As last year’s grand finalists navigate through a transitional period with a new-look set-up, co-coach Graeme Twaddle said the Eagles were getting the ball forward often enough but not making the most of their opportunities.

The Eagles’ latest loss came against flag hopeful Port Fairy last Saturday and, while they were able to challenge the Seagulls well around the ground, they struggled to hold them to account on the scoreboard.

“Things that we pride ourselves on – handball receives and finding the overlap footy – we’re not doing that at the moment,” Twaddle said.

“That’s a little bit frustrating, but the other frustrating thing is that we still had 45 inside 50s (against Port Fairy) but we’re not getting the dividends from that.  Execution going forward is really poor.

“Last year, if we kept a side to 12 goals, we win the game of footy. It’s as simple as that.

“So no one is kicking big scores against us, but going the other way, we’re not getting the dividends on the scoreboard, and that’s hurting us.”

It is not all doom and gloom for the Eagles, who have conceded just two points more than they have kicked themselves in 2017.

Their 75.2 points for per game ranks them fifth in the league, but it is a far cry from the team that blew the competition out of the water with an average of 111 points per game last season.

Among their four losses is a four-point nail-biter against surprise packet Terang Mortlake in round one and a three-point heart-break against emerging threat South Warrnambool in round four.

There was also a mid-range loss to Cobden, while last Satuday’s 53-point loss was tempered by their only win to date, an 83-point thumping of Camperdown.