There wasn’t a lot of positives to take out of the performance by the Eagles, but one of them was the contribution of small forward Jack Petruccelle.

It was probably the best display of his emerging career, kicking four goals, taking some strong contested marks and using his speed to apply defensive and offensive pressure.

He kicked three of those goals in the first half as the Eagles established a 28-point cushion at the long break and kicked another in the third term when they threatened to take the game away from the Saints.

Opportunities dried up in the last term, but he continued to work, trying to find a way to turn things around.

His effort, along with that of Jarrod Brander who continued to build on his career-best game a week ago, were the most enlightening and satisfying individual efforts of the match.