This Sunday afternoon in Perth, two genuine premiership contenders will meet in round two of the AFL’s pre season competition, the NAB Cup, as the West Coast Eagles welcome Collingwood to Subiaco. These clubs have clashed on many vital occasions in the comparatively short history of the Eagles, with some of the most epic finals in recent times being part of their head to head record. Whether it be the drawn Qualifying Final of 1990, and the subsequent replay the next weekend, or the 2007 extra time final at Subiaco, these monster clubs have a record that really only has one thing missing off it’s resume, and that’s a grand final matchup.

First there’s the NAB Cup, and with both clubs having last week off due a split opening round, they will be raring to go this Sunday to ramp up their preparations for round 1 of the premiership season. In round one of the NAB Cup, the Eagles stayed at home as they took on cross town rivals Fremantle and welcomed Geelong. All 3 teams on the night notched up a win while heavily rotating their squads through each of their round robin fixtures.. The Eagles opened their 2013 campaign with a loss against Geelong, all be it a game they should have won after leading by 15 points with only minutes remaining, but slack marking of Joel Selwood allowed the Geelong hard man to kick a nine pointer to give the Cats the win by 2 points. As always though in pre season matches you look for the positives, and there were plenty for the Eagles, as 2010 club champion Mark LeCras returned from a knee injury to show glimpses of the talent that he has, and the talent that the Eagles missed so dearly last year. Another good sign for the Eagles in the first game was Scott Lycett who showed in the absence of Cox and Natanui that he has a future as a ruckman/forward in the AFL.

In their second matchup of the night (the third fixture) the Eagles took on a weakened Fremantle outfit and promptly bought up their first win of 2013 with a four goal victory over their cross town rivals. The Eagles strong midfield ran rampant, with Priddis, Selwood , Masten and their new recruit Sharrod Wellingham starring in the final game of the night.

The night before, at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, Collingwood started it’s pre season campaign with two wins, dispatching of the Western Bulldogs by 18 points, and also notching up a come from behind 2 point win over Essendon in a very spirited game that wasn’t decided until a free kick and goal to power forward Travis Cloke in the final 30 seconds of the match. The Magpie army, and the club would have been happy with the two wins, and the performance of some of their new recruits, such as ex Blue Jordan Russell and ex Hawk Clinton Young, but the biggest bonus of the night for Collingwood was a clean bill of health for all who played, well apart from a cut head to All Australia centre half back Ben Reid that is. I mention that because like the Eagles in 2012, Collingwood ultimately were unable to make the Grand Final mainly due to injuries, with a plethora of long term injuries derailing the season at every turn.

It’s a new season now though, and a new look Magpies took to the field against the Bombers and Dogs, and while there was still a lot of experimentation going on, the signs were good that this black and white outfit is back to it’s best and with a good run with injuries it will be a major contender once again. The usual suspects dominated in patches, with Swan, Pendlebury, Beams, Shaw and Cloke all lighting up Etihad Stadium at different stages, but the performance of ex Eagle Quinten Lynch, and his ability to work in tandem with Travis Cloke has probably been the best sight of the pre season for die hard Magpie fans. In Lynch, the Magpies get a replacement for the departed Chris Dawes, but they also gain a player with the physical presence that only belonged to the likes of their 2010 premiership cult hero Leigh Brown, someone who can use his muscle and aggressiveness to make an impact on big games, which was severely missing from just about anyone in the black and white stripes last season.

Collingwood has already mentioned that they may take a slightly weakened squad to Perth, as travel and a subsequent 6 day break to the next match against Brisbane requires the club to manage it’s players carefully, especially this time of year. The list of players who definitely won’t be making the trip due to injury includes Luke Ball, Dale Thomas, Alan Didak and Lachlan Keefe.

Opposition Analysis.

The West Coast Eagles are a genuine premiership contender in 2013, anyone who thinks otherwise is kidding themselves. The Eagles have maybe the most well rounded senior group in the AFL, with very few apparent weaknesses if their best 22 are all fit and in form. Last year, not unlike Collingwood, they suffered a poor run with injuries that ultimately saw them just miss the top four after the home and away rounds before finally being eliminated at the hands of the Magpies in a close semi final at the MCG. That semi final showed where both sides were at, it wasn’t a great final by any means and it proved that to be real contenders in 2013 the Eagles had to improve just that little bit to move into the top 4 this season, but more than anything they need a luckier run with injuries. The Eagles have strength on every line, and if there is a weakness it may not be in their personnel, but in their mindset in terms of winning enough games interstate to ensure they finish in that vital top four section.

The Eagles forward line on paper may well look like their greatest strength, and yet at times last year it let them down in big occasions, but that may well have had to do more with who wasn’t there than who was. In 2011, Mark Nicoski and Marc LeCras were stars on the Eagles forward line, yet in 2012 they both missed the entire home and away season, and the Eagles forward line just never looked as dangerous without them. Also missing for most of 2012 was Josh Kennedy, who only managed 9 games after a stellar 2011 also. There were still good signs in 2012 up forward though, with Jack Darling taking that next step and establishing himself as a classy AFL forward with 53 goals in his second season in the AFL. Ex Bulldog Josh Hill also made an immediate impact adding 36 goals to the Eagles goal tally and he looked to thrive on being given some confidence and responsibility by coach John Worsfold. The forward set-up was also ably assisted by their two superstar ruckmen in Nic Natanui an Dean Cox who between them contributed 52 goals, which is a stunning return in modern football.

The Eagles forward line is strong, but it’s effectiveness in 2013 will rely on which players they can keep on the park, because 2012 showed no matter how much depth you have, you can’t replace the likes of Kennedy or LeCras and remain a force in the competition.

West Coast’s defense is one that is greatly under rated it seems, with one of the most reliable and steady set-ups in the AFL, with depth and youth that looks likely to keep it strong for a long time to come. Their defense is lead by the Eagles captain Darren Glass, who was selected for the fourth time last year in the All Australian team and thus proven that he is the front runner as the current number one full back in the AFL. Joining Glass down back is fellow 2012 All Australian Beau Waters, who showed last year that when he is injury free he is as good of an attacking half back as anyone in the AFL. The rest of the backline is usually made up of the likes of Hurn, McKenzie, Butler and Schofield, and with Nathan Brown’s twin brother Mitch unable to break into the side most weeks, the strength of the Eagles backline can not be underestimated.

When previewing the Eagles for 2013 though, it’s apparent their greatest on field strength is their midfield, and that includes the best ruck duo in the game at the moment, Nic Natanui and Dean Cox, and although NicNat won’t play this weekend against the Pies, if he does return in time for round one as expected this Eagles midfield is scary to say the least. The Eagles midfield roll call is familiar to all football fans, with Schuey, Priddis, Kerr, Gaff, Selwood (times 2), Rosa and Embley probably making up the deepest and most talented midfield in the AFL, and that’s before the Eagles picked up Collingwood’s 2010 premiership star Sharrod Wellingham. In Wellingham West Coast picked up a mature, senior ready AFL midfielder who will only compliment and assist the already stacked midfield that they possess, although Sharrod did have a set back during the week when he badly injured his ankle on of all things a trampoline. If the Eagles can keep the majority of this group on the field in 2013, it will go along way towards assisting them in becoming the premiership threat I believe they can be.

This weekend however, it’s only round 2 of the NAB Cup and like all teams they are looking towards round 1 of the home and away season and preparing as best as they can for that. Natanui and Wellingham won’t play, we know that, and it’s also likely that anyone who has any slight injury concern won’t be risked, although the AFL did help all teams out by allowing 3 interchange and 2 subs for this weeks round of matches which at least allows some leeway in what is likely to be warm conditions. West Coast will look to give game time to the likes of Lycett and maybe a few more youngsters just to give them some more exposure in front of their home fans. I’m expecting a fairly strong Eagles team to take the field though, which at least will give the rest of the competition a look at how strong they may well be in 2013.

Teams;

Coming soon.

Tip.

The early betting markets have the Eagles as slight favourites for this matchup, and that makes perfect sense seeing as West Coast are playing at home and are likely to field the stronger side of the two competing teams. But the 3 and 3 interchange system means there will be a ton of experimentation by both clubs, even if they are slightly restricted by the 20 interchanges per quarter cap that will be trialled for the first time this weekend. That new rules in itself may actually bring the Magpies into the game, with some of their midfielders and running defenders having amazing endurance that will be suited to the new interchange cap rules. Both teams will also welcome back into their respective squads some big names, with Dean Cox making his season debut for the Eagles, and the Pies welcoming back Nathan Brown as well as Alan Toovey who is likely to play for the first time in 2013.

The Eagles should win, but until the final teams are released close to the game it’s hard to judge just how strong the black and white boys will be, so as always I’ll tip the Pies, as I still consider them to be the better overall side, and their depth is probably just a little superior to that of the Eagles.

Pies by 5 points.

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