Australian Football

Match Report

West Coast remained the only undefeated team after round six after fighting off a determined North Melbourne. The Kangaroos were gutsy playing at the Eagles’ “House of Pain”, but a powerful last quarter from West Coast ended North’s charge. Scott Selwood, younger brother of Geelong captain Joel, was superb for the Eagles and continued to show his improvement to the football world. He was ably assisted by forward Josh Hill (four goals) and ruckman Dean Cox. North skipper Andrew Swallow (29 possessions) was brilliant in the midfield and Jack Ziebell played a significant role. Much of the post-match analysis surrounded West Coast’s apparent tactic of playing for free kicks by purposely ducking the head in a tackle. Kangaroos coach Brad Scott echoed Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson’s sentiments a fortnight earlier, who said the Eagles were the best duckers in the competition. “But we spoke about the technique. I wouldn't like our players to develop a reputation for doing that, but the umpires call it as they see it,” Scott said.



GOALS

West Coast: Hill 4, Hurn, Shuey 2, Scott Selwood, Rosa, Cox, Masten, Hams, Lynch, Darling, Lycett, Sheppard
North Melbourne: Cunnington 3, Harvey, Macmillan 2, Ziebell, Thomas, Wells, Wright, Pedersen, Petrie, Edwards, Harper

BEST - WA TODAY.COM.AU
West Coast: S Selwood, Hurn, Hill, Cox, Priddis
North Melbourne: Swallow, Adams, MacMillan, Wells, Cunnington

BEST - SPORTAL
West Coast: S Selwood, Hurn, Priddis, Hill, Cox, Waters

North Melbourne: Swallow, Adams, Macmillan, Ziebell, Cunnington

COACHES COMMENTS
John Worsfold (WC): We had a lot of inside 50s (61-43) and a lot of scoring shots, and with North getting a lot of numbers deep to try and take up our space, it meant that a lot of guy could have shots from further out. That's the risk they run, that those guys can get those long shots on goal.

Brad Scott(NM): We really got touched up around the footy and around the clearance area in the first half and Cox was on top of McIntosh. We addressed a lot of those things at half-time and they improved as the game went on. But you can't get comprehensively outplayed around the stoppages like we did in the first half.

Umpires: Farmer, Leppard, Pannell