The Eagles

[Annoyedsaint]

Now level with us and playing far better and attractive footy. Let that sink in….

[Otiman]

Always said their method was better than North and Hawthorn and would bounce back quicker. Remember they won a flag in 18.

Must build a relentless winning culture.

Losses should hurt.

[Annoyedsaint]

Shows how fkn s*** we are STILL.

How they made the finals last year is basically a premiership result in hindsight.

We have used car salesmen in charge from the President down selling lemons left right & centre.

[Otiman]

It's hard to know in 1 or 2 years where your club is at, let alone one game. What I do know is that if you aren't heading in the right direction in 2 years you need to change tack. If this becomes 2 lots of 2 years, you go one level up, if it becomes 3 lots of 2 years (where we were at) you go for a full overhaul, which we did.

Our problem is that we went 12 years of poor performance without a major direction change. Years of poor "recruiting" (IMO was poor development more than recruiting), plus a 'top up' mentality during the Ratts era to scrape into finals was a huge mistake.

I think we are heading in the right direction, but only time will tell.

Unless members are informed of the sporting decisions of the club (we aren't, the pres's letter was all fluff) then we will never know.

This Eagles side isn't one that's ready to rise from the ashes just yet. Their senior team is ready for retirement soon and the young brigade has some games under their belt but isn't setting the world on fire. But their competitive edge will do them a major service.

[Annoyedsaint]

Development. Another topic I guess but Owens, Windhager and Philipou gone backwards 100mph this year. Alarm bells I would have thought. If they do not work, then it’s nearly curtains for the club with Tassie coming in and hoarding all the picks.

Low and behold we’d find ourselves on the bottom again with new sides involved. I have no reason at this stage to think it won’t happen given our history.

[bobmurray]

It's easy to see why Harley Reid was the No.1 draft pick.

Phillipou in comparison looks like a pick 50.

[Otiman]

1 player doesnt win you a premiership. If it did, we'd have 8 in a row with Plugger.

[SuperDuper]

Development. Another topic I guess but Owens, Windhager and Philipou gone backwards 100mph this year. Alarm bells I would have thought. If they do not work, then it’s nearly curtains for the club with Tassie coming in and hoarding all the picks.

Low and behold we’d find ourselves on the bottom again with new sides involved. I have no reason at this stage to think it won’t happen given our history.

Windy is 20 years old. He was close to our best in 2 of his 5 games this year. To me he looks like developing into an A grade balanced midfielder.
Owens doing very well for a 20 year old. Still learning, He has things to work on but doing well.
The Pou is 19. Having ups and downs but still showing signs.

I cant say I have seen them going backwards at 100mph

[The_Dud]

I think we’ve been overtaken by a lot of teams since round 1.

Also look at the other game last night, Geelong travelled (on a place of all things) and kicked 9 goal in some of the first conditions you’ll ever see footy in these days.

We struggle to kick 9 in literally perfect conditions.

[Life Long Saint]

It's easy to see why Harley Reid was the No.1 draft pick.

Phillipou in comparison looks like a pick 50.

The progression from pick 1 to pick 10 is not linear. Never has been.
Sometimes there's very little difference between the top 3. Sometimes there's a massive chasm.

[spert]

Development. Another topic I guess but Owens, Windhager and Philipou gone backwards 100mph this year. Alarm bells I would have thought. If they do not work, then it’s nearly curtains for the club with Tassie coming in and hoarding all the picks.

Low and behold we’d find ourselves on the bottom again with new sides involved. I have no reason at this stage to think it won’t happen given our history.

Windy is 20 years old. He was close to our best in 2 of his 5 games this year. To me he looks like developing into an A grade balanced midfielder.
Owens doing very well for a 20 year old. Still learning, He has things to work on but doing well.
The Pou is 19. Having ups and downs but still showing signs.

I cant say I have seen them going backwards at 100mph

I think Windy will be a good midfield worker, but not a match winner, Owens is a smash bang kind of player, but needs a lot of work and maybe it's as good as we get, and Pou might have talent, but after a season of getting senior games and not really making much impact, he should be having more impact this season, but is not. I see more in Garcia than those three right now.

[SinCitySainter]

Windhager will never be an A grader but will be a good solid midfielder. Owen's has the most potential upside as he truly could become the midfield bull we have looking for. Pou unfortunately is starting to look like the classic kid who dominated because of his size at junior level. He is not big enough to be a key position player and he has neither the speed or agility for the midfield. His best bet looks in my opinion to be as an undersized key back in the Battle mold. He came into the AFL brimming with confidence that comes from beating up on the smaller kids. So he started well but soon found out that he is no longer the big fish and he now plays like he has no confidence in his own ability.
We have a coach who has one exceptional talent, which is he can take an average footballers and turn him into a solid AFL quality role player. This is unfortunately not a positive for us at this time because we need to accept that we need top end draft picks but our game plan will push us into the 12 to 8 range where you get the good not great players. So we are not going to improve significantly and we will play ugly negative football as we grind out enough wins to keep us in the middle of the pack and Ross collecting his over stuffed and undeserved pay packet.

[asiu]

have a go at this ya whingers n whiners

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-04-21/ ... /103749700

not sure if any of ya would pass the bbq test

that puts u in pet food class

[King Max]

Now level with us and playing far better and attractive footy. Let that sink in….

We are level with the Lions, but we haven’t played North or had 3 home games against interstate clubs. Let that sink in.

[Sainter_Dad]

Now level with us and playing far better and attractive footy. Let that sink in….

We are level with the Lions, but we haven’t played North or had 3 home games against interstate clubs. Let that sink in.

And you are happy with Thursday's Performance?

[King Max]

No. But I can’t see the point in comparing us with the Eagles or the Lions. We’re 2-4 and we were crap on Thursday with a huge injury list coming off a five day break.

[B.M]

One of the only times I can say that one player won a team a premiership

Wayne Carey

Without him North wouldn’t have been top 4


But yes, there are plenty of examples where superstars have not won a premiership

Ablett Snr probably the best example- although he couldn’t have done much more

At StK
Harvey Riewoldt Winmar etc couldn’t get us over the line

[Annoyedsaint]

Development. Another topic I guess but Owens, Windhager and Philipou gone backwards 100mph this year. Alarm bells I would have thought. If they do not work, then it’s nearly curtains for the club with Tassie coming in and hoarding all the picks.

Low and behold we’d find ourselves on the bottom again with new sides involved. I have no reason at this stage to think it won’t happen given our history.

Windy is 20 years old. He was close to our best in 2 of his 5 games this year. To me he looks like developing into an A grade balanced midfielder.
Owens doing very well for a 20 year old. Still learning, He has things to work on but doing well.
The Pou is 19. Having ups and downs but still showing signs.

I cant say I have seen them going backwards at 100mph

Not hard to be in our best at the moment.
Windhager, no impact in the game, slaughtered in the middle.

Owens has been dreadful this year.

Philipou….when was the last game he actually did something? Round 4 last year against Gold Coast?
He’s kicking skill has evaporated, cannot take a mark and is slow. What is he actually bringing to the table to warrant selection, other than “we hope he’ll learn”.
Tremendous selection policy. You don’t see this from Geelong. But then again, they actually study who to draft

[Yorkeys]

Eagles:
Heartache Tonight
I Can't Tell You Why
Take it Easy
Desperado
Barrack for the Saints, you can check in, but you can never leave
it's Life in the Fast Lane.

[Scollop]

Our problem is that we went 12 years of poor performance without a major direction change. Years of poor "recruiting" (IMO was poor development more than recruiting), plus a 'top up' mentality during the Ratts era to scrape into finals was a huge mistake.

Did you forget that Richo and Lethlean brought in Jono Marsh, Dean Kent, Sam Rowe and that ruckman spud from Geelong?

The top up mentality started long before Ratten arrived. Lethlean and Finnis had already decided on Hill, Ryder, Jones, Butler and Howard before Ratts was officially appointed.

It started in 2016 and 2017 when we just missed out on finals. Richo decided we were ready to contend. We recruited Nathan Brown who was struggling and getting dropped to Collingwood's VFL side, as well as Logan Austin (ex Port Adelaide) and Koby Stevens - ex West Coast and Western Bulldogs.

I agree with you 100% about our poor development. It magnified our problems with repeated poor recruiting. It exacerbated our issues as a poor club.

Maybe Gresh, JB, Dunny, Acres and even young ruckman we brought in like McEvoy, Longer and Hickey would have been better under a different club.

No one makes 100% correct recruiting decisions, but you can make up for it by having a good development program.

If we get that part right. It's half the battle

Are we doing anything different with Pou and Darcy and their development? Or ...just because they were FRDP's are we just doing the same thing we did with Gresh and Billings and Max King?

Are we just playing them every round to keep them and their management happy? Is that the best thing for their football in the long term?

[SaintPav]

Makes sad reading.

[Vortex]

No one makes 100% correct recruiting decisions, but you can make up for it by having a good development program.

I don't quite understand what you are claiming here?

Are you saying clubs can overcome a lack of talent with training?

[Beno88]

Based on the bizarre theory in the OP, West Coast are as good as, if not better, than Brisbane.

Therefore, we are also as good as Brisbane.

So we've beaten the reigning premiers, and we're equal to the runners up. Why is everyone so angry?

[Otiman]

Are we just playing them every round to keep them and their management happy? Is that the best thing for their football in the long term?

What does Damian Carroll's CV look like?
We have invested heavily by putting Lenny Hayes in that area too.

[Banger9798]

Development. Another topic I guess but Owens, Windhager and Philipou gone backwards 100mph this year. Alarm bells I would have thought. If they do not work, then it’s nearly curtains for the club with Tassie coming in and hoarding all the picks.

Low and behold we’d find ourselves on the bottom again with new sides involved. I have no reason at this stage to think it won’t happen given our history.

Windy is 20 years old. He was close to our best in 2 of his 5 games this year. To me he looks like developing into an A grade balanced midfielder.
Owens doing very well for a 20 year old. Still learning, He has things to work on but doing well.
The Pou is 19. Having ups and downs but still showing signs.

I cant say I have seen them going backwards at 100mph

Let's not jump off our kids too quickly, there's plenty there to like.