Eagles now flying above the radar

Yes, Martin.

If it’s held in Victoria then it's got to be at the MCG with its 100,000 capacity, especially since the grand final would always be sold-out no matter which teams are playing.

They'll move it to Geelong and use the MCG for the VFL grand final.

Should the grand final be between the Eagles and the Dockers then I wonder where the grand final is going to be played? The AFL is going to come under some pressure to move the match to Perth I suppose.

I was at the game I thought they looked sluggish but Essendon were woeful and Hird seemed to be coaching to minimize the margin. The Eagles looked tired to me and made hard work of shrugging off a pretty down in the dumps team. The margin was an indictment of how Essendon played as much as anything.

The fact McKenzie got overlooked in favour of rance, talia, and Thompson shows what shambles the AA is. he is far and away superior to all three of these players.

I forgot to thank you for the article Dan. I enjoyed it and I am sure that most WC fans did as well. My Simmo comment had nothing to do with your article. I had read his comments earlier in the week and I was waiting for an opportunity to share it because last week there were some people on here denying that the the AFL is Vic centric in terms of awards, media coverage, game day commentary, AA selections and general knowledge about the interstate teams etc. Most Victorians know more about the 30th best player on any Victorian list than they would about WC's B&F winner last year i.e. Eric Mackenie who without question was the best key defender in the game last year and how Priddis continues to be overlooked is both insulting and jaw-dropping to say the least. In saying that it's a very hard list to put together and there have been a lot of unlucky players to miss out over the years. The fact remains that so long as 95% of the judges are Victorian I can't see a lot changing. It is what it is and I'm fine with that. I only have an issue when people deny that a bias exists, hence the comment. Thanks again!

Cripps and Hill have been super consistent. Cripps runs through the midfield most weeks and he isn't going to (or expected to) kick goals every week. He's the #1 defensive forward in the game and when your game plan is based on a forward pressure play his value to the team cannot be underestimated. Hill's role has changed under Simmo. He now plays as more of a crumbing forward whereas in the past he was more of a leading/marking forward and the results speak for themselves. Hill has been a revelation and with Darling back he should get better. Josh Kennedy is the #2 one-on-one contested player in game. Only Fyfe wins more one-on-ones. Priddis is racking up more numbers than he did in his Brownlow year. If he hasn't been the most consistent player in the game over the last 4-5 years I'm not sure who is? Sheed is his replacement in waiting and was terrific before he fractured his hand. Gaff is close to elite if he isn't already. he has been breaking tags all season and he did it for much of last year also. He is tagged most weeks yet is breaking them regularly. He has racked up 30+ possessions in each of his last 4-5 games straight. He also wins a lot of his own ball. He is really strong on the inside and the outside now and that makes him very hard to stop and he will run the pants off of you. Nic Nat is improving week by week now that he is stringing games together without injury. His numbers are better than his AA year in 2012 and he will keep improving. Not only are WC highly skilled but they will outrun practically any team in the comp. If they aren't the fittest team in the comp they aren't far off. They have so many elite runners in their side including guys like Lamb & Cavka who have both been injured for most of their first year. They have the 11th or 12th youngest list in the AFL so there is a lot of upside. Simmo is a Victorian that has only been at WC for 18 months and he isn't the type of guy that lies or makes up stories. This is what he had to say on how Vic's view the WA teams based on his experiences so far. “I don’t think they pay much attention to the WA sides,” Simpson said. “You would have thought Eric Mackenzie and Matt Priddis might have been half a chance (for AA) last year, so who knows. “There’s so many teams in Victoria and so much time that they give to those teams and all the media shows are based from Melbourne. “I don’t think anyone here’s particularly worried. We know how we’re going and I’m sure Freo know how they’re going, we don’t need others to tell us.” http://www.westcoasteagles.com.au/news/2015-06-16/no-attention-no-worries

I wouldn't exactly be calling 'finishing in 9th place last year so low'. They've had a reasonably easy run so far but they've played very well for 16 games in a row, bar one poor game against Freo is R3. 2015 has simply been a continuation of their 2014 run home. 16 games straight is almost a full season worth of games with only a few bad quarters out of the 64 quarters they have played, that's consistency any way you want to look at it. If they make the 8 this year they will have a good season.

The focus has been on the Eagles injuries this year because they lost 2 key defenders for the season and had a few others out for a fair chunk of the first half of the season.. But the Eagles have had a bad run with injuries for the last two year and there have been significant periods in each of those years where 8 -10 of their best 22 were out injured. So while the injuries to individual players have been more sever this year, they have probably had more of the best 22 available most weeks than has been the case the last couple of years. Combine that with the continued development and maturity of their young guns and their dramatic improvement this year should not have been such a complete surprise.

It looks hopeful for McGovern,according to Simpson. That tips the balance towards West Coast in the dynamics of the game If the Tigers have already banked the points,-15 day break after beating Freo,opponents with three games in 12 days and 12 thousand kilometres travelled before they run out on the MCG, 5 degrees and raining-I hope the Eagles rain on their parade At any rate I want a game won or lost on merit. It is interesting that Richmond average 4 frees for a game more than the Eagles, who average 5 frees against fewer than the Tigers.Will the Tigers' ability to be tackled poorly, to create poor decision-making in their opponents and to tackle well,(I'm sure that's why they lead the comp in that stat),be greater than the Eagles' ability to make good ball-handling decisions and to avoid and break tackles(I'm equally sure that's why they lead the comp in that stat)? I think Richmond is more likely to not get their usual quota than the Eagles to give up more than theirs Frees don't usually decide games but ball handling skills do. The Eagles make fewer mistakes, have better disposal and goal-front efficiencythan the Tigers.It's still pretty close to even money for me

Well, last time they played at Etihad against an opponent that had a ten day break they got flogged, Bombers thrashed them a few years ago so Im not hopeful. How can the AFL justify this draw?? Eagles will have played three games in twelve days, travelled to Tasmania and Melbourne ... Can you imagine the uproar if Collingwood were handed this schedule??? For example, three games, two away venues in Adelaide and Perth.. the last game against an opponent that's had the week off?? Eddie would still be blue in the face.

They looked tired because Essendon made them yawn. Did you see the margin?

I wonder who you think has had a harder fixture? Could their fixture look easier if they had beaten The Eagles? Geelong, for instance? Geelong and WC both played Freo. Whose game against Freo was 'cushier'? Who had the 'cushier' game in Round 9?

They are going to struggle against Richmond this week I thought they looked tired against Essendon and they looked like they needed they bye this week not next. The draw favours them this year but the way they have been winning shows they have improved as well. While i hope they can mix it with Sydney and Hawthorn it just one of those things you don't know till it's done.

Almost certain to make the top 8 and a slim chance to stay in the top 4 largely thanks to the cushiness of their fixture. Finishing so low last year really paid off for them in that regard, and could become a tactic used by clubs in the future given its virtually impossible to win the flag outside the top 4 anyway. That kinder fixture could mean an extra 1-3 wins the following year which in a competition as even as ours is huge.