know why I'm turning yellow

In other news, Chris Masten has damaged cartilage in his knee and will miss 6 weeks. I would like to say this is a huge loss. But Masten has been a perpetual disappointment since we drafted him a few seasons ago. Injuries have played a role in this, but it just adds further credence to my view that our drafting has been exceedingly poor in the post-Juddas era.

Still, we won. In McKinley’s and to a lesser extent Edward’s face. 4 points on the board. We are in the top 8!

Next up, Port at AAMI Stadium. From memory we have only won once against Port there. I actually remember that game well. Late in the last, Cousins kicked two goals to lift us over the line. Good times. I think we can win this game, but by Friday I may have changed my mind.

Until next time
A Victorious Misanthropic Eagle

P.S The Umpiring was complete bollocks.