Rnd 24 - Eagles v West @ Woodville (Sun 9/9)

[eaglehaslanded]

and Port, Glenelg and probably North don't deserve it either...

Calls have been made for a top 4 finals only - anyone for top 3 finals only?

That would be fine by the Eags anyway because after Sun we'll be 4th anyway.

[holden78]

The Eagles don't deserve to be in the finals we have been bottom all year,if we make it good but if we don't I won't be loosing any sleep, we will be down where we belong

Will you stop being so bloody negative Holden78 and just get on with the job of supporting our great club. My mother once said if you don't have something positive to say its better to say nothing at all.

We will beat West, we will play finals and at our very best a GF isn't unrealistic.

It's fact

[eaglehaslanded]

The Eagles don't deserve to be in the finals we have been bottom all year,if we make it good but if we don't I won't be loosing any sleep, we will be down where we belong

Will you stop being so bloody negative Holden78 and just get on with the job of supporting our great club. My mother once said if you don't have something positive to say its better to say nothing at all.

We will beat West, we will play finals and at our very best a GF isn't unrealistic.

It's fact

I understand we haven't had the best of seasons but if we qualify we do deserve to be there. It's tat simple. We won't be there to just make up the numbers either. Have some confidence in the playing group. It's a testament to the players even with all the issues we've had to be in the finals hunt. Let's just hope the mighty blue, green and gold is holding strong long into September.

[dedja]

and Port, Glenelg and probably North don't deserve it either...

Calls have been made for a top 4 finals only - anyone for top 3 finals only?

I think they should trial a final 3 this year ...

[prowling panther]

Wouldn't it be easier to just give Norwood the cup at 5 pm Sunday night when the minor round finishes.

[Pseudo]

and Port, Glenelg and probably North don't deserve it either...

Norwood and West don't deserve it either. Watching fingernails grow has more entertainment potential.

So ideally the Doggies would play with themselves.

[cd]

Cica's last game at home - Unleash Solar Oval @ Woodville.

Need to see all Eagles fans out on Sunday to not only help the boys across the line but to ensure this isn't his last game for the Eagles.

[Aerie]

I had the season done and dusted after the Queen's B'day loss to Glenelg. Then got the hopes up a little before being smashed at Elizabeth and losing to South the following week at home in Round 15. Still being in the wooden spoon position at Round 19, Round 20 saw a massive percentage boosting win over North before an amazing comeback against Port. To be sitting in 5th spot with one round to go is unbelievable. If we can beat West and if the victory is enough to see us into the finals, confidence would be at a season high.

The good news is most of the players who were key in 2011 are looking sharp and in season best form. Finally there has been more support for the likes of Rowntree, Jarrad, Thompson, Shirley and Sumner who have been solid all season. Despite getting back in the finals hunt, the Eagles have still been labouring through large periods of games which explains why they haven't been able to beat any of the top 3 teams, yet.

So, it all comes down to this game against West. I thought we were ok against West at Richmond earlier in the season, but West were a class above in their use of the ball going forward and had a comfortable victory. The Eagles will need to be at their best to beat West on Sunday. West are a good team and good teams don't usually lose two in a row.

If the Eagles lose and miss out it will be disappointing, but sort of what is expected given the nature of the season. If they win and make the finals the excitement and momentum built is going to be hard to stop!

[Long live SAnFL]

Pity you did not listen to your mother given the amount of dribble you post.

[Long live SAnFL]

The Eagles don't deserve to be in the finals we have been bottom all year,if we make it good but if we don't I won't be loosing any sleep, we will be down where we belong

Will you stop being so bloody negative Holden78 and just get on with the job of supporting our great club. My mother once said if you don't have something positive to say its better to say nothing at all.

We will beat West, we will play finals and at our very best a GF isn't unrealistic.

Pity you did not listen to your mother given the amount of dribble you post.

[CENTURION]

Wouldn't it be easier to just give Norwood the cup at 5 pm Sunday night when the minor round finishes.

well, they HAVE been the best side this year!

[eaglehaslanded]

The Eagles don't deserve to be in the finals we have been bottom all year,if we make it good but if we don't I won't be loosing any sleep, we will be down where we belong

Will you stop being so bloody negative Holden78 and just get on with the job of supporting our great club. My mother once said if you don't have something positive to say its better to say nothing at all.

We will beat West, we will play finals and at our very best a GF isn't unrealistic.

Pity you did not listen to your mother given the amount of dribble you post.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with being confident in your teams ability. Call that dribble if you will LLS but I stand by more word and that is at our best the Eags can match any team in the competition. Let's face it the top 3 teams don't want us there because they know how much of a danger we can be. Point in case is 2010 where we come from an Elimination Final and almost made it to the Grand Final. We have run close to Norwood already on 2 occasions this year and once to the Doggies. Our best is good enough to beat anyone on the day. Rest on your laurels at your own peril...

[holden78]

The Eagles have not beaten a top 3 side, fact ( or Glenelg, which is so bad! ). Until that happens in 2012, it's just carry over confidence from 2011 and that's hardly real as this years team lacks the players that REALLY made a difference! That said, Sunday is definately a chance to change some of that and is all we could have asked for after starting 0-5 with almost NO effective recruiting besides Sumner

[Slots It Through]

Wouldn't it be easier to just give Norwood the cup at 5 pm Sunday night when the minor round finishes.

Norwood arent the side they were 10 or 15 weeks ago. Central could push them in a GF.

West will be up and about this week, they will want to head into the a finals series with some momentum. Big test for the Eagles.

[PhilH]

Premierships are not necessarily won by the best team for the season, just the best team in the finals, particularly Grand Final Day.

Otherwise South would be the 1991 premiers and Glenelg the 2009 premiers, both were minor premiers, neither made the GF.


History says that a team from the Elimination Final has only won the flag twice since 1973

It also said last September only one team had won the flag since 1973 after losing the Qualifying Final (Sturt 1976)
... but Eagles did it anyway last year.

Where there is hope there is a chance.

Norwood & Central are favourities the play in the GF
but West have beaten both Norwood & Central at last meeting.
North have such extremities of form, at their best who knows
and Eagles or Port (d West & Central last meeting) would have some form coming into the series.

Only Glenelg given recent poor form would be hard to make a strong case for.

[robranisgod]

Premierships are not necessarily won by the best team for the season, just the best team in the finals, particularly Grand Final Day.

Otherwise South would be the 1991 premiers and Glenelg the 2009 premiers, both were minor premiers, neither made the GF.

I would challenge strongly that South were the best team for the season in 1991. North were red hot favourites to win the flag virtually all year and it was only the vagaries of the draw that stopped them from being minor premier. Like Norwood this year, North were allocated the bye in the last minor round game. To ensure that the players didn't have a 21 day break prior to the second semi final, the North coach "experimented" with his side in games leading up to the finals. Mick Redden even played full back in one game. History showed that North were comfortably the best side that year. It of course highlights the folly of giving a flag hope the bye in the last minor round game. Surely the wooden spooner from the previous year should have the last bye, but that would be common sense.

[Long live SAnFL]

We are dealing with Chandler and his dartboard approach and sadly not much common sense resides in their offices at the moment...

[smac]

Not any more. Chandler off to the SMA.

[RB]

I think the Eagles will go in as slight favourites, but will they win by enough? It's hard to see West conceding 100 points again with their ultra-attacking style of play. If scores come thru from Glenelg that have the Tigers in the lead it could make for a nerve-wracking end to the game. The interesting thing about Sunday is that both matches could result in comfortable victories, e.g. at a stretch the matches could be over at half time sort of thing, but with such a slender difference in percentage between the teams, every goal/point in junk time in the last quarter will nonetheless be crucial to deciding whose season keeps going. And of course in a season like this I'd be surprised if Saturday's matches don't throw up a twist or two. Go Eagles. And goooo the Paaaaaaannnnnthers!!!

[Brodlach]

Think Westies are still playing with their team

T SILVERLOCK M STILL F CARUSO
Ben FISHER R FERGUSON S BRICKNELL
S BIRSS B MACREADIE J EZARD
N HOMBURG T KEOUGH C BONNEY
K THOMPSON J TIPPETT A ANDERSON

Rucks
M BORHOLM S BLESING N CARUSO

Interchange
R LAIRD L HILL R WILLITS B CROUCH M RANKINE

Ins
R FERGUSON M STILL N HOMBURG T KEOUGH A ANDERSON S BLESING R WILLITS L HILL

Outs
A HARTLETT (ANKLE) J BEECH (ANKLE) Brad FISHER (ANKLE) D CAIRE (ILL) S GREEN (ILL) P NELSON (OMITTED