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Not a bad game so far. East Perth leading 39 to 34 at half time. Royals have 10 or 11 Eagles in their squad

At three quarter time East Perth lead 57 to 41. Swans coming home with a bit of a breeze in the last quarter so may be a good finish.

Royals won by 12 points 67 to 55. Scrappy last quarter.

mikeh wrote: Royals won by 12 points 67 to 55. Scrappy last quarter.

Very nostalgic of you Mike calling that mob we played the Royals ..they are now called the Eagles Reserves Team or ERT for short mate!

Our endeavour was good... field kicking let us down , too many half volleys but early days with match fitness most likely the reason....game was of reasonable standard considering time of year....Trav Casserleys shirtfront a highlight....seemed to be a good spirit amongst the SD players and some good banter on the bench, not always the case at times last year, good signs for the club if the players are buying in and working together

I asked Swoop directly (as did 50 others I might add) if he was playing, his reply with a smile "yes, I just can't help myself" ...kudos to the swan fans for the jovial cracks at the umps in the last quarter, best crack was "go home we don't want u here" which the young ump it was directed at even got a smile up over....spent the first half in the Macca stand surrounded by Neale Daniher, Phil Narkle, Adrian Hickmont, Justin Longmuir and his 'noisy' ever questioning kid (geez mate let the kid have some fun at the footy, it's only a scratchy, your constant shooshing was way more annoying than his chirpiness) and other familiar nameless EP faces amongst their brains trust. I have no idea who the 2 SD fans were in the top rhs back corner but you blokes were brilliant, the subtle well delivered Eagles jibes had me in stitches. Regardless of it being a scratchy, its the first time I've ever been at an EP game when they are winning and not had that familiar deep baritone East Perth chant ringing in my eyes. Tells me even the diehards are a little ashamed of the alignment, why else wouldn't you shout your teams name. One woman did yell Go Royals only to be ripped to shreds by the rat pack in front of the bar. Serves her right for invading our members area.

Special mention to Boekhorst....had a few moments in the game where his movement thru traffic was a class above. Continued improvement, consistency & confidence in his game and he'll be super important to us. Here's hoping he steps it up coz to my eyes he looks like he might have something special. Fingers crossed that's the case.

First taste of footy for the year 2014 for me and its left me with hope. Nice vibe around the club. Long may it continue

Beasley Hutton wrote:

mikeh wrote: Royals won by 12 points 67 to 55. Scrappy last quarter.

Very nostalgic of you Mike calling that mob we played the Royals ..they are now called the Eagles Reserves Team or ERT for short mate!

Oops sorry

Anyway I came away quite happy with the boys performance today. What stood out to me was the ferocious way they pressured and tackled the opposition. I certainly didn't expect such a competitive effort against a team littered with Eagles players. The difference in the end was that East Perth were more precise with their disposals in the 2nd half when the teams tired whereas Swans made more skill errors under pressure towards the end of the game. The defence looked organised and Graeme Jetta in particular showed a lot of dash. I like the look of Brandon as well. He laid some pretty good tackles.

Some of the boys that were borderline last year are going to get a lot more opportunities in 2014. Faulkner, Boekhurst, Rogers, the Blakely Brothers, Jukes and Howard. All these guys did some good things today. Must admit that I was a bit worried when I saw Daniel Pratt hobbling off in the first quarter but luckily he was able to come back on again. The forward line looks a little bereft of targets even though Cary showed some potential and Notte had a fairly quiet one. Geappen would certainly add some potency if he is actually returning.

It's only a practice game but if Swans can consistently produce the level of intensity and pressure that they did today then they will be competitive and may win more games than expected. The problem will be if they start getting injuries because they appear to have very little depth in the reserves.

Beasley Hutton wrote:

mikeh wrote: Royals won by 12 points 67 to 55. Scrappy last quarter.

Very nostalgic of you Mike calling that mob we played the Royals ..they are now called the Eagles Reserves Team or ERT for short mate!

Went an had a look, Swannies might surprise. Game was poor but for the Ducks to compete against a side hald full of AFL players i thought they went well. Young talent is unbridled and has no fear-think i saw some of that.

Swandog wrote:

Beasley Hutton wrote:

mikeh wrote: Royals won by 12 points 67 to 55. Scrappy last quarter.

Very nostalgic of you Mike calling that mob we played the Royals ..they are now called the Eagles Reserves Team or ERT for short mate!

I like that Mike, Im gunna refer to them as ERT too !

Eagles Reserves Team,how about Easily Rorted Team!