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The Eagles' season hangs on the sharpest of knife edges after last weeks results saw the Eagles slump to seventh on the ladder. Fortunately the Eagles are still two games (and much percentage) clear of the ninth placed Kangaroos, so the September action is unlikely to be missed, but the promise of a few weeks ago has been tarnished by a very ordinary month capped off by this year's first loss at Subiaco.
The Eagles this week travel to Kardinia Park, once a happy stamping ground in the early nineties, but a difficult ground for the Eagles in recent years. A victory over Geelong would not only secure finals for 2003, but breathe a little late life into the season, so the Eagles will be keen for a victory.
Changes
The Eagles have brought a few players back into the side after last week, with Ashley McIntosh, Darren Glass, Drew Banfield, Chad Fletcher and Ashley Sampi all named to return to the side in place of Andrew McDougall, Adam Selwood, Troy Wilson, Kasey Green and Kane Munro. McDougall, Selwood and Jeremy Humm have been named as emergencies. Most notably David Sierakowski and Callum Chambers have been given another chance to shine after good and reasonable returns to the team respectively last week. The return of Fletcher is the best news for the Eagles however as he hopefully can provide a spark that has been missing the last few weeks, and McIntosh's return could provide a bit of steel for the backline if he can hold out.
Click here for the squad
Lead up
The Eagles lead up to this match is woeful, with only two wins in the last five rounds. The wallopings of Carlton and Hawthorn have been more than offset by big losses to Port and St Kilda away and the Crows at home. In recent away matches the opposition have clearly got the jump on the Eagles, and that is one thing West Coast will need to address this week to counter the Cats.
Geelong have not had the season they would have hoped for at the start of 2003 and languish in 13th spot ahead of the hapless Demons, Blues and Bulldogs. Similarly to the Eagles, Geelong have only won two of their last five, and only six so far for the season, while at home at Kardinia Park they are only 2-4 for the season so far.
Injuries and Suspensions
The Eagles' injury list is looking better this week with the return of Chad Fletcher to the line-up, however Michael Gardiner and Andrew Embley are still crucial pieces of the Eagles jigsaw that will not appear this weekend.
At Geelong the main missing name is Stephen King who will not appear again for 2003 after missing with an achillies since round 14.
Match Ups
With Gardiner and King out Dean Cox needs to stand up and win in the ruck this week after a disappointing effort last week, especially against Geelong's inexperienced ruckmen.
Additionally Cox needs to feed the Eagles midfielders, who with Chad Fletcher back in the side have a little more potency on paper than in recent weeks. The battle between Cameron Ling and Ben Cousins could be interesting as the bloodnut Cat has had Cuz's number in recent clashes. Other than the veteran Peter Riccardi the other Geelong midfielders such as Joel Corey and Corey Enright look inexperienced compared to Daniel Kerr and even Chris Judd, but in the earlier match this year the unheralded Cats really served it up to their West Coast rivals. The Eagles would be pleased also with the performance of Callum Chambers last week in his first game for 2003 although his disposal lacked a little something... anything....
One major positive from last week's match was the return to form of Phil Matera, who had a much better week against the Crows than in other recent matches. If Matera and hopefully Sampi can show form this week the Eagles will be a long way toward kicking a winning score, although the Cats do have talent in defence like Matthew Scarlett who can make it difficult for the Eagles forwards.
Up forward for the Cats there are a few players named the Eagles will need to watch, such as Gary Ablett and James Bartel, while Ben Graham's form this year warrants a watchful eye.
2002 - 2003
Earlier this season the then bottom placed Cats met then second placed Eagles at Subiaco - and provided quite a challenge before the Eagles got on top in the last quarter. Last year however the Cats won the only meeting between the clubs as the Eagles went goalless after half time in a less than impressive effort at Kardinia Park
2003, Round 7, Subiaco
West Coast 3.4 7.7 11.8 17.11 (113)
Geelong 2.5 6.8 11.12 14.13 ( 97)
2002, Round 14, Kardinia Park
Geelong 3.5 3.8 5.15 8.17 ( 65)
West Coast 1.5 4.7 4.9 4.9 ( 33)
Head to Head
Overall:Played 31; Geelong 13, West Coast 18, Draws 0.
At Kardinia Park: Played 15; Geelong 8, West Coast 7, Draws 0.
Biggest Margin - West Coast: West Coast 20.23 (143) d Geelong 8.15 (63) - 80 points, M.C.G, Grand Final 1994
Biggest Margin - Geelong: Geelong 26.19 (175) d West Coast 11.14 (80) - 95 points, Kardinia Park, R2 1989
Milestones
Glen Jakovich becomes the Eagles leading games holder with 268, passing Guy McKenna.
Summary
This game's a hard one to pick. The Eagles have a clear gap on talent (this year anyway), but injuries and form lapses have brought them back to the pack a lot recently, while Geelong have never really got above mediocrity this year, but are playing at home. Even my gut feeling is ambivalent on this one, but if anything will divide the teams this week its the fact that Geelong have virtually nothing left to play for this year with finals not a possibility and the spoon similar. The Eagles did not play badly last week, the Crows side was just clearly better, and if the Eagles can return that sort of performance this week should be able to shade the Cats.
My prediction: West Coast by 11 points
The Eagles' season hangs on the sharpest of knife edges after last weeks results saw the Eagles slump to seventh on the ladder. Fortunately the Eagles are still two games (and much percentage) clear of the ninth placed Kangaroos, so the September action is unlikely to be missed, but the promise of a few weeks ago has been tarnished by a very ordinary month capped off by this year's first loss at Subiaco.
The Eagles this week travel to Kardinia Park, once a happy stamping ground in the early nineties, but a difficult ground for the Eagles in recent years. A victory over Geelong would not only secure finals for 2003, but breathe a little late life into the season, so the Eagles will be keen for a victory.
Changes
The Eagles have brought a few players back into the side after last week, with Ashley McIntosh, Darren Glass, Drew Banfield, Chad Fletcher and Ashley Sampi all named to return to the side in place of Andrew McDougall, Adam Selwood, Troy Wilson, Kasey Green and Kane Munro. McDougall, Selwood and Jeremy Humm have been named as emergencies. Most notably David Sierakowski and Callum Chambers have been given another chance to shine after good and reasonable returns to the team respectively last week. The return of Fletcher is the best news for the Eagles however as he hopefully can provide a spark that has been missing the last few weeks, and McIntosh's return could provide a bit of steel for the backline if he can hold out.
Click here for the squad
Lead up
The Eagles lead up to this match is woeful, with only two wins in the last five rounds. The wallopings of Carlton and Hawthorn have been more than offset by big losses to Port and St Kilda away and the Crows at home. In recent away matches the opposition have clearly got the jump on the Eagles, and that is one thing West Coast will need to address this week to counter the Cats.
Geelong have not had the season they would have hoped for at the start of 2003 and languish in 13th spot ahead of the hapless Demons, Blues and Bulldogs. Similarly to the Eagles, Geelong have only won two of their last five, and only six so far for the season, while at home at Kardinia Park they are only 2-4 for the season so far.
Injuries and Suspensions
The Eagles' injury list is looking better this week with the return of Chad Fletcher to the line-up, however Michael Gardiner and Andrew Embley are still crucial pieces of the Eagles jigsaw that will not appear this weekend.
At Geelong the main missing name is Stephen King who will not appear again for 2003 after missing with an achillies since round 14.
Match Ups
With Gardiner and King out Dean Cox needs to stand up and win in the ruck this week after a disappointing effort last week, especially against Geelong's inexperienced ruckmen.
Additionally Cox needs to feed the Eagles midfielders, who with Chad Fletcher back in the side have a little more potency on paper than in recent weeks. The battle between Cameron Ling and Ben Cousins could be interesting as the bloodnut Cat has had Cuz's number in recent clashes. Other than the veteran Peter Riccardi the other Geelong midfielders such as Joel Corey and Corey Enright look inexperienced compared to Daniel Kerr and even Chris Judd, but in the earlier match this year the unheralded Cats really served it up to their West Coast rivals. The Eagles would be pleased also with the performance of Callum Chambers last week in his first game for 2003 although his disposal lacked a little something... anything....
One major positive from last week's match was the return to form of Phil Matera, who had a much better week against the Crows than in other recent matches. If Matera and hopefully Sampi can show form this week the Eagles will be a long way toward kicking a winning score, although the Cats do have talent in defence like Matthew Scarlett who can make it difficult for the Eagles forwards.
Up forward for the Cats there are a few players named the Eagles will need to watch, such as Gary Ablett and James Bartel, while Ben Graham's form this year warrants a watchful eye.
2002 - 2003
Earlier this season the then bottom placed Cats met then second placed Eagles at Subiaco - and provided quite a challenge before the Eagles got on top in the last quarter. Last year however the Cats won the only meeting between the clubs as the Eagles went goalless after half time in a less than impressive effort at Kardinia Park
2003, Round 7, Subiaco
West Coast 3.4 7.7 11.8 17.11 (113)
Geelong 2.5 6.8 11.12 14.13 ( 97)
2002, Round 14, Kardinia Park
Geelong 3.5 3.8 5.15 8.17 ( 65)
West Coast 1.5 4.7 4.9 4.9 ( 33)
Head to Head
Overall:Played 31; Geelong 13, West Coast 18, Draws 0.
At Kardinia Park: Played 15; Geelong 8, West Coast 7, Draws 0.
Biggest Margin - West Coast: West Coast 20.23 (143) d Geelong 8.15 (63) - 80 points, M.C.G, Grand Final 1994
Biggest Margin - Geelong: Geelong 26.19 (175) d West Coast 11.14 (80) - 95 points, Kardinia Park, R2 1989
Milestones
Glen Jakovich becomes the Eagles leading games holder with 268, passing Guy McKenna.
Summary
This game's a hard one to pick. The Eagles have a clear gap on talent (this year anyway), but injuries and form lapses have brought them back to the pack a lot recently, while Geelong have never really got above mediocrity this year, but are playing at home. Even my gut feeling is ambivalent on this one, but if anything will divide the teams this week its the fact that Geelong have virtually nothing left to play for this year with finals not a possibility and the spoon similar. The Eagles did not play badly last week, the Crows side was just clearly better, and if the Eagles can return that sort of performance this week should be able to shade the Cats.
My prediction: West Coast by 11 points
