IT’S BEEN a big few weeks for Bulldog Nathan Eagleton.

In round seven, he played his 200th game and was accompanied on to the field by his two-and-a-half year old son Kyan.

And just over a week ago his wife Angela gave birth to the latest addition to the family, a baby boy called Lukas.

With Lukas having just come home on Monday, Eagleton is still adapting to life with a newborn baby in the house again.

“It’s an exciting time for the family,” says Eagleton.

“I’m just getting into the routines for feeding and trying to get a little bit of sleep here and there. He’s been really good at the moment.”

Eagleton says he and Angela take turns in getting up for feeds.

“I’m at home helping out as much as I can. It’s great to head home after footy and spend time with the family,” Eagleton says.

While the 28-year-old seems to be a pro with baby formula, he admits that Western Bulldogs’ playing formula hasn’t been as easy to get right this season.

Despite the constant debate around whether Victorian teams are lagging behind their interstate rivals, Eagleton believes his side is up there with the best.

“We’ve had very much an up and down season trying to get the formula right, it’s probably something we haven’t been able to do so far this year. We got it half right against Collingwood and probably went backwards again at the weekend,” he says.

“We were around the mark against West Coast, only losing by 15 points and that was in Perth, and we lost to Sydney in our home game but that was in Canberra, so hopefully if we got either of those sides at Telstra in Melbourne it might be a different story.”

With Whitten Oval a construction site at the moment, the players train to the hum of machinery busily working on the redevelopment of the ground.

Eagleton says it’s a good position for the club to be in, compared to St Kilda who’ve announced they’ll be moving from their base in Moorabbin to look for somewhere to build their new training facility.

“We’re upbeat and we’ve lots going on at Whitten Oval at the moment so hopefully we’ll be up to speed with West Coast and Sydney with facilities," he says.

“It’s great to see the machinery around the place and dirt being moved and things actually happening around here. It’s great for the team and the club that we’re moving forward on and off the field, which is a little bit different to the position St. Kilda are in.”

Eagleton doesn’t have a conventional football players’ sporting background. In his school days he spent his summers playing tennis rather than cricket, the choice of many of his footy friends.

“A lot of the guys played cricket but I found it boring being out in the field. I like to be in the action all the time so that’s why I like tennis,” he says.

Although he hasn’t picked up a racquet in a while, Eagleton says he’d definitely like to play again in the future.

“I’d like to go back to tennis eventually when footy is no longer, if the body’s up to it, just to play socially.”

But for now, Eagleton is happy with the odd game of golf in his spare time.

“Mostly it’s golf I play now if I want to relax outside football. I’ve a handicap of 18 at the moment so it’s just for fun. I don’t plan to be playing off scratch any time soon.”