Doing enough to win tonight but playing really well.
Only weakness is their backline as they have no monsters down there but still will be very hard to topple at the moment the way they are playing.
Yep their backline really depends on Shoenmakers. He played well tonight but in the past he's got the jitters in big games. The Hawks looked like they won the centre clearances and given the Eagles had to shut the game down after 1/4 time the Hawks always had numbers down back to avoid any of their defenders being exposed 1-on-1.
For the Eagles, their bottom six was badly exposed tonight as being too small and too easily pushed aside by the bigger bodied Hawks. Josh Hill was the worst. He would make Jordan McMahon look good at contested footy. Playing from behind, one handed attempts at marks and running under the ball to avoid any contact. Just lazy and soft when playing against any decent opposition.
One thing tonight showed again is that interstate sides find it harder to play at the 'G than at Docklands especially at night. A number of times Eagle players struggle to read the flight of the ball. ALL our home games should be at the 'G. We may still drop a home game against an interstate side at the 'G now and then (Freo this year
) but over time playing at the 'G is a significant advantage which we lose being forced to play home games at Docklands.
