5 losses in last 8
The Eagles have now lost 5 of their last 8 and have dropped their second in a row at home, this time to Brisbane (after losing to St Kilda 2 weeks ago).
So much for Heritage Round being a celebration of West Australian football. Perhaps having a club wear the WA jumper and therefore allowing non-West Australians to wear it, may have been a bad idea.
You know what? Nah. Their record suggests otherwise. They are going through a rough patch, and last night's game was terrible. Low scoring (they only scored 64) and the skills were poor. Being overrun in the 3rd by the Lions who had been on a 7 game losing tear goes to show the problems run deeper. I actually attended the Lions vs Port game last week and my conclusion from that game was that both teams were shit. Where does this put the Eagles at the moment?
They obviously have the talent to turn it around. Cousins will be back (although who knows what effect that will have). They look like a championship team who is in hangover mode (no pun intended there), albeit mid-season rather than at the start.
Anyway, at least the jumpers were cool.
4 comments:
I was at the match last nite at Subiaco, proudly wearing the WA strip. The problem with the Eagles last night was their lack of taking the opposition seriously.
They didn't do so with the second rate St Kilda and again made the same mistake with a team that has passed their prime.
I wouldn't say they are going through a slump. Their match against the Crows last week was hard fought and as a result, their soreness and fatigue after that battle may have contributed partly to the loss.
ALSO
At the risk of sounding like a typical narrow-minded Eagles supporter, the umpires did have a major hand in the loss to the Saints a few weeks back. I was sitting right behind the goals and did not see one correct decision go in West Coast's favour. Yet the Saints were looked after very much by the men in yellow. Soft taps and, at times not even a touch at all, gave them enough momentum to turn the game in their favour.
Let's not forget also, the Eagles weren't playing well at all that day, yet they did make a come-back and it seemed like they would take the game. However some poor decisions by the umpires cost us the chance to regain the lead.
All last night's game really came down to in the end, was some cockiness by the Eagles. They aren't having a premiership hangover, they are a much better side than to suffer from that and I'm sure Worsfold and Sumich have their players under control as far as attitude goes. They are a professional side.
Valid points. That's the first Eagles match I've watched for ages because its not on tv here.
Any team can beat any side on any given day. Now, more than ever, it's the side that is switched on mentally that will win the game. I know that sounds like an obvious statement but if you are 5% off your game, you will pay the price.
The Eagles are suspectible to sides who apply enough pressure to their midfield and their half back line as evident in the Saints game. And while the Eagles did receive rough treatment from the umpires, it was no excuse for what was a shocking 2nd quarter.
The Saints applied enough pressure to their engine room and it choked the Eagles on their half back line and made them look ordinary.
Another trait I found with the Eagles is that they kick far too much to forwards who lead towards the boundary line. Much like any team, when the Eagles bomb the ball in long and direct to the 30, 20 metre mark they are potent.
For mine, Dean Cox and Staker should drift more into this position and allow players like LeCras, Wirrapunda (who is very handy in front of goals and can prove to be an X factor) and Jones to crumb at their feet.
Also, the big Q hasn't contributed much to the team this season, he needs to step up too. Even if he leads up the ground and marks 60 metres out from goal he can offload to players such as Hurn and Embley who have proven they can kick long goals. Don't worry about taking off the glove and blazing away, feed the ball off to these type of running players who can kick accurately from 50 on the run.
The Eagles just need to straighten up when moving forward because with the talent in their side, they should really once again win the whole thing.
The problem is, the Eagles aren't one of those 'kick and hope' sides. Their forwards lead out towards the boundary line as part of their plan to get the ball closer to goal. The only problem is that every other team in the AFL floods, including the Saints. The Eagles still haven't found a way to combat this.
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