On the other side of the equation, West Coast’s win over Collingwood in Round 22 means that the Eagles can secure a place in the top four, and guarantee itself the double chance. Lose, and the Eagles will face an elimination final, possibly against the Dockers at Patersons Stadium.

So, with plenty at stake for both teams, a finals-like atmosphere and contest is expected under the lights of the MCG.

Looking ahead

The Eagles seem to have found their mojo just in time for the 2012 finals series - and that mojo comes in the form of towering ruckman, Nic Naitanui.

Naitanui was dominant against the Magpies in West Coast’s 49-point win over Collingwood on Saturday night, with his ruck work and athletic ability around the ground the spark the Eagles needed to win the vital clash.

Collingwood’s Cameron Wood was no match for Naitanui and ruck partner, Dean Cox, as the Eagles won 59 hit outs to 12.

Of those 59 taps, Naitanui had 30. It wasn’t the quantity that mattered though, it was a quality. In a sensational rucking display, Naitanui tapped the ball to the advantage of a teammate on a number of occasions, resulting in the Eagles smashing Collingwood in the clearances (47-23).

Hawthorn ruckmen David Hale and Jarryd Roughead have their work cut out for them on Friday night, as do the Hawks midfielders who may need to devise a plan to restrict West Coast’s ability to set up damaging attack play from the stoppages.

With that, comes the ability to stop Daniel Kerr, who has this season and last reminded the football world why he is a valuable contributor and one of the Eagles’ most important players.

The hard-nosed midfielder is averaging 26 possessions and six clearances per match. He was also the Eagles’ best in the Round 4 win over Hawthorn. A head-to-head battle could loom between opposing clearance kings, Kerr and Sam Mitchell.

Kerr and midfield partners Matthew Priddis and the Selwood brothers, Adam and Scott form part of a hardened mdifeld that is capable of inflicting maximum pain when it wins the hard ball.

Priddis, in particular, is the best clearance player at the Eagles, who has the ability to flick the ball out to runners such as Matt Rosa, Andrew Embley and Andrew Gaff. Priddis is in the top 10 in the league this season for clearances, averaging seven per match.

A tight, tough, contested game is expected, and when analysing the stats of both sides, it becomes clear that the match should live up to its expectations.

The Hawks and Eagles are tightly matched in the key performance indicators that coaches look at when analysing a game. The Hawks pip the Eagles in contested possession (144-143), clearances (41-39) and tackles (67-60).

The Hawks are the highest scoring team in the competition, but finding the ability to score against the Eagles could prove difficult on Friday night. The Eagles are one of the best pressure sides in the competition, and that helps its already strong defence to stop its opposition’s attacks.

The Magpies scored just 58 points against the Eagles last week, and the Hawks will need to do much better than that to win.

Darren Glass is likely to be given the match-up on Jarryd Roughead, while Eric McKenzie could get the job on Lance Franklin after successfully nullifying Travis Cloke in last week’s win.


Brendan Whitecross: “They’re a side that is never out of the game.

“They’ve all got good engines, so they’re a team that can just run all day.

“They’re not going to be a side that you can wear down easily, it’s going to be the old cliché of 120 minutes of football.”


Phill Tee on Facebook: “To beat West Coast we must do the following - hunt in packs, attack the ball, create pressure, have urgency, run and create.

“We must play hard attacking footy and we must also address our poor starts and lapses in the third quarters over the last four weeks. If we play at our best we will not lose no matter how West Coast plays.”






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