I think the Eagles tried to get one year too many out of their older players and recruited old players to fill some gaps for this year instead of going for young blood as they probably believed there may have been one more year in their premiership window.
Most of the older players have played a few good games this year but as the year wears on it becomes harder for those type of players to come up for each game and maintain intensity.
That is one reason I think why the Bulldogs won last year because the team was chock full of young guys who could bounce back and get up for the big games at the end of the season.
