Eagles Survive Tiger Scare
Richmond got the early jump, but it still wasn’t enough to prevent West Coast from romping to a 45 point win at Subiaco.
The Tigers booted seven goals in the opening quarter to open up a four goal lead at quarter time, but the Eagles took control in the final three terms to close in on second spot.
The lowly Tigers weren’t expected to present much of a challenge to the finals-bound Eagles, who were priced as short as $1.06 during the week, but they got the better of the early match-ups to stun the home team and fans to get an early break.
Michael Mitchell was electric in the first quarter, while Stuart Maxfield had the better of Chris Mainwaring on the wing and Matthew Knights provided the drive out of the centre.
The Eagles were also uncharacteristically clumsy in defence as Richmond pounced on a number of errors from the West Coast backmen.
At quarter time, Eagles coach Mick Malthouse moved the magnets and found the right balance, with West Coast booting 7.6 for the quarter and orchestrating a 38 point turnaround.
David Hart moved from Trent Nichols to Mitchell, Brett Heady went to half-forward and Dean Kemp shifted into the middle.
Heady was one of two inclusions for West Coast, who lost vice-captain John Worsfold during the week to suspension. Worsfold was slapped with a two week ban for striking Sydney midfielder Greg Williams. Dean Turner was the other change, omitted in favour of Don Pyke, who was recalled for just his fourth game of the season.
Leading by 14 points at the break, Richmond closed the margin to just six with the first two goals of the term but the Eagles booted five of the next eight goals into the breeze to hold the lead going into the last quarter.
Troy Ugle came off the bench after half-time, to boot three of the Eagles’ five for the third term. The Eagles then ran away with the game in the last term, with their second use of the breeze.
West Coast registered 16 scoring shots for the term and their inaccurate effort of 7.9 prevented the margin from being higher. The Tigers, for all their effort at the start of the game, fell off the pace as Eagle players did as they pleased in the final quarter.
Twice Guy McKenna drifted forward to boot goals, finishing as one of the best players for West Coast after a jittery opening quarter. Defenders Geoff Miles and Phil Scott also drifted forward to hit the scoreboard as the last quarter descended into one-way traffic.
Chris Mainwaring was another to finish as one of the Eagles’ best after lowering his colours early in the game to Maxfield. Malthouse persisted with Mainwaring on the wing, and the Eagle had a hand in many of the Eagles’ scoring opportunities.
Stephen Malaxos again finished as the Eagles’ prime possession winner, tallying 27 through the middle, as did Kemp. Craig Turley picked up 24 disposals, while David Hart was able to gather 22 and kick three goals, while also putting the clamps on Mitchell in the final three terms.
Hart was one of four players to finish with three goals for West Coast, who were still without spearhead Peter Sumich and had a goalless performance from Craig McGrath up forward.
Hart, Ugle, Heady and Karl Langdon all booted three goals, while Chris Lewis could have had a day out but could only return an inaccurate 2.4. The Eagles spread the load of the scoreboard, with 12 Eagles kicking majors.
Jeff Hogg booted four majors for the Tigers, while Matthew Knights chipped in with three goals to go with 22 touches as his side’s standout player. With Dale Weightman copping a four week ban during the week for a late hit on Fitzroy midfielder Paul Broderick, Craig Lambert stepped into the vacant centreman role picking up a team high 26 disposals.
The major disappointment for West Coast was the likely season-ending injury to half-forward Peter Wilson. Wilson suffered a double fracture in his jaw after he was crashed into by former teammate Richard Nixon during the third quarter, prompting Malthouse to question the incident with the field umpires during the three-quarter time break.
After the match, Malthouse expressed happiness over the win, but admitted that his side needed to show a lot more improvement.
“We have a fair way to go to be the side we all want to be.”
“The true test is against the top sides. They are the ones that expose the team’s old mannerisms.”
Interestingly, Richmond coach Kevin Bartlett agreed with Malthouse’s summation that West Coast had plenty to improve on. “I didn’t think the Eagles played well at all. If we could have bolstered our side with some of our injured players, we could have made it a lot tougher.”
The Eagles remained third on the ladder following the win, but joined the Magpies on points, after Collingwood fell to Essendon in a top-of-the-table clash.
Such was the anticipation for the match, in what was strongly predicted as the Grand Final preview, the AFL broadcast the game live on television into Victoria – the first time a match had been shown live against the gate, excluding Grand Finals, since 1970.
And the match didn’t disappoint, as Essendon withstood a late Magpie fightback and a debilitating injury list to hold on for a six point victory. The Bombers broke out to a six goal lead by early in the second term and still held a 28 point lead with a quarter to play.
But the Bombers had just 15 fit players through the final term as Collingwood booted four goals to close in on the lead. Neither side could find the goals in the final ten minutes of the game, as Collingwood relentlessly attacked and Essendon resiliently defended.
James Manson had two simple chances late in the game to put the Magpies in front, but butchered both opportunities, allowing Essendon to hold on at the final siren. The result meant Essendon held onto their spot at the top of the ladder, but were now a game clear of the Magpies and Eagles.
Melbourne continued their push for the double chance when they coasted to a 67 point win over Sydney. Ricky Jackson and Darren Bennett combined for 11 majors as the Demons primed themselves ahead of a trip to Perth to take on West Coast in a crucial game for both sides.
The Hawks rounded out the top five with an impressive 36 point win over St Kilda, which all but snuffed out the Saints’ finals chances. A nine-goal second term proved the difference in the game, with Jason Dunstall booting five goals for the victors and Tony Lockett four in the battle of the heavyweight forwards.
Footscray appeared to be the last team fighting for a finals spot after North Melbourne defeated Carlton by 34 points. The Kangaroos kicked six goals to nil in the opening term and maintained their lead through the remainder of the match, leaving both clubs sitting two games behind Hawthorn with four matches to play.
The Bulldogs leapt up to sixth, one win behind the Hawks, when they got the job done against Fitzroy, winning by 35 points. In the other match in the round, Brisbane climbed off the bottom of the ladder when they thrashed a pathetic Geelong by eleven goals. Roger Merrett booted eight goals for the Bears, with the result relegating the Swans to the foot of the table.
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