IN ONLY 12 months, the Eagles' wings have been severely clipped. A year ago, they were on top of the world.

Reigning premiers, unbeaten after the first month of the season and with a strut and arrogance led by Daniel Chick that defied anyone to question or challenge them. Ben Cousins was in rehab, but set to return, sadly, to a hero's welcome.

Chris Judd was racking up Brownlow votes, as was his mate Daniel Kerr, and Dean Cox was on his way to All-Australian selection.

Now, they look a sad and sorry sight. Cousins, Judd and Chick have gone, and with them a load of class, hardness and leadership.

Kerr now gets the main tag, and is struggling to cope. He lowered his colours on Saturday to a young Swan called Kieren Jack, who has played a handful of games.

Without the support he has enjoyed in the past, Kerr succumbed to the tag and he stopped running. It was a far cry from the Kerr of 2007, who in round one against Sydney put on one of the most desperate tackles you have ever seen to help his team get over the line by a point.

With Cousins and Judd wearing the heat from the opposition week-in, week-out, lesser lights such as Michael Braun, Steven Armstrong, Matt Rosa and Tyson Stenglein had a much easier ride. Now that's changed. They get more attention, they are expected to step up and some will struggle to deliver.

A cause for concern in Sydney on Saturday was the lack of response to Brent Staker being felled by Barry Hall.

What Hall did was one of the worst incidents seen in AFL football for many years, but you wouldn't have thought so from the Eagles' response. The days are gone, thankfully, when that would have triggered an all-in brawl, but surely half of the Eagles side had to get in the face of the big, bad man to let him and the world know that what he did was unacceptable. But no, barring Beau Waters, the Eagles sidestepped the issue.

It showed a lack of spirit and support. Contrast that with what half a dozen Blues did on Sunday, when Magpie Nick Maxwell hammered Marc Murphy. Theirs was an immediate, authoritative response, showing Maxwell and his mates misguided muscle would not be tolerated.

But, as usual, the biggest worry for the Eagles is a forward line that doesn't function. In the glory days, when it came to ball entering the attacking zone, sheer weight of numbers ensured a winning score would be kicked.

Time and again, the Eagles would win by a goal or two because of the number of times Cousins, Judd and Kerr sent it forward. Although the Eagles won one flag by one point, they should have won two by four goals or more, such was the talent they had. But goals never came easily through well-planned strategies and systems.

Sydney, under the astute coaching of Paul Roos and John Longmire, regularly kicks four or five bonus goals a game. West Coast does not.

Marks inside 50 are all important, as it enables a player to go back and have a set shot at goal.

Sydney clears its forward line out to give Hall and Michael O'Loughlin space to lead into. Sydney's players are patient when they are 60 to 80 metres from goal.

They wait for a teammate to lead into space or put a weighted kick over a teammate's head so he can run with the flight of the ball to again mark in space.

It takes years of training to time the leads, make the space, learn to block for a teammate and perfect the execution of 40-metre passes.

But this is all foreign to the Eagles, who bomb it long and hope for the best.

The Eagles are the lowest-scoring team in the competition, averaging 9.2 goals a game. Inside 50, they average only 6.2 marks a game, which is the lowest, by a mile.

Their conversion to goals once inside 50 is 19%, which is again the lowest. The stats are damning. For years, the Eagles' stars covered for their lack of smarts. Now things have changed. If Longmire isn't being pursued as their forward line coach, he should be.