Are the Weagles contenders or pretenders

[rewind]

Not sure if they played well or if the Roos played badly, haven't sen the game yet, only the score.

 

[The Dutchman!]

They'll be competitive, but unless they unearth 2 -3 new real young stars they'll fall just a little short.

So at this stage, pretenders/

Definitely make the eight though - somewhere between 4 and 6 IMHO. Just too long a season when 90% of your best players are 28+.

Nice win though. On the other hand you'd have to think North's confidence would be a little physically and mentally shattered after facing reality last weekend - that and the suspensions.

 

[Power Mad]

What an enigma is Fraser Gehrig. Tonight against the Kangaroos he finally turned it on. That goal he kicked when he just brushed Glenn Archer aside in a marking contest must have really lifted his team mates. And yet Gehrig has a reputation of being soft. If he can reproduce tonight's form consistently, the Eagles will be more than pretenders in 2000.

As good as their win was tonight, they had just about their best 22 playing, while the Roos had Martyn, Pyke and Colbert missing and Carey carrying injuries.

The Eagles carried all before them for the first couple of months last year but faded badly in the second half of the season, so it's too early to tell if they'll improve on 1999.

And of course they need to make the top 4 if they are to escape the injustices of the MCG finals contract...

 

[Eagle_Fan]

I honestly don't know what to say. I was unashamedly expecting a 4-6 goal loss.

Fraser is the most frustrating player I know. He generally plays like tonight for the first 5 or 6 weeks, before getting injured or losing form. He just doesn't contribute enough to the team on a regular basis. And he makes some, let's say 'puzzling' decisions out on the field. But what can we do? It might be worthwhile trading him, but he's a proven match winner, and just as likely to play all 22 for his new club. Anyway, I really hope he can keep it up this year.

I agree with Pes that we need to unearth a few new kids, but I think it might be possible. Watch for Glass (wow!), Hill, Embley (played a bit last year, but punctured his lung tonight

), Fletcher (impressive tonight in his second game), and Hunter (described as a FF in the mould of Modra). Combine them with Braun, Cousins (bit concerned about his disposal though), Read, Williams, Jones, Gardiner (wow again!) Morrison and Belotti, and our depth doesn't look to bad. But (and I said this somewhere else) our senior players have to be well managed this year. Banfield, Kemp, McIntosh, McKenna and Matera often end up playing the last 8-10 games with serious injuries (Banners played with a broken jaw for ~8 weeks or something ridiculous). If this doesn't happen, the young kids, however good, won't prevent the same thing as last year happening.

We could finish anywhere between 3 and 10.... I really don't know. Encouraging signs tonight though. Especially Jako. And Scotty & Joey- few goals early will give them a boost in confidence, and help avoid Scotty's 2nd year problems.

In short, I think the result was a bit of both. We played better than expected, but they were undermanned and possibly unfit.


Hey Pes- you're not Max are you?

 

[colley31]

On last night's performance, the Eagles were very impressive. The only thing I believe that will hold them back is injuries. Last night, they had a very strong team, and didn't have a bad player on the night, and as a Kangaroos fan, despite being disappointed on the result, West Coast would have beaten anyone the way they played.

 

[Shinboners]

Credit to the Eagles. Like Essendon in the Ansett Cup, they played with skill and strength. They seemed to set up their defence like Essendon....have two or three players on Carey and have the midfield drop back and help crumb.

But it's only one game. Last year, the Eagles were, what, 9-2 at one stage while North started with 1 win and 3 losses.

Still, the thing I noticed was that the Eagles players seemed to enjoy playing the game last night. Under Malthouse, the Eagles never seemed to actually enjoy playing football. There was some good team spirit amongst their players. I'm not too sure about Judge as coach though....Pessimistic might have a few thoughts on this. I always feel that Judge is great when things go well, but when things don't go well, he seems to crack. Maybe he has more to work with at the Eagles than at Hawthorn.

As for the view from North, like I said, it's only one game. We seem to start our seasons slowly and build momentum over the winter months. I thought Lange did well. He made one horrendous error (punched the ball towards goal and an Eagles player sharked it and goaled), but rather than dropping his head, Lange continued to do the defensive basics (punch from behind, chase). Young Hewitt did okay as well. The main thing we have to fix up is the forward line....it just hasn't been working. We're probably missing not only Sholl, but Welsh and Allison. At the very least, we'll have Colbert to look forward to in about round 4 and we hope that Rawlings can take the next step.

 

[Eagle_Fan]

Actually, Dutchy (not Pes) -are you Max?

Agree totally on that was only one game, and North will only get better. But as for the not enjoying their footy under MM, I'm not sure. I can remember a couple of days in September they more than enjoyed!

But seriously, I think they were just getting a bit stale under Mick. Scotty & Joey Matera have brought a bit of excitement and emotion back into the team (something they've lacked as a result of extreme professionalism), but that works both ways. When they're up they're up, but when they're down..... you know the rest!

Positive signs, but I'm not getting carried away yet!

 

[The Dutchman!]

Ya got me Eagle Fan!

 

[Impunity!]

Clearly pretenders for mine.

 

[ByeByeBrendan]