West Coast Eagles will be strong finals contenders this year

33 hit outs. Five tackles. Two goals. This guy was ON!!! #goeagles pic.twitter.com/UbPqjF1InJ

— West Coast Eagles (@WestCoastEagles) June 19, 2015

I don’t think you have to be an Eagles supporter to be able to recognise that West Coast are a very good side. I have been saying for weeks that I think they could easily finish in the top 4 this season, and their win over Richmond at the MCG Friday night certainly helped my point.

They have been very unfortunate on the injury front, and yet they have managed to pull together as a group and present some great wins. Josh Kennedy has been a star, and even when he is not kicking goals, he is just a very classy player and I enjoy watching him on the field. Mark Le Cras has been dealt his fair share of injuries in his career but he always has the ability to make being a forward look easy. He is constantly in the right place at the right time and he plays smart, consistently good footy.

West Coast delivered a 20 point win over the Tigers, a game that had majority of footy fans tipping Tigers as the favourites. Richmond looked as if they had returned to their old ways that constantly sees them stuck in 9th place on the ladder. They were quite messy around the ground and inaccurate on the boot, which gave West Coast plenty of chances to build a convincing lead.

Not only were West Coast damaging and effective heading into their forward 50, their defensive pressure was outstanding and has been rated by many as the best defensive pressure in the competition at the moment. This is WITHOUT their key defenders Mitch Brown and Eric McKenzie. Imagine what they will be capable of when their injured players return to the field!

I honestly think West Coast Eagles will be strong finals contenders this year. Will we see a Fremantle Dockers vs West Coast Eagles final in 2015??
Only time will tell…

Side note: When did “throwing the ball back to the umpire too hard” become a free kick? It couldn’t have been TOO hard because the umpire actually caught the ball! Good, old umpires. Always keeping us guessing… I think Alex Rance, Richmond fans and basically anyone else watching the game were all a little blown away by that decision!

#AFLTigersEagles Talking points:

• Eagles will be finals contenders this year
• Injuries have not effected the team dynamics
• West Coast have been underrated this season