Round 18 Preview: Top 4 Hopes Slip Sliding Away

...Damn. That was a bad 2 weeks.

Not for me, as I was holidaying in Melbourne. But the Eagles were well and truly smashed in the last 2 games, probably the 2 most important matches of the season to this point.

I do, to an extent, place blame on injuries and omissions for the Sydney debacle (when you have Masten starting the last quarter as full forward you know you're having some personnel issues) but both sides outplayed us. My/our concerns over our midfield have certainly been heightened over the past 2 weeks, with Shuey's stupidity exacerbating matters. We simply don't have enough quality and certainly not enough depth at this point.

Also, worryingly, although I only watched a bit of the first quarter of the Crows game (where the game was lost) we seemed to lack intensity. Just unacceptable.

So we could be 1st right now, instead we are teetering at 5th. In my mind, based on my predictions, top 2 is essentially gone. I also don't think we will make top 4, although it is still attainable. I'm not writing off our chances of winning a premiership, but there is now no room for error.

Falling...

On the injury-front, I'm beginning to think that Kennedy won't return this season. Nicoski and Lecras are already gone. We do get Hill and Shuey back this week. Embley also will return via the WAFL.

West Coast Eagles
B: Beau Waters, Darren Glass, Eric Mackenzie
HB: Shannon Hurn, Will Schofield, Sam Butler
C: Matthew Rosa, Matthew Priddis, Andrew Gaff
HF: Josh Hill, Jack Darling, Chris Masten
F: Luke Shuey, Quinten Lynch, Dean Cox
Foll: Nic Naitanui, Scott Selwood, Daniel Kerr
I/C: Adam Selwood, Patrick McGinnity, Brad Sheppard,  Ashton Hams
In: Luke Shuey, Josh Hill
Out: Murray Newman, Jacob Brennan

Brisbane Lions
B: Ryan Harwood, Matt Maguire, Ryan Lester
HB: Josh Drummond, Joel Patfull, Jed Adcock
C: Elliot Yeo, Simon Black, Pearce Hanley
HF: Jack Redden, Jonathan Brown, Dayne Zorko
F: James Polkinghorne, Daniel Merrett, Jack Crisp
Foll: Ben Hudson, Tom Rockliff, Andrew Raines
I/C: James Hawksley, Todd Banfield, Niall McKeever, Claye Beams, Rohan Bewick, Sam Docherty, Stephen Wrigley
In: James Hawksley, Stephen Wrigley
Out: Aaron Cornelius, Jared Polec

I expect us to bounce back against the Lions, although as they showed us earlier in the season, they are no easy-beats. Still, at home, with the season on the line, nothing less than an emphatic win is necessary. Percentage is huge in what is still a relatively tight top 6, making a big victory even more important. But perhaps just as important is that we play a good, high pressure game.

It's all on the line.