Mid-Week Wrap; Garden Gnomes, Babies and Suns.

I think we should consider ourselves quite lucky in respect of the fixturing. Last week we played the best team in the comp, this week we play the (near) worst. That is to say, had it been the other way round the Collingwood loss would have been greater and the (expected) GC win possibly less. Not that I'm dismissing the GC, for as Worsfold has alluded to they are a very talented team whom we will face in the GF in a few years time (?). It should be fun, the Grand Final that is, not this week. I find it hard to get excited about playing such a poor side where we are expected to romp to victory. Anything less than a Darling-esque romp will be criticised.

More on that later in the week though. On to other news and it appears we may be without the services of Andrew Embley. His wife is due to give birth at any second and I have to say it's rather clever timing by the pair. Clearly, prior to achieving conception they looked at the fixturing and determined this was the game Embley could miss. Well played.

There also seems to be a few youngsters in the selection mix, with good WAFL form early in the season. I say play them. They can't be any worse than some of the first team regulars. I am resistant to name any particular players, but EBERT is one that does diddly-squat on a consistent basis. Though he is rather adept at taking strong contested marks on the wing. Pffftt.

In other slightly irrelevant news, I have recently discovered the West Coast Eagles Official Online Auction Site. I mean, most of it is out of my range, but it's still amusing to look at. Especially that Chris Masten's signed guernsey uis up to $105 and the reserve has not been reached. A couple of questions. How does it have 3 bids!? Secondly, what the hell is the reserve?
I did consider bidding on the garden gnome signed by Coach and Captain...but where to put it? It's all too weird for me.

Later.

Round 10 Recap: Pies thrash Eagles

A game plan will only ever get you so far. A strong game plan, implemented well, against decent teams will often be enough to win. But when you come up against a great team, you need great players. We have too many mediocre players, who the Pies exposed.

It's evident that Collingwood are too talented for us.  What is also clear is the need for a proper crumbing forward. The ball popped out of our 50 too often and easy for my liking. If JJK didn't mark, we had no shot. Nicoski and Lecras are good medium sized forwards, but they lack pace and tackling ability. And no, Ashton Hams does not fulfil that role. Sure, he's short, but he's lacking in ability. Wheedon? Meh, we probably need to see more of him to be sure. How about Sampi? Phil Matera?Andrew Krakeour?
Back to reality. We weren't embarassed though. It would be incredulous for critics to argue this game showed the Eagles have not improved. We were the wooden spooners last year. If this game was last year, we would have lost by 20 goals.
I also thought we missed players like Waters and Brown today. Ash Smith isn't really up to it at this stage. Schofield too made a few mistakes.
On the positive, I thought Lynch presented well...except he presented at centre half back. Kerr was also very solid. Priddis showed immaculate poised throughout the afternoon.
But all in all, it revealed that we are no where near elite status. Some of it is talent, some experience.

But we weren't embarassed.

Which we will be if we lose to the Suns next week. So, let's not do that.

Round 10 Preview: Pies v Eagles

If someone had have told me prior to the start of the season that this clash would be the most anticipated of the round I would have reacted with scorn, irritation and a little hunger.
But things have changed. The Eagles are playing like a professional football team once more, with a resurgence led by both past and future stars.
However, I am still resistant to label the Eagles a top 4 contender. Win this week and my resistance will be futile.

The question is: Can we win?

It's almost inconceivable: The wooden-spooner to knock off the reigning premier at the MCG.

Yet, form wise, we have a shot. If we continue to play this kind of football we will be close.
However, our away games have been inconsistent. In both losses against the Hawks and Bombers we went missing for almost entire quarters. We only narrowly lost those games, but if we stop playing for any time against Collingwood we will lose big. Ask Adelaide if a 3 quarter effort will give you the points against the Pies. They were almost 5 goals up at 3 quarter time last week, only to be pummeled in the final term.

I'm also concerned about the intimidation factor; best team, best ground on national TV on a Sunday afternoon.

There's not much to report in terms of team news except that Butler is out. He suffered an 'injury' whilst 'training'. It sounds strange, but it's no big loss. Some people talk of Butler like he is an integral part of the team. A 'Premiership Player'. Yeah, well, he really didn't do much during that time and he's been injured for most of the time since. But I do like him better than his replacement, Brad Sheppard. If you took Sheppard, Masten and Ebert and put them together you would have one hell...of a semi-decent...WAFL player. It's a bit harsh, I know, but they are 3 massive liabilities.

This will only be the 3rd time this year that I will tip against the Eagles, but I can see an upset. But to be honest, I'm more interested in the performance. If we play our game for the entire match and get close, that's almost as good as a win.

But a win is better.

M.E

Footy Classified, OWAAT Treats Eagles with Disrespect (Again)

Well hell, at least they are acknowledging we exist now. The emphasis of the monday panel shows was on the lacklustre performance of the Dogs. This didn't annoy me much. But then when they do appreciate our improvement, it's always qualified. Walls and Grant Thomas like the back-handed compliment.
In the last few weeks, Walls has mentioned this supposed 'drug problem' and 'culture issues' we had a few years ago. I refuse to accept this principle. The Eagles had no more of a drug problem than any other club. Even if you do accept we had a problem, why does he have to keep bringing it up? I know he never gave us credit at the time of our success. He was always lamenting our forward structure. I remember the prelimiary final weekend of 05 when he said that if Adelaide made the GF against the Swans it would be a close game, not so much if the Eagles reached it. It pissed me off then and it still does.
Over on FC and Grant Thomas is even more annoying. He said "The last time the Eagles were this good there should have been an investigation". This coming from the former Saints coach. If any team should've been investigated it was Thomas's Saints. Not to mention the stupidity of his statement. It's almost as if he suggests that our flag was tainted as it was fueled by illicit drug use. If illicit drug use was rampant, I don't see how it could've done anything but hurt player performances. Probably sour grapes. We all know what chokers his teams were.
I know I shouldn't get so angry about ill informed statements by these coaches who were essentially epic-failures, but they are jerks.

And we are the Eagles.

That feels better.

M.E

Round 9 Recap: Eagles Tame Dogs; Treat them Tricks like Lying Dead

Oh dear.
What a fantastic title.
Almost as fantastic as our performance.
 Then I woke up.

But it wasn't a dream.

We really did absolutely and unequivocally destroy the Western Bulldogs. Whether it was Kerr's class, Shuey's poise or Kennedy's brilliance it was a nigh perfect afternoon.
For their part, the Dogs showed glimpses but were outworked and out-pressured.
There were so many great efforts yesterday but Kennedy takes the votes. He was amazing. Dominant. He had about 3 or 4 opponents and kicked goals on all of them. He took marks on the lead, contested marks, marks with his eyes closed, marks without pants.
The first thing I thought of was this:

Kennedy will be, by the end of his career, barring injuries, the greatest big forward to ever play at the club. I know we've had some good ones; Sumich...etc. but JJK is the one that promises to be the most talented and consistent. It's comforting to think that the one guy that could challenge this is Jack Darling.

To the midfield. Shuey has exploded. He has so much poise and polish. He seems to have the ability to win contested football and be efficient in disposal. Moreover, he does one thing our mids havene't done of late: kick goals. Just a lazy 5 for the young lad.
It's Shuey's emergence which has contributed to Kerr's resurrection. This guy has so much class and we're finally seeing it on a regular basis.
Similarly, Naitanui's form has helped Cox re-establish himself as the top ruckmen in the game.

The one issue I spotted yesterday was down back. Generally we were very good. But I do worry about Ashley Smith. He seems to be a bit of a trunover machine. He has a long kick, but if he goes short he isn't very accurate. However, Brown and Waters will no doubt supplant him once their respective injuries have abated.

So- Top 8? Top 4? PREMIERSHIP!!!???

We must all relax. It's been a stunning turnaround. But it's round 9.
Sure, if we continue to play this well we will make the finals and possibly top 4.
But the question is can we keep this up?
 ....
We face Collingwood at the G on Sunday.  Massive game. Get close and we gain respect. Lose big and we not only lose respect but also confidence.

Misanthropic Eagle