After a rough start to the year, West Coast seems to be back on track. The Eagles have regained star ruckman Nic Naitanui, and Beau Waters should finally be over his injury worries. The recent winning form of the Eagles is deceptive, however, as the quality of their opposition comes into question. Their only wins have been against Melbourne, the Bulldogs, Brisbane, North Melbourne, and GWS, who have a combined number of 9 wins between them for the season so far.
In contrast, Richmond has hit a rough patch in recent weeks. With significant losses against Collingwood, Geelong, and Essendon, as well as a narrow loss against Fremantle, the Tigers have been exposed on the big stage. Their inexperience showed in high-pressure situations, resulting in a slow, un-Richmond-like brand of football. With injuries to core players Dylan Grimes, Shane Tuck, Reece Conca, Brandon Ellis, and Chris Knights, the Tigers depth is being tested. So far, it has not held up. Ellis and Conca are likely to miss this coming week as well, in order to come back at 100% fitness following Richmond's round 11 bye.
The implications of this match are huge. In addition to Richmond and West Coast, there are three other sides (Carlton, North Melbourne, and Adelaide) fighting for a spot in the 8. As such, the contest on Monday looms as an "8-point game" for both clubs.
What will decide the win?
Experience in pressure situations
Ability to abuse the open spaces of Patersons Stadium
Centre clearances (for Richmond to have any chance, the influence of Cox and Naitanui must be nullified)
Players' confidence in their abilities, and their ability to back their team-mates in (a trait which Richmond has been missing for several weeks)
Thanks to Danog
Very seldom does a football game produce as few talking points as our match with the Giants. Honestly, what happened that was interesting? It was a fun way to spend a couple of hours on a Saturday, but it provided a hollow feeling perhaps only an easter egg could relate too. Some were saying it was the worst 100 point win ever. Probably not far from the truth.
But, alas, we will push on in attempt to analyse the unanalysable. Firstly, our midfield is better with Hutchings in it. He can win his own ball, is slick with his hands and is a tireless worker. So much of the new breed of our midfield have been defined using the dreaded three S’s – soft, slow and stupid. Hutch seems to possess none of these, and it would be a mistake to drop him now. It’s pretty clear that Shuey, Selwood and Gaff aren’t going to be single-handedly winning us games against good opposition yet, so we need as much experience and class (emphasis on the second one, sorry Pridda…) in there as possible. Nothing makes me happier than the thought of Nic Naitanui running around in the blue and gold for the next decade. We have lucked out with this man, and he is literally improving with every game he plays. He is our main man now, our most important player, and the one man in our team that could drag us to a premiership. All we have to do now is kiss his feet. By god does he deserve it.
The negatives are still very much the same, in that grave doubts remain around our midfield. Luke Shuey should be so much better than he is right now. He is still young and improving, and I don’t think he’s far away from cracking it, but he needs to do less waiting and more asserting. Get in there and do it yourself Boots, Kerr style. Scooter has been pretty damn poor this season. Defensively he has been good, but we were at our best last season when he was attacking oppositions, and he hasn’t even been close to that sort of form this season. His kicking hurts my head. Sort it out Scoot.
Poor old Richmond have been stuck in a perverse Groundhog Day for years now, as they sit agonizingly outside the cool group desperately hoping to be let in. Unfortunately for them, every time a vacancy appears and they slot in, they accidently fart or spill yoghurt all over themselves, and they get booted back to where they came from. Everyone feels sorry for the little weirdo in the corner, but nobody is brave enough to actually be seen as their friend. He’s got lots of good friend qualities too – he’ll help you with your homework, he knows all kinds of obscure Simpsons lines and his collection of PS3 games is second to none - but there’s just something about him that holds him back from being popular. Maybe it’s the haircut? Who knows.
Basically, Richmond can be pretty good, but they shouldn’t be good enough to challenge us at home. In saying that, if we put up some of the garbage that we have at times this season, or even just kick like we are three pints deep again, then they will turn us over. They have good players in all parts of the ground, and can play exhilarating footy. MacKenzie will get the job on Jack Riewoldt, and if he can succeed there than I can’t see the Tigers kicking a winning score. They have some quality in their small forwards too, notably Jake King and Naaaaaahaaaaaaaas, so our Achilles heel will be tested yet again. Cotchin is a gun, and one of my favourite non-Eagles. The thought of Rance lining up on Kennedy is pretty enticing for us though. In short, if we play well we will win. If we don’t, we still might win, or we might lose. Call me Nostradamus.
The word is that Waters will be fit to return, and he will hopefully come straight back in for Dalziell. Dazzle isn’t great at the best of times, so if he has even the slightest inkling of a concussion then it is best to swerve him I think. Aside from that, the injury list isn’t too bad. Schofield has done a real number on his finger, and looks like he may be out for quite a while. We all know about Wellingham, and I hear the doctors are working overtime to apply fresh blutac to his ankles. Adam Selwood is probably fit, but we are all praying that this doesn’t matter. He’s a premiership player, and was a quite a good one in his pomp, but age isn’t being too kind on poor Adam. We’ll have an idea of the squad in a few hours, but we all know how useless these preliminary lineups are in this day and age.
We have pulled away from the early season debacle and are starting to consolidate for the season. We still are miles off our best, but I can only hope that that has been a plan of the coaching staff all along. Surely they would have picked the bye as the time to turn the screws, and we need to come out all guns blazing from there. But we absolute cannot afford to drop either of these next two games, and Richmond will undoubtedly be a challenge. A good win and a good performance could start to rebuild the faith.
Thanks to Toshowyouwhy
In contrast, Richmond has hit a rough patch in recent weeks. With significant losses against Collingwood, Geelong, and Essendon, as well as a narrow loss against Fremantle, the Tigers have been exposed on the big stage. Their inexperience showed in high-pressure situations, resulting in a slow, un-Richmond-like brand of football. With injuries to core players Dylan Grimes, Shane Tuck, Reece Conca, Brandon Ellis, and Chris Knights, the Tigers depth is being tested. So far, it has not held up. Ellis and Conca are likely to miss this coming week as well, in order to come back at 100% fitness following Richmond's round 11 bye.
The implications of this match are huge. In addition to Richmond and West Coast, there are three other sides (Carlton, North Melbourne, and Adelaide) fighting for a spot in the 8. As such, the contest on Monday looms as an "8-point game" for both clubs.
What will decide the win?
Experience in pressure situations
Ability to abuse the open spaces of Patersons Stadium
Centre clearances (for Richmond to have any chance, the influence of Cox and Naitanui must be nullified)
Players' confidence in their abilities, and their ability to back their team-mates in (a trait which Richmond has been missing for several weeks)
Thanks to Danog
Very seldom does a football game produce as few talking points as our match with the Giants. Honestly, what happened that was interesting? It was a fun way to spend a couple of hours on a Saturday, but it provided a hollow feeling perhaps only an easter egg could relate too. Some were saying it was the worst 100 point win ever. Probably not far from the truth.
But, alas, we will push on in attempt to analyse the unanalysable. Firstly, our midfield is better with Hutchings in it. He can win his own ball, is slick with his hands and is a tireless worker. So much of the new breed of our midfield have been defined using the dreaded three S’s – soft, slow and stupid. Hutch seems to possess none of these, and it would be a mistake to drop him now. It’s pretty clear that Shuey, Selwood and Gaff aren’t going to be single-handedly winning us games against good opposition yet, so we need as much experience and class (emphasis on the second one, sorry Pridda…) in there as possible. Nothing makes me happier than the thought of Nic Naitanui running around in the blue and gold for the next decade. We have lucked out with this man, and he is literally improving with every game he plays. He is our main man now, our most important player, and the one man in our team that could drag us to a premiership. All we have to do now is kiss his feet. By god does he deserve it.
The negatives are still very much the same, in that grave doubts remain around our midfield. Luke Shuey should be so much better than he is right now. He is still young and improving, and I don’t think he’s far away from cracking it, but he needs to do less waiting and more asserting. Get in there and do it yourself Boots, Kerr style. Scooter has been pretty damn poor this season. Defensively he has been good, but we were at our best last season when he was attacking oppositions, and he hasn’t even been close to that sort of form this season. His kicking hurts my head. Sort it out Scoot.
Poor old Richmond have been stuck in a perverse Groundhog Day for years now, as they sit agonizingly outside the cool group desperately hoping to be let in. Unfortunately for them, every time a vacancy appears and they slot in, they accidently fart or spill yoghurt all over themselves, and they get booted back to where they came from. Everyone feels sorry for the little weirdo in the corner, but nobody is brave enough to actually be seen as their friend. He’s got lots of good friend qualities too – he’ll help you with your homework, he knows all kinds of obscure Simpsons lines and his collection of PS3 games is second to none - but there’s just something about him that holds him back from being popular. Maybe it’s the haircut? Who knows.
Basically, Richmond can be pretty good, but they shouldn’t be good enough to challenge us at home. In saying that, if we put up some of the garbage that we have at times this season, or even just kick like we are three pints deep again, then they will turn us over. They have good players in all parts of the ground, and can play exhilarating footy. MacKenzie will get the job on Jack Riewoldt, and if he can succeed there than I can’t see the Tigers kicking a winning score. They have some quality in their small forwards too, notably Jake King and Naaaaaahaaaaaaaas, so our Achilles heel will be tested yet again. Cotchin is a gun, and one of my favourite non-Eagles. The thought of Rance lining up on Kennedy is pretty enticing for us though. In short, if we play well we will win. If we don’t, we still might win, or we might lose. Call me Nostradamus.
The word is that Waters will be fit to return, and he will hopefully come straight back in for Dalziell. Dazzle isn’t great at the best of times, so if he has even the slightest inkling of a concussion then it is best to swerve him I think. Aside from that, the injury list isn’t too bad. Schofield has done a real number on his finger, and looks like he may be out for quite a while. We all know about Wellingham, and I hear the doctors are working overtime to apply fresh blutac to his ankles. Adam Selwood is probably fit, but we are all praying that this doesn’t matter. He’s a premiership player, and was a quite a good one in his pomp, but age isn’t being too kind on poor Adam. We’ll have an idea of the squad in a few hours, but we all know how useless these preliminary lineups are in this day and age.
We have pulled away from the early season debacle and are starting to consolidate for the season. We still are miles off our best, but I can only hope that that has been a plan of the coaching staff all along. Surely they would have picked the bye as the time to turn the screws, and we need to come out all guns blazing from there. But we absolute cannot afford to drop either of these next two games, and Richmond will undoubtedly be a challenge. A good win and a good performance could start to rebuild the faith.
Thanks to Toshowyouwhy
