Flying high

Finding it hard to get a read on West Coast’s form this season?  Last week’s win at Adelaide Oval over the Power was impressive, yet just two weeks earlier they went down to the tune of 50 points to the 16^th placed Hawks.  So, what’s going on?

We dug a bit deeper and found that the Eagles five wins this season have one thing in common… none of them were played at the MCG. 

Adelaide Oval, were they’ve won five of their past six matches (think about that for a minute) is one metre wider than Domain Stadium, where Friday night’s game will be played, while the MCG is a full 24 metres wider, so it’s possible that it may be more about how their game adapts to different grounds rather than anything else.

In short, their form is actually very good and they’ll be tough to beat on the narrow deck of the old Subiaco, there’s no doubt about that.

Eagles ‘smacked in the mouth’

That’s how West Coast midfielder described the last time these two sides met, in last year’s Elimination Final.

And it was the contested ball differential where the damaged was done according to Masten, and it will be in that area where the Eagles will be looking to turn the result around. 

“It was the hardest one in memory to watch. We’ve got a lot to answer for, he told The West Australian.

“Contested footy is the No.1 area where they really smashed us. They send a lot of numbers into the contest and they were able to win that and then get us on the outside.”

On that night last September the Bulldogs were plus-23, whereas this season the average numbers are a lot closer; the Dogs are fourth in the League with an average of 148.3 per game, with the Eagles in ninth at 143.3.

Also, in their only two losses this season, they were beaten at the source, so expect them to be bring some fire to the contest of Friday night.

Yeo to Bont?

Head to head match-ups don’t happen much in the modern game, but ever so gradually we’re starting to see it a bit more. 

Just this week Fremantle coach Ross Lyon floated the possibility of Dockers captain Nat Fyfe facing off with Dustin Martin when the two sides go to battle on Sunday afternoon at the MCG. 

So, is there any prospect of something similar happening at Domain on Friday night? Eagles midfielder Matt Priddis says yes, suggesting that he’d like to see the in-form Elliot Yeo take on Bulldog Marcus Bontempelli. 

They’re almost the same size, Yeo is 190cm and 88kg and Bont is 192 and 85, and Yao is averaging 25 touches and 10 marks a game, while Bont is putting up 27 touches, six clearances, nine tackles and a goal.

Will it happen?

Luke Beveridge was asked about it before the team flew to Perth on Thursday, and his answer was straightforward: “It’s up to them.”

Three decades later…

If you’ve spent any time on social media this week, you would have probably come across this stat:

The Bulldogs have never beaten the Eagles three times in a row since the first time the two teams met on June 6, 1987.  That’s 31 years for those playing at home.

Indeed, it wasn’t until 1997 that the Dogs strung two together, the first at the WACA in May, and then before 26,704 fans at the final game ever played at the old Western Oval.

We did it again over 2005-06, and we took both games last season.  Is this the week we break through - we can’t wait to find out. 

Is it Friday yet?