Eagles vs Port review thread

[sapaul]

Eagles 17.13.115
Port 14.8.92

[hottie]

Great game eagles ball movement in first quarter and a half far superior to port who enjoyed handballing to players under pressure and very slow going forward allowing eagles players to drop back.Last half of second quarter port started kicking ball forward to one on one contest and got themselves back in game.Both sides did miss opportunities and missed gettable goals.Third quarter eagles dropped Luke Jarrad back as spare man and allowed eagles to steady play.Last eagles started well and able to put port again under pressure finishing game better.Both teams should enjoy success on todays game.Lastly poor Richard Williams copped a hammering from both club supporters,the only umpire who is bagged by all 9 club supporters.

[FlyingHigh]

The one positive was we were able to run out our first game on a pretty warm day against a side who had already played a real game this year.
Cicca back to his best, Stuart Hill and Staple show something that will hopefully develop into something pretty good over the next few years. Salter great, but rely on him too much
Port deserve a lot of credit for getting back into the game, with some exciting runners and throwing the ball around. Eagles were pretty lucky with a few crucial turnovers leading to goals.
Good competitive game, but overall, a little disappointing from an Eagles perspective I reckon. Almond, Polec, Rimmington, Redden, Welsh to come back is one positive.
As mentioned on the North/Sturt thread, this game seemed to keep in tune with a trend for over-umpiring. It was consistent, and didn't really favour either side, but surely not the type of style we want to see. Either far too quick on holding-the-balls or alternatively paying some soft frees against the tackler, plus plenty of soft 25's (as a bit of advice, 25 comes before 35 ).

[catchisthecry]

How'd Scotty Lewis go??

[Aerie]

The Eagles got off to a good start. 4 of the first 7 goals came from holding the balls inside 50 which was indicative of how the Eagles were going about things - not fluent by any means, but working hard to create opportunities. Port started to get in to the game in the 2nd quarter and when Symmons kicked a goal against the run of play before Port had a chance to capitalize on their hard work - I thought the Eagles might have all the answers. Then Port went on a rampage and kicked the next 7 or 8 goals, with Cloke having an opportunity to draw level with a shot from 50 after the half time siren. He missed, but Port had all the momentum at half time, 5 points down. Players from both teams tired in the 2nd half. Powell and Knights, with the help of Miles in ruck, started to get more of the ball and the Eagles ended up being too good for a determined Magpies winning by 23 points.

I thought Salter was best for the Eagles with about 6 goals. His class was the difference. Lewis was very good, as was Powell and Jarrad stood up in the last line of defence (not sure that is his most effective position for us). Goldsworthy was fantastic early before being shunted to the back pocket to quell Clayton's influence. Grocke, Symmons and Cheep tried hard all day and did well. There were a number of Eagles players who weren't up to the standard. The two ruckman were ineffective and have a way to go to be league footballers. Hicks just shouldn't be playing league football. Rowntree gradually got in to the game, but has a way to go.

Good to get a win on the board. The draw gives Godden a chance to feel his way into the season. We'll start to know more about the Eagles in a months time.

[areaman]

Good, not great, win by the Eags today. Looked well in control at 8 goals to 2 in the 2nd qtr but possibly fortunate to be still leading at HT. Couple of poor misses at goal by Cloke kept us in front. Only really got on top in the last quarter to close it out.

Port probably worked harder than the Eags for most of the 2nd half but we used the ball a bit better when needed.

Great game by Luke Powell today. Grocke good early on as well. Apart from that I thought the contributors were a bit patchy. Be good to have McKenzie and Welsh in the side next week (hopefully!).

But it's always good to win your first game and have the footy back

[ORDoubleBlues]

Only saw bits and pieces on TV in last half but Lindsay for Port looks to have good balance and evasive skills but he burnt the ball nearly every time.
Interesting to see Scott Lewis back.. AGAIN! - he's had more comebacks than Michael Jordan and Muhummad Ali combined.
Also good to see Luke Slattery having another crack. Is certainly up to this level and you don't get many blokes around that are 6'2 and have great pace.

[goraw]

how good is clayton. he is the glue to ports side.

[FlyingHigh]

. Players from both teams tired in the 2nd half. Powell and Knights, with the help of Miles in ruck, started to get more of the ball and the Eagles ended up being too good for a determined Magpies winning by 23 points.

The two ruckman were ineffective and have a way to go to be league footballers. Hicks just shouldn't be playing league football. Rowntree gradually got in to the game, but has a way to go.

.

Yeah, the ruck was a real problem, ironically moreso after Mieklejohn was injured. Miles might not be a star, but he's an honest trier, and helped arrest the centre square back after half time. Probably have to question the wisdom of playing two so totally green ruckmen, especially when Redden was in the 2's.
Agree with Hicks, especially when there was other talent in the 2's.
What is Thompson's background? Showed enough for a first-up effort to at least persevere with.

[FlyingHigh]

how good is clayton. he is the glue to ports side.

Yep, looked more focussed, discplined and being a leader than he has in the past IMO

[NFC]

I went down to Woodville today seeing as though it was such a lovely day.

Good competitive game, looked like the Eagles were going to record a 10 goal win but Port then started to get control in the middle and had some nice link-ups by hand. I know they overused the handball at tiimes but some of their supporters. It IS acceptable to use your hand sometimes, not all the time, but sometimes. You would've thought you needed 350 kicks and 0 handballs in a game judging by some of their supporters. Anyway....

Salter oozes class, he's a freak with some of the things he does.

Really impressed by some of the work by the Eagles defence. Stuart Hill was good, and Luke Thompson (#6?) was outstanding, the Eagles (and Crows of course) did well there in the mini draft.

Grocke was good, Broadbent did some nice work and Knights after a somewhat quiet first half was dominant in the midfield in the third and fourth quarters.

Good game of footy.

[spell_check]

I thought Salter was best for the Eagles with about 6 goals.

7.2

Also, for interests sake, the Reserves score was:
Eagles 18.13 (121)
Port 14.11 (95)

[Big Phil]

I thought Salter was best for the Eagles with about 6 goals.

7.2

Also, for interests sake, the Reserves score was:
Eagles 18.13 (121)
Port 14.11 (95)

Did Jonathon Griffin have a run with the Eagles reserves ?

He was dropped by the Crows and his side, Central, of course had the the bye...


Also how did former 36er Peter Hoban go in the ruck ?

[baysman]

How was the crowd. Were the Magpie fans out in force ?

[spell_check]

I thought Salter was best for the Eagles with about 6 goals.

7.2

Also, for interests sake, the Reserves score was:
Eagles 18.13 (121)
Port 14.11 (95)

Did Jonathon Griffin have a run with the Eagles reserves ?

He was dropped by the Crows and his side, Central, of course had the the bye...


Also how did former 36er Peter Hoban go in the ruck ?

I don't know about Griffin, sorry, BP.

Our rucks seemed rather inconspicuous today.

[LPH]

How'd Scotty Lewis go??

Went well IMHO.

Last 1/4 he was excellent, I thought.

Eagles looked good in patches.

My best: Salter 3, Grocke 2, Goldsmith 1 - thought Powell, Treeby & Cicca very good also

Not all doom & gloom for Port either - they were in the game for most of the day, particularly after 1/4 time

[Big Phil]

How was the crowd. Were the Magpie fans out in force ?

PhilH posted the crowd figure on the Live Scores thread...

A tick over 3100 from memory...

[MightyEagles]

Underage results

U16
Eagles 17.16.118
Port 10.7.67

U18
Eagles 9.2.56
Port 13.24.102

[spell_check]

How was the crowd. Were the Magpie fans out in force ?

PhilH posted the crowd figure on the Live Scores thread...

A tick over 3100 from memory...

I know the figure is 3,113; however it looked more like 3,500-3,700 to me.

[Squawk]

What was Mieckeljohn's injury, and how many weeks?