Eade, whose side overtook Fremantle and claimed fourth spot in round 17, said reigning premier Geelong was an undeniable flag favourite but there was still a host of teams that would be dangerous in September, particularly the rapidly-improving Hawthorn.
“The Cats are probably the team to beat and they’ve proven that over a period of time,” he told former Hawthorn teammate Leigh Matthews on BigPond Sports Weekend on Saturday.
“Collingwood has taken a big step forward and St Kilda is as good as what they’ve been.
“I think the Hawks are a very good side as well.
“Whoever finishes fifth, and say it’s Hawthorn, I don’t think you can discount any team that finishes fifth.
“If they beat eighth in the first week of the finals, they could certainly get on a roll.”
The Hawks are currently sixth after winning eight of their past 10 games. They drew with third-placed St Kilda last week, which moved them a game and a half behind an injury-hit Fremantle.
Meanwhile, the Dogs’ spirited 82-point win over Fremantle in round 17 had Eade smiling as it came on the end of a consistent patch of improving form.
“I don’t think we’ve consistently played as well as last year but we think our graph is on the way up; we think momentum is building,” he said.
New recruit Barry Hall easily leads the club’s goal-kicking with 58 majors from 16 games.
Eade said while the power forward was recruited as a ready-mate addition to the Dogs’ attacking structure, it had taken the players half a season to get used to his presence.
He also conceded the Dogs had aimed for Hall more than every third time they pushed forward but he was confident that practice was on the decline.
“We subconsciously went to him. We haven’t had a lot of injuries but the ones we’ve had have been to the forwards: (Brad) Johnson, (Robert) Murphy, (Shaun) Higgins, (Mitch) Hahn,” he said.
“Our forward line probably hasn’t been stable so with that we’ve probably gone to Barry a lot, especially after his pre-season form.
“We’ve spoken about not to, and trained not to, but under the pump, I think we’ve kicked from 60 and 70m instead of getting the ball to 40.
“We’ve just started to modify that back. Since we lost to Collingwood in round 11, I think we’ve become better, our form’s picked up.
“I don’t think it’s because of that but I think with our form getting better, we’ve been able to pick better options.”
