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I was watching the game yesterday between WCE and Geelong, and saw a passage of play in the 2nd qtr in WCE's forward line near the 50 meter arc where a Geelong player was given a free kick.  Nic Nat and his direct opponent Rhys Stanley were next to each other about 3 or 4 meters from the contest.  Nic Nic went and stood the mark while Stanley sprinted towards the wing and created a 2 on 1 where he was the tallest by about a foot.  The ball was kicked to him which he marked, gave off and finished up with a goal to Geelong.  I noticed Nic Nat jogging along behind the play and then went back to the centre circle for the restart.  To me this sums him up as Nic Nat had taken the easy and lazy option of standing the mark instead of doing the team thing of manning up on his opponent when at that point the game was still very much up for grabs.  IMO, he's very good within 5 meters of a ruck contest but his efforts around the ground especially the defensive side of things are disappointing.  How a player of his size can be all Australian when he averages less than 2 marks game is a mystery.  Interested in the thoughts of others although I know I'll get howls of outrage from the Swan Districts faithful..

BC nicknat is playing injured.He hardly does any running drills at Eagles training.They have done a great job to keep him on the field.

His tapwork is elite and as BC said in and around the ball he is very good but if as GTR says, he's carrying and injury it would explain his inability to run hard all game. Injuries have really cruelled the Eagles this year as they have done at Freo but Freo seem to be copping better at the moment, even winning away from home which WC cant seem to do.

My Vic based Bro was down at the Cattery to watch the game and mentioned there were signs and announcements consistently telling any visiting west Australians to leave the Arena immediately, Obviously the West Coast boys heeded that warning and left the ground at quarter time 

If he is injured and unable to contribute fully to the team effort he shouldn't be playing, simple as that.

Good one Senior, but true!!

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If he is injured and unable to contribute fully to the team effort he shouldn't be playing, simple as that.

Your right there Mike.  With 7 of their guaranteed starters unavailable, they’re not going to win many games, so might as well rest him and give the younger ones a go.

Maybe better to manage him with less minutes, his tapwork is so good, he's worth including but on a restricted basis, let Vardy or the other bloke who's name escapes me do the heavy work. they get a few back this week, Hearn is the big one given Mcgovern is out.

Long time since Freo went in as favourites but it's deserved.

This ones no “gimme” for either side. Hopefully a good contest.

That was a powerful effort, but it means FA if they don’t start winning on the road.

58 i think Nick's season was made a lot easier on the weekend.With Vardy playing his first decent game of the year.This will give Nick some more bench time.Hes currently playing 80% of match time.A bit much game time for a high impact player.