Game Day Round 16, 2024: West Coast vs Hawthorn

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As a fan I've learned my lesson about expecting the team to win. But the players should absolutely be expecting to win with a fit side at home against a team that has hit a purple patch but hasn't earned the right to be called a top side yet.

I can take another loss if the players leave it all out there, but I think this is a game they just have to be up for.
 

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Not sure what to predict today. Reckon we dominate the first half but fail to convert opportunities in front of goal. Then Hawthorn will come back in the third leading to squeaky bum time in Q4
 
Winnable game this.

Certainty? Far from it. But the difference Allen makes to our side cannot be underestimated. If we can bring our defensive pressure forward and midfield we are a serious chance against a side in good form but still finding its way.

I'm going in optimistic, likely to have my hopes crushed then end up going for a long walk in the cold evening to remind myself that it's just a game and to get over it.

Anyway, Eagles by 21 points.
 
If we could do that to Essendon last week at Marvel, without 2 of our best 3 mids and a rusty KPF, we can beat the Hawks at home with the current lineup.

Lock us in for a win by 30+
 
I think this will be a great contest, should be with them in form and us with our best side available for a couple of years
 

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At this stage my expectations are untethered and roaming wild and free in the top paddock.
In other words I have no idea what to expect from a team that is 3 ladder spots and 4 wins above us? But we beat Melbourne who are 1 spot above Hawks; and nearly beat Essendon who are 1 spot below Freo; who we spanked and are now in 3rd spot and are foolishly unfurling their new 'Flagmantle' banner! :rolleyes:

When I feed these stats into the number crunching machine, it tells me we're in with a really good chance - here's hoping?
Eagles by a sausage roll and a couple of party pies!
May the golden god-child radiate thunderbolts!
 
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Despite the Hawks' form, this is a winnable game. Yeo, Reid and Kelly can absolutely match the Hawks' mids, which is their strength. If we get the ball forward (and kick straight) we'll do some damage. Gov and Barrass have some of their easiest match ups for the season. The main red flag is Hawthorn's half forwards. Keep them in check and I think we can snatch this one.
 
Despite the Hawks' form, this is a winnable game. Yeo, Reid and Kelly can absolutely match the Hawks' mids, which is their strength. If we get the ball forward (and kick straight) we'll do some damage. Gov and Barrass have some of their easiest match ups for the season. The main red flag is Hawthorn's half forwards. Keep them in check and I think we can snatch this one.
Who does Houghy go to for the shutdown?
Ginnivan or Hardwick?
 
This is our top team running out today apart from Hewett & a couple of younger guys who aren't ready yet.
This is a real test of how far we have come this year.
I know we are in a rebuild, but with the older guys in the team this is the best we can expect for a couple of years.
Hawthorn are playing good footy but with our best team on the field we should belt them at home, if not bring in the young guys for the rest of the year,
 
Need our small defenders to be on song - Ginnivan, Watson, Hardwick and Moore can all be dangerous

As for their talls, Chol can take a good clunk as can young Dear and Gunston can be a crafty pick

Amon, Sicily, Weddle and Impey give plenty of drive out of defence. Maybe we can use Maric to engage Sicily or Weddle

Hopefully Reid and Kelly don’t have too much rust after not playing for a month. Yeo can be forgiven for a down game, if he even plays. Terrible circumstances for him

Ryan and Brockman showed last week they can provide a different look to our midfield with some pace and creativity. Their ability to rotate through the centre gives us some options to use Reid elsewhere if he cops a hard tag

Hawthorn aren’t flush with KPDs so hopefully one (or both) of Allen or Waterman can get off the chain

Need to make the most of our opportunities and not kick 2 ****ing 15 like we did against North

As has been mentioned, this is the strongest side (on paper) that we’ve fielded for some time

Of our oldest 20 and most experienced players only Gaff, Sheed and Petruccelle are missing. Gaff because he’s not best 22 anymore and the other pair are injured but are both probably fringe best 22 anyway.

From a theoretical best 22, Long and Hewett are the only ones missing but they’re both 2nd year players and would offer only slightly incremental improvement over who they’d replace

That said, Hawthorn aren’t far off full strength either and come into this game in hot form having only lost one of their last seven (by a point after conceding 2 goals in the last minute to Port). It should also be noted that 3 of their wins were by 7 points or less and all six wins were in Melbourne or Tasmania

Hawthorn are also coming off the bye so it remains to be seen if they’re a bit rusty themselves having not played since June 15. Whilst we travelled last week it’s still been a 7 day break for us and we had our own bye the week before so should still be fresh

No reason why we shouldn’t be able to give a good account of ourselves in this game. Whether that’s sufficient for a win over a side in good form remains to be seen but a very competitive outing should be expected

Eagles by 3 Gatorade sprays
 
So over a month ago I agreed to go watch my nephews play at the WAFL half time....which is today...which means instead of watching Reid and Yeo tear the Hawks apart I get to watch Gaff and Trew get torn apart by Swan Districts.

yaaay-saturday-night-live.gif
 
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