1. While the Eagles were combative around the contests, the Bulldogs controlled the game when the ball was fed outside of the congestion. The numbers were relatively even around the football, but their run and carry saw them slice through the Eagles defensive structure. They had 109 more uncontested possessions (283 to 174) and 57 more handballs received. Conceding that advantage in space is always going to spell trouble.

2. The uncontested possession count was telling, but the Eagles did hit the mark with some key performance indicators. They have been working on their impact in and around stoppages and they held their own in that respect. The contested possession count was 128-134 and the inside 50 tallies were 51 apiece. A major issue was the Eagles inability to convert, kicking just three goals at a scoring efficiency of just 29 percent against the opposition’s 51 percent. Some of that could be attributed to the quality of the delivery inside the respective arcs.

3. Experienced midfielders Tim Kelly and Elliot Yeo tried to carry the team on their backs and worked themselves to exhaustion. They were big factors in the contested possession totals being competitive with Yeo finishing with 29 possessions, 15 of them contested, eight clearances and four inside 50 entries. Kelly accumulated 28 touches with eight inside 50s, 17 contested possessions, nine clearances and 629 metres gained.

4. The senior players again stood up in the main with Jeremy McGovern another who has continued his strong start to the season. The defensive mainstay had 24 possessions, nine of them contested and he also took 11 marks. In conjunction with captain Liam Duggan and Callum Jamieson, who has been transformed into a key defender out of necessity, they held up many Bulldogs forward thrusts.

5. Emerging defender Brady Hough continues to get some big jobs. Fresh off lining up against Toby Greene, Hough found himself standing Cody Weightman who was coming off a six-goal performance against Gold Coast. Weightman finished with two goals, one of them a magical bouncing snap from about 35 metres, but Hough did an admirable defensive job with 12 possessions and six marks against Weightman’s eight possession, two-mark effort.