Rnd 1 - Sturt v Eagles @ Envestra Park (Sat 30/3)

[eaglehaslanded]

LEAGUE
F: Hall, Borholm, Goldsworthy
HF: Ainger, Grocke, Staple
C: Carey, Lewis, Sumner
HB: Day, Thompson, Jarrad
FB: Raymond, Giuffreda, Culley
1R: Parry, Powell, Poole
INT: Appleton, Lane, Ellis-Yolmen, Rowntree, Z Fitzgerald

RESERVES
F: Peters, Von Bertouch, Huppatz
HF: Dawson, Summerton, P Sinor
C: Batley, Joyce, Martyn
HB: Rowland, Mackenzie, Muirhead
B: Lindsay, Whittlesea, Blesing
1R: Heinjus, Schwarz, Lloyd
INT: Ellis

[Aerie]

No Allmond or Goldsworthy? Shirley in forward pocket?

[FlyingHigh]

Also no Harding or Jacqiuer in either side.
Surely Fitzgerald or Grocke will start at FF

[FlyingHigh]

Will Borholm make Eagles round 1 side & how is Blesing going?

Borholm is definate as he's no.2 ruckman. As for Blesing, well he's basically Godden's pet project and little more then that at this stage. Quite simply the Eagles are very thin in the midfield even when everyone is available and get ripped apart if teams can get the ball on the outside where they can run off and spread away from Lewis, Roundtree and Powell aka Slow, Slower and Slowest
Please step forward and welcome Byran Sumner to the party, because if he along with Goldsworthy and Poole, can't step up and carry a major share of the load ... well it's likely to get ugly
It's an embarassment to watch Parry dominate the centre bounces and watch, as for example, North just take the ball time after time.

And Godden is going to be judged by this. Ever since he began his tenure most eagles supporters have seen the 'old-guard' midfield get older and slower and then retire as is now the case. For three years supporters have been jumping up and down saying we need to start planning for their absence by recruiting skilled midfielders. For three years we've heard seen Godden and co bury their head in the sand and try to bluff supporters into thinking their is midfield talent in the reserves -there isn't. He has had ample opportunity to recruit but has gone after players in every other position but the midfield. I've always said no point recruiting Ainger if the ball cannot be delievered to him!!! Still, I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt for the first half of the season. But if, come Round 10, it is clear that we are getting smashed in the midfield then questions need to be asked and a serious review of his position needs to be undertaken. Because we are going backwards at the rate of knots.

We were even saying this about pace in the late Fuller years of 08-10 when a lot of the core eg Cicca, Macca etc were still in reasonable nick.

[Mickyj]

LEAGUE
F: Hall, Borholm, Shirley
HF: Ainger, Grocke, Staple
C: Carey, Lewis, Sumner
HB: Day, Thompson, Jarrad
FB: Raymond, Giuffreda, Culley
1R: Parry, Powell, Poole
INT: Appleton, Lane, Ellis-Yolmen, Rowntree, Z Fitzgerald

RESERVES
F: Peters, Von Bertouch, Huppatz
HF: Dawson, Summerton, P Sinor
C: Batley, Joyce, Martyn
HB: Rowland, Mackenzie, Muirhead
B: Lindsay, Whittlesea, Blesing
1R: Heinjus, Schwarz, Lloyd
INT: Ellis

who is this shirly ?

[arcadefire]

Don't tell me Robert Shirley is back. The Zombies on the Walking Dead would outrun our midfield

[areaman]

No Allmond or Goldsworthy? Shirley in forward pocket?

Chris Kane also missing.

Change of heart from Rob Shirley?

[arcadefire]

Chris Kane still has 1 match left on suspension

[Mickyj]

its goldy

[Dutchy]

F: Kane, Duldig, Hurley
HF: McIntyre, Vitkunas, Krause
C: Atkins, Thomson, Kerridge
HB: Tambling, Stopp, Panozzo
B: Hombsch, Evans, Page

R: Graham, Riley, Greenslade
INT: Pearce, Hunter, Coad, Hinge

[Aerie]

its goldy

Just a typo then!

So what's the go with Allmond? Injured? Change of heart and gone back to the bush? Or another typo?

[eaglehaslanded]

I've updated my post now peeps, it was a typo. Goldsworthy in the pocket.

[SANFLnut]

Thought Rowntree was going to miss 2-3 weeks?

Good to see Bomber get a go, not sure he'll start Full Forward though.

[Mickyj]

its goldy

Just a typo then!

So what's the go with Allmond? Injured? Change of heart and gone back to the bush? Or another typo?

i missed last weeks trial he was in the seconds against south

[oneoutoneback]

its goldy

Just a typo then!

So what's the go with Allmond? Injured? Change of heart and gone back to the bush? Or another typo?

Injured.

[holden78]

Godden has continued to pick the majority of this team for nearly a month now ie. his best, so there will be no excuses from anyone if the players don't perform at Pal Park!
Allmond had a slight hammy recently and probably isn't back to league standard yet but he will be a nice in when he's right.
Borholm will pinch hit in the goal square occasionally but is Parry's stand in first and foremost.
Can the Eagles small forwards work hard enough to reward the efforts of Grocke and Ainger?
Can the Eagles midfield collectively apply enough pressure when Sturt have the ball instead of ball watching?
If the Eagles believe they are playing the bottom team and only have to give 80% like last week, Sturt can win this one comfortably.
It can't be about Powell and Jarrad, we need Poole, Sumner and Goldsworthy to set up and put in high level league performances now!

[Mr Fuller]

Godden has continued to pick the majority of this team for nearly a month now ie. his best, so there will be no excuses from anyone if the players don't perform at Pal Park!
Allmond had a slight hammy recently and probably isn't back to league standard yet but he will be a nice in when he's right.
Borholm will pinch hit in the goal square occasionally but is Parry's stand in first and foremost.
Can the Eagles small forwards work hard enough to reward the efforts of Grocke and Ainger?
Can the Eagles midfield collectively apply enough pressure when Sturt have the ball instead of ball watching?
If the Eagles believe they are playing the bottom team and only have to give 80% like last week, Sturt can win this one comfortably.
It can't be about Powell and Jarrad, we need Poole, Sumner and Goldsworthy to set up and put in high level league performances now!

I think its too early to suggest Poole needs to 'step up' given if he does play it will be his first league game? I personally don't think he'll be any good (too small, too slow) but I think all supporters need to give him a couple of games to settle in. I agree that Goldsworthy and Sumner are ones that need to step up. And that means from the first minute of the game in Round 1 NOT Round 12. These guys have been around the place for a while and have enough experience to be able to mix it with the best. You could also throw Day, Hall and Staple into the mix. Day and Hall were disasters for us early on (before coming good very late in the season). This was partiuclarly disappointing for Day given how well he played in our premiership year. Staple just had a shocker all year. Maybe that was because he was being played as our key forward and the midfield didn't deliver well. Who knows? We just need them to play to their ability.

But as for the game on Saturday. I've looked at the team and there are some well known names there. I am a bit concerned that we are going to go in quite tall so hoping it doesn't rain. I would imagine Rowntree and Fitzgerald would pull out leaving Appleton, Poole and Ellis Yolman on the bench. Not a lot of experience there!

[RB]

If the Eags are to challenge for the flag this year, Sumner, Rowntree and Goldsworthy have all got to really step up and have fantastic seasons. Last year there was every indication that they had the required talent. The forward line named looks pretty good, especially with Lane and Zac Fitzgerald named on the bench. Lane's always been underrated IMO and Fitzgerald is an able pinch-hitter. Really should be getting the 2 points against Sturt if we're a top five side.

[Aerie]

Agree with posters above re the input of the likes of Day, Sumner, Hall, Goldsworthy, Raymond, Lewis, Fitzgerald etc. These players need to be consistent week in week out if the Eagles are to be competitive.

Powell, Jarrad and Rowntree you know what you'll get. Rowntree should still have some improvement in him with more experience - however his commitment can't be questioned.

The young guys - Ellis-Yolmen, Joyce, Poole, Appleton, Batley - will be interesting to see how they go. A strong team has good players throughout the 21 so these guys will need to be fast tracked. Not giving them more game time last year when the season was shot early might be costly this year. One of the reasons Godden was able to hit the ground running when he arrived at the Eagles was the game time Fuller got in to the young players.

Will be interesting to see how Ainger goes. More important is how Grocke plays. Last year signs were that he is not the player he once was. Hopefully his body is better this season - he has been battered for years. Parry is also important. Similar to Grocke - he influences games and provided he is fit and playing well - the Eagles will be a much better side.

Consistent effort and intensity needs to be found. If the Eagles play this way they can still challenge top 3 this year.

[RB]

The young guys - Ellis-Yolmen, Joyce, Poole, Appleton, Batley - will be interesting to see how they go. A strong team has good players throughout the 21 so these guys will need to be fast tracked. Not giving them more game time last year when the season was shot early might be costly this year. One of the reasons Godden was able to hit the ground running when he arrived at the Eagles was the game time Fuller got in to the young players.

I certainly agree that a lack of experience for these players might be costly this year, but our season wasn't shot last year till the final siren of the elimination final and it would have been wrong IMO to blood too many of them if they weren't in our best 21. If we'd been knocked out of the running then yeah give the young blokes a run, but not while's there's a chance of making the five, which we did.

I have however always thought that Godden was a bit reticent in terms of giving matches to young players, especially compared to Fuller. I prefer the Fuller approach. In Fuller's 9th season in charge, Byron Sumner became the 100th player to debut under Ron. I don't know how Fuller debuted so many players in a way which didn't compromise our chances of winning matches, but given that we made the finals 8 times in those 9 seasons he obviously knew how to do it.

Having said all that it's good to see a few of those promising young players like Poole and Appleton named in the squad. Let's hope they can start off with a win...