Woosha Claims Bragging Rights Over Bluey
John Worsfold and Guy McKenna pitted themselves against each other in the coaches box for the first time, but it was Woosha who came out on top after the Eagles ground out a gritty 18 point win over newcomers Gold Coast.
The former champion Eagles, who were both captains of the club, walked out to the half back line together on 175 occasions but from opposing seats in the Subiaco grandstand, Worsfold’s side were able to do enough to record their sixth win of the season and keep touch with the top four.
West Coast were priced at the extraordinarily short quote of $1.02 to defeat the Suns at home, but while they got the four points, a spirited second half by Gold Coast prevented the Eagle from cashing on the percentage booster that other teams had enjoyed against the Suns in their debut season.
The Eagles made just one change to the side that were well beaten by Collingwood the week before, dropping Brad Ebert for Andrew Strijk. Ebert had struggled to adapt to a more prominent role across half-forward with the likes of Luke Shuey and Scott Selwood preferred through the middle, along with Matt Priddis and returning veteran Daniel Kerr.
Sam Butler failed to recover from an adductor issue, meaning that Brad Sheppard and Ashley Smith held their spots in defence. Andrew Embley was a wait-and-see proposition for much of the week, with the impending birth of his first child but suited up on match-day. However, Daniel Kerr was a late withdrawal for the second time in a month with a glute concern. Tom Swift was called up for his first senior appearance of the season.
The Suns made four changes to the side that were thumped by Geelong the week before. Zac Smith returned to partner Josh Fraser in the ruck against Naitanui and Cox, while Harley Bennell, Seb Tape and debutant Taylor Hine were also named.
Rugby league convert Karmichael Hunt was ruled out with suspension, while Brandon Matera missed out on a homecoming match against his father’s former side with a groin injury. Charlie Dixon and Matt Shaw were both omitted.
West Coast again started tall to stretch the Gold Coast defence, with Josh Kennedy, Jack Darling, Quinten Lynch and Dean Cox lining up in the Eagles forward 50. The Suns were short in defence, with Campbell Brown matching against Lynch, despite giving away 20cm in height.
Cox had an early influence up forward, setting up the Eagles first goal to Lynch, while kicking two himself in the opening quarter. When Mark LeCras slotted his second major at the 14 minute mark of the quarter, the Eagles led 6.1 to zero and a crushing win was on the cards.
But to the credit of the Suns, led by captain Gary Ablett in his 200th AFL match, they levelled the contest and stuck with the Eagles to the end. With West Coast leading 10 goals to four during the second term, the Suns stacked their defence to frustrate the home side and eventually wore their way into the contest.
A four goal to one third quarter brought the visitors back within 12 points nearing three-quarter time, but the Eagles were able to keep the Suns at bay to the final siren.
John Worsfold was happy enough with the win, admiring the persistence of the Suns. “A great start and then a bit of a slog from there on in, but a slog where the players really continued to fight it out, work hard and come away with the win.”
“I think they’ve (Gold Coast) impressed most people in their season so far and they showed enough today to say they warrant the plaudits they’ve been getting for how they go about their football. They’re a young squad but the senior players are holding up well.”
It was through the efforts of Gary Ablett, who dragged his side into the game. The Suns captain finished with 32 disposals, 19 of which were contested, eight clearances, nine tackles and booted two goals. Scott Selwood was given the task of minding the Brownlow medallist but could do little but follow the little master around Subiaco Oval and watch a midfielder masterclass.
Michael Rischitelli collected 25 disposals and seven clearances for the match and Harley Bennell tallied 24 touches. Nathan Bock was solid in defence and had the better of Jack Darling with 21 disposals and nine marks, while Zac Smith was equally impressive with 21 touches, six clearances, 15 hit-outs and a goal playing in the ruck.
For all of the efforts of Ablett, the Eagles had their own midfield warrior in Matt Priddis. Priddis feasted of the tap advantage of Naitanui and Cox to gather 31 disposals, which included six clearances and eight tackles. Priddis regularly fed the ball out to the likes of Matt Rosa and Mark LeCras on the outside.
Cox again put in another shining performance, which elevated the Eagles ruckman into Brownlow conversation. Cox had 28 hit-outs, to go with 26 disposals, nine marks, seven clearances and two goals, as many started to speculate whether he could be the first ruckman to claim the prestigious award since Scott Wynd in 1992. After doing his damage on the scoreboard early, Cox stationed himself in the back half through the last quarter as Gold Coast kept pushing for an unlikely victory.
Behind Priddis, LeCras picked up 28 disposals and two goals as he roamed between midfield and the forward line. Matt Rosa (21) and Chris Masten (19) were proficient through the middle, while Shannon Hurn was the second-highest ball winner for the Eagles with 30 possessions, to go with 14 marks.
Hurn formed part of a second-string backline that was still missing Eric Mackenzie, Mitch Brown and Sam Butler, and while they had their shaky moments through the match, they mostly held their own. Will Schofield restricted Tom Lynch to just two goals and Ashley Smith rotated through the third tall in the Suns forward line, often giving away height but keeping a close check, which allowed Hurn to operate as the intercept defender and defensive distributor.
Worsfold praised his makeshift defence, acknowledging they had their moments. “I thought our backs… in the first half they let through a few easy goals. They could have defended a bit better, a couple of mistakes we made.”
“But then when we were really under the pump in the second half, I thought there were some outstanding efforts.”
Rising star nominees David Swallow and Jack Darling both found themselves in the book with Swallow charged for rough conduct on Scott Selwood and Darling reported for striking Campbell Brown. Scott Selwood was also expected to come under scrutiny for an off the ball incident involving Ablett, with Selwood later accepting a reprimand from the match review panel. Darling and Swallow were both freed for their incidents.
The win meant West Coast rose back up to sixth place after Essendon lost to the Demons by 33 points. The top four remained the same with all four teams claiming wins in Round 11. Geelong remained undefeated after they thrashed the Bulldogs, with Collingwood hot in pursuit following an equally comfortable win over St Kilda.
Hawthorn overturned an 18 point deficit at three-quarter time to defeat the Dockers by 22 points, courtesy of an eight goal final quarter. Carlton continued Port Adelaide’s miserable season with a ten goal win at Football Park. The Swans thrashed Brisbane to climb to fifth on the ladder, with the Eagles, Bombers and Dockers rounding out the top eight. Fremantle though were now just half a game in front of Melbourne and Richmond after losing four of their last five matches.
While the Eagles would have been happy to see order restored to be the leading WA side in the AFL competition, West Coast and Fremantle joined forces during the week as they presented to the WAFC and nine WAFL presidents the concept of having their own reserves sides.
Many AFL clubs had taken on having their own reserves side in their state’s second tier competitions, with the Eagles and Dockers believing they were giving up a competitive advantage by not following suit. The two AFL clubs suggested they could stimulate $1 million per season for the nine WAFL clubs through an annual payment of $600,000, plus extra home fixtures for each club, additional sponsorship opportunities and increasing the finals series to a top five.
West Coast and Fremantle were keen to have their own sides in the WAFL as soon as 2012, but were met ‘without enthusiasm’ by the nine WAFL clubs to the proposal, with Peel Thunder president John Ditchburn going a step further, calling their offer “dismal”.
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