Autopsy Round 3, 2026: Positives and Negatives vs Port Adelaide

[SAweagle]

Many have already mentioned the popular Positive and Negative.
The best popular Positive I like has to be McQualter putting a hard tag on Butter at second quarter. This (on top of the increased effort from the players) must be the key to the win.
Note: Probably we need to start training up a speedy, agile tagger to handle Pickett in Round 9.

GIve Bo a lockdown job, he has the pace power and strength to go with him.

 

[twce13]

Duurs is a damn jet.
He’s a smooth mover.
He works his ass off.
He’s athletically gifted and uses his assets.
He has a good feel for clearance work.
And that long booming kick.

Mwaahh.

Can’t wait to see him put on some more size and have more inside balance. Happy to see him continue his current role for the year with the odd CBA.

Love him.

And I love that we have some contested marking options between the arcs. Can be such a pressure release.

 

[DorothyG]

Just watched the last two minutes again.

The shot Cripps lining up with the port fans leaving in the background

 

[Monocle]

Just watched the last two minutes again.

The shot Cripps lining up with the port fans leaving in the background

We will never, never tear up our tarps.

 

[Yeahnahmate]

West Coast, who last won successive matches since rounds six and seven in 2024...

Eagles overcome sluggish start to pull the plug on the Power

West Coast has defeated Port Adelaide by two points at Adelaide Oval

www.afl.com.au

I knew it!

 

[CountryLad]

Without trying to sound hyperbolic, Duursma reminds me so much of 2010 Nat Fyfe when he first came into the competition.

Well, except he can hit a target by foot.

Love the way your rebuild is turning out. Congrats on dub #2

Yeah agree he reminds me of a better kicking 2010 Fyfe. The Bont comparisons will continue but I think he’s more Fyfe like hopefully without the top knot too.

 

[bombard]

One thing I'm looking forward to is the way we're going to be held up by pundits all week as a counterpoint to essendon.

"The eagles have had a dreadful few years, but they've done the right thing, understood they're in a rebuild and attacked the draft. The bombers by contrast are just in a no man's land. The comparison is stark and unsettling." etcetcetc

 

[eagles rule]

Just watched the last two minutes again.

The shot Cripps lining up with the port fans leaving in the background

Crippa done a great job running the 30 sec clock down..
Early highlights was Bo Matera at full pace setting sail for goal from the 50 .

 

[LeeCarvallo]

Yeah agree he reminds me of a better kicking 2010 Fyfe. The Bont comparisons will continue but I think he’s more Fyfe like hopefully without the top knot too.

As a neutral supporter, he just gives me the same 'shit he plucked that out of nowhere for the skinniest bloke on the park' vibe you used to get when you'd see Fyfe in his early days.

 

[Spanna_]

Really happy for Mini that it looks like things are turning around. First win on the road as coach, will hopefully galvanise the boys even further. Vindicates the "strategy" of bottoming out a little bit, even though the past five seasons have been testing. The top end talent is really starting to shine, Harley especially seems to have taken another step forward.

What I have loved from these last two wins is how we've been able to respond when we've been challenged. Sure, we can work on the sluggish starts, but in previous years we would roll over in the same scenario. Being able to control the game and play tempo footy when necessary has been really impressive.

And as we saw in the middle two quarters, when we can get the game on our terms and move it quickly on the transition, we can be quite damaging.

 

[Forward Press]

One thing I'm looking forward to is the way we're going to be held up by pundits all week as a counterpoint to essendon.

"The eagles have had a dreadful few years, but they've done the right thing, understood they're in a rebuild and attacked the draft. The bombers by contrast are just in a no man's land. The comparison is stark and unsettling." etcetcetc

It's slightly misleading, though, because we still did things like pick splits and free agency moves to get over Liam Baker, Jack Graham, Deven Robertson, Brandon Starcevich etc etc. And exploited our SSP and MSD position to get mature age recruits like Tom McCarthy, Jack Hutchinson, Milan Murdock etc etc.

The actual key is not just to hit the draft hard but also have a balanced demographic - you still need those mid-range players (ie aged around the mid 20s) that are more developed and - dare I say it - seasoned - to help guide the kids. Unfortunately for Essendon, most of the players they recruited around that range are not fit for purpose which is compounded by their draft picks being unlucky (eg three top 10s in the worst draft of recent times) or just plain bad or permanently injured (eg 2022 draft).

 

[Barrybran]

Murdock provides this up front when fit and healthy.

Baker is a mini swingman, can go in the middle or up forward as needed.

Look at the leading clubs, they have 3 or 4 playing the role each week.

Put simply, and assuming Starcevich gets on the park, we do not need Baker defensively. And the fact is he turns the ball over when down back.

I'd prefer Baker up forward with Newton as our forward rotation. Murdock and Newton worked well together but Newton struggled until Baker went forward. Having all three means two are always on field at the same time so opposition defenders never get a rest.

 

[Barrybran]

Im liking mini throwing Waterman or Shanahan back at stages. Really helps stem the flow when needed
Schoenberg fit in nicely

It's nice to have two guys that we can swing back as required but it would be nicer if we didn't have to do it. We need some proper KPD's.

 

[Doashuey]

2nd consecutive Monday morning wakes:

Watched this with one of my good mates who is a Port supporter so always a bit of a tradition that we catch up and watch the WC v Port games. This was the most enjoyable catch up since the 2017 Elimination final (we missed the 2018 Gov goal).
I gave us a chance but thought we would need to start well to get over the line. Even knowing our recent ability to turn on a good 2nd half, I really couldnt see us coming back from 5 goals down away from home. That was a pretty inspiring win and will give the young group some very strong belief- so important.
I thought Yeo was enormous in that 2nd quarter- pretty much every scoring chain had him involved as the prime mover. It was very deflating to hear at the start of the 3rd that he was done for the day but wholy shit, to have him out of the game and still, get up was something else. Kellys 3rd quarter kept the ball rolling for us, I was hopful after seeing his preseason hit out that we might see more of this from him.
We have a stall full of young studs!
Duursma -stud. Should get a RS nod this week but could have really made sure of it with a couple more gettable goals but great to watch.
Bo- stud. looks very exciting- looks like Weapon X will need to stay seated in that cuck chair.
Shanahan- stud. he is something else- 4 huge contested grabs. I was vehemently against putting him in the backline but as a swingman he is unreal. As one of my boys said- he is the new Gov. The way he reads the flights and plucks the ball- it is hard to disagree.
Harley, Alpha Stud, making everyone his bitch. Anyone complaining about him and ill-discipline needs to check themselves and go and do more calf raises. Whinge for years that there is no mongrel in this team and then we get a bonafide mad dog who wins us games and puts the fear of god into the opposition while giving away a grand total of 1 free and 1 50m penalty and he suddenly he needs to reign it in. F*** that, let him cook.
Mini is the man- making a certain couple of posters from 2 weeks ago looking very foolish indeed.

 

[DorothyG]

It's slightly misleading, though, because we still did things like pick splits and free agency moves to get over Liam Baker, Jack Graham, Deven Robertson, Brandon Starcevich etc etc. And exploited our SSP and MSD position to get mature age recruits like Tom McCarthy, Jack Hutchinson, Milan Murdock etc etc.

The actual key is not just to hit the draft hard but also have a balanced demographic - you still need those mid-range players (ie aged around the mid 20s) that are more developed and - dare I say it - seasoned - to help guide the kids. Unfortunately for Essendon, most of the players they recruited around that range are not fit for purpose which is compounded by their draft picks being unlucky (eg three top 10s in the worst draft of recent times) or just plain bad or permanently injured (eg 2022 draft).

We HAD to do all that because we also neglected the draft for many years (whether right or wrong, we did win a flag and were in a window).

 

[Sammy J]

The last few years, we knew we were missing players in that mid 20's bracket to help us. Love that the club has gone out and recruited:

• Milan Murdock
• Tom McCarthy
• Deven Robertson
• Harry Schoenberg
• Finn McRae
• Tylar Young
• Jack Hutchinson

All to fill this breach in our list. Not all will be keepers, but it makes up for the whiffs in Brander/Chesser and the like that were supposed to fill the void.

The issue with the list previously was that it was either guys too old and past it, or guys to green and not yet up to it. We've sprinkled in some mature guys who can play a role, and the kids are developing and getting physically bigger and stronger and ready for the big leagues.

Outside of the Gold Coast and Brisbane, we probably have as much young talent on the list as anyone at this stage.

 

[bzparkes]

Mini is the man- making a certain couple of posters from 2 weeks ago looking very foolish indeed.

Very much pmsl when the usual Debbie-downers were saying failed rebuild and discussing replacing Mini before the bye when we were down against North.

They've been conspicuously silent since.

 

[Off Tap]

What has impressed me the most over the last fortnight is how the team is playing for each other.

It's the small things that have improved like not letting anyone bully their teammates without ramifications.

The team is really tight and everyone is on board. All champion teams have this trait.

 

[fullbull]

Just flying out of Melbourne, reckon I’ll be back in September

Just heading to the airport to fly to Melbourne. You can never get there too early.

 

[bzparkes]

The last few years, we knew we were missing players in that mid 20's bracket to help us. Love that the club has gone out and recruited:

• Milan Murdock
• Tom McCarthy
• Deven Robertson
• Harry Schoenberg
• Finn McRae
• Tylar Young
• Jack Hutchinson

All to fill this breach in our list. Not all will be keepers, but it makes up for the whiffs in Brander/Chesser and the like that were supposed to fill the void.

The issue with the list previously was that it was either guys too old and past it, or guys to green and not yet up to it. We've sprinkled in some mature guys who can play a role, and the kids are developing and getting physically bigger and stronger and ready for the big leagues.

Outside of the Gold Coast and Brisbane, we probably have as much young talent on the list as anyone at this stage.

Yeah, was a good call by the club, especially considering many of us just wanted to keep picking up talent at the draft instead of senior state league players and retreads.

Personally I think we'll look back on this decision and see it as the catalyst for our rise up the ladder. They may not be there when contending again but they at least make games competitive for the highly rated young players to develop in instead of playing in constant blowouts.

 

[Hap Hapablap]

reid is something else. the fact the team has mongrel now and the boys defend each other has killed off the vanilla from the squad and made the team to start building to a ferociously tight unit. legit reid cdt durrsma and shanahan. what a spine.

 

[wctorp]

Looking at the fixture ahead, before the bye we’ve got winnable home games against Richmond, GWS, Essendon, Port and North. Remarkably we could still be around the 8 somewhere at the bye if form holds.

 

[Maroubra Eagle]

+ve
Voting for Round 3 GOTY (Waterman) and MOTY (Shannahan) is now open

 

[Ambrose Burnside]

Harley, Alpha Stud, making everyone his bitch. Anyone complaining about him and ill-discipline needs to check themselves and go and do more calf raises. Whinge for years that there is no mongrel in this team and then we get a bonafide mad dog who wins us games and puts the fear of god into the opposition while giving away a grand total of 1 free and 1 50m penalty and he suddenly he needs to reign it in. F*** that, let him cook.

100%

Harley is the man. The face of the club. Get around him.

Imagine the reaction on field if Hewett gets knocked out this year instead of when he did. That's the Harley influence. With a healthy dose of Liam Baker and Jack Graham.

 

[Scotland]

+ve

Away win!
Two wins in a row!
Jooooobe.
Possible 2nd rising star nom in a row.
Waterman just casually kicking goals from 60.
Losing Yeo at HT but continuing on as though he was still there.
Etc. there are heaps.

-ve

The double standard umpiring of HR is beyond a joke. Pushes Butters in the chest, immediate free which led to a goal. Last week it's fair game to hit HR in the throat because 'he started it'. Yep and the most fined player in AFL history isn't an instigator?