Eagleton and his season

[The Sleeping Giant]

Wasnt there a thread at the begining of the year to "just give him the Magery Medal now"?

Would have been less controversial than Jimmy winning again.

[topsywaldron]

Norwood fans, are you happy you got hold of him? Would you hope he plays on next season?

Yes and no.

He hasn't been the clean, quick outside receiver we needed but thought we had after three rounds. His finals series was John Georgio-esque.

[Mark_Beswick]

Happy for young tiller - never played league at westies but was disappointing he didnt play for us this season.

From a personal point of view want to see Young Hall (3rd Generation League Footballer), Lee Staple, D. "Jimmy" Toumpass and Trav Lane have blinders next week. All Saint Michael's College Boys . You can probably guess whose bandwagon I am on

[Ronnie]

What the Eagleton situation probably highlights once again is how good the SANFL is.
Whatever your previous record, it will expose you every time if you aren't full on into the hard work and commitment.

[Grahaml]

What the Eagleton situation probably highlights once again is how good the SANFL is.
Whatever your previous record, it will expose you every time if you aren't full on into the hard work and commitment.

Regardless of what fans of clubs who used to be good like to think, this is still a very hard comp to be a good player in. If you can't put in the committment required or be able to play at a high level on game day you'll very quickly become a highly paid passenger. Which is one reason why AFL retirees tend to either have a decent year or two at the most or not be able to produce at all. I can't actually remember the last AFL retiree to really stamp himself on the comp at a top level player.

[Zorro]

What the Eagleton situation probably highlights once again is how good the SANFL is.
Whatever your previous record, it will expose you every time if you aren't full on into the hard work and commitment.

Regardless of what fans of clubs who used to be good like to think, this is still a very hard comp to be a good player in. If you can't put in the committment required or be able to play at a high level on game day you'll very quickly become a highly paid passenger. Which is one reason why AFL retirees tend to either have a decent year or two at the most or not be able to produce at all. I can't actually remember the last AFL retiree to really stamp himself on the comp at a top level player.

Ben Hart, unfortunately only for one season

[Sojourner]

As Ronnie and Graham have said, the SANFL is a different style of competition and an ex AFL player may well not dominate in it, for one thing Eagleton and others dont cop the ball on the chest every time and have to work much harder simply to gain possession and can expect to be heavilly tagged by the opposition coaching staff.

Eagleton proved to be a good average SANFL player. Not sure I would give him a great deal more than that, although I think he would do well at most SANFL sides if given the chance, he would be better than several in many sides truth be told.

[on the rails]

Wasnt there a thread at the begining of the year to "just give him the Magery Medal now"?

Would have been less controversial than Jimmy winning again.

Where's Fester and a stupid comment when you need him! Bagged Allan for winning a 3rd MM with some poor comments and accuses him of being an outside receiver but will bet he defends Eagleton to the hilt who by the way is as outside as you can get. Maybe that is his role at Norwood but I find it insulting with tools like Fester having a crack at Allan when they have player like Eagleton in their own side. MONSFAW! LOL

[whufc]

Wasnt there a thread at the begining of the year to "just give him the Magery Medal now"?

Would have been less controversial than Jimmy winning again.

Where's Fester and a stupid comment when you need him! Bagged Allan for winning a 3rd MM with some poor comments and accuses him of being an outside receiver but will bet he defends Eagleton to the hilt who by the way is as outside as you can get. Maybe that is his role at Norwood but I find it insulting with tools like Fester having a crack at Allan when they have player like Eagleton in their own side. MONSFAW! LOL

I was on the outer wing bar last sunday buying a round of beers, i seen this bloke with a bald head and presumed it was SamUDogs so i handed him a beer, f**k me dead when he turned around it was Eagleton. I went to give him the beer anyway and bloody Jarrad Schiller came through and cleaned me up the bastard.

[Booney]

IMO he did not live up to his or Norwood's expectations as far as on field performances are concerened, he couldn't have.

He was, however, recruited with his off field ( coaching/mentoring ) skills much lauded. Perhaps he has done what was required off field?

During the call on Sunday I heard his opponent mentioned as "...standing an AFL player"...well, Eagleton was an AFL footballer long, long ago.

[gossipgirl]

What the Eagleton situation probably highlights once again is how good the SANFL is.
Whatever your previous record, it will expose you every time if you aren't full on into the hard work and commitment.

have you been watching the finals at all

[doggies4eva]

I remember years ago talking to a footy administrator about the difference between AFL and SANFL. He said that the gap wasn't 10% or 20% like a lot of people assume but more like 1% to 2%. Once a player drops away and can't make the AFL (I'm talking about the players that have had a good 10 years or so) then they will probably only be ordinary players at SANFL level.

[JK]

I remember years ago talking to a footy administrator about the difference between AFL and SANFL. He said that the gap wasn't 10% or 20% like a lot of people assume but more like 1% to 2%. Once a player drops away and can't make the AFL (I'm talking about the players that have had a good 10 years or so) then they will probably only be ordinary players at SANFL level.

The gap between the comps in terms of quality is huge IMHO .. Eagleton is a good example - wasn't considered in the top 5 worth tagging at the Bulldogs and forged out a good solid AFL career.

Comes back here as one of the potentially more damaging players and for the first time in his life cops a decent tag and clearly can't deal with it.

[The Sleeping Giant]

I remember years ago talking to a footy administrator about the difference between AFL and SANFL. He said that the gap wasn't 10% or 20% like a lot of people assume but more like 1% to 2%. Once a player drops away and can't make the AFL (I'm talking about the players that have had a good 10 years or so) then they will probably only be ordinary players at SANFL level.

I would agree with that. Duigan and Pupasmurf and that Centrals midget have proved it.

[Dogwatcher]

Wasnt there a thread at the begining of the year to "just give him the Magery Medal now"?

Would have been less controversial than Jimmy winning again.

Where's Fester and a stupid comment when you need him! Bagged Allan for winning a 3rd MM with some poor comments and accuses him of being an outside receiver but will bet he defends Eagleton to the hilt who by the way is as outside as you can get. Maybe that is his role at Norwood but I find it insulting with tools like Fester having a crack at Allan when they have player like Eagleton in their own side. MONSFAW! LOL

I was on the outer wing bar last sunday buying a round of beers, i seen this bloke with a bald head and presumed it was SamUDogs so i handed him a beer, f**k me dead when he turned around it was Eagleton. I went to give him the beer anyway and bloody Jarrad Schiller came through and cleaned me up the bastard.

[Webbing]

The gap between the comps in terms of quality is huge IMHO .. Eagleton is a good example - wasn't considered in the top 5 worth tagging at the Bulldogs and forged out a good solid AFL career.

Comes back here as one of the potentially more damaging players and for the first time in his life cops a decent tag and clearly can't deal with it.

I think this is it in a nutshell. While the line between the best of the SANFL and worst of the AFL is clearly very blurry, comparing the best (or worst) players in each league is a pretty huge gulf. I suspect the 'good but not great' AFL players that come back and do well are the type that dont rely on other players, in and under players basically (that's not to have a dig at 'outside' players - a team needs both types of players).

Not to mention having to learn to cope with a tag in the twilight of your career when you haven't been tagged since juniors (last time they were a big fish in a small pond..) cant be easy.

[FlyingHigh]

A question for Legs fans, did Eagleton play on the ball all year?
To me it seemed they wanted him to play a bit more in-close, whereas he was used to finding space and receiving the ball.
In the finals Pfeiffer seemed to play more across half back. Did he do so for a lot of the year? Would it have been worth playing him more in the middle and have Eagleton running of halfback to both shake the tag and use the ball well?

[finn]

It may also be a case of people really stretching themselves when standing him - the old i'll show him how good i am etc.

Having watched quite a few Norwood games this year it seemed to me that he never actually stopped trying - quite a few games he got disposals late through still running which hopefully rubs off on the side. He also played a bit on the wing, on the forward flank and on the ball and never seemed to really settle in one position.
I'd believe that Norwood would be happy with their decision but would have liked a larger scoring input. I personally believe that it was worth a go and people who wish to play post-afl shouldn't be expected to the thing that transforms a side let alone cop the constant carp that they seem to.

Its interesting watching players drop down a level and struggle as structures and gameplans are not similar let alone other's skills. This happens in the amateurs as a grade players return through c grade for example.

[fester69]

Wasnt there a thread at the begining of the year to "just give him the Magery Medal now"?

Would have been less controversial than Jimmy winning again.

Where's Fester and a stupid comment when you need him! Bagged Allan for winning a 3rd MM with some poor comments and accuses him of being an outside receiver but will bet he defends Eagleton to the hilt who by the way is as outside as you can get. Maybe that is his role at Norwood but I find it insulting with tools like Fester having a crack at Allan when they have player like Eagleton in their own side. MONSFAW! LOL

Here I am! Extremely disappointing season by Nathan and I expect much more from him next year. Still better than Allan, as 277 AFL games to nil would suggest! Gee how can I sleep at night knowing my posts insult you? Very easy when I know "tools" like you aren't associated with Norwood!

[robranisgod]

Wasnt there a thread at the begining of the year to "just give him the Magery Medal now"?

Would have been less controversial than Jimmy winning again.

Where's Fester and a stupid comment when you need him! Bagged Allan for winning a 3rd MM with some poor comments and accuses him of being an outside receiver but will bet he defends Eagleton to the hilt who by the way is as outside as you can get. Maybe that is his role at Norwood but I find it insulting with tools like Fester having a crack at Allan when they have player like Eagleton in their own side. MONSFAW! LOL

Here I am! Extremely disappointing season by Nathan and I expect much more from him next year. Still better than Allan, as 277 AFL games to nil would suggest! Gee how can I sleep at night knowing my posts insult you? Very easy when I know "tools" like you aren't associated with Norwood!

He may have once been better than Allan but he certainly isn't now.