ERIC Mackenzie could provide the Eagles with the last piece of their premiership puzzle in 2016.

Mackenzie missed last season through injury, watching from the sidelines as his teammates climbed from 11th in 2014 to runners-up in 2015.

Jonathan Brown said Mackenzie — the Eagles’ 2014 best and fairest winner — could help the Eagles bridge the gap between them and Hawthorn.

“I think that their depth is quite good, but for me Eric Mackenzie coming back tips them over the edge,” Brown said on Fox Footy’s Round Table.

Round 18

“He’s one of the best key defenders in the competition ... and I think he can help.”

Gerard Healy concurred, saying Mackenzie added talent to an already elite defence that boasted one of the best swingmen in the game in Jeremy McGovern.

ADELAIDE

Under the stewardship of Don Pyke, Adelaide faces the unenviable challenge of improving without their best player Patrick Dangerfield, who left for Geelong under free agency at the end of last season.

David King said there was no player or players capable of filling the “hole” vacated by Dangerfield, the club’s 2015 best and fairest.

“He made them the second best clearance club in the competition and top four for contested possession,” King said on Fox Footy’s Round Table.

“He’ll probably leave a big hole in their ability to win the ball because he’s the third best contested player in the competition, behind Fyfe and Ablett over the past two years.

“I think he’s a player who takes away three or four wins a season.”

ROUND TABLE CONTINUES ON TUESDAY NIGHT AT 7.30PM

RICHMOND

While the spotlight was on captain Trent Cotchin after Richmond’s third straight finals loss last season, it’s the Tiger’s middle tier that must improve for Damien Hardwick’s side to taste September success.

Despite Champion Data rating four Tigers as elite, they have 15 players rated as average or below average.

Gerard Healy said if Richmond were to improve, the onus would fall on these same middle-tier players to up the ante.

“Their best and their worst, this group of players, is just too far away,” he told Fox Footy’s Round Table.

“Brandon Ellis needs to get better at getting the ball and doing some damage.

“(Tyrone) Vickery is another one. If he takes his best into 75 per cent of game it makes a massive difference.”

HAWTHORN

They’re out to create history as the only side in the modern era to win four premierships in a row.

But for the first time under Alastair Clarkson, Hawthorn’s list appears weaker than it was the season prior — even if only marginally.

Out are premiership stars Brian Lake, David Hale and Matthew Suckling (Western Bulldogs), and in is Ex-Demon Jack Fitzpatrick, who looks primed to play forward and in the ruck.

“It’s the first time they’ve gone into a season with less talent than the year before,” Gerard Healey told Fox Footy’s Round Table.

“Hale may prove the missing link, but they’ve got a (Jonathon) Ceglar and that’s their greatest strength, they’ve always had a back up.

“But now all of a sudden in losing three or four (players), they’re just five per cent less prepared for the onset of an injury plague.”