Autopsy What happened? We couldn't stand up to finals pressure.

[eagle dtrain]

Depth is the biggest problem at the club. We have easily the worst depth bar North Melbourne, Brisbane and Carlton in the league. This causes huge issues with players getting comfortable and knowing their place is safe. Next year if we have a bad run of injuries we have no chance of making the 8 especially without Nic time for a mini rebuild

 

[eaglesfan84]

The leadership group has to take responsibility here. Including coaches. Whenever the pressure is on they dissappear and this has been happening for a few years now, this is not just a one off occurrence.

Tonight Kennedy got beaten by Hamling. I've never even heard of Hamling. Priddis got exposed by the Bulldogs pace (yet again). Hurn just never imposes himself on a game and shouldn't be captain. LeCras is mentally weak, can't kick goals under pressure. Masten is a weak player and just isn't afl standard. Butler was ok tonight but he has a history of poor disposal under pressure. McKenzie has been cutdown by injury. None of these players have great leg speed either or any other outstanding athletic trait that they can use to their advantage.

With the above players still in the side we'll never win a premiership. We've seen it for the past 4 or 5 years. This is what they deliver, solid seasons and train hard but don't have what it takes to take that final step.

Along with moving on the above players our midfield needs a rebuild. New midfield coach, new players, complete clean out. We have to start with Shuey and Nic Nat being the leaders (need a replacement ruck with nic nat out). We need some real pace and energy around them. I think Yeo should be on ball. Put the pressure on him to impact on games and get him to work hard in the preseason to build his tank. We then need either a couple of good young quick mids or trade out some players for one of the best midfielders in the league.

We've got a pretty young list so we should be able to regenerate a new midfield pretty quickly.

 

[CM9000]

I'm sort of beyond the stage of getting angry. I mean, I was pretty annoyed, but I'm sort of jaded, just seen it too many times. I really don't see this current mob challenging for a flag, I think we'll need to go through a full rebuild, and might get to really challenge for a flag in about 3-4 years time. But I hope I'm wrong.

Fast, clean ball movement while playing on is something we seldom seem to find. We're too dependent on marking and zones.

We have the same list as last year - all the same talent, all the same players - what has changed?

I think it's purely mental, as you suggested.

We don't need a rebuild at all, we showed that only 2 weeks ago, we just need confidence. The draw last year helped with that, so we already have a head start for next season.

We lost the game tonight because we were off, not because Footscray were better. The ball movement showed that: we didn't have any flair or class, we simply bombed it in the hope it would be marked. Sure, the congestion played a part in that, but we've handled that tactic before.

At our peak, we're the best team in the comp, so our attitude and mentality during the preseason simply need to be improved, and we'll win the flag in 2017.

 

[bunkyboy]

I'm sort of beyond the stage of getting angry. I mean, I was pretty annoyed, but I'm sort of jaded, just seen it too many times. I really don't see this current mob challenging for a flag, I think we'll need to go through a full rebuild, and might get to really challenge for a flag in about 3-4 years time. But I hope I'm wrong.

Fast, clean ball movement while playing on is something we seldom seem to find. We're too dependent on marking and zones.

Yeah exactly. We lapsed back into before this little string of success. Very routine playing. Complacent, over-confident, unprepared...I mean, the Dogs lost to FREO and everyone was writing them off, so of course we didn't take them seriously. I think it shows a problem with the mentality. Maybe the whole 'flat-track bully' tag isn't far from the truth...

Shocking indictment on the coach and the senior players. Fell for the old three card trick. Pretty piss weak to be fair.

Look how the Hawks used the 2012 GF loss to motivate them. It seems as though rather than get angry and focused, we pretended our GF loss didn't really hurt that bad. Almost like the club felt just getting to the GF was credit enough.

 

[PerthBoy86]

We have the same list as last year - all the same talent, all the same players - what has changed?

I think it's purely mental, as you suggested, but it might go further than that.

We don't need a rebuild at all, we showed that only 2 weeks ago, we just need confidence. The draw last year helped with that, so we already have a head start for next season.

We lost the game tonight because we were off, not because Footscray were better. The ball movement showed that: we didn't have any flair or class, we simply bombed it in the hope it would be marked. Sure, the congestion played a part in that, but we've handled that tactic before.

At our peak, we're the best team in the comp, so our attitude and mentality during the preseason simply need to be improved, and we'll win the flag in 2017.

Yeah, that's what I said, it's to do with the mentality...maybe the coaching team also have a big role to play. Simmo seemed pretty accepting of the situation, just saying the Dogs were outplayed, kinda implying we didn't have a hope.

It does seem that a lot of even our experienced players seem very fickle. Consistency is certainly a problem. I think Adelaide just had a fairly poor day, allowing us to excel without as much pressure, the Hawks haven't been that great, and GWS are still a young team, those three wins were somewhat lucky for us.

Mental toughness is a big part of the game. This Eagles squad only seem to thrive when they look like they're on top. When they're firing our forward line appear unstoppable, yet I really don't see the same hunger/desperation as the mid 00s Eagles. There were times when the midfield would lift to a level I've rarely seen before. This midfield is inferior.

 

[Gizza]

We don't have any contested ball winners. Simple as that. People like to say Priddis is a contested ball winner, but he's not. He's a contested ball getter perhaps, but one he has it, he doesn't "win" it. At best he gives it off to someone else. But that's pretty easy to shut down, either by pressuring him, or his targets, and that leads to the old blind bomb.

Shuey is about the closest thing to a contested ball winner we have, but he's not at the level of others. Guys like Stringer, Dangerfield, Fyfe, Kennedy, hell, even Calab Daniel will go in, grab the ball, rip it out, break away and do something with it.

We have a bunch of slow inside mids and slightly quicker outside mids to give it to. Guys like that though don't give a s**t about inside or outside. They'll grab the ball, make their own space and use it. All the good sides have at least one player like this. On a good day the Dogs freak'n have like 3. We have like half a one at best.

 

[PerthBoy86]

Shocking indictment on the coach and the senior players. Fell for the old three card trick. Pretty piss weak to be fair.

Look how the Hawks used the 2012 GF loss to motivate them. It seems as though rather than get angry and focused, we pretended our GF loss didn't really hurt that bad. Almost like the club felt just getting to the GF was credit enough.

I have a feeling coaching, management, leadership are also holding us back a fair bit. It's a general attitude thing. I mean just contrast it to the Dogs.

 

[PerthBoy86]

We don't have any contested ball winners. Simple as that. People like to say Priddis is a contested ball winner, but he's not. He's a contested ball getter perhaps, but one he has it, he doesn't "win" it. At best he gives it off to someone else. But that's pretty easy to shut down, either by pressuring him, or his targets, and that leads to the old blind bomb.

Shuey is about the closest thing to a contested ball winner we have, but he's not at the level of others. Guys like Stringer, Dangerfield, Fyfe, Kennedy, hell, even Calab Daniel will go in, grab the ball, rip it out, break away and do something with it.

We have a bunch of slow inside mids and slightly quicker outside mids to give it to. Guys like that though don't give a s**t about inside or outside. They'll grab the ball, make their own space and use it. All the good sides have at least one player like this. On a good day the Dogs freak'n have like 3. We have like half a one at best.

Yep, basically. We lack those versatile midfielders who can transition into attack. We always seem a bit behind in contested ball.

 

[Monocle]

It was a combination of running out of puff and some badly soiled nappies.

 

[TheGhostOfJohnBelushi]

We had a 16 win H&A season. To put that in perspective, the only other years that has happened were 1990, 1991, 1994, 2005, 2006, 2011, 2015 and every single one of those years we were in the top 4. This year it gave us 6th spot. But the difference between those years and this year feels out of the ordinary.

Despite the 16 wins, not one of them prior to the last month felt convincing. We've flogged teams but never felt like a juggernaut. We got over the line against teams but it never felt like they were hard earnt and were more like lucky escapes.

Just a weird freakin' season and I have no real desire to look back at any of of our games other than the wins over GWS and Adelaide last month. The Hawthorn game would have been included but that was overshadowed by Natanui's knee injury. So two damn highlights out of a 16 win season.

 

[Here2tellyouwhy]

Without Naitanui next year, while JK, Priddis and Hurn edge closer to the end, and GWS start to dominate while the Bulldogs and Swans keep getting better, it's going to be a rough couple of years ahead.

Not sure what else to say. Angry as **** at the game tonight. Back to the "easy to dominate" midfield we saw earlier in the year, and against Collingwood and Melbourne. With decent pressure around the contest, we go to s**t.

Adelaide didn't pressure us anywhere near as much, in hindsight. And they didn't clog our forward line like the Bulldogs did tonight. No space. Frustrating as ****.

Gutted.

I feel the same

 

[frenchconnection]

When asked during the pre-season how he was going, Jetta replied that he couldn't believe the intensity of our gut running at training. He said he wasn't used to it and felt like his lungs were going to burst.

Not surprised he did a calf at training. You could see in the second halves lately he was fading.

And by the way, any ideas on what the hell happened to Jaime Cripps this year? I know for sure he isn't a midfielder.

Think too many times during the season that Simmo tried to play too many players out of position. Some players are just not cut out to be midfielders, no matter how hard you try. All of Cripps, Le Cras and Hill were played in the midfield at different times due to our lack of A grade midfielders. Where do we go from here?

 

[CM9000]

Yeah, that's what I said, it's to do with the mentality...maybe the coaching team also have a big role to play. Simmo seemed pretty accepting of the situation, just saying the Dogs were outplayed, kinda implying we didn't have a hope.

It does seem that a lot of even our experienced players seem very fickle. Consistency is certainly a problem. I think Adelaide just had a fairly poor day, allowing us to excel without as much pressure, the Hawks haven't been that great, and GWS are still a young team, those three wins were somewhat lucky for us.

Mental toughness is a big part of the game. This Eagles squad only seem to thrive when they look like they're on top. When they're firing our forward line appear unstoppable, yet I really don't see the same hunger/desperation as the mid 00s Eagles. There were times when the midfield would lift to a level I've rarely seen before. This midfield is inferior.

It's a tad bit unfair to compare one of the greatest midfields of all time to our current one. I mean, Judd and Cousins, both once in a generation sort of players, sprinkled with Kerr, an absolute beast, make it simply unstoppable.

Anyway, those 3 wins were exceptional, record breaking stuff actually, so there significance can't be understated. They are an example of where the squad is actually at, or, in other words, what they are capable of.

Maybe, just maybe, the bye is the sole reason we lost this game. It's actually similar to the 1977 VFL grand final, as it had originally ended in a draw between Collingwood and North Melbourne. During the leadup to the replay, the Pies were extremely anxious about the game and trained rigorously in preparation. In comparison, North's coach, Barassi, told his players to relax in the lead up, and in accordance, did minimal training.

The game resulted in North comfortably winning.

Likewise, the bye might have caused quite a bit of anxiety in the playing group, as the pressure of avenging last years GF defeat, and the consequences of finishing sixth, probably resulted in us losing.

 

[Eaglespur]

Hurn should come out straight away and say he's handing over the captaincy. Shuey should then do a presser and express his delight at becoming captain and how he is going to give his everything to the club in order to win a flag.

 

[Quinz]

It's never as good as it seems, and it's never as bad as it seems.

Big decisions need to be made in the off season, and a lot of tinkering with strategy I think.

 

[bunkyboy]

It's a tad bit unfair to compare one of the greatest midfields of all time to our current one. I mean, Judd and Cousins, both once in a generation sort of players, sprinkled with Kerr, an absolute beast, make it simply unstoppable.

Anyway, those 3 wins were exceptional, record breaking stuff actually, so there significance can't be understated. They are an example of where the squad is actually at, or, in other words, what they are capable of.

Maybe, just maybe, the bye is the sole reason we lost this game. It's actually similar to the 1977 VFL grand final, as it had originally ended in a draw between Collingwood and North Melbourne. During the leadup to the replay, the Pies were extremely anxious about the game and trained rigorously in preparation. In comparison, North's coach, Barassi, told his players to relax in the lead up, and in accordance, did minimal training.

The game resulted in North comfortably winning.

Likewise, the bye might have caused quite a bit of anxiety in the playing group, as the pressure of avenging last years GF defeat, and the consequences of finishing sixth, probably resulted in us losing.

Yea really good observation that. I had that feeling too, like all the pressure was on us, the media talking us up, Simpson getting on the front foot with media etc. Just had a bad feeling about it.

 

[I Am Bort]

When Leppitch was being interviewed on the footy show the other day he mentioned that what a lot of people outside of the clubs don't fully understand is that not everyone playing in the team actually wants to win a Premiership. There are often players that are content to play well, or collect a pay cheque, and others who are just playing due to having talent and having fallen in to it but who are not dying to grab the cup.

Our performances in these big games just seem lazy and without any desire, and it certainly feels like we have a lot of the above mindsets in play.

 

[ziad]

It's never as good as it seems, and it's never as bad as it seems.

Big decisions need to be made in the off season, and a lot of tinkering with strategy I think.

Lock in Shue, Barriass, Shep, Wellers, Gov, Kennedy and Nic.

Probably keep Hurn. All others can go for a good price. A few are regular failures in a big contest - I don't thin coaching is the issue its their head.

 

[Eagle got a win]

Was pretty predictable.ended up winning a bit. Bulldogs paying $4.50 before the first bounce. Thank you very much.

But seriously I wasn't tricked by the crows game the week prior. We all should know by now the mental weakness of this team.

Yeah we beat the Crows and played good that game but that was pretty much the only game of the season we put in 4 quarters.

We have been poor all year and our wins were a lot worse then they appear on the ladder.

Dee's should of killed us.
We lost to Collingwood.
Carlton we only beat by 7 points and even Essendon pushed us for a half.

good side pretty easily beat us at the start of the season

Last three games were the exception but we weren't playing great in those games. GWS and Hawks were pretty scapy aswell.
losing Nic Nat was always going to kill our chances come finals.

Now the question is what do we do from here. I'd like to do a mini rebuild. We are going to drop next year and probably may miss the finals but midfield needs a complete overhaul Lecras, Masten, Hill, all these players that don't impact and are soft can get out.

Trade for quality midfielders and a ruck to gets us through next year.

Also a forward crumber that can tackle would be nice.

 

[Matera LeNui]

When Leppitch was being interviewed on the footy show the other day he mentioned that what a lot of people outside of the clubs don't fully understand is that not everyone playing in the team actually wants to win a Premiership. There are often players that are content to play well, or collect a pay cheque, and others who are just playing due to having talent and having fallen in to it but who are not dying to grab the cup.

Our performances in these big games just seem lazy and without any desire, and it certainly feels like we have a lot of the above mindsets in play.

For sure. I think we reflect our own passion and how we feel about the game onto the players and believe they feel the same way. I like to think most of our players enjoy the game and are passionate about being an Eagles player. We don't see the inner sanctum at the club though. Lots of variables in play we do forget about.

 

[Always Ballin]

Same problem as always. Too slow, and getting torn apart by overcommiting up the ground and getting burned on the rebound. Happened in the grand final and it happened tonight.

 

[Always Ballin]

I expect a monster 2017 from us. No excuses. That game felt like Freo in 2014 losing to Port in the semi final after making the grand final the year before.

 

[Biggie]

I got fooled big time but the last month, partly because I wanted to believe again & partly because there is a lot of negative energy from our supporters here.

I so badly wanted us to show the country we're back.

But after that, it's hard to argue.

Weak as piss. Mentally weak. Lack of heart.

I'm gonna enjoy the summer. Football can EAD

 

[eagle dtrain]

Shocking indictment on the coach and the senior players. Fell for the old three card trick. Pretty piss weak to be fair.

Look how the Hawks used the 2012 GF loss to motivate them. It seems as though rather than get angry and focused, we pretended our GF loss didn't really hurt that bad. Almost like the club felt just getting to the GF was credit enough.

Thats because the Hawks blew it on GF day they were the best team that year but not on the big day. We got lucky with our draw and played a system that exposed a lot of teams all bar the Hawks after they had played us and had time to rectify their mistakes the first time.
People critising Simpson need a reality check. Two years ago if you said we would win 32 games and 2 finals in that period everyone would have told you that it was a pipe dream.
At least he has a game plan that has worked for us we just don't quite have the midfield to make it an ultimate winning one.

 

[Milenko]

Think too many times during the season that Simmo tried to play too many players out of position. Some players are just not cut out to be midfielders, no matter how hard you try. All of Cripps, Le Cras and Hill were played in the midfield at different times due to our lack of A grade midfielders. Where do we go from here?

He consistently tried to play Redden on a HFF too. Was a sh!t move.