Eagles hold their own against solid Swans outfit
 
The Eagles had their final hitout prior to the 2010 season when they travelled to ANZ Stadium to take on a Sydney Swans Reserves outfit who were as close to full strength as they are likely to be all year. 16 Full time footballers and 6 talented top up players took the field for the Swans against the Eagles, who themselves we close to full strength.
 
By quarter time the Eagles had responded to two early goals from the Swans, to take a 2 goal to 3 lead into the first break. Jamie Vlatko and Damien Charleston were both prominent early, a trend that was to continue throughout the match. The ball spent the majority of the second quarter in the Swans forward line, as the red and white managed to slip 9 goals to 2 past the Eagles, with some undisciplined acts gifting the Swans with three majors. The second half remained a fairly even contest, the Swans running game proving to be an effective tool through the midfield, while the Eagles ferocity around the packs was rewarded with a number of holding the ball decisions in favour of East Coast. Dean Costello, still eligible for under 18 football, proved he is well and truly capable of matching it with the bigger bodies of senior football with some excellent tackling and chasing as well as a number of hard ball gets.
 
Senior coach Glenn Garner was happy with the result, despite the loss, pointing out that the club will rarely come up against a team as structurally disciplined or as fit as that throughout the 2010 home and away season. “Our tackling and pressure were a highlight along with our ability to match the Swans run and fitness for the entire 4 quarters, especially after they threatened to break the game wide open in the 2nd qtr. I am excited to see how the new senior group will mold together as they get more games under their belts together and which of our younger players will develop into regular senior players over the course of the year.”
 
Final scores: 
East Coast Eagles: 8.8 56
Sydney Swans: 14.10 94
 
East Coast Division Three and Division One played two shortened matches against the Norwest Jets at Rosedale Oval on Saturday morning, as final preparation before round 1 on April 10.
 
In the first match, the Eagles Division three side accounted for Norwest’s Division 4 side, with a comfortable 42 point victory. After a slow start, the team got going, with Nathan Prain showing he will be an impressive addition to the team with his straight line attack on the footy. Up forward Jared Patira and Ragno were too big and strong while Collis and Liam Madden put in solid performances down back. Jason Duss’ Division one boys had a more difficult time against the Jets, eventually going down by 2 goals with inaccurate kicking a considerable factor; the team kicked 1.5 in the first quarter and 1.4 in the last. A 15 minute period in the second quarter showed what potential the team has, with Etiosa Okunbor and Cavera Karr more than pulling their weight. With a heap of new players in the team, Coach Jason Duss is confident that once the group becomes more comfortable with each other’s playing style, rapid improvement will occur.
 
Nor-West Div 4 (1.2, 2.2) 4.2 26 lost to East Coast Div 3 (2.4, 6.9) 9.14 68
Nor-West Div 2 (3.2, 4.2) 9.5 59 defeated East Coast Div 1 (1.5, 5.7) 6.11 47