West Coast Eagles defender Liam Duggan says poor top-four form doesn’t matter
West Coast defender Liam Duggan says when it comes to finals footy it doesn’t matter that they have beaten just one of the top-four teams this year.
The Eagles were bumped out of the top four on Sunday by Geelong and now must win every game if they are any chance to claim their second premiership in three years.
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To do so they will most likely need to beat at least two of the top four teams in the Cats, Richmond, Port Adelaide and Brisbane, with the latter three, all getting the better of the Eagles in the home-and-away season.
Duggan, 23, said winning the contest and not past results though mattered when it comes to the finals.
“It’s all about winning the contests and field position. It’s not usually as pretty as some of the in-season games are,” he said.
“The biggest thing for us at the source is to win as much contest as we can and keep getting the ball into our forward 50. It’s pretty simple footy and it’s just around the hunt, the want for the ball.
“It’s been a while since we’ve played a couple of those sides. Obviously Richmond was a little bit later on in the year. But we need to lift in pretty much all areas because finals are a different brand of footy.”
West Coast will host Collingwood in an elimination final at Optus Stadium should lose to Port Adelaide tonight.
If the Magpies win, the Eagles will take on the Western Bulldogs, but Duggan has no preference to which team they play
“Two exciting teams that we’re going to come up against. We’ll be ready to take on that challenge at home which we’re excited about,” he said.
“Saw the Bulldogs... they play an exciting brand of footy and got us by a couple of points in the hub last time. We know how they play, they play an exciting brand, a quick brand and that’s what we expect from them in a final when the contest ramps up again.
“I think Collingwood have been a successful side over the last few years and we all know what they can bring on their day as well. Whoever makes it through, we’ll be waiting and ready for the challenge to face off.”
Duggan said the group had embraced the “win at all costs” scenario they’re in after finishing fifth.
“It’s a good way to be because the only way we can do it is to win,” he said.
“We’re excited to take the challenge.”
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