‘Flat-track bullies’ and ‘downhill skiers’. Two phrases that would undoubtedly be playing on the mind of Adam Simpson and every single West Coast player at the moment. If they aren’t, there’s something wrong.
The Eagles coach is not alone when he says that he doesn’t take much notice of the headlines, it’s a common answer to a question asked in almost every press conference.
“I don’t take much notice of the papers,” he said this week.
Even the players say the same thing.
But living in a two-team city like Perth, where there is not much room to escape the spotlight, a footballer seeing or hearing themselves on the news or in the paper must be almost inevitable.
In recent times any article written about the Eagles almost certainly has the two previously mentioned labels somewhere in it.
Being downhill skiers is not a term that has been associated with the Eagles throughout their 28-year history. When there was a tough game to be won there were always the players that stood up, whether it be John Worsfold, Peter Matera, Ben Cousins, Daniel Kerr or the balding master, Chris Judd.
They’ve either been at the top or at the bottom, rarely have they been average, and on even less occasions have they been known to wilt like lettuce left in the sun when the game is in the balance.
At the very least they gave it a crack.
Which is why, as a player, it would be very difficult to not be slightly agitated, if not downright annoyed, by those comments. The players, collectively, need to stand up and realise that the only way to silence the critics is to win this weekend against Collingwood. That would give them the confidence to go on and beat other teams challenging for a spot in the eight.
Secondly, it’s about time they won a game at the MCG against the Pies. If Don Pyke remembers playing in that game and he is now a coach, it has been far too long.
Mark LeCras’ suspension hurts, and such a classy player being replaced by an inconsistent Josh Hill is a little worrying. We saw against Greater Western Sydney how well the forward line works as a team when LeCras is in there. Hill needs to provide the same impact, and he has shown that he can.
There have been doubts over Luke Shuey and his ankle, but him playing, and playing well, is crucial to an Eagles victory. Any game against Collingwood is won and lost in the midfield, and it’ll be a hard task to even nullify the likes of Scott Pendlebury, Dayne Beams and Dane Swan, but having Shuey there makes it easier. The re-signing of Nic Naitanui takes a huge weight off of his shoulders and it will be interesting to see how he performs now that he is locked in until 2019.
Beating Collingwood is no easy task, but it’s far from impossible. An up and down Adelaide did it last week, the Dockers did it in Round 1. The Eagles even did it – albeit at Subiaco – back in 2012.
The Eagles, while not recording wins, were in the games against Port, Fremantle and Carlton recently, and could have won all three. If they bring that intensity, slightly more class and a killer instinct then there’s no reason why they can’t win. But it’s easier said than done.
This week will make or break the Eagles season – lose, and the draw gets a lot tougher. Win, and they’ll have the confidence to take it right up to Gold Coast, North, and even Hawthorn.
If, as Adam Simpson says, a high level of consistency is all the coaches are after, then there is no better time for the team to deliver that than over the next month, starting on Saturday.
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