IF the Eagles want to avoid the fate that befell them in the 2015 AFL grand final, then they might want to start by limiting how much their players are on their mobile phones this week.

That might sound a bit silly and simplistic but West Coast were totally overwhelmed by the occasion against Hawthorn three years ago. They were done before the ball was even bounced and I can’t imagine the dozen or so blokes in the current squad who played that day (or their coaches) have forgotten it.

You can try to pretend that grand final week is just another week but that’s just not the case. It’s a massive occasion, with potential distractions everywhere you look - if you are looking.

So if I were Adam Simpson, I’d have my players spending some significant time away this week from the phones (and social media) on which they’ll likely be getting 1000 well-wishing text messages and God knows how many requests for tickets. Spend some quality moments with your teammates, enjoy the parade together and focus on the task at hand - don’t waste time and energy on meaningless stuff around the periphery.

But that will just be the start of avoiding another painful loss on the biggest stage.

The Eagles knew Melbourne were going to come at them hard and fast with their big bodies early on at the weekend and they totally flipped that script. Instead it was West Coast who were aggressive and set the standard straight away.

They need to go into Saturday with the same mindset against a Collingwood side that “Out-Richmoned” Richmond themselves last Friday.

Trust me, the likes of Taylor Adams, Adam Treloar and Scott Pendlebury are going to be boring in and the MCG on grand final day isn’t the kind of place where you can take the first 15 minutes to soak up the atmosphere.

I’m certain Luke Shuey will play and I’m pretty sure Jeremy McGovern will come up as well. But if he’s anything less than 80 per cent, West Coast should bite the bullet and leave him out.

They say it’s a hip-pointer but it looked a bit odd to me - like he got hit in his right side but was holding his left. Dustin Martin showed last week that it doesn’t matter how good you are, you can’t carry incapacitated blokes in big finals.

Speaking of which, there are a few players from the Eagles who might toss and turn a bit this week thinking about everything they didn’t do against Hawthorn in 2015.

I’ll absolve Elliott Yeo from that discussion because he was still finding his feet a bit at that stage of his career. But Josh Kennedy, Jack Darling and Mark LeCras don’t get the same latitude.

They can say all they’ve forgotten about that day versus the Hawks but there’s no way they don’t remember it. The only way those shockers get put to rest is to stand up and be counted his time around.

The good news for West Coast is that they are much better chances than how the bookies are assessing them. On exposed form they shouldn’t be $2-plus.

People have made a lot of how much things have turned around for Collingwood in the space of a year but the Eagles aren’t that far behind.

Sure, West Coast beat Port Adelaide in an epic final last year but they barely scraped their way into September and then they were cannon fodder for GWS the week after. The Eagles of 2017 were prone to fadeouts and massively vulnerable in Melbourne.

Adam Simpson, clearly, has changed the way he coaches this side and the arrival in the coaching box of Sam Mitchell probably isn’t just a coincidence.

Whereas the Eagles web was once totally about guarding space - and easily picked apart by a kicking team like Hawthorn - it now starts with defending people.

Up front, the arrival of Liam Ryan, Willie Rioli, Daniel Venables and Jake Waterman (although he won’t play this week) couldn’t have been more timely. There’s a lot more energy in the forward line and once it became clear that West Coast played the new stadium better than anyone, confidence and momentum just grew.

But this weekend - for anyone unaware! - isn’t played at Optus Stadium and the Eagles can’t just turn up and think they are going to play footy on their terms.

There needs to be a Plan B that incorporates respect for your opponent and their capabilities - and we saw against Richmond just how capable Jordan De Goey, Steele Sidebottom, Treloar, Pendlebury and Mason Cox can be.

De Goey is a big concern for me. Brad Sheppard would have been the ideal opponent for him before he injured his hamstring but I’m not sure who the natural match-up is any more.

I’m not entirely sure what Simpson does with a defensive unit that includes bigs like McGovern, Tom Barrass and Will Schofield against a Pies attack built around one giant in Cox and a bunch of quick mid-sized players.

The Eagles’ overall form this year, including a round 17 win over the Pies at the ‘G, is stronger. Collingwood only have a few top-eight scalps to their credit but one was Richmond last week and you’d have to say that’s pretty compelling.

I reckon it’s going to be incredibly tight but I can’t tip against the Magpies in Melbourne: Collingwood to win, but only just.

THE OTHER SIDE OF TOWN
Good to see an old radio colleague of mine and South Fremantle boy in Peter Bell get the footy manager’s gig with the Dockers. He’ll need to strong and opinionated in what can be a pretty strong-willed environment and also prepared to take complete control of the footballing direction from the start.

He’ll also have some serious early strategy work to do. My mail is that Freo could face a trade situation where Jesse Hogan, Tim Kelly and Mitch Duncan might all be available (assuming Lachie Neale leaves and the Dockers have multiple high draft picks to play with). Those are some tempting names, but if you go for them - and forego opportunities in an apparent superdraft - where does that put the rebuild?

INSPIRATION OF THE WEEK
Once again, it’s impossible to overlook Tyson Goldsack in a week like this. Nobody at Collingwood really figured he would play this year after a knee recon in March but somehow he’ll not only run out onto the ground on Saturday but match up on either Jack Darling or Josh Kennedy.

Tiger Woods’ effort to win the PGA Tour Championship on Monday was equally remarkable. Eighteen months ago, nobody knew if he would swing a club again and he’d dropped out of the top 1000-ranked players on the planet. Now he’s No. 13 and about to play in another Ryder Cup. Incredible.

WORD ON THE STREET
Is that some people at Fremantle have been blaming “distance” as the reason why the Dockers haven’t landed a big, homecoming recruiting fish. Well distance doesn’t seem to be much of a deterrent to Lachie Neale seriously considering a move to Brisbane (which isn’t home for him, by the way). Let’s hope Belly brings some magic atlas tricks with him.

TALKING BULLTISH
How in the world Billy Slater was even cited for his “hit” on the weekend is beyond me, let alone being banned from a grand final because of it. Thank goodness common sense prevailed in his appeal last night.