Eagles v Port round 3 Maughan Thiem Kia oval 21 April

Goddsy11 wrote:Good thing is the "2's" had a win. The underaged teams learnt a football lesson.

Most of the underage players have come up from under 16s etc as we've got quite a few in reserves.  I noted 6 players that had their first win yesterday. Tillbrook,  Barkla. McGrath,  Boyd, Davey, and Hann who Bailey came back to us.

I don't have a good feeling how this match is progressing. Our forwards are poor.

Goddsy11 wrote:I don't have a good feeling how this match is progressing. Our forwards are poor.

In the end we won the ball out of centre more than port

Was a frustrating game to watch but we got the points.... pearce and beattie will make a big difference when they return

Anyone know how Troy pulled up after the game. He did look sore on tv. Felt sorry for him when he was in pain.

Morris didn't look good hopefully no knee damage

MichaelScott wrote:Morris didn't look good hopefully no knee damage

Ok. Yeah hopefully nothing serious. We can't afford to lose any other players with injury.

35Eagles wrote:

MichaelScott wrote:Morris didn't look good hopefully no knee damage

Ok. Yeah hopefully nothing serious. We can't afford to lose any other players with injury.

I'm sure that we'll find out tomorrow or early in the week re injury for Troy and Josh too.  But the question is who you'd bring in for Troy if he doesn't pull up would u play Boyd this early in the season though he can ruck or Lukac??

First time seeing the Eagles live this season for me. We look a reasonable team on the fast decks, which is good to keep in mind for finals time, if we finish high enough as the season grinds on.

Fleeton and Morris impressive. Both move well and have decent penetrating kicks on them. I didn’t realise how quick McKay was. Three good recruits who can help move the ball from one end to the other.

Weckert is a different player to last year. Jumps well. Demanding leads. Good skills. Very handy to help Ballenden up forward. Menzel didn’t look fit - I know he took a heavy fall early in the game.

Williams looked good today on the ball. Has some twinkle toes and looks a bit stronger over the ball than in previous seasons.

Beecken looks primed for a big season after being one of the few shining lights last year. I think he could be one that moves on to the AFL. Looks a real leader on field and a good role model for the likes of Herbert. D’Aloia another of the younger brigade that looks a seasoned campaigner already in the middle and benefitting from another pre-season at league level.

Knight, Sinor and Rowe all look good again and I imagine would be loving having Redden back feeding them the ball more often than not.

I was a bit concerned with all the pre-season injuries, but Sauce has them firing on all cylinders early and there’s still a few out that you’d hope could add to the team as the season goes on.

A top of the table clash against Central at Elizabeth next weekend for the first time in 15 years, having had a decade worth prior. Should be a beauty!

Magpies stifled our running game and kept pressure on all day. A battling win is still two points.
I thought a few of our players were well down on form. Three important players were injured during play and lessened their effect.
I have been very surprised at how well Luke McKay has played. Coming from a lesser league but being a mature age recruit he has settled in wonderful well.
Cameron Fleeton is slowly gaining confidence and I thought his first half was excellent and will only get better. Weckert is showing that he can become a consistent goal kicker and his kicking for goal is very good.
Williams is starting to show some consistency that has been missing for a while and sneaks in with the odd goal or two.
Let's hope our injury list is not added to for next weeks match.

Awards for the three matches so far:

Vs West
1)  D'Aloia
2)  Knights
3)  McKay

Vs North
1)  Rowe
2)  Morris
3)  Weckert

Vs Magpies
1)  Sinor
2)  Knight
3)  McKay
Special mentions to Reddo, Beecken, Fleeton and Firns.

Aerie wrote:First time seeing the Eagles live this season for me. We look a reasonable team on the fast decks, which is good to keep in mind for finals time, if we finish high enough as the season grinds on.

Fleeton and Morris impressive. Both move well and have decent penetrating kicks on them. I didn’t realise how quick McKay was. Three good recruits who can help move the ball from one end to the other.

Weckert is a different player to last year. Jumps well. Demanding leads. Good skills. Very handy to help Ballenden up forward. Menzel didn’t look fit - I know he took a heavy fall early in the game.

Williams looked good today on the ball. Has some twinkle toes and looks a bit stronger over the ball than in previous seasons.

Beecken looks primed for a big season after being one of the few shining lights last year. I think he could be one that moves on to the AFL. Looks a real leader on field and a good role model for the likes of Herbert.  D’Aloia another of the younger brigade that looks a seasoned campaigner already in the middle and benefitting from another pre-season at league level.

Knight, Sinor and Rowe all look good again and I imagine would be loving having Redden back feeding them the ball more often than not.

I was a bit concerned with all the pre-season injuries, but Sauce has them firing on all cylinders early and there’s still a few out that you’d hope could add to the team as the season goes on.

A top of the table clash against Central at Elizabeth next weekend for the first time in 15 years, having had a decade worth prior. Should be a beauty!

Glad we won but I was expecting an easy win over a Magpies side that was short on experience. A few of our players were down but agree with your summary above.

Beeken was very good. Probably on the radar of a few clubs. Noticed Hinkley out there casting his eye over a few players.

From Zac Milbank
Woodville-West Torrens took the best part of three quarters to shrug off a persistent Port Adelaide by 26 points at Maughan Thiem Kia Oval.

Entering the match in strong form as warm favourites, the Eagles were able to hold their nerve to eventually kick clear with three goals during time-on of the third term.

Well on top at the clearances, earning a 42-23 advantage, the hosts overcame a 39-49 deficit in the inside 50m count to open up a match-winning 37-point lead on the back of skipper Joey Sinor bursting through to goal 11 minutes into the fourth quarter.

Sinor, voted as the Coles Value Player, racked up 29 disposals, 10 marks, four clearances and six tackles to be a significant factor in the result.

”At half-time we were a bit down but we knew the third quarter is a big quarter to get the game on your terms and we were able to do that,” Sinor told Channel 7 after the match.

”He’s (coach Sam Jacobs) is really good at relationships, he’s spent a lot of time with individuals so at the moment we are in a good space as a footy club and we are excited as to where we can get to.”

Dashing Eagles defender Luke Beecken was again damaging with his run and carry to collect 26 disposals while Riley Knight made a welcome return from an ankle injury to also reach 26 touches, as well as seven clearances and eight tackles.

Eagle Adam D’Aloia tallied 24 disposals while Luke McKay and James Rowe both finished with 23 possessions and a goal.

Promising Eagles key forward Patrick Weckert continued his encouraging form with three goals while Will Neumann chimed in with two.

Fielding an incredibly inexperienced line-up featuring just nine AFL-listed players, the Magpies booted the final two goals of the game to trim the deficit.

Crafty Cody Szust collected 24 disposals and a goal for Port while Dylan Williams had 24 disposals (22 kicks) while Francis Evans registered 19 disposals, two goals and eight tackles as he put his hand up for an AFL recall.

That was certainly the poorest we have played in our three games so far, and at times was difficult to watch.  Port's intensity in the first half seemed greater than the Eagles', and we were making a lot of skill errors.  Fortunately we were able to lift significantly in the third quarter when it was obvious we had a challenge on our hands and were able to eke out a fairly comfortable win in the end.  Still, we will need a big lift right from the start next week if we are to get close to beating Central at Elizabeth.

The danger was always going to be in that coming up against such an inexperienced Port side that they didn't approach it as a challenge. And it showed.

Luckily Port weren't able to capitalise in the first half because I thought they were a 2-3goal better team during that period. If this had occurred it would have been interesting whether we would have reeled them in.

As it was, the two sides were about even on the scoreboard for the first half and the Eagles far superior team gradually kicked away.

Our defence was very good in the first half and and while his stats don't show it I felt that Redden was important. Sinor far and away our best midfielder across 4 quarters. I was surprised to see D'Aloia, Rowe and Knights end up with as many possessions as they did.

Weckett keeps building and I think at some point before the end of the season we are going to see a 6-7 goal effort from him.

Weckert's three straight goals, from impressive kicks, were important in the context of the game. It's a pity that Ballenden's goal kicking is not more reliable.

Sam Jacobs reviews Round 3 vs Port Adelaide
After a challenging game it was nice to get away with a 26 point. Port came with a plan and executed it pretty well and it took us until the 3rd quarter to start to get our game going. I was pleased that we were able to win differently to how we had in the first few weeks which should give the boys confidence ahead of our game against Central District this Saturday.

Joe Sinor was at his best, led the team well and stood up in the 3rd quarter when we needed our leaders too. Riley Knight, James Rowe, Connor Ballenden all played a key role in the 3rd quarter to help us build a lead going into the final term. Was great to see Luke McKay, Luke Beecken, Zane Williams and Pat Weckert continue on there form from recent weeks and being able to hit the scoreboard aswell.

First away game this weekend, look forward to seeing the supporters out at Elizabeth.

Sauce

Sam Jacobs – Eagles Senior Coach

We are now equal with the Port Ferals on 43 wins each since our inception.

The Barton wrote:We are now equal with the Port Ferals on 43 wins each since our inception.

Surprising considering they have not won a premiership or been regular finalist for the last 25 years. They seem to beat us at least once per season.

That match last season with Dan Menzel was a ripper.


I see Central are 2 to the good so a win Saturday is important.