Tag: subiaco oval

2011 Rewind: Eagles Cruise Past Crows

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Simple Tune-Up For West Coast as Magpies Await

The Eagles wrapped up their 2011 home-and-away campaign with an effortless 95 point win over an uninterested Crows outfit, as they shifted their focus to finals action.

The win was West Coast’s 17th of the season – equalling their record from the grand final and premiership seasons of 2005 and 2006. However, while they had finished in the top two in each of those years to secure multiple home finals, a 17-5 return was only good enough for fourth position in what finished as a lopsided ladder.

The Magpies claimed the minor premiership and were the Eagles’ next opponents, but the reigning premiers suddenly looked vulnerable after being humbled by Geelong by 96 points. The top-of-the-table clash soon became a fizzer as the Cats steamrolled Collingwood, highlighted by a ten goal second quarter.

The defeat was just Collingwood’s second of the season – both of which had come against Geelong – but the invincibility that had surrounded the Magpies for much of the year was starting to wear off as injury and off-field issues affected the back end of Collingwood’s season.

While the Eagles were expected to start as distant outsiders in the qualifying final, the Eagles were as well positioned as they could expect to be. There were no late complications ahead of the finals series as Adelaide offered little competition.

Jack Darling returned after two weeks sidelined with injury, with Sam Butler the other inclusion in a somewhat controversial selection. With defender Will Schofield expected to miss just the one week after fracturing a cheekbone against the Lions, it had been anticipated that premiership players Brett Jones would earn a game ahead of his likely retirement at seasons end.

However, Worsfold opted against the sentiment bringing Butler back into the side after recovering from a groin strain. Ashton Hams was the other change, losing his place to Darling.

The Crows made a host of changes for their final game of the season with Jack Gunston (shoulder), Andy Otten (concussion) and Brodie Martin (groin) all out with injury. Aiden Reilly was dropped with Ian Callinan, Richard Tambling, Ricky Henderson and Michael Doughty all brought into the side.

The signs were early that the Crows wouldn’t be able to match West Coast and they set about minimising the damage.

For a quarter it worked as West Coast bombarded their forward 50 arc for little reward. Brad Ebert and Mark Nicoski both kicked majors, but the home side were mostly frustrated as the Crows bunkered down.

On the flip side, the Crows were no chance of scoring as they looked to just exit out of their back half, but the Eagles backline just sat back and racked up the possessions as Adelaide players continually kicked the ball to them. Butler had 12 disposals for the term in his return game, Adam Selwood had 11 and Beau Waters 7.

Leading by 17 points at the first change, Nic Naitanui goaled inside the first minute of the second term as West Coast broke the Adelaide shackles. Kurt Tippett registered the first Adelaide score a few minutes later, but West Coast finished with seven of the last eight goals in the term to break the game apart and head into the major break with a nine goal advantage.

The second half was purely going through the motions, but another eight goals in the final term ensured West Coast would finish the regular season in emphatic fashion. Chris Masten added a second goal late in the game to take the Eagles lead into triple figures, but Adelaide avoided a 100 plus point loss in Mark Bickley’s final game as caretaker coach thanks to a late Taylor Walker goal.

West Coast posted 22 goals for the match, but pleasingly their strong offensive performance came despite a quiet showing from full forward Josh Kennedy. Kennedy managed just one goal from eight disposals and one mark as he was well held by Ben Rutten.

Instead eight Eagles managed multiple goals in the game, with Quinten Lynch, Scott Selwood and Mark Nicoski leading the way with three each.

After being restricted to just a handful of possessions the week before by Brisbane tagger Andrew Raines, Andrew Embley bounced back with a strong performance on the wing. Embley was the Eagles’ best with 33 disposals and eight inside 50s providing plenty of run on the outside. Inside the contest, Matt Priddis did much of the heavy work with 12 clearances from 23 possessions, while also laying 13 tackles.

Adam Selwood (28 disposals), Chris Masten (27, 7 clearances & 2 goals), Luke Shuey (25, 2 goals) and Quinten Lynch (22 & 7 marks) were all proficient as the Eagles dominated in most areas. West Coast recorded 23 more inside 50s in the game (59-36), controlled the clearances (60-43) and even with the huge margin still managed to lay more tackles than their opposition (79-65).

The Crows offered little, with Scott Thompson flying a lone flag in the middle of the ground. Thompson finished as the leading ball winner on the ground with 40 disposals and a goal with minor support from Nathan Van Berlo and Rory Sloane.

The only disappointment for the Eagles was a hamstring injury to Ashley Smith that saw the running defender subbed out during the second term with Andrew Gaff coming on. It was the sixth time this season that Gaff had started the game with the green vest.

Smith was set to be the only ill bill of health for West Coast, with Daniel Kerr, Matt Rosa and Schofield all set to be available for the first final against Collingwood.

While the Geelong-Collingwood result sent a shockwave through the competition, the rest of the fixtures essentially went as expected. Hawthorn held onto third place despite being pushed to the edge by lowly Gold Coast. The Hawks made 10 changes for the match as they openly focused on their first final against Geelong, and the reinforcements did what they needed to do in a nine point win.

The only finals match up that wasn’t know heading into the final round centred around sixth and seventh. While St Kilda and Sydney knew they were playing each other, the Swans could still pass the Saints and claim a home final, if the Saints couldn’t claim a win against the fifth placed Blues.

Sydney did what they needed to do, easily defeating Brisbane, but the Saints ensured the final would be played in Victoria, when they came from behind to beat Carlton by 20 points. The Blues led by 11 points at half time and extended their lead to 18 early in the third quarter when Zach Touhy goaled. However the Saints booted seven of the next eight goals to hold their position of sixth.

The Bombers rounded out the top eight, safe in the knowledge they would make the finals despite having a bye in the final round. Essendon were set for a blockbuster first week match up against Carlton, who similarly, were sure of completing the season in fifth.

The only other interest in the round came at the foot of the ladder where Port Adelaide were able to escape the wooden spoon with a dramatic eight point win over Melbourne. The Suns were relegated to last on the ladder in their debut season, with the Power recording their third win of the season in a historic match at the home of the SACA.

Following extended negotiations between the SANFL and SA Cricket Association, the Power were able to secure the first game played at the Adelaide Oval for premiership points in the AFL competition, marking the occasion with an entertaining eight point win over the Demons in front of nearly 30,000 fans – the largest non-Showdown home crowd they had had in over 18 months.

But for West Coast, attention now turned to September action for the first time since 2007 and they were set to play the team they last played in a final in Collingwood. With a double chance and a guaranteed home final in either the second or third week of the finals, the Eagles were riding the wave of momentum and the public sentiment towards a fairytale finish.

2011 Rewind: Eagles Crack Top Four

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Second Half Surge Lifts Eagles Into Double Chance

West Coast finally cracked their way into the top four and prime position for the double chance come finals after careering away to a 57 point win over the Bombers.

The Eagles trailed by a point at half time, but fourteen goals after half time ensured West Coast would claim their 15th win of the season and replace Carlton in the top four. The Blues lost their place after losing by two goals in an enthralling clash with the Hawks in the round opener.

West Coast welcomed back their captain and vice-captain in Darren Glass and Beau Waters, with defender Mitch Brown unlucky to lose his place and Patrick McGinnity serving a one match ban for breaching the AFL’s respect and responsibility policy.

The McGinnity investigation was the focus for much of the week, but John Worsfold denied it would be a distraction for the club. Worsfold endorsed the vilification code and declared McGinnity had learned from the incident. “Paddy understands very clearly what he did wrong and… he is remorseful.”

The Bombers arrived in Perth having won four of their past six games and looking to consolidate their spot in the top eight, but the make up of their side failed to take shape until late in the week.

Dustin Fletcher was initially left out of the side, but returned when Tayte Pears failed a fitness test. Michael Hurley was ruled out with soreness and Ricky Dyson was dropped, with Nathan Lovett-Murray, David Myers and Tom Bellchambers the three inclusions.

Bellchambers was called into the side, joining Paddy Ryder and David Hille meaning James Hird had three ruckmen at their disposal to counter the influence of Nic Naitanui and Dean Cox.  

Ultimately, Hird’s decision would backfire.

Cox would finish as one of the best for West Coast as the Eagles overran the Bombers through the second half. Jack Darling was a late withdrawal ahead of the game (missing his first game of his debut season), with Chris Masten brought in as his replacement and having the additional runner in the game appeared to work in the Eagles favour.

West Coast held the edge from the start of the game, but some costly mistakes kept the Bombers in the hunt during the first term. Paddy Ryder scored the Bombers’ first two goals, the second coming from an interchange infringement against Dean Cox. After Quinten Lynch kicked the Eagles second goal, Cox entered the field of play ahead of time, gifting the Bombers a free kick and a 50m penalty resulting in a simple goal.

The Eagles registered seven scoring shots to just three, but only held a nine point lead with Essendon making the most of their few opportunities. The Eagles extended their lead to 16 midway through the second term before the Bombers got on a roll that saw them lead at the major break.

Essendon kicked four of the final five goals in the term with Stewart Crameri’s second putting the Bombers in front by a point at half time. The Essendon midfield were able to get a handle of the game late in the term with Brent Stanton, Jobe Watson, David Myers and Jake Melksham all gathering nine disposals for the term.

However any thoughts Essendon had of continuing their momentum at the resumption after half time was quickly extinguished as the West Coast press generated repeat inside 50 entries and shots on goal.

The Eagles recorded the first six scoring shots of the term and while they could only manage a return of 2.4, it was enough to stamp their authority in the game. Jobe Watson and Leroy Jetta bucked the trend to add two majors for the Bombers to draw them back within a point, but it would be the last punch thrown by the visitors – at least on the scoreboard.

The game had several flashpoints during the term after Jobe Watson was collected by Beau Waters. The pair came together across the Essendon half forward line, with the Essendon captain aided to the bench and the Eagle reported. Nathan Lovett-Murray then took it upon himself to throw his weight around but that only worked in West Coast’s favour as they finished with the final four goals in the term.

It only got worse for the Bombers as the Eagles slammed on eight goals in the final quarter to blow out the margin, while the accuracy that kept them in the game in the first half deserted them when they needed it most, finishing the game with six behinds. Along with Watson, Andrew Welsh was forced out of the game early, while Stewart Crameri’s season was in doubt after dislocating a shoulder late in the game.

For West Coast, Daniel Kerr and Luke Shuey were the keys after half time, with Shuey belying his 26 games of experience. Shuey tallied 23 disposals, with 11 clearances, 7 inside 50s and a goal as he went head to head against Essendon midfielder Dyson Heppell.

The pair were the two standouts for the rising star award, with Heppell just as impressive for the Bombers with 26 disposals.

Matt Priddis matched Shuey’s effort around the stoppages with 10 clearances to go with 27 disposals, while Kerr was next best for the Eagles with 25. Scott Selwood had 23 disposals and eight tackles, while up forward Josh Kennedy and Mark LeCras each booted four goals.

Brent Stanton and David Zaharakis led the Bombers with 27 possessions each, while Heath Hocking battled it out with 20 touches and 12 tackles. Paddy Ryder finished with three goals and Crameri two, to be the Bombers only multiple goal scorers in the game.

Despite the loss, Essendon held their spot in the eight as a number of other results went their way. Fremantle’s season continued to unravel when they were on the end of a 98 point thrashing by North Melbourne. The Kangaroos jumped the Dockers into ninth spot, but were six points behind the Bombers with two games to play.

Melbourne were officially out of the running for finals when they fell short against the Tigers by seven points, while the Bulldogs’ finals hopes were quashed despite a ten goal win over Port Adelaide. Barry Hall booted six goals for the Bulldogs, but his former side ensured they wouldn’t reach September action when they overcame horrible accuracy in front of goal and a three-quarter time deficit to defeat the Saints by 15 points.

The Swans did everything they could to throw the game away, trailing by seven points at the final change even though they had had eight more scoring shots. Four goals to one in the final term saw the Swans home, moving past the Bombers into seventh position.

Collingwood moved a game clear of the Cats at the top of the ladder with a three goal win over Brisbane. Geelong had the bye, but the two sides had sewn up the top two, with a final round meeting set to be the intriguing point of the season.

While the Eagles were now in the prime position to finish in the top four, Worsfold refused to buy into the finals discussion, which was expected to see West Coast tackle reigning premiers Collingwood in the opening week.

“It feels like we have two big games to go and fourth in Round 22 doesn’t mean anything. Round 24 is where we want to make sure we are in a good position. Nothing is ever a given. You have got to go out and earn it.”

Worsfold praised his side for handling the heat of the contest and earning a ‘solid win’ against a finals contender. “I thought a really good intense game in that first half, a lot of heat and obviously to come out and run out the game in the second half was very, very pleasing,” Worsfold said.

“We knew that they were a good inside stoppage team. There was some strong bodies in there, so there was a specific challenge for some of the players, especially in the third quarter and they performed really well.”

The Eagles were shaping nicely for a finals tilt and were given a further boost when Waters was cleared of his hit on Watson, with the tribunal deeming the action wasn’t a bump and the contact accidental.

2011 Rewind: In Celebration Mode

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Nicoski Kicks Six to Lead the Eagles Party

It was a week of celebration for West Coast as they honoured and paid homage to their first 25 years in the VFL/AFL competition, culminating in a 57 point win over Richmond.

The Eagles chose to celebrate their 25th season in the top tier competition in the lead up to their Round 20 clash with the Tigers, who were their first ever opponent in the opening round of 1987. In that game, the then VFL newcomers fought back from 33 points down to claim a 14 point win in their inaugural match courtesy of a nine goal final quarter.

However no such heroics were required in this meeting with the Eagles steering away from the Tigers during the second term and coasting to a 57 point win.

Josh Kennedy was again absent for the Eagles with an eye injury, but the Eagles were able to recall Daniel Kerr and Nic Naitanui. The pair were joined by defender Mitch Brown and midfielder Chris Masten who was selected for his first senior match since Round 12.

Vice-captain Beau Waters was ruled out with an elbow injury, which was initially played down by the club after he injured it during the win over the Western Bulldogs. Eric Mackenzie was also a casualty, straining a hamstring during the final training session of the week. Tom Swift and first-gamer Scott Lycett lost their places.

The Tigers also made four changes with captain Chris Newman succumbing to a knee injury and Jake Batchelor ruled out with a shoulder complaint. Ben Griffiths and Matt White were dropped, with Shaun Grigg, Brad Miller, Mitch Farmer and Matt Dea the four inclusions.

After an entertaining first term that saw the Eagles lead five goals to four at the first change, West Coast took grip of the match off the back of a dominant quarter from ruckman Nic Naitanui.

With Dean Cox limited to the full forward line after copping a knock to the hip in the opening minutes of the game, Naitanui was left to lead the ruck with Quinten Lynch rotated through to provide back up.

Naitanui relished the circumstance, as he controlled the ruck against Angus Graham and Ty Vickery, amassing eight possessions (all contested), four marks (all contested), several clearances and kicking two goals in the quarter – all the while providing silver service to the likes of Daniel Kerr and Luke Shuey.

Mark Nicoski finished with a career high six goals in the win over Richmond

West Coast continued to dictate the match until late in the third quarter when the Tigers got on a roll to reduce a 45 point deficit to 27, keeping open the outside chance of an upset comeback.

In the last meeting between the two sides, at the MCG midway through the 2010 season, Jack Riewoldt had booted a career best ten goals, but to half time of this encounter, Darren Glass had kept the Tigers spearhead to just six disposals and no score. However, Riewoldt responded in the third quarter booting three goals as Richmond looked to continue on the attack.

Eagles coach John Worsfold admitted displeasure after the match with conceding seven goals in the third term, but West Coast tightened up their defence in the final term to kick five goals to one and run out 57 point winners.

14 of the Eagles’ 22 goals were kicked by the trio of Mark Nicoski, Jack Darling and Brad Ebert, who all recorded career best hauls in front of the sticks. Nicoski finished with six goals, while Darling and Ebert each booted four as the Eagles showed they could find other avenues to goal.

For Nicoski, his six goal return was just reward for a season that had reinvented the defender as a pressure forward as part of the Eagles’ strong forward press. Brad Ebert was another who had had to adapt to a different role this season with the return of Kerr, the arrival of Gaff and the rapid improvement of Shuey with Worsfold deploying the South Australian across half forward for much of the year.

Ebert appeared to find the balance in his role, hitting the scoreboard with four goals, as well as gathering 21 disposals with four tackles and four inside-50’s.

Kerr led the Eagles ball-winners with 34 disposals, 13 of which came in the second quarter when Naitanui got on top in the ruck battle. Kerr also finished with eight clearances, while Shuey had seven to go with 30 disposals, seven tackles and six inside-50s.

Andrew Gaff was tireless with 29 on the wing, while Lynch appeared to relish the freedom of running through the ruck with 23 touches, seven marks, 10 hit-outs and seven inside-50s.

Brett Deledio tallied 31 possessions and eight rebounds to lead the Tigers, with Shane Tuck (29 disposals) and Nathan Foley (24) the next best. Riewoldt kicked the Tigers only goal of the final term to finish with four for the match, with Brad Miller and Ty Vickery the only other multiple goal scorers for the visitors.

Scott Selwood was tasked with the job of minding Richmond captain Trent Cotchin, keeping the midfielder to just 17 disposals.

The result meant that the Eagles kept the pressure on Hawthorn and Carlton as they sought to push their way into the top four. The Hawks and Blues recorded wins against finals hopefuls North Melbourne and Melbourne, further denting their finals hopes.

The Kangaroos pushed the Hawks for three quarters before Lance Franklin kicked three final quarter goals to inspire his side to a 17 point victory. Todd Viney took charge of the Demons following the sacking of Dean Bailey, but it did little to improve things as they crashed to a 76 point defeat.

The battle for spots in the lower half of the top eight played out in dramatic fashion as the sixth placed Swans travelled to play the ninth-placed Bombers, and the seventh-placed Saints faced the eighth-placed Dockers. Just three points separated the Saints and Dockers at three-quarter time before St Kilda piled on six goals to none in the final term to run out 41 point winners.

That saw them climb to sixth on the ladder after the Swans fell to the Bombers by one point at Docklands after Adam Goodes had the chance to win the game on the siren. His long range set shot drifted wide allowing the Bombers to rise back into the top eight at the expense of the Dockers. Sydney also dropped to seventh on the ladder as a result, meaning the Eagles were now 10 points clear in fifth spot with four games to play.

The statement of the round though lay with the two leading premiership fancies in Collingwood and Geelong. The Magpies and the Cats were drawn against the two stragglers in the competition, in Port Adelaide and Gold Coast with the two sides not missing a chance at percentage boosters.

Geelong hammered the young Gold Coast side by 150 points, backing up from their 186 point thrashing of Melbourne the week before. Steve Johnson followed up his 34 disposal-7 goal effort against the Demons with 31 possessions and six goals against the Suns. The Ablett-less Suns matched the Cats early, with both sides kicking three goals to start the game before Geelong went on the rampage with the next 15 goals in the game to open up a 94 point lead at half time.

The Cats also booted the final 11 goals in the game to run out easy winners, with the combined 336 point margin over the previous fortnight boosting their percentage by 21.9 points in that time.

The Magpies proved they wouldn’t be outdone, smashing a hapless Port Adelaide by 138 points at Football Park. The Power managed just six scoring shots for the night – finishing with 3.3 for the match, compared to the Magpies’ total of 23.21 from 44 scoring shots. That kept the Magpies at the head of the ladder with their monstrous percentage of 186.1 from 17 wins keeping them in front of the Cats who had built their percentage to 160.4 from the same number of wins.

While happy with the win, there were concerns for the Eagles with a number of injuries out of the match against the Tigers. Wingman Matt Rosa was the most serious, limping off during the third quarter after clashing knees with Richmond’s Daniel Jackson while Jackson was attempting to kick. Both players would be substituted out of the game from the incident, with Rosa later diagnosed with a posterior cruciate ligament injury that was likely to keep him out of the rest of the home and away series.

It continued an unfortunate run for Rosa who was on the fringe of the Eagles’ 2006 premiership side, playing in the first two finals before being dropped for the preliminary final. Dean Cox would be monitored after his knock to the hip, while Naitanui limped off in the game late with a lower leg problem.

It would prove to be just a small scuff off the gloss of the week that saw West Coast celebrate their first quarter century of existence. The Eagles wore commemorative jumpers in the match that listed every Eagles to have represented the club, while the inaugural inductees of the West Coast Eagle Hall of Fame were announced in a gala event the night before the match.

Eight inductees were announced with current coach John Worsfold joined by former teammates Guy McKenna, Glen Jakovich, Peter Matera, Chris Lewis and Dean Kemp along with two time premiership coach Michael Malthouse and long-time trainer Bill Sutherland.

Eagles Taken To The Line

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Centremetres in it as Eagles Survive Late Docker Comeback

West Coast held on for a one point victory in one of the most gripping Western derbies seen between the Eagles and Dockers.

Fremantle goalsneak Hayden Ballantine had the chance to steal the unlikeliest of wins for the Dockers after the siren, with his long range effort from the boundary unable to clear the hoard of players positioned on the Fremantle goal line.

The result had important top eight implications for both teams, with the fine line in finish and margin keeping the Eagles in control of their top four destiny, while leaving the Dockers at the mercy of the chasing teams looking to force their way into September qualifications.

A win to Fremantle would have seen them join level with the Eagles on ten wins, but instead West Coast were able to open up a two game break on their closest rivals and keep the pressure on Carlton and Hawthorn for the double chance.

The frenzied finish belied the match and much of the build up as the two clubs remained cagey over their line ups.

Nic Naitanui and Jack Darling both failed to train during the week suggesting they could miss, while the Dockers were surprisingly touting the prospect of ruckman Aaron Sandilands returning despite a recurrence of a toe injury just three weeks earlier.

Mark Harvey then lit a fuse at the customary joint pre-match press conference between the two coaches when he declared the Dockers wouldn’t be caught out by West Coast as they had in the previous meeting earlier in the season.

Harvey suggested the Eagles had been ‘leaked intelligence’ before the match, which West Coast won by 33 points despite losing Daniel Kerr and Andrew Embley in the hour before the match. Further pressed, Harvey intimated the Eagles had gained information on personnel and planning which had aided them in claiming the win. Harvey was defiant in that the Eagles wouldn’t be able to rely on such assistance this time around.

A bemused John Worsfold added nothing to the accusations, other than to say he wasn’t aware of any leak. “I am not sure where all of that has come from.”

Much of the speculation during the week over line-ups ultimately came to nothing with both Jack Darling and Nic Naitanui picked for West Coast and Aaron Sandilands failing to come up. Daniel Kerr would miss a second straight week officially due to soreness with the Eagles taking precaution over their veteran midfielder.

Patrick McGinnity was the one change from the defeat to St Kilda the week before, replacing Koby Stevens. The Dockers made two changes, with Roger Hayden ruled out after breaking his leg against the Swans the week before, while 2008 rising star winner Rhys Palmer was dropped as doubt swirled around his future at the club.

Palmer had yet to sign a new contract with the Dockers with the expectation he would join the incumbent 18th AFL side, Greater Western Sydney at the end of the season. Nick Suban and Ryan Crowley were the two inclusions for the Dockers.

Although West Coast started the match as strong favourites, the Dockers held sway through the first half.

The Eagles had been expected to hold a considerable advantage in the ruck with Cox and Naitanui over Jon Griffin and Zac Clarke, and while that was the case in the ruck knocks, the Dockers through Matthew Pavlich and Michael Barlow ensured they would match West Coast in the clearances.

The first half was a tight affair that provided little in the way of space or clean skills. Stephen Hill had a rare chance to run and carry when he bounced his way from half back through the middle of Subiaco Oval to kick the game’s opener.

Michael Barlow added a second for Fremantle to give them an early break, with Jack Darling adding the only other goal for the quarter following a crunching tackle by Darren Glass on the wing on Ballantine.

Two goals in four minutes early in the second quarter to Matt Priddis and Josh Kennedy put West Coast in front for the first time, but couldn’t muster much more in their forward half as Fremantle spent the quarter edging closer.

The Dockers managed one goal for the term, with Zac Clarke marched close to goal after Nic Naitanui initially infringed the ruckman in a marking contest and then failed to adequately hand the ball back in time.

The evenness in the game showed on the scoreboard with the Eagles holding a slender one point lead at the main break, but West Coast would exert their mark on the game from the third quarter. The Eagles had 10 scoring shots to just four, but inaccuracy prevented them from wrapping the game up.

West Coast booted 3.7 for the term but handed the Dockers simple goals with a turnover that ended with Adam McPhee and another 50m penalty to Zac Clarke for his second of the match. However, the Dockers were dealt a blow when Jon Griffin limped off with a knee injury, leaving Clarke to hold up the ruck against the Eagles pairing.

Dean Cox took full advantage en route to being awarded the Glendinning medal. Cox would finish with 42 hit-outs for the match, 27 of which came after half time as he fed the likes of Luke Shuey (26 disposals, eight clearances) and Matt Rosa (21 disposals, five clearances).

Zac Clarke was left to lead the ruck for Fremantle after Jon Griffin went down

The Eagles worked their way to a seven point lead at the final change with late goals to Kennedy and LeCras and the game looked as good as done by midway through the final term when Kennedy added a third and Luke Shuey out-pointed Barlow in the goal square to stretch the Eagles advantage to 22 points.

Fremantle appeared out of shots through the last quarter as the Eagles controlled the forward half possession and their lead should have been far greater. Cox and Kennedy both missed sitters in front of goal, LeCras kicked into the man on the mark and Kennedy sent another chance out on the full.

A dour contest seemed set to reach its anticipated conclusion before Fremantle sparked into life in the final minutes through the efforts of second-year midfielder Nat Fyfe.

Fyfe got on the end of an Eagles turnover on the wing to carry the ball to the Dockers forward 50 before launching a shot on goal that drifted wide but landed with teammate Stephen Hill to kick his second of the match.

A minute later, with the Eagles looking to play conservatively and run down the clock, Fyfe won a contested ball to set Chris Mayne into space, with the half forward running the ball all the way to the goal line to draw the Dockers back within nine points.

Fyfe then added a third successive goal when Darren Glass gave away the Eagles’ third 50m penalty for the afternoon. Suddenly, in no time, the Dockers had closed to within a couple of points and had all of the momentum.

West Coast, seeming comfortable for much of the quarter, were now in desperation mode as Fremantle continued to press forward. Mayne was denied a pack mark that had correctly been adjudged to come off multiple hands, before Luke McPharlin was unlucky not to receive a free kick for high contact at the top of the goal square.

The ensuing scramble in the goal square ended with Priddis rushing a behind to reduce the margin to two points and give West Coast possession with a minute to play. Alex Silvagni won the ball back on the wing, but his kick to half forward missed the target, allowing Quinten Lynch to gather and kick for space onto the opposite wing.

Fremantle had one final thrust forward as the clock counted down to zero. A long kick from Tendai Mzungu was unable to be marked by Barlow and as the ball bobbled around a pack of players, Rosa sought refuge towards the boundary line.

However, the umpire called deliberate and the final play of an absorbing contest rested with Hayden Ballantine after the siren.

Taking possession at the apex of the boundary line and the 50m arc, the kick seemed beyond the small forward, but Ballantine flushed the kick as well as he possibly could have. For the mostly Fremantle crowd, and the kicker himself, the ball seemed to have enough but the ecstasy of celebration quickly dropped to agony and despair as the kick faded late to fall into the mass of players and only register a behind – leaving the Eagles one point victors.

The after-the-siren drama saw rare emotion from Worsfold, who ran onto the field after the final score was confirmed to celebrate with his players. But, while happy with the four points, the Eagles coach reflected on poor errors and discipline that could easily have given up the result.

“We got the win but it was real hard work, real hard work.”

Three of Fremantle’s nine goals came directly from 50m penalties, while Worsfold also bemoaned the ease of some of the other scores they conceded. “Heaps to learn from it and to know we have got to get a bit better again.”

Fremantle coach Mark Harvey praised the resilience of his side, for pushing towards the end, although he admitted he held little hope for Ballantine to come through with the winner from beyond 50m.

“My immediate thought was that it was going to be hard to kick a goal from that far out. I was expecting he might try a torpedo. He nearly got there anyway but it doesn’t come down to that kick. It comes down to prior events.”

Harvey admitted his side allowed the Eagles to control possession too much through the second half, with West Coast tallying 110 marks for the game. “We probably allowed them to kick the ball around too much at times, especially down back.”

“It was a credit to our blokes to come off the trip we had last week and kick the last three goals.”

“I would like to think that we never know when the end is near.”

Cox tallied 22 disposals and a number of important marks in the final term as part of his medal-winning performance, although Shuey arguably was the Eagles’ best with his showing in the midfield. With both Matt Priddis and Andrew Embley well held by Crowley and Mzungu, Shuey picked up the slack around the stoppages, along with Scott Selwood, who won his battle with Matthew Pavlich, and Matt Rosa.

Luke Shuey was one of the best for the Eagles with Priddis and Embley subdued

Mark LeCras picked up 22 touches and booted two goals, both of which came in the third term. LeCras was largely contained by Garrick Ibbotson, but broke free in the second half with 14 disposals and a brace of majors. Beau Waters was inspirational with 23 touches and a courageous effort in the third quarter when he backpeddled into oncoming traffic to mark deep in defence as Mayne crashed into the back of him.

Josh Kennedy finished with 3.4 for the match, while in defence Darren Glass and Adam Selwood were resolute. Glass limited the impact of Chris Mayne while Selwood had the job on Ballantine. Matt de Boer was assigned the defensive forward role on half back Shannon Hurn, but Hurn was still able to collect 17 disposals and six rebound 50s as the Eagles defensive group held firm throughout the day.

Michael Barlow and Greg Broughton were the leading ball winners for Fremantle with 26 each with Barlow the Docker’s most consistent performer on the day, just three weeks after returning from a horror broken leg. Luke McPharlin won his duel with Jack Darling to have 20 disposals and seven marks and Fyfe lifted in the final term with eight disposals to finish with 19 touches and five inside-50s.

Importantly for West Coast, their pursuit of the top four remained on track, despite the strong wins of Carlton and Hawthorn over the weekend. The Blues smashed Essendon by 74 points with Eddie Betts booting eight goals and the Hawks had the better of Melbourne to the tune of nine goals.

As good as those wins for Carlton and Hawthorn were, the defeats for Essendon and Melbourne could not have been more demoralising. The Bombers tumbled out of the eight as a result with St Kilda taking their place courtesy of a 103 point thrashing of Adelaide that would see the end of Neil Craig as senior coach of the Crows.

Remarkably, the Saints had started the round 11 percent behind Essendon, but the two results orchestrated a 15 percent turnaround between the two sides that allowed St Kilda to move into eighth spot. Fremantle held seventh, while the Swans remained sixth with a comfortable 39 point win over the Bulldogs.

However, they remained six points behind West Coast, who also had a game in hand, to leave the fight for the double chance down to a race in five. Collingwood and Geelong continued on their merry way at the top of the ladder with the Magpies and Cats recording easy wins over Gold Coast and Richmond.

Eagles Get The Cream

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West Coast Withstand Cats Comeback

Thirty scintillating minutes either side of quarter time and some desperate final quarter defence saw West Coast get home by eight points over ladder-leaders Geelong in one of the games of the 2011 season.

Over 40,000 people packed Subiaco Oval on the Friday night to see the Eagles score their second straight win over a top-four side and continue their push to break into the double chance position.

The Eagles remained fifth following the win, but after serving their second bye the week before, now sat within four points of the Blues and Hawks, with an extra game up their sleeve.

Geelong arrived in Perth as the competition’s benchmark after first-year coach Chris Scott had guided his side to 13 wins from his first 13 games in charge – a VFL/AFL record – but had had their unbeaten streak ended the week before with a surprise four point loss to Essendon.

Scott talked up the Eagles in the lead up, declaring the trip to WA as the biggest challenge in the competition and the Cats could have been accused of having an eye on the Eagles ahead of their match with Essendon.

The Cats made the left-field decision to send several players to WA the week before, with Travis Varcoe and Joel Corey – who were both rested against Essendon – along with suspended midfielder Joel Selwood spending the week training with South Fremantle.

West Coast had their own tribunal issues ahead of the match with Quinten Lynch copping two one week suspensions for separate incidents involving Marc Murphy in the Eagles win over Carlton a fortnight earlier.

While Lynch would plead guilty to a striking charge, confirming his ineligibility for the Geelong match, the Eagles successfully challenged the grading of a rough conduct, reducing the level from high to medium which meant Lynch would serve just the one match suspension.

Lynch was joined by Sam Butler on the sidelines after the defender strained a quad in the final training session of the week. Patrick McGinnity and Koby Stevens were the two inclusions for West Coast, with Stevens making his first appearance of the season.

Geelong made three changes, with Varcoe and Corey returning, along with Taylor Hunt. The Cats were clear in their match selection as they chose a number of mid-sized runners to come into the side in place of tall forwards Mitch Brown and Tom Gillies. Andrew Mackie was the third exclusion for Geelong due to soreness.

Dean Cox started in the ruck for West Coast, but had partner Nic Naitanui beside him at the opening bounce with John Worsfold throwing the Fijian into the centre square alongside Daniel Kerr and Matt Priddis.

The Eagles brought the early intensity with a number of forward entries that had the Geelong defence scrambling. However, for all of the home side’s endeavour, the class of the Cats stood out as they capitalised on the rebound.

Geelong booted four of the first five goals in the game – including their first three from just four forward 50 entries – with James Podsiadly bobbing up for two of them.

West Coast on the other hand were blowing their chances, with Mark Nicoski (twice) and Naitanui both missing simple shots in front of goal.

With five minutes left in the quarter Geelong led 4.1 to 1.3 but West Coast finished the quarter with a flurry of majors to get reward for their dominance. And it was the two players who had been guilty in front of goal earlier in the term who sparked what would be an unanswered nine goal run.

Naitanui would be the fortunate recipient of an overturned free kick in the forward pocket after Jack Darling had sprayed a set shot out on the full. With Geelong set to take possession, Steve Johnson took unkindly to the attention he was receiving from Adam Selwood off the ball, gifting the ball back to the Eagles, where Naitanui snapped truly from the behind post.

Josh Kennedy eked through the Eagles’ third goal after a scramble near the goal square before Mark Nicoski produced a moment of magic.

Collecting the ball on the bounce near the boundary line and cornered by two Geelong defenders, Nicoski fashioned a checkside effort as he was falling backwards that purely defied his two earlier misses from dead in front. That put West Coast in front with Mark LeCras extending the Eagles lead to ten points at the first change in the dying seconds.

The final major told the tale of the first term.

The longer the quarter went, the less sure and composed the Cats defence appeared in the face of the Eagles forward pressure. With the seconds ticking down, Travis Varcoe had possession and looked to exit the ball from the defensive arc. Varcoe overshot his handpass which went directly to Mark LeCras, who then cut a swathe through two defenders and caressed the ball home for the Eagles’ fifth goal from the 50m line.

West Coast had enjoyed 77% of the play in their forward half and led the inside 50 count 18-8 with many of their early matchups were working in their advantage.

Adam Selwood was minding the enigmatic Steve Johnson, brother Scott was doing a similar job on Bartel and Darren Glass had kept the dangerous Daniel Menzel to just two disposals. Brad Ebert had been deployed as a defensive forward on Matthew Scarlett, with the intent of dragging the Cats full back out of the play.

If West Coast had been guilty of not maximising the glut of forward entries in the first quarter, there was no such issue in the second term as the Eagles piled on five goals in 17 minutes to stun the Cats. From sixteen points down entering time-on of the first term, West Coast had advanced to a 40 point lead entering time-on of the second.

Mark Nicoski was dynamic for West Coast up forward with three goals

Bartel eventually ended the Eagles run, but when Brad Ebert rolled home his first major just before half time after another poor turnover in defence by Geelong, this time by Taylor Hunt, West Coast had secured a 35 point lead at the main break.

The Eagles midfield were in complete control from the first half, with Andrew Embley (20 disposals, three clearances), Daniel Kerr (15 disposals, four clearances) and Matt Priddis (14 disposals, four clearances) all prominent.

For Geelong, only Cameron Ling with 18 disposals for the half showed resistance.

The Cats though weren’t the top side in the competition by accident and they proved as such in the early stages of the third quarter when they slammed on four goals in nine minutes to cut the Eagles lead back to 10 points.

Dean Cox provided a steadier but David Wocjinski reduced the margin once again heading into three-quarter time as the match started to take on a different look than earlier in the piece.

Where West Coast had virtually monopolised forward half possession and hunted the Cats when they attempted to control the ball, it was now Geelong that was generating multiple forward 50 entries with the Eagles trying to hold off their momentum.

The first goal of the final term was crucial to both sides, and it would be West Coast who would get the vital strike. With a ball up in their goal square, James Kelly took possession and looked to switch the ball towards the Chris Mainwaring wing. But the ball had barely travelled a metre off his boot before being intercepted by Mark Nicoski, who cleanly took the ball and drilled his third goal of the night.

Geelong continued to press but the first quarter efficiency had all but disappeared as they butchered a spate of chances in front of goal. Paul Chapman, Wocjinski, Steve Johnson and Steven Motlop all missed gettable shots and they were made to pay when Andrew Embley sealed the match on a breakaway move.

Having endured repeat forward entries, Darren Glass was able to mark a Podsiadly entry into the forward line and switch the play as West Coast found a way around the Geelong defence. Josh Kennedy was able to mark at half forward and spotted Embley alone in the forward pocket.

Having taken the mark, Embley inadvertently took a step forward – enough for the umpire to wave play on as Scarlett and Taylor came bearing down on the Eagles wingman. Corralled towards the boundary line and on the wrong side for a right footer, Embley ducked and baulked the pair before swinging home the sealer.

The Cats finished with the final two majors to keep fans on edge, but West Coast had done enough to keep Geelong at bay and record their 10th win of the season.

A pleased John Worsfold commended the maturity of his side as Geelong mounted their comeback. “I think holding on to win with Geelong throwing everything at us in the second half to get back into the game… and the composure the boys showed through the last quarter. I thought that was great…”

“Beating Carlton was fairly important for us because we had some pretty closes losses against some of the other teams that… were going pretty well. It was reward for effort, I think, because we had pushed those teams and lost close games.”

“In the last two weeks we have pushed good teams and won.”

Chris Scott lamented his side’s poor second quarter, which ultimately cost them the game despite the strong second half performance. The Cats recorded 34 inside 50s after half-time, to just 13 for the Eagles and ended up winning the count 52-43 for the match, but had left themselves too much to do.

“Our first half was really bad, theirs was really good. We just didn’t do enough to stop the momentum. They kicked nine straight at one stage.”

“We left ourselves with too much to do, but our gusy are pretty tough and have great character. Even our young players are showing that they play the Geelong way when the chips are down and the disappointing thing is we just didn’t do enough.”

Joel Corey, Corey Enright and Paul Chapman all lifted their rate in the second half with rookie ruckman Nathan Vardy getting a handle of the stoppages. Cameron Ling finished as the leading ball winner with 30 disposals, while Chapman collected 13 touches in the final term to finish the match with 29. Joel Corey tallied 28 possessions and Harry Taylor had 23 disposals and nine marks opposed to Darling in defence.

Andrew Embley was outstanding for West Coast for four quarters, picking up 32 touches on top of kicking the sealing goal. Matt Priddis did much of the grunt work in the middle, while Shannon Hurn and Daniel Kerr each picked up 24 touches. Brad Ebert quelled the influence of Matthew Scarlett and chimed in for 20 disposals and a goal and Matt Rosa was important in the last quarter.

The Cats lost more than the four points on the evening, as they were usurped from top position following a second successive defeat. Collingwood overtook the Cats with a superior percentage after they demolished North Melbourne by 117 points.

Carlton’s surprise 27 point defeat to the Bulldogs, which had the Bulldogs on the edge of the top eight, now had the Blues prime for the picking in fourth spot. West Coast had the prize of the double chance firmly in their grasp but the ever-straight Worsfold continued to preach the evolution of his squad.

“Our goals have always been about continual improvement.”

“It has come pretty quickly in terms of this year, but we are still a long way short of where we want to be”, Worsfold said.

“But we are prepared to do the hard work it is going to take.”

Hurn the Hero

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Hurn Gets Eagles Across Line as Blues Await

Shannon Hurn stepped up as an unlikely major goal scorer for West Coast as they did what they needed to do to get past a dogged Port Adelaide.

The two sides met in Round 2, where the Eagles recorded an 18 point win, but the margin was expected to be far greater in this match as the two sides headed in opposite directions through the season.

While West Coast were positioning themselves to challenge for the top four, the Power had slumped towards the bottom of the ladder where they were in a battle with the Gold Coast Suns to avoid the wooden spoon.

Coach John Worsfold discussed the need for West Coast to find alternative midfield mixes, suggesting that a number of fringe players could be tried through the centre against the lowly Power. Brad Sheppard and Koby Stevens were brought into the extended squad, but in the end just one change was made.

Tom Swift worked his way into the starting 22 with Chris Masten sent back to the WAFL to find minutes after spending much of the preceding few weeks alternating between being the incoming and outgoing sub.

The Power made two changes as Matthew Primus found himself under growing pressure over his side’s poor season. Primus had remained defiant to the growing backlash through the season with senior players left in the SANFL as youngsters were tried in their place. The likes of Chad Cornes, Brad Ebert, Steven Salopek and Jason Davenport had spent little time in the seniors and were again overlooked for the trip west.

Instead, Daniel Stewart and Dom Cassisi were recalled with veteran Jacob Surjan and rookie Andrew Moore dropped.

If the task wasn’t already daunting enough, the Power were also caught up in the flights drama that was gripping the country. Volcanic ash from an eruption in Chile had drifted and settled over the mainland causing many commercial flights to be cancelled. To avoid possibly getting stuck in South Australia, the Power were forced to fly to Perth earlier in the week, disrupting their normal routine.

The first half played out as expected with the Eagles building a 33 point lead to half time. Mark LeCras booted three goals and Josh Kennedy two, with inaccurate kicking on goal preventing the lead from being far greater.

Shannon Hurn led the ball winners for the half with 16, while Matt Priddis and Daniel Kerr (each 15) were prominent through the middle as the Eagles held the upper hand in the clearances.

Shannon Hurn was a standout in the first half for West Coast before kicking two vital second half goals

However, three goals on the trot to the Power straight after half time changed the complexion of the match. The Port Adelaide talls had had no influence in the first half, but Justin Westhoff and Daniel Stewart hit the scoreboard, as did Simon Phillips to drag the Power to within 14 points.

Nic Naitanui and Travis Boak traded majors before Shannon Hurn launched a booming long range effort for his second goal of the game to ease the nerves of the home fans heading into three quarter time.

West Coast would have felt more comfortable when Brad Ebert and Scott Selwood added goals inside the first two minutes of the final term to extend their lead out to 35 points but the Power made one final push.

Another run of three goals, in four minutes, had the Power back within 17 points and Eagles fans again on the edge of their seats. Port Adelaide kept pushing forward, with Danyle Pearce and Travis Boak taking control in the midfield.

Up stepped Hurn to seal the match.

The burly half back drifted forward, getting on the end of a ball just inside the 50m arc and casually snapping the ball through at goal post height. LeCras added a fourth and West Coast controlled the rest of the game to earn a 22 point win.

Matt Priddis finished as the leading ball winner for West Coast, with 28 to go with eight tackles and six clearances. Daniel Kerr tallied 27 disposals and seven clearances with Hurn and Rosa the next best with 25 possessions.

Tom Swift collected 23 touches to make a strong claim to remain in the Eagles side at his first chance of the season, while Luke Shuey was busy with 22 disposals, eight inside-50s and seven clearances.

LeCras and Josh Kennedy combined for seven goals, but it was a host of other unlikely contributors that hit the scoreboard to get West Coast across the line.

Hurn, Brad Ebert, Adam and Scott Selwood and Matt Priddis had booted just eight goals between them for the season, but all kicked goals against the Power with Jack Darling, Mark Nicoski and Quinten Lynch all goalless. It was the first time for the year that the trio didn’t manage to kick goals.

Travis Boak was the clear standout for the Power, finishing as the only multiple goal scorer with three from 24 disposals. Danyle Pearce gathered the most touches with 30 and Dom Cassisi finished with 24 disposals and 11 tackles as he and Boak engineered Port Adelaide’s second half revival.

Justin Westhoff had a solid second half after just four disposals to half time, while Hamish Hartlett had 18 possessions and eight tackles.

The victory saw the Eagles climb another rung to fifth on the ladder, overtaking the Swans who lost to Carlton. With Collingwood having the bye, Geelong moved two games clear at the top of the ladder making it 12 wins from 12 starts with a 28 point win over St Kilda. Hawthorn rounded out the top four with a comfortable 71 point win of the Suns.

Fremantle and Essendon both suffered untimely defeats that saw the battle for the final spots of the top eight open up. The Dockers were thrashed by Melboune to the tune of 89 points which saw the Demons join the Bombers on five and a half wins, two premiership points behind Fremantle in 7th.

Richmond also moved to 22 premiership points with an easy win over the Lions and North Melbourne’s defeat of an inaccurate Essendon moved them into finals contention. Results meant the Eagles now were two and a half games inside the top eight with a top four spot up for grabs with a clash to come against Carlton.

JK’s Big Day Out

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Kennedy Bags 10 as Eagles Deliver Bulldog Belting

When Chris Judd declared that he would head home to Victoria at the end of the 2007 season, the premiership captain was adamant West Coast would be fairly compensated for his departure.

Following a tender process involving four clubs, the Blues ultimately came up with the package that earned the services of Judd, exchanging the number 3 and 20 draft selections, as well as emerging West Australian forward Josh Kennedy.

Kennedy had booted 11 goals in 22 games across two seasons at the Blues, and while Carlton were reluctant to let the key forward go, the opportunity to bring Judd to the club was too great to refuse.

Judd was instantly instilled as captain, guided the Blues to finals appearances in 2009 and 2010 and claimed the club champion award in his first three years at the club as well as winning the 2010 Brownlow.

For West Coast, Josh Kennedy was always going to be a longer-term project.

And in his 53rd game with the club, the Eagles saw exactly what Kennedy could produce when he booted a career best 10 goals in a 123 point thumping of the Western Bulldogs.

Kennedy got the better of four opponents on the day, kicking 10.3 from 21 disposals and 15 marks as the Eagles orchestrated a remarkable 183 point turnaround from their last meeting with the Bulldogs. That game, in Round 13 of 2010, saw ‘Dogs come to Perth and claim an easy 60 point win.

However, the side that had reached the penultimate weekend of the season in each of the previous three seasons appeared a shell on this trip to Perth, outplayed from the opening bounce.

The Bulldogs were without several important players, including Brian Lake and Barry Hall (who was named an emergency as he returned from injury), while Adam Cooney was forced out with a knee injury and Dylan Addison injured an ankle at training. However, Shaun Higgins, Easton Wood and Tom Williams could all be recalled.

West Coast made just the two changes, bringing in Andrew Embley and Daniel Kerr who had been late withdrawals the week before. Their two replacements for the Derby in Brad Sheppard and Andrew Gaff made way.

Kennedy’s big day started in the opening minute when Matt Rosa and Scott Selwood combined to win the first stoppage, before sliding the ball to Luke Shuey who found Kennedy. Kennedy would have a further three goals by quarter time and added a fifth, 56 seconds into the second term.

By this point the Eagles had opened up a five goal lead, although the visitors were able to manage the halt the damage to half time. Remarkably, when Jarrad Grant and Daniel Giansiracusa goaled midway through the third term, the margin was just 22 points between the sides, but the Eagles rammed home their clear advantage in the game with the next seven goals.

Eagles teammates celebrate with Kennedy after he kicks his tenth goal

The game was as good as done by three-quarter time with West Coast leading by 59 points, before the Eagles went another level.

West Coast stepped into savage mode.

The last term became a procession as the Eagles slammed on 10.4 to nothing to come away with a 20 goal victory, having kicked 17 of the last 18 goals in the match. After four goals in the first quarter, Kennedy added two in each of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th terms, with teammates mobbing the key forward when he became just the fourth Eagle in club history to reach double digits.

Kennedy would be the standout from the result, but there wasn’t a poor Eagle in the house.

Scott Selwood and Daniel Kerr provided the grunt in the middle, Andrew Embley and Matt Rosa gave the outside run and Luke Shuey provided the cream through the centre and the perfect foil up forward, booting five goals from 27 disposals.

With the Eagle talls dominating, Mark LeCras spent more time through the middle, gathering 29 disposals and booting three goals. Darren Glass held the defence, blanketing Jarrad Grant with Ashley Smith and Shannon Hurn proficient in exiting the ball out of the Bulldogs forward 50 on the few times they got that far up the ground.

Nic Naitanui and Dean Cox were superior over Ben Hudson and Will Minson, Quinten Lynch and Jack Darling roamed up and down the ground to send the ball inside 50 on ten occasions and Adam Selwood kept the reins on Daniel Cross.

All aspects of the game pointed to a shellacking.

West Coast finished the game with 121 more disposals, 35 more marks, won the clearances 48-37, recorded 34 more inside-50s and had a staggering 33 more scoring shots (45-12). The Eagles also took 27 marks inside their forward 50, with the combination of Kennedy, Darling, Lynch and Cox proving too much for the undersized Bulldog defence.

The 123 point margin was the third largest win in the clubs history and was also their highest score since 2006.

While teammates and fans were celebrating the massive win, coach John Worsfold was quick to stifle expectations declaring the upcoming round 10 match against Collingwood ‘the real measuring kick’.

“I told them after the game you get four points for the win. You get a lot of pats on the backs – well above what four points deserves.”

“They deserve the accolades that come but it doesn’t give you anything other than one win. I wanted to see them maintain the effort they put in last week and they did that.”

Worsfold was also full of praise for Kennedy following his career-best day. “It reinforces the faith in the ability that we all know he (Kennedy) does have. It is good reward because he works as hard as anyone.”

“It wasn’t ideal losing Chris Judd but… we were more than pleased with the outcome of that trade.”

While Worsfold was playing down the expectations of his side, Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade declared West Coast were premiership contenders, following what he described as the ‘worst loss his career’. The magnitude of the defeat – the fourth worst in the history of the Bulldogs, and their largest defeat since 1996 – followed in the coming days, with president David Smorgon issuing an open letter to members apologising for the performance.

Smorgon was also forced to deny Eade’s tenure as coach was under threat, despite the veteran coach being out of contract at the end of the season. “With 14 rounds to play, I want to reiterate that we will continue to support and encourage Rodney Eade and the match committee to make whatever changes they feel necessary to ensure we again start playing consistent footy every week and every quarter.”

Any other day LeCras’ 29 disposal, three goal game would have been best on ground honours

The big victory saw the Eagles move up one place to sixth on the ladder, with the biggest gain in the percentage column, rising from 112.6 to 131. The Eagles moved past the Swans who were thrashed at home by Hawthorn to the tune of 46 points. That saw the Hawks climb up to third after Essendon and Carlton both suffered defeats in the round.

The Bombers were 16 point losers to the Tigers, with Richmond joining the Swans on four and a half wins on the outskirts of the top eight. Carlton went down to the top of the table Cats by just two points in one of the games of the season.

The Blues jumped out of the blocks early, twice leading by 20 points during the first half, before a late rally before half-time saw the top four aspirants level at the major break. Geelong edged away during the third term, before Carlton strung four of five goals either side of three-quarter time to take back the lead.

The Cats then settled through Steve Johnson and James Podsiadly, but the Blues had chances late in the game to steal the win, with Jarrad Waite and Robert Warnock missing shots on goal. The Bombers and Blues were now just half a game in front of the Eagles.

The Dockers joined the Eagles on five wins when they easily accounted for Port Adelaide, who slumped to the bottom of the ladder after Brisbane broke through for their first win of the season over North Melbourne. The Demons hopes of making finals took a hit when they fell to a 20 point defeat against the Saints, who had started the season horribly after playing in the previous two grand finals. St Kilda had recorded just two wins and a draw in their first eight games.

Next up for West Coast was arguably their biggest challenge of the year – a trip to the MCG to tackle the all-conquering Magpies.

Eagles End Derby Drought

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Shock Late Withdrawals Fail to Rock West Coast

West Coast ended a seven game losing streak against their cross-town rivals when they broke through for a 33 point win over the Dockers.

Despite losing key midfielders Daniel Kerr and Andrew Embley in the hour before bouncedown, West Coast managed to win the battle in the centre and implement their forward press to make it four wins from their first seven matches – equal to the number of wins they managed for the entire 2010 season.

Matt Priddis stepped up in the absence of Kerr and Embley to dominate the stoppages and claim his first Ross Glendinning medal. Priddis was a unanimous choice for the award, with 27 disposals (17 contested), six clearances and five tackles.

Priddis, in particular, was instrumental at winning the ball in the contest and feeding out possession to the outside runners in the likes of Matt Rosa, Chris Masten and Luke Shuey. The Eagles forward line functioned far better than their counterparts, with the three-pronged attack of Kennedy, Darling and Lynch proving too much for the Docker defence.

Lynch also rotated through the ruck as West Coast used the burly forward along with Nic Naitanui and Dean Cox to counter the impact of Fremantle beanpole Aaron Sandilands. Sandilands still got the better in the hit-outs (45-39) and picked up 14 disposals to go with five clearances to be one of Fremantle’s better players on the day, but West Coast would have a better spread of contributors in the match.

The 33rd Western Derby promised to be the most even contest in several seasons with West Coast showing improvement after three seasons at the bottom of the ladder. Certainly, hopes were raised amongst both sets of fans, with the match declared a sell out over a week before the match. However, the Eagles’ chances of ending their losing run against Fremantle took a major hit as the clubs prepared for the start of the match.

First, Andrew Embley pulled out after deciding his questionable hamstring wasn’t worth the risk. Then, with the sides completing their customary warm-up, Daniel Kerr strained an adductor and was deemed unable to take his place. Brad Sheppard and Andrew Gaff were called up as the late replacements, with Gaff donning the substitute vest and Chris Masten, who had already been added to the side for his first game since injuring a knee in the opening round, was elevated into the starting 21.

Fremantle had their own late drama with small forward Hayden Ballentine officially ruled out. Ballantine had not been expected to play due to injury, but was surprisingly named when teams were released during the week with the Dockers refusing to admit there had been an issue. Jayden Pitt was brought in as his replacement, starting as the Fremantle sub.

Despite the disrupted preparations, West Coast showed no signs of being rattled. They started the stronger of the two sides with Josh Kennedy taking a strong pack mark to boot the Eagles’ first goal, with Darling following shortly after.

Quinten Lynch and Mark Nicoski also kicked first-quarter goals as West Coast took a two-goal lead into the second term, where West Coast’s ascendancy around the ground would lead to its biggest impact on the scoreboard.

Fremantle became the latest casualty to the Eagles forward press, as West Coast locked the ball in their forward half. The Docker defence failed to handle the pressure from the Eagles forwards, who capitalised in booting five goals for the term to take a commanding 37-point lead into half time.

The Dockers got the match on a more even keel through the second half, twice closing withing 20 points, but the Eagles were able to hold their advantage to run out 33 point winners.

Josh Kennedy finished with three goals to get the better of Luke McPharlin, with Jack Darling, Mark LeCras and Mark Nicoski each finishing with a brace. Scott Selwood joined Priddis with the in-and-under work, finishing with 21 disposals and nine tackles while Matt Rosa picked up 24 disposals on the wing in a run-with role on Stephen Hill.

John Worsfold was impressed with his side’s ability to focus on the task at hand, despite the late disruptions. “It was a credit the players just got on with business.”

“The way that Gaff prepared, the way that Sheppard prepared. And also Masten who expected to be the sub and having to come on and play longer game time. Those players just got on with the job.”

“They are only young players who showed great maturity.”

While many of the plaudits were for the midfield and forward groups, the Eagles defence were also solid, with Darren Glass leading the way. Glass held Jack Anthony to just five disposals and a behind in his Dockers debut, with Sam Butler and Ashley Smith providing the rebound from the back half.

While Anthony’s first game since crossing over from Collingwood was underwhelming, he wasn’t alone with many of the key Fremantle players struggling. Matthew Pavlich was closely watched by Adam Selwood, and while he still found the ball 22 times, he lacked presence in the match.

Adam McPhee, Paul Duffield, Clancee Pearce and Greg Broughton were all below their best, with Mark Harvey admitting his side couldn’t handle the pressure brought on the Eagles.

“We appear to not have enough class at the moment in our side and we are putting ourselves under pressure with our disposal.”

Matt Priddis was the unanimous choice for the Ross Glendinning Medal

The result saw West Coast move back into the top eight, past the Dockers into 7th spot. The Eagles were able to climb several rungs with Melbourne and Richmond, who sat above them heading into the round, both suffering surprise defeats to lower placed sides.

The Tigers lost to the Bulldogs in a 43-goal shootout, while Melbourne fell to North Melbourne by 41 points after being outscored 12 goals to four in the second half. Many of the remainder games went as expected as the top half of the ladder began to take shape.

Essendon ran away to a six goal win over Brisbane after an even first half, Hawthorn claimed a five goal win over the Saints after also being even at the major break while Sydney thrashed Port Adelaide by ten goals.

The match of the round, however, was the opening game of the weekend that saw the undefeated pair of Collingwood and Geelong meet at the MCG. In a fiercely fought match, the inaccurate Cats came from behind to get over the top of the Magpies by three points.

Geelong registered 11 scoring shots in the opening term but could only manage 2.9, to hold a 14 point lead at the first change. Collingwood then took control with six of the next nine goals to head into the final term with a five point advantage. Andrew Krakouer kicked the first major in the final quarter to stretch the Magpies lead out to 11 and the reigning premiers appeared to have done enough.

However, three goals in seven minutes to the Cats flipped the match, with Geelong holding on due to some late controversy. Scott Pendlebury appeared to have slid home the winner for Collingwood in the final two minutes after taking advantage from a free kick, but the umpires pulled the ball back up the ground and the chance was lost.

For Eagles fans, the win over Fremantle had them dreaming of a return to finals actions after three seasons watching on in September. While Worsfold was happy with the result, bragging rights weren’t high on the agenda.

“It’s not about the derby. It’s where we want to get to as a team. We’re working hard to improve… and we’ve taken some steps. There are a lot of steps still to take. And the derby was another step on the way.”

“The big picture is to develop this side to be the absolute best it can be. It’s going to take a little while longer.”

Eagles Resurgence Takes Next Step

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Fast Start Allows Eagles to Coast Home

West Coast showed that they would be a significant improver on their 2010 wooden spoon finish with a comprehensive nine goal win over Melbourne at Subiaco Oval.

The Demons had also been expected to rise after a strong finish to the 2010 season and started the season with two wins and a draw from their first four games.

However, they were no match for the Eagles’ famed forward press as West Coast locked the ball in their forward half for much of the night. The Eagles bounced to a five goal quarter time lead off the back of an astonishing 22-3 inside 50 advantage and they never looked like relinquishing the lead.

After their first four matches had been decided by 18 points or less (for two wins and two losses), Eagles coach John Worsfold was pleased to have the match out of the opposition’s reach early.

“We’ve had four pretty tight games leading into this one so to actually get the margin out a little bit is some good reward for the players”, Worsfold said.

Over 36,000 fans attended the rare Thursday night fixture in Perth, with the Eagles and Demons both coming off byes in round 5. West Coast made three changes to the side that lost to Hawthorn a fortnight earlier with Will Schofield and Mitch Brown unavailable due to injury and Bradd Dalziell omitted.

Mark LeCras returned for his first game since damaging a groin in the opening round, with Ashley Smith selected for his first match of the season and Patrick McGinnity also included. The Demons smashed newcomers Gold Coast by 90 points before the bye, with the Demons coaching staff sticking with the same 22 for the trip west.

However, it wouldn’t be long before Dean Bailey would have wished he could have called on more reinforcements.

Nic Naitanui took clean possession from the opening bounce and sent the ball deep into the Eagles’ forward line in what would prove indicative of the rest of the term. The Demons defence were under siege and the Eagles arguably could have led by more at the first break.

Jack Darling kicked the home sides first major shortly after and by the time Andrew Embley waltzed through for his second goal just before quarter time, there had been a distinct difference in level between the two sides.

It was much of the same for the second term before Melbourne briefly brought some life to the contest on the brink of half-time. Two goals in a minute to Colin Sylvia and Aaron Davey reduced the margin at the major break to 26 points but West Coast reasserted themselves in the second half, coasting to their third win of the year.

The tale of the match was told in the stats, with the Eagles well ahead in most areas. The Eagles had 40 more disposals on the night, which translated into a 65-36 inside-50 count, following their opening quarter blitz. The Eagles also out-tackled the Demons 68-57 and claimed a win in the clearances 35-29.

West Coast also made the most of the advantage they had in their forward line, with the likes of Kennedy, Lynch, Darling and the resting ruckmen of Naitanui and Cox proving too strong for the smaller Demon defence. The Eagles took 22 contested marks for the match, and had 14 marks inside 50.

Individually, Matt Priddis was the leading ball winner on the ground with 33 disposals (9 kicks, 24 handballs), while also amassing eight clearances and seven inside 50’s. Daniel Kerr tallied 27 possessions, six clearances and seven inside 50s with Matt Rosa picking up 26.

Dean Cox wasn’t as proficient as previous weeks but still managed 23 disposals and 12 marks to go with 20 hit-outs in an intriguing duel with Demons ruckman Mark Jamar. Jamar was easily the Demons best player and only four-quarter performer with the pair breaking even in their contest.

Ashley Smith gathered 25 disposals in his first senior outing of the year, Sam Butler had 21 and laid nine tackles, while Mark Nicoski was again lively in his new role across half forward. Nicoski kicked two goals and had a hand in several other goals from 15 disposals.

Young forward Jack Darling put in his best performance of his burgeoning career with three goals from 14 disposals and nine marks while Andrew Embley and Quinten Lynch also each booted three goals.

Apart from Jamar, it was slim pickings for the Demons.

With the ball spending much of the night in their defence, Jack Grimes finished with the most disposals (27), while Colin Garland (19) and James Frawley (18) also saw plenty of the pill. Nathan Jones collected 23 possessions, while Colin Sylvia tried hard through the middle and across half forward with 21 disposals, seven tackles and a goal.

Coach Dean Bailey couldn’t hide his disappointment after the match.

“It is a poor performance, it is a poor performance”, Bailey lamented.

“We turned the ball over too much. We’ve got to go back to the fundamentals of the game and get better in those areas.”

“You don’t start well, you get what you deserve really.”

The win catapulted the Eagles back into the top eight, into seventh spot ahead of Melbourne who slipped to eighth. With three wins, the Eagles were equal on points with Hawthorn, but there was already separation at the top of the ladder.

The last two premiers were the trendsetters early in the year, with both sides undefeated at the end of Round 6. The Magpies were a game clear, courtesy of having played an extra game, with Geelong, Hawthorn and Fremantle (who had started the year with four wins from five matches) all having byes this round.

Carlton overcame Sydney in the final quarter to record their fourth win of the season and move up to third behind the Magpies and Cats and in front of the Dockers who rounded out the top four. Essendon pushed up to fifth after they were the latest team to annihilate the Suns. The Bombers kicked a record 15 goals in the first term to lead by an astonishing 93 points at quarter time, ultimately ‘easing’ to a 139 point win. The victory bumped their percentage by almost 27 percentage points.

West Coast sat two points ahead of the Demons, Swans and Tigers who defeated the winless Brisbane by 26 points. The Lions were left last on the ladder after North Melbourne earned their first win of the season with a ten goal triumph over Port Adelaide.

The Eagles had showed in their win over Melbourne that the early season form was sustainable and three wins from five matches had put the team in good stead for a return to finals action ahead of a tough month with matches to come against Essendon, Fremantle, the Bulldogs and reigning premiers Collingwood.

1990 Rewind: Eagles Fail Demons Challenge… Again

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Final Five Set, But Double Chance Remains Up For Grabs

West Coast missed out on securing the double chance in the finals when they lost to Melbourne in a heated encounter in front of a packed house at Subiaco Oval.

The Demons ended the Eagles’ 15-game winning streak at home – stretching back to round 11, 1989 – with a comprehensive 36 point win.

A win would have pushed the Eagles two games clear of the fourth-placed Demons, with two rounds to play, but the race to finish in the top three and secure the double chance in the opening week of the finals was set to be decided over the final two weeks of the home and away season.

Further compounding the loss, West Coast could have climbed to equal top of the ladder after Essendon and Collingwood both suffered defeats 24 hours earlier.

The Bombers, minus a host of stars from their last gasp win over Collingwood the week before, fell to arch-rivals Carlton by 20 points, with Blues captain Stephen Kernahan booting seven goals. The win kept Carlton’s slim finals hopes alive, but the satisfaction of victory was quickly extinguished when news filtered through of Hawthorn’s stunning win over the Magpies at Waverley Park.

Jason Dunstall kicked 11 goals as Hawthorn romped to an 83 point win, virtually assuring the Hawks of a ninth-straight finals appearance. North Melbourne’s defeat of Footscray left the Kangaroos, Blues and Bulldogs all two wins and a hefty chunk of percentage behind the fifth-placed Hawks, essentially setting the participants for the 1990 AFL finals.

Nearly 36,000 fans piled into Subiaco for the blockbuster clash between two of the form teams of the competition. West Coast had won their previous five matches, while the Demons had rediscovered their early-season form to claim four wins on the trot.

The Eagles made two changes when teams were announced, with full-forward Peter Sumich returning after three weeks out with a hamstring injury. Phil Narkle was the other inclusion, with Peter Wilson sidelined with a broken jaw and Don Pyke dropped after just one game in the seniors.

Melbourne also made two changes, with John Howat and Brent Heaver both dropped and Garry Lyon and Steven Febey coming into the line-up. The Eagles were then forced into a third change when forward Craig McGrath withdrew ahead of the bounce, allowing Chris Waterman to make his first appearance of the season.

Waterman had endured a frustrating season on the sidelines after fracturing his ankle in a pre-season match, but had worked his way back into contention for AFL selection after strong form with Subiaco.

Demons coach John Northey had made the trip to Perth the week before to watch West Coast tackle the Tigers and his side followed the lead set by Richmond by approaching the game with physical intent.

Melbourne’s ferocity at the ball – and the man – saw them jump the home side with full-forward Darren Bennett finishing off the midfield ascendancy.

Jim Stynes took immediate control in the ruck against Dean Irving as Melbourne repeatedly sent the ball forward in the early exchanges. The Demons wasted their early chances, starting the match with three behinds, but Bennett soon gave them reward on the scoreboard.

Bennett booted the first four goals of the game, forcing Mick Malthouse to frantically shift around his under-siege defence. With Sumich back in the Eagles goal square, Peter Melesso started at full-back, but he lasted barely ten minutes before Michael Brennan replaced him on the last line.

Melesso was swapped to centre half back on Earl Spalding, Guy McKenna went to Garry Lyon and Steve Malaxos was sent to the back pocket.

Trailing 4.5 to nil, the Eagles worked themselves into the game late in the term, with Peter Sumich booting their only goal for the term.

Melbourne then started the second term as they did the first, with Bennett adding a fifth goal and Ricky Jackson crumbing from the top of the goal square to stretch the Demons lead out to six goals. Andrew Obst was dominant out of the middle of the ground off the back of Jim Stynes’ work in the ruck, while Steven Stretch and Graeme Yeats gave the Demons plenty of drive on the expanses of Subiaco.

But a late hit on Rod Grinter by Chris Mainwaring seemed to spark the home side into action.

The Eagles booted four goals heading into time on to reduce the margin down to 11 points. Troy Ugle came off the bench, as he has done on many occasions through the year, to have a hand in several chances and Dean Irving switched from the ruck to centre half forward where he took several strong marks and kicked the first of the goals to start the Eagles run.

Against the momentum of the game, Melbourne added two late majors. Andrew Obst set up Earl Spalding to run into an open goal, before Ricky Jackson finished off a chain of handballs from the next centre bounce to give the Demons an important break of 21 points at the main break.

The third term would prove to be one of the most exhilarating and controversial quarters of the year.

After being well held during the first half by McKenna, Garry Lyon was switched to the half back line, with Tony Campbell sent forward. Campbell kicked the opening goal of the quarter, but Karl Langdon responded after Jim Stynes failed to adequately clear the Demons defence.

Campbell then went to defence in a direct swap with full-back Danny Hughes who was struggling to contain Peter Sumich, despite the Eagles’ full-forward failing to maximise his chances on goal. The change had immediate effect with Hughes marking strongly in front of goal and converting.

Goals to Yeats and Stephen Tingay followed with Melbourne’s lead reaching 40 points.

The Eagles kept pressing with Waterman goalling twice, but for all of West Coast’s effort, the Demons were able to find a response. Seven goals to five in favour of Melbourne had them head to the final break with a 32 point advantage with the two teams as tensions between the clubs flared.

In the final seconds of the quarter, Jim Stynes’ swinging attempt to kick the ball of the ground only managed to connect with Dwayne Lamb’s arm, forcing the midfielder off with a suspected broken forearm. Chris Lewis was able to goal from the resultant free kick and at the next centre bounce, the Eagles players made their thoughts known when Stynes was collected at the ruck tap.

The animosity continued beyond the three quarter time siren between the players as a secondary melee broke out, while Demons coach John Northey and Eagles trainer Ian Monck also clashed as the pair were making their way to the respective huddles.

Dwayne Lamb finished with a broken arm after a stray kick from Jim Stynes

Any chance of a West Coast fightback in the final quarter was snuffed out early when Andrew Obst and Stephen Tingay kicked the opening two majors to all but end the contest. The midfield pair finished with 19 and 17 disposals, respectively, to be two of the best for Melbourne.

Jim Stynes was the architect, overwhelming both Irving and Phil Scott in the ruck and providing the Demons midfield with first use out of the stoppages. Simon Eishold was the leading ball winner for the Demons playing through the middle and across half forward with 26 possessions, while Brian Wilson was the next best with 24.

David Hart was initially assigned to Wilson, but couldn’t curb his work out of the middle, with Tony Begovich given the task after half time. Bennett finished with six goals for the afternoon, but his four-goal burst to start the match would provide the buffer Melbourne held for much of the afternoon.

Steve Malaxos was the leading possession winner in the game with 32, while midfielders Dean Kemp and Chris Lewis each collected 26. Lewis also booted three goals, as did Chris Waterman and Peter Sumich, who had a mixed afternoon.

Sumich almost summed up the Eagles’ afternoon in the final term when in the space of a minute, the full-forward fluffed two set shots. The first failed to make the distance from gettable range, while his second attempt only managed to go as far as the man on the mark.

The Eagles spearhead finished with 3.5 in his return match, but it could have been a double-digit haul if he made the most of all of his chances.

The fallout from the match continued in the days after.

Emerging Eagles utility Peter Melesso copped a five week suspension after being reported on trial-by-video for ‘assaulting Earl Spalding with his boot’ shortly before half time.

Footage showed Melesso stepping on Spalding as the centre half forward was on the ground, with Melesso arguing the contact was accidental. However the tribunal found Melesso guilty, leading chief executive Brian Cook to call the ‘whole AFL tribunal and video system frustrating’.

To further incense the Eagles, no action was taken on Stynes despite his swinging foot potentially costing Dwayne Lamb the rest of the season with a broken arm. Both club and player considered legal action over the incident, but ultimately chose not to, settling on a request to the AFL to re-define the law around kicking in danger.

Monck and Northey would both receive written warnings from the AFL over their stoush at three quarter time.

With the opportunity lost to cement the double chance, the Eagles now had to secure their place in the top three by getting wins on the road in the final two weeks against Brisbane and Geelong.