Highlights: Magpies continue Eagles' MCG pain

Lycett should be told that we have a gun tap ruckman and its not imperative we have another.We want him for his second and third efforts,crash packs,hit the body,throw your weight around mate.Great ruckmen are not neccessary to win premierships;hard men are!!

I agree with you to some extent on Kennedy.Hes well off in his pressure this year.He does go missing in finals without a doubt.I think hes a bit one dimensional so hes a bit easier to guard.he needs to turn around occasionally.I freaked out my Eagles by saying id take Gunston from the Hawks over Kennedy any day.now theres a clever footballer.

I agree with you DJW. Sheuy is not the problem and is one of our better performers this year. His average is up on last year by 10% and he is: Ranked 11th in Total Goal Assists Ranked 16th in Goal Assists Per Game Ranked 16th in Tackles Per Game Ranked 9th in Clearances Per Game

I think everyone here is on the same page and I agree with most but one thing that stood out to me against the pies was our overusing the ball , too much handball ,which Simmo commented on after the Melbourne game but we did it against the pies again and if we do it again against the dockers we'll get done again , that's how they used to beat us put pressure on us bottle us up and we cough the ball up and turn it over .Masten should have been traded 3 years ago ,plenty of stats but always getting caught with the ball and turning it over . I wasn't happy with the Sinclair /Jetta swap ,I thought Sinclair was playing better than Lycett ,good ruckman are hard to come by and then they go and get Giles,he shouldn't be with us next year,he is a spud I would have also got rid of hill last year but he's popped up and kicked a few goals this year ,emac is an all Australian and although he's lost the plot I'm hoping he'll come good ,Lecras is a goal kicker keep him near the goals I liked what I saw with Karpany ,I like Nelson and Duggan and I think they should have played lamb earlier when he was in form poor old Pridda has toiled away but he's always wrestling with 3 opposition players I think Shuey has stood up this year but we definitely need to sort the midfield ,Yeo in the middle is a good Start but we need a couple of tough quick midfielders Then there's the mental problem we are playing without confidence or urgency surely we've got a sports psych if not we Fckn need one

Boneyeard, I dare say Rosa sought a trade not because he was Sub for the GF, although that would have weighed on his decision, but because the WCE sought Jetta from Sydney. Rosa probably thought he days were numbered and his spot on the wing was going to be taken by Jetta. How wrong he was. He would be getting a game each week because of Jetta's form and that would have freed up either a Yoe, Masten, or whomever has been playing the wing when Jetta is not in the side, to bolster the midfield stocks and take some pressure off Priddis and Sheuy. I think Sinclair was PO'd to be traded and also would have rather stayed at WCE. Simpson needs to lock away one more win and then use the last three games to find a new balance in the side. Hopefully Sheed will get his numbers up by the week. Why not try Jetta in the Back Pocket and let him play with the game in front of him. His kicking skills sould be a huge advantage on the kick-ins. I went to Subi to watch the GC game, the first time I have gone to a game in 15 years, and sat in the 3-tier stand. Jetta had the ball in the back pocket at the Subi end and off two steps found Hurn on his chest over 45 metres. It was a bullet that kept low and was delivered hard onto Hurn's chest. Someone with a boot like that that can deliver a ball at that speed at that height would be a huge advantage in the backline. Our backs hesitate every time a player looks open in the corridor from the FB line and by the time they look at spotting the player up the opportunity is gone. Probably because they don't have the confidence in their kicking skills to execute such passes. Jetta doesn't hesitate because he knows he has got a fantastic boot. I would include Jackson Nelson with McGovern and Barrass. I reckon Nelson is going to be an A Grade player in a couple of years and at the moment he gives more than some senior players every time he gets on the park. Nelson reminds me of Ebert when he was at the WCE. By the time Ebert left to go back to Adelaide he was nearly an A Grade player. Now look at him. One of the elite midfielders in the competition. Nelson just needs more games instead of being dropped every second game to make way for a Jetta or Redden whose place he took when they were dropped back to the twos.

its just so frustrating to have so much talent that cant connect, not on the same page?

Lecras was arguably the comps best forward pocket goal sneak and a classy shot on goal, what is he now - a team conglomerate!? put him back in the pocket please Simpson! Why would you take an under done Lycett with no back up..Simpson took extra midfielders to quell the Pies mids, that backfired. When you see the class of the pies who have been rebuilding, you wonder about the eagles coaching and what they have been doing? we were supposed to have all this talent, but nothings shining through yet, certainly not in the midfield where its STILL badly needed. We have Mcgovern and Tom Barrass, but no other new-ish players that stand out as great teamsters or individual performers apart from Yeo, who still hasnt shown consistency (like most of the team). so we have Redden and Jetta, both havent fired up yet, didnt play this week - our new midfield injection missing? Jetta has potentially what we need- speed and class, but by his body language seems to lack confidence even when he does something good. meanwhile the clock is ticking on our main contributors, our spine. we need to replace Masten with some class. we need to replace priddis with another extractor type, who can kick. Losing Rosa and Cal Sinclair had an impact that we're still trying to address-both players chose to leave. Rosa was unimpressed at being dropped for the GF. Sinclair was keeping Lycett out of the 22 with good form, but knew it was only a matter of time, maybe he was wrong. But Simpsons coaching has me worried now, same excuses week after week and nothing changes. Maybe Nicnats return will make a big difference(thats a worry in itself to be so reliant on one player), maybe they had a tough week against the Dees, 6 days, then flew to MCG, maybe they'll suddenly click into gear...? no signs there yet? this team was good last year and year before, they were even good with Woosha (and i hate saying that), but they are a rabble, a shadow of their former selves...Why? Mckenzie is also out of form, it was a swirly windy day etc, but that didnt affect the Pies, who hardly travel, let alone travel interstate remember. Eagles just seem to be a waste of good talent - its the MIDfield!!!

Wow Game of Marks and Lroy, you Weagles supporters really sink the boots into your own. Weren't these the same players that took you to a GF last year? I agree your midfield is problematic, especially without NicNat. And Zone defence is pretty hard to play on a big ground like the MCG. Actually I agree with everything except you should be getting stuck into Kennedy, who artificially inflates his goal tally during easy games and goes missing in tough games, instead of attacking Priddis.

I disagree on Shuey, he is the One of the Eagles best. But agree with pretty much everything else you said.

And will someone please tell Lycette to look at the ball instead of the opposing ruckman when going up for the ruck in the CBD. No wonder he isn't getting any height in his leaps!!!

I share your frustration Lroy. I have been on Simpsons case for a while now and glad to see there is someone who has the same low opinion of the bloke as I do. He isn't a Head Coach and he is tactically challenged. The problem with the backline is McKenzie FULL STOP. I too was amazed Barrass was dropped for this spud. How many marks did he drop and how many uncontested marks did his opposition man take in front of goals. There was a time in the last quarter when a Collingwood player took a mark in their forward pocket totally unmarked. Sheuy was about 10m away and he just turned around and looked at the backs and shook his head as if to say WTF is going on! The WCE handball skills are woeful. Either handballs were falling short of their target or not being passed to advantage. How many handballs were delivered to a teammate who was immediately under pressure. Yet Collingwood on the other hand were brilliant by hand. There was a passage in the third quarter when they were hand balling out of their defensive 50 and there must have been about 15 handballs in the chain. Each one hit their target and all were to advantage. They eventually broke clear into the center square and ran the ball into their forward 50. And we couldn't lay a glove on them! I liked what I saw with Karpany but he shouldn't have got a game in such a crucial match, Nelson should have been brought back in for Yoe. Le Cras is woefully out of form and I blame the coach for that. Playing him out of position like Simposon has been doing has resulted in a total lack of confidence and touch. He needs to be left on the HFF and his job is to sneak some goals and crumb the pack. They ahve to do something about Rosa's wing. Masten just doesn't cut it and at best he is a bench player at the moment. Give the job to either Nelson or Tom Lamb. They couldn't do any worse than Masten did on Saturday. Jetta needs to be brought back into the side. Can't believe I am saying that given I was totally against his trade. But he has eilite foot skills and we either need to use him to deliver his spearing passes into the forward 50 or he should be slotted in the back pocket and given the job of kicking in from behinds. This would free up McGovern or Hurn to play up at the 50m arc on kick-ins and with Jetta's ability to kick to a player to advantage McGovern should have a field day with his marking ability. Agree with you on Schofield. He may be another choice for the wing. He did play wing early in his career but when Rosa and Gaff tied those two positions down Shoey was forced to play in defense to get a game. Dom Sheed was a concern given he only had 8 disposal. Hope he improves quickly. Our midfield needs him playing the footy ho showed us last year. I was hoping STK would win last night so I could jump ship and barrack for them for the rest of the season and into the finals. But it looks like I am stuck with this motley crew. God help me!

This game ended up pretty much as I expected for the Eagles. For a while there in the third I felt they might surprise - but even then I was thinking . . . well it's only Collingwood !

How good was McKenzie? Huh! I'll tell you how good he was.....NO BLOODY GOOD....that's how good he was. Send the twit back to the twos and never bring him back.

Out coached, out played, out everything.. things are looking grim for the wee girls... Time after time our tall defenders were caught on a little guy while Wellingham got stuck with the resting ruckman, its not rocket science is it ?? dont you just make the switch?? Couldnt Simpson get a runner out there to make them aware of it?? Mackenzie is a shadow of the player who was all Australian material back in 2013..which begs the question why was Baras dropped?? he was playing well, as was the backup ruckman .. what did he do wrong?? Simpson proved that it is risky (dare I say stupid?) to go with only one ruckman and expect a non specialist to pick up the slack. One wonders what the value of Masten is in the side.. the guy was a number 5 draft pick, has played 150 games and the glaring question is ''why?" Luke Shuey, hate to say it, hasnt really improved much in the last few years, if the Eagles are brutally honest in their assessment of him he must be considered as one of those up for a trade at the end of the year, at least they will get something for him, unlike Masten.. For a guy of Shueys calibre to consistently miss leading forwards who are in the clear, well theres no words for it other than ''unacceptable'' at this level. The only guy who can hit a target while on the run seems to be Schofield, give the guy a run on the wing and promote some young guy. Speaking of young... Butler, great old spartan... been playing 12-13 years now... might be time to give his spot to a young guy right? Priddis, dominates the stats yet again, but to the casual observer his input is virtually nil.. his kicks mostly end up in a 50/50 situation to the forward on the receiving end.. which means half the time the ball comes straight back.. most of his handballs result in the receiver getting tackled, so yet again, he gets another meaningless stat. Lecras couldnt get a kick in a stampede playing in the midfield.. and he isnt kicking any goals.. didnt the penny drop two months ago that this experiment isnt working?? Dont get me started on Josh Hill in the back line... he is absolutely clueless down there. Ray Charles can see this vaunted ''weagles web'' isnt working yet Simpson continues to pursue it... is he the classic one trick pony?. Eagles wont win another game all year and will go out in straight sets and the coach will blame injuries .. like he did in 2013. The brutal truth is if you take Josh Kennedys contribution out of the side for the last few years, we are up there with the Brisbane Lions.. Next year the Dees, Blues, Dogs and Saints will all be pushing for finals footy, someone will have to drop out, what odds its the Eagles??