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

[mick06]

We were like Adelaide last night - went into the finals unprepared for the increase in tempo. You need to lift a gear once the finals start, and you need to lift another gear again if you have played well enough to reach the GF.

So far GWS have passed the test but if they make it to the GF can they lift another gear again. If GWS get that far have a feeling they will be playing Geelong, but they have to get past the doggies first. The one thing in their favour is they are playing at Spotless - mind you we all thought the Eagles would win their EF due to the game being played at Subi and the Bulldogs record at Subi not being flash!!

Interesting article in this weeks "Post" from Austin Robertson (ex Subiaco full forward) on the Eagles performance against the Doggies - not very flattering but a lot of truth in what he had to say unfortunately.

Care to summise?

For me our season is summed up by simmos much trotted out line 'we lost it at the contest'. After being humiliated in the grand final your group can go two ways. Tail between legs oh woe is me and sook off. Or be dirty, hurt, and come back with a determination for redemtion. Its pretty obvious where this group is. The contest and fight is not ingrained in them.

Garry lyon (yeh yeh whatever) used to rate teams on a 'know what ur gonna get' factor from team. I didnt know what we were gonna get quarter to quarter let alone week to week

 

[eaglesnutcase]

Yeah you just totally ignored what I said.
He did have a good year I agree. But came to the final...

Sorry fellas but ive gotta agree with Eagleboy.Butler is Mr Reliable in normal circumstances but hes VERY slow to make decisions and makes bad decisions when under pressure I.E. finals type pressure.Hes one of those " i dont want it you have it " type players.

 

[kerr87]

Watching the game live on 7, the boys looked so flat/emotionless/no fire in belly/unmotivated running out onto the ground and going through the banner.

At that moment I knew we'd lose the game.

 

[Eagleboy68]

What a wasted year. Was primed for us to win the flag imo.
Top 4 were all over rated and had issues including Sydney.

Had we been even another 5 percent better all year we would have made top 4 easily. Beating Adelaide at home and collingwood away.

The redden and jetta trades could have been a massive uplift for us to go all the way.

Even finishing where we did with the momentum we had we would be right where the bullies are now. Another gf against Sydney and I reckon we would have beaten them if we in the form we were all expecting after last year.
Especially with all their young players in their first gf.

What a waste. If we had not been complacent thinking it was going to all fall together we could be staring at another flag.

 

[Always Ballin]

That could have been us today. That 2015 team would have handed it to the Bulldogs.

 

[ep2018]

That could have been us today. That 2015 team would have handed it to the Bulldogs.

We wouldn't have gotten past Hawthorn in the SF.

 

[Carbine Chaos]

We wouldn't have gotten past Hawthorn in the SF.

We would have if the bye hadn't been there.

 

[squashface]

We would have if the bye hadn't been there.

The Hindenburg wouldn't have crashed if it wasn't for the bye.

 

[frenchconnection]

The Hindenburg wouldn't have crashed if it wasn't for the bye.

Could've, would've, should've!! What a waste of energy even thinking about it. The team has been inconsistent all year and the best games were the last 3 games of the H&A - have to bring your game on the day!! Also once Nic went down think any chances we had of winning the flag went south, particularly with Lycett playing on 1 leg. One has to be realistic - this was just not our year no matter how hard we try to tell ourselves otherwise.

 

[mehow2g]

We have no back bone.

It looks like we go out there do a training drill if the drill does not go our way we curl up in a fetal position and just give up, there are only a few players at the moment that are playing with passion the rest make up the numbers.

After watching the dogs on the weekend it's clear as day what they have and what we don't which is team work, they fight for each other.

Sad thing is our list is better than theirs.

I'm not sure exactly why Hurn is captian but the way he played this year was horrible, not by skill but by heart which may or is setting a bad standard for the Other players, their are 2 other culprits that I feel are playing the game just because they want to be known as footballers for public image, which is wellingham and masten, both capable players who are scared to play.

Ben cousins may not be the most perfect character but that boy set the standard.

 

[frenchconnection]

We have no back bone.

It looks like we go out there do a training drill if the drill does not go our way we curl up in a fetal position and just give up, there are only a few players at the moment that are playing with passion the rest make up the numbers.

After watching the dogs on the weekend it's clear as day what they have and what we don't which is team work, they fight for each other.

Sad thing is our list is better than theirs.

I'm not sure exactly why Hurn is captian but the way he played this year was horrible, not by skill but by heart which may or is setting a bad standard for the Other players, their are 2 other culprits that I feel are playing the game just because they want to be known as footballers for public image, which is wellingham and masten, both capable players who are scared to play.

Ben cousins may not be the most perfect character but that boy set the standard.

The Club needs to sort out the men from the boys, if you know what I mean. Yes a few of them certainly need to grow a backbone. That's why Tunners stood out like a sore thumb - he may not be the most gifted player of all times but at least he has a go. We had far too many passengers this year. The baffling thing is "why the change in attitude by many of the players from last year"? That's what I can't get my head around - it's baffling.

 

[mehow2g]

The Club needs to sort out the men from the boys, if you know what I mean. Yes a few of them certainly need to grow a backbone. That's why Tunners stood out like a sore thumb - he may not be the most gifted player of all times but at least he has a go. We had far too many passengers this year. The baffling thing is "why the change in attitude by many of the players from last year"? That's what I can't get my head around - it's baffling.

Agreed same with Hutchings.

 

[BK Eaglesfan]

Wow, some real baby out with the bath water stuff in this thread.

Like many / most Eagles fans I started the season thinking we could go one better than 2015. That hope slid a little after Hawthorn towelled us up at the G' again as they were bound to be a significant barrier to us taking that next step.

I agree with many that the season feels like a waste and that last little mini run of wins at the end of the year aside, we just seemed a step behind all season. When you look at our results, the bottom line is we just weren't as good as a few other sides this year. Our game plan didn't have the element of surprise, Bulldogs had improvement from a young list, Geelong recruited well and came back up, Sydney produced some good youngsters and improved, Hawthorn remained strong and GWS allstars matured and kept their ruckman fit. We can blame what we like for the finals loss, but the Bulldogs had already beaten us this year so let's not pretend we were better than them and the finals result was an anomaly.

But....the amount of comments in this thread just panning the team as a whole, the team that made a GF and backed that up with a 16-6 season, which I think I'm correct in saying would have got us the double chance any other year, is a little over the top. We do need to improve what we're doing next year, a few players that have been found out in big games need hard calls on them, we do need to devise a way to get around Nic Nat not being there. But consistently soft, weak, Hurn lacking leadership, team lacking backbone......a GF appearance backed up by this year with a poor captain and a weak team with no underbelly? Pretty good result all things considered.

 

[Pat_Footy]

Naitanui went down. That's what happened. Unfortunately the reliance on him is as strong as ever.