Why Eagles are soaring
West Coast defender Brad Sheppard says an enormous level of trust between players has been the secret to the club’s early success this season.
The Eagles enter Sunday’s game against North Melbourne at Blundstone Arena as one of the form teams of the competition, winning six consecutive matches to solidify their hold on second spot.
A dominant 56-point thrashing of Geelong on Sunday improved the Eagles to 7-2.
A win over the Kangaroos would equal their best winning streak since 2011, the year they last played in a preliminary final.
Sheppard said he wasn’t surprised by the Eagles’ start and declared the signs were evident late last year when they just missed out on a finals appearance.
“You could probably take it back to the last six games of last year, getting that momentum,” Sheppard said.
“It’s that confidence to be able to keep the momentum going, players having a lot more trust in each other.
“We’re starting to believe and we’ve got full support from the coaches to take the game on.
“Confidence is a massive thing in football, so hopefully we can keep that momentum going.”
Sheppard has been in career-best form since being moved to the back line under second-year coach Adam Simpson’s watch.
Despite standing just 186cm, injuries to Eric Mackenzie and Mitch Brown have forced the 24-year-old to play on the opposition’s third tall forward, usually a resting ruckman.
“You just have to try and body them up and hope Gov (Jeremy McGovern) comes over the top and clunks them like he’s been doing,” he said. “We’re not playing as individuals, we’re playing as a back six.
“If we keep doing that, whatever’s thrown at us we know we’ll be strong.
“I reckon every week there’s someone a lot bigger than me, but you can’t be daunted by that because that’s my role in the side now. You’ve just got to embrace it.”
West Coast’s hopes of continuing their strong form will be enhanced by the return of key players from injury in the coming weeks.
Jack Darling (foot), Dom Sheed (hand), Matt Rosa (hamstring) and Mark Hutchings (back) only have to pass fitness tests to play this week.
Where they will play is an entirely different matter.
But Patrick McGinnity has been ruled out for up to six weeks with a wrist injury.
Stephen Dank will face a Court of Arbitration for Sport hearing after the World Anti-Doping Agency announced it would appeal the decision to clear him of 21 charges. In April, the AFL anti-doping tribunal cleared Dank of 21 of 31 breaches of the game’s drug code over the Essendon supplements scandal, including administering the banned peptide Thymosin beta-4 to Bombers players.
WADA director general David Howman announced yesterday that the world’s top anti-doping body would appeal the 21 notguilty verdicts.
