Australian Football

Match Report

There was just one game on for the normal Saturday afternoon time slot, the SANFL's own West Side Story saw the Eagles and the Bloods clash at the Maughan Thiem Hyundai Oval at Woodville. There was definitely no joy in store for the Bloods in the two games against the Eagles last season, both ending in forgettable hammerings of 73 points in Round 5 and 76 points in Round 14, a terrible vengeance exacted for their 2015 premiership decider defeat. The Eagles were hot against the Bulldogs, while the Bloods were pipped at the post on their home deck by South. 

The game was even to begin with, only a point separating the two sides with Westies leading after kicking 3.3 to the Eagles' 3.2. But after that it was all Eagles, their second quarter was pretty much the game-breaker as they bagged 8.2 to the Bloods' solitary behind to lead by eight goals at the long break. The Eagles wouldn't go own to set any significant records, but they wouldn't need to do much from here to guarantee a victory. One thing the rest of the competition should know however is that despite losing a raft of personnel, their talent pool is deep. The Eagles would extend their lead to 59 points ahead of the final change, kicking 4.3 to the Bloods' 2.4 in the third term, before the two sides going almost score for score in the last quarter, the home side winning by 10 goals after scoring 4.2 to 4.1. 

Jack Hayes took out best afield honours in his second outing in the Eagles seniors, while Westies named debutant Jake Wilson as their standout.