West Coast Miss Chance To Grab Top Four
A sluggish start and a floundering finish saw West Coast slump to a disappointing 21 point loss to St Kilda at Docklands.
The Eagles’ five game winning run came to a halt against the Saints, who paid tribute to their only premiership coach Allan Jeans before the match, following his passing during the week.
Leigh Montagna and Nick Dal Santo starred from the outset, combining for 27 disposals in the opening term as the Saints piled on six goals to nil in a dominant start. When Ryan Gamble kicked his second goal inside the first minute of the second quarter, the Saints held a 43 point lead and the Eagles appeared all at sea.
It took the efforts of seventh-gamer Andrew Gaff, as well as youngsters Luke Shuey and Brad Ebert and the ruck pair of Nic Naitanui and Dean Cox to drag West Coast back into the game. Such was the showing of Gaff, it even prompted rival coach Ross Lyon to declare the rookie wingman as a ‘special talent’.
Gaff was recalled to the West Coast side for his first match since the Round 8 Derby and showed he had benefitted strongly from full match outings at South Fremantle in the WAFL after starting his career as the substitute in five of his first six games.
Gaff was one of three inclusions for the Eagles, who also brought in vice-captain Beau Waters for his first match since undergoing elbow surgery after round 2 and forward Quinten Lynch who sat out the previous weeks win over Geelong due to suspension.
Tom Swift and Patrick McGinnity were both dropped, while Daniel Kerr was left out of the side after battling soreness for several weeks. Despite leaving Kerr out, Eagles coach John Worsfold said he wouldn’t give players games off heading into finals, believing the two byes would be enough of a rest for his squad.
The Eagles had had 11 players play every game of the season up to Round 17 – more than the four teams sitting above them on the ladder combined. Geelong and Collingwood, in particular, had used the advantage of banking early wins in the season to give players additional breaks throughout the year.
The Saints named an unchanged line up to tackle the Eagles after consecutive wins over Port Adelaide and North Melbourne had lifted them to within a game of the top eight. The grand finalists of the previous two seasons had endured a below-par year, but showed signs of their best form in recent weeks with spots in the lower part of the top eight on offer.
St Kilda resisted the urge to recall ruckman Michael Gardiner to the senior side, despite the imposing presence of Naitanui and Cox for the Eagles. Gardiner played a half for the reserves the week before in his return from a long injury layoff with St Kilda choosing to remain cautious over his full return.
The Saints overlooked talls Justin Koschitzke and Jason Blake for the match, opting to take a running side into the game to combat the Eagles forward press. Koschitzke would end up coming into the side as a late inclusion for young forward Tom Lynch and he made sure Saints’ selectors wouldn’t regret the late call.
Koschitzke booted two first quarter goals and had a hand in another from six first-quarter disposals as the Saints burst out of the blocks. Koschitzke also provided strong support in the ruck as the St Kilda midfield overwhelmed their Eagle counterparts.
Montagna was everywhere in the first term with 17 disposals, while Dal Santo chimed in with 10 as they continually sent the ball into the Saints forward 50m zone. The Saints racked up 60 more disposals for the quarter (128-68), with Jason Gram (nine possessions), Raph Clarke (nine) and Dean Polo (eight) all influential.
When Gamble made it seven straight goals to start the match, all looked lost for West Coast.
Naitanui and Cox then took control in the ruck to give the Eagle runners first advantage and Andrew Gaff showed why he was rated so highly. The number four draft selection had nine disposals for the term and along with Brad Ebert (seven) and Cox (seven) led the West Coast midfield back into the contest.
Ebert got the Eagles on the board before Gaff also added a major for the term as the Eagles got to within half of the damage by the main break. West Coast then got the game fully on their terms as they kept the Saints scoreless in the third term.
Gaff added a second goal and Lynch put the Eagles in front for the first time in the game in the closing minutes of the quarter with a top four spot in the offing.
After doing nothing in the first term, something in the second and everything in the third, the Eagles gave it all up in the last with costly moments.
A tense opening fifteen minutes had seen Stephen Milne kick a long range goal to restore St Kilda’s lead before Naitanui produced a wondrous effort from a boundary throw-in in the forward pocket, where he took possession, raced clear of the pack of players and snapped truly on the run to have the Eagles back in front.
For West Coast, that would be the last significant contribution on the scoreboard.
At the other end, the Eagles defence would lose their way to cough up the four points. Eric Mackenzie had been solid on Nick Riewoldt all afternoon, keeping the Saints spearhead goalless but would sully his performance with two horror turnovers that would lead to St Kilda goals and consign West Coast to defeat.
Matt Priddis would finish as the leading ball winner for West Coast after signing a new two year contract during the week with 27, 17 of which came in the second half. Luke Shuey (24) and Matt Rosa (22) were the next best with Dean Cox also tallying 22 touches and Gaff a career best 21.
Gaff and Nicoski would be the only multiple goal scorers with the Eagles talls well held. While Gaff shone, fellow draftee Jack Darling struggled and appeared fatigued with just five disposals in three quarters before being subbed out and replaced by Koby Stevens.
Leigh Montagna was the standout on the field finishing with 34 disposals after his blistering start. Montagna would also be one of the direct recipients of one of Mackenzie’s turnovers to kick one of the sealing goals for the Saints. Jason Gram collected 31 touches and Brendan Goddard roamed half back for 30 possessions.
The win kept St Kilda’s finals hopes alive but it came at a cost with defender James Gwilt rupturing his ACL which would require a knee reconstruction.
St Kilda remained a game outside the top eight with Sydney dropping to eighth spot after falling to Fremantle in an absorbing game at the SCG. The Dockers took a grip in the game with seven goals in the third quarter to open up a 38 point lead at the final change before Sydney launched a comeback that ultimately fell short. The Swans closed to within one kick before Nick Lower stepped up in the final minutes to boot the Dockers only goal of the final term – enough to secure an 11 point win.
Essendon also remained clear of the Saints after succeeding at their own comeback attempt against the lowly Crows at Football Park. Adelaide stormed to a five goal lead in the first quarter and still held a 16 point advantage at the final break, after leading by 37 points during the second term. However, the Bombers ran out 11 point winners off the back of huge final quarters from Angus Monfries, Brent Stanton and David Zaharakis.
West Coast missed out on the top four spot after Carlton fell to Collingwood by 19 points at the MCG. The Magpies kept the Blues at arms length for most of the night, with Travis Cloke starring up forward. Geelong kept pace with Collingwood at the top of the ladder after they fought off a brave Brisbane side. The Lions stuck with the Cats for the first three quarters before Geelong racked up seven final quarter goals to coast to a 29 point victory.
Melbourne and North Melbourne maintained their push for a top eight spot with wins over Port Adelaide and the Western Bulldogs, while the Power were relegated to the bottom of the ladder after newcomers Gold Coast recorded their third win of the season with a rollercoaster win over Richmond.
The Tigers bounced to a six goal lead at quarter time before being clawed back in the second term as the Suns took a seven point lead to the main break. Richmond again took a commanding lead during the third term, heading for home with a 13 point advantage with a quarter to play, but five goals to one in favour of the Suns in the last ensured a 15 point win.
John Worsfold bemoaned his side’s inconsistency in the loss to St Kilda, but acknowledged the better side won on the day. “It’s a four quarter game and over four quarters, same as last week against Geelong, one team dominated for certain periods and the other got on top for other periods.”
“In the end the better team that does it that bit longer and a bit better, wins the game.”
Worsfold was at a loss to describe the poor start but praised his side’s efforts to get themselves back into the contest.
“We just couldn’t get our hands on the footy and they just ran rampant, used the ball well and kept possession in that first quarter, but we addressed a few things there and fought back pretty well after that.”
“In the last quarter it was pretty even, the game was up for grabs and a couple of mistakes cost us late in terms of the margin.”
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