Some interesting points from Eagles intra club:
Duggan did well in midfield, competition was better than I thought
Kelly and Gaff both played and performed
Jamaine Jones 182k fwd did ok, played two games last year for 34 via Port and 63 vs Swans
Training report: Star Eagle flies high
There were highlights aplenty during West Coast's high-quality match simulation work on Friday
By westcoasteagles.com.au - 15 hrs ago
High-flying Eagle Liam Ryan pulled down another 'speccy', goalsneak Jamaine Jones continued to put his best foot forward and a gun midfield quartet starred as West Coast was put through a searching match simulation session at Mineral Resources Park on Friday.
Building on his already impressive pre-season, a slim-looking Jones was in everything, applying pressure and bobbing up with multiple goals in a promising display.
The talented former Cat showed his potential in two appearances for the Eagles last season before suffering hamstring issues, and is among several fringe players pushing for a start in the AAMI Community Series meeting with Port Adelaide next month.
While players swapped between the blue and gold teams, Jones was well-served early by a potent engine room, led by Nic Naitanui, Tim Kelly, Andrew Gaff, Dom Sheed and Liam Duggan.
Ball magnets Gaff and Sheed were typically prolific linking up incisive plays from defence to attack, while Kelly was dominant and got the ball rolling with a damaging run from the opening bounce for the first goal on the run from 40m.
Naitanui snapped truly moments later and Duggan’s ability to find space and time when there was precious little of either spoke to his quick-thinking and elite ball use.
There was also plenty to like from emerging midfielder Xavier O’Neill as he aims to add to his five games’ experience from last year.
With champion goalkicker Josh Kennedy taking it easy after a minor calf niggle, his strong-marking protégé Oscar Allen had the opportunity to spearhead the forward line and thrived, attacking the ball in the air with ferocity.
Big man Nathan Vardy was also a major presence and looked dangerous moving between the ruck and forward line, while Jarrod Brander was busy around the ground and inside 50.
Known for making the near-impossible look easy, Liam ‘Flyin’ Ryan added another epic grab to his collection with a huge fly off two steps at half-forward.
INJURED
Several WAFL Eagles joined in the action to top-up numbers as the likes of Elliot Yeo (groin), Jake Waterman (back), Jackson Nelson (hamstring) and Kennedy got through a power of running on the second oval.
Meanwhile, 2018 premiership player and former champion forward Mark LeCras had a beaming smile on his face as he joined the team for the first time in his informal training assistant role.
