Darling dismisses Eagles inaccuracy
Jack Darling says the side had an “off night” in their loss to Port Adelaide and there are not inherent goal kicking problems at West Coast.
The Eagles booted 7.14 in going down to a hard-running Port Adelaide by 14 points at Patersons Stadium on Saturday night.
Darling kicked 2.3 while the side’s other key forward, Josh Kennedy, finished with an even more wasteful 1.5 to his name.
“I think we’re both pretty comfortable with our routines,” Darling said.
“It’s just one of those things. We hit the post a couple of times. I got 2.3 – 4.1 would have been nice.
“Maybe it’s just our ball movement, where we get our shots from.”
The Eagles were frequent offenders last season when it came to wastefulness around goal, with inaccuracy particularly costing them in consecutive losses to Carlton and the Power across rounds four and five.
They come up against a Carlton side this Saturday night at Etihad Stadium that has finally joined the winner’s list and are likely to do so without the services of captain Darren Glass.
The Eagles skipper appears almost certain to face the wrath of the AFL match review panel over his heavy bump on Chad Wingard during the four quarter of Saturday’s defeat.
Darling acknowledged Glass would be a tough figure to replace if suspended.
“Glassy’s obviously very good,” he said.
“His communication out on the field is top class, but we’ve got guys in the WAFL playing great footy. I think East Perth had six defenders in their backline. If he does go, someone could fill his shoes.”
