Australian Football

Match Report

West Coast remains undefeated against GWS, after it trounced the Giants by 87 points at Subiaco on Saturday night. Despite coming into match second on the ladder with a 3-1 win-loss record, GWS was never in the hunt after quarter time, kicking just one goal after the first break. The Eagles dominance over the Giants has been complete since GWS joined the AFL, with the Giants lowest losing margin being 81 points in the four-year period.

Saturday night's match started off reasonably well for the Giants, with Cam McCarthy responding to the first goal of the match by Eagle Josh Kennedy. West Coast looked like getting on top when Josh Hill and Kennedy kicked two in a row at the eight and nine-minute marks, but Toby Greene kicked two of the match's next three goals to keep GWS to within four points of the Eagles at the first change of ends. Sadly for the Giants, that first change signalled the end of their resistance.

The Eagles control of the match in the second term was complete to the extent that GWS did not score so much as a behind. The early stages of the quarter were quite even, with neither side troubling the scorers but once Hill kicked his third for the Eagles at the 10-minute mark, the floodgates opened for West Coast. Nic Natanui kicked two in two minutes and the Shannon Hurn, Luke Shuey and Kennedy all added majors to stretch the lead to six goals at half time. The Eagles defence, touted as a weakness after the season-ending injuries to Eric Mackenzie and Mitch Brown, held up beautifully to create a "clean sheet" for the quarter for the Eagles.

GWS was briefly competitive in the first 10 minutes of the third quarter, with Jeremy Cameron goaling and the Eagles being restricted to only one major, Kennedy's third. But West Coast regained the initiative after that, closing out the term with goals to Kennedy and Jamie Cripps, while the Giants could muster only three behinds. It was West Coast by an even 50 points when the teams changed ends for the last time.

West Coast did not let up in the last term and the Giants did not improve. The Eagles feasted in the forward line, with Kennedy kicking his fifth and sixth, and Luke Shuey, Cripps, Hill and Andrew Gaff all adding majors. At the other end, GWS's only score was a behind to Devon Smith as the quarter ticked into time on. By game's end, the Eagles had won by 87 and the Giants left Subiaco knowing that they are realistically still a long way from being a top-four side.

Best for the Eagles included Elliot Yeo, who took nine marks and collected 25 touches, and Josh Kennedy (six goals) while Dylan Shiel (36 possessions, two tackles) and Lachie Whitfield (27 touches and seven marks) were amongst the Giants' better players.

In fifth place with a 3-2 record, West Coast will meet Gold Coast at Carrara next while GWS faces another tough match at the Sydney Showground on Saturdauy when they host fourth-placed Hawthorn.

GOALS
West Coast: Kennedy 6; Hill 4; Naitanui, Shuey, Cripps 2; Hurn, Gaff 
GWS: Greene 2; McCarthy, Cameron 

BEST - WATODAY.COM.AU
West Coast: Yeo, Shuey, Masten, Schofield, Kennedy, Gaff
GWS: Shiel, Whitfield, Ward, Treloar, Patful, Shaw

BEST - AFL.COM.AU
West Coast: Yeo, Kennedy, Gaff, Masten, McGovern, Schofield, Shuey 
GWS: Shiel, Scully, Whitfield, Ward, Mumford, Smith 

INJURIES
West Coast: Nil
GWS: Nil

SUBSTITUTES
West Coast: Patrick McGinnity replaced Mark LeCras in the fourth quarter
GWS: Will Hoskin-Elliott replaced Josh Kelly in the third term

UMPIRES: Farmer, Stephens, Schmitt

TELEVISION BROADCAST: Fox Footy

COMMENTATORS: Matthew Campbell, Dermott Brereton, Brad Johnson, Ben Dixon