I could go on and on about how it's yet ANOTHER home loss. That it's ANOTHER loss against a top 8 team.
I could...and I will. That's 6 losses at home. The house of pain has become the house of self-inflicted pain, with costly turnovers all too common, as undermanned Eagles teams continue to fall short.
Of course it's hard to win when 6 of your best are missing. But the fact is if we had have won earlier in the season, these losses wouldn't be so costly now.
It was a rather frenzied, emotionally charged and even nasty affair. And that was just the crowd. Sitting amongst the nest, no hoarde of Dockers fans at the City End, it's surprising that I remain with all limbs intact. I wasn't even abused upon making a hasty exit following the final siren. But during the game, geez, it got rather edgy. I don't engage in any banter at all, but quite a bit flew around as the game went on. Most of it in good fun, but having a Dockers scarf waved near your face after every last quarter goal (8 by the way) isn't exactly a great feeling (not that it was being waved at me, rather at the drunken lout a few seats up, who started cheering for the Dampier Sharks when Cox got the ball...hmmmm). I was actually sitting a few rows back from injured/useless Dockers like Suban and Crichton.
Back to the game. We need to address our starts. 4 weeks in a row...actually that's 5 weeks in a row; St Kilda, Hawthorn, Essendon, Adelaide and Freo we have gone down by around 3-4 goals. To our credit we have bounced back every time, but surely our chances would've been lifted in every one of those games had we not conceded the early edge.
Our intensity was superb for 3 quarters. It was impressive that guys like Dalziell, Hutchings and first gamer Carter really did hold their own against more established opponents. But we could never gain any advantage on the scoreboard. We were never more than a goal ahead. Personally, I felt the Dockers always held the game in their hands and they finally wore us down in the last. In the end it was 28 points for the 2nd time this year.
In terms of individuals, Jack Darling was the standout with 5 huge goals. He's been quiet in recent weeks but he really did have a big impact on this game. I thought Schofield was good too. He showed his versatility as he swung forward and kicked a couple. Glass and E-Mac were as solid as ever down back. I also thought Cripps had a decent outing with 2 goals. I must mention Hutchings who laid a staggering 16 tackles. I have to be honest. I don't think I've ever realised that he's on the field. It's probably that I'm focusing on other players, but he's clearly been giving everything out there.
I also have to say that the umpiring was fairly atrocious. We didn't lose the game because of it, but on several occasions the Dockers were handed frees for high tackles where there players ducked their head and ran into an Eagle. There was also the free kick for Walters in the goal square. Somehow he missed from 5 metres out, but there was NOT significant contact to deem a push in the back. Horrible. You weren't hear about the umpiring anywhere though. As long as it doesn't involve a Victorian team, the AFL media doesn't care.
In other news, Embley was reported and offered a 2 match ban for his bump on 'Clancee'. Hell, what's losing another mid to a team missing 4-5 already? Pavlich was also reported for his clumsy bump on Brown and was offered a 3 match ban. So...haha.
We're still 1 game outside the 8. Nothing's really changed in that regard. I'll update my finals post later.
We face the Swans next week, a team we haven't beaten since 2007. Unlike last week, I fully expect that absolutely no quality addtions will be made to this side. In fact I half expect that we'll lose another few players.
Finally, congrats to the Dockers. We might have 3 premierships, appeared in 5 grand finals, 2 Brownlow Medallists and 4 Norm Smith Medallists but you purple punks have heaps of those derby trophies. They've got to be worth at least $75 a pop at Cash Converters. #foreverinourshadow
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