AFL Round 5: West Coast Eagles defeat Sydney Swans, banish QLD curse
The Swans were coming, the game was in the balance, the Eagles needed a hero. With West Coast’s stars under pressure, it was left to unheralded defender Tom Barrass to take to the skies and shift the momentum of the match.
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It took until halfway through its fourth match in Queensland, but West Coast finally found full throttle.
Following three straight losses and a rusty first half against Sydney on Saturday, the Eagles of old were unleashed.
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The only sour note was the hamstring injury to skipper Luke Shuey.
Nic Naitanui monstered a weakened Swans ruck division, Elliot Yeo broke free from his form slump and the much-vaunted forward line got rolling.
The intensity around the contest was back and the ball movement improved as West Coast took the game on.
With a trip to the Gabba to play battling Adelaide next Saturday before returning to Perth for the Derby in round seven, things are looking more rosy for Adam Simpson’s men.
AIR BARRASS
Leading by two points early in the third quarter, the game was in the balance for West Coast.
Until Tom Barrass changed the momentum – and maybe his team’s season.
Known more for his spoiling and dour defensive game, the Eagles fullback took full flight, sitting on the shoulders of young Swan Jordan Dawson to pull down a Mark of the Year contender.
The ensuing sequence included nice play from Yeo through traffic and a lovely pass from Jake Waterman to Jack Darling, who finished off with a goal.
The Eagles did not look back, kicking the next six goals to put the game away.
TAKING YOUR CHANCES
While Josh Kennedy and Darling struggled, particularly early, young forwards Waterman and Oscar Allen gladly took the reins.
Playing his first game in 2020, Waterman kicked two first quarter goals, including a 55m bomb on the siren, to inspire his battling team.
Every one of his 11 disposals counted, offering a nice medium target to the Eagles’ improved midfield.
Rangy third-year forward Allen was not far behind, showing his class in the air to kick three goals.
The young pair’s form rubbed off on their teammates.
Jamie Cripps had not kicked a goal all season and bagged two in the third term, while Darling looked more and more likely as the match wore on, flying for his marks and kicking two of his own.
SWANS SCORING TROUBLES
The heavily undermanned Swans did little to trouble the Eagles after halftime.
With so many injuries to key position players they were forced to go with an ultra-small forward line, often using lively Tom Papley or Isaac Heeney out of the goalsquare.
But being beaten badly around the ball (121-97 contested possessions and 36-23 clearances), they provided the forwards with precious few opportunities (47-30 inside 50s).
John Longmire’s game plan was clearly to take the game on and use rapid chains of handballs through the corridor, but after some early success, the Eagles’ pressure forced turnover after turnover.
Hayden McLean, in his seventh game, kicked two goals, one from a nice contested mark over Jeremy McGovern.
Luke Parker was solid in his 200th game, but not much more, tallying 18 disposals.
THE COACHES
With Sydney missing first choice rucks Sam Naismith (season) and Callum Sinclair, both with knee injuries, Naitanui had a field day, winning 39 hitouts and gathering seven clearances from his 11 touches.
Sydney coach John Longmire said Sinclair would miss next weekend’s clash with Richmond and there was little relief in sight.
“We’ll try and get it right, but the reality is the ruckmen are unavailable at the moment,” Longmire said.
“We’ve got what we’ve got, and we have to work through it.
“We’ll find a way and a method to work our way through and be competitive with it.
“They’ve got some big bodies and some of our young boys got a lesson from a big, mature side today.
“There’s was a few we’ve been happy with that have been going ok, but got a lesson in what a big, mature, hardened AFL footy team is like.”
Meanwhile, West Coast coach Adam Simpson said the Eagles would miss Luke Shuey for “one to two weeks” after the skipper injured his hamstring.
“We haven’t been too good in the second halves for a while, so we put that challenge to them (at half-time),” Simpson said.
“I’m not looking too far ahead for obvious reasons, but we know we’re playing Adelaide next week, so that’s our next challenge.
“We’ll move on really quick but there were some good signs today.”
SCOREBOARD
WEST COAST 3.1 5.4 8.9 11.11 (77)
defeated
SYDNEY 3.3 4.5 5.6 6.7 (43)
GOALS
Eagles: Allen 3, Cripps 2, Darling 2, Waterman 2, Sheed, Ryan
Swans: McLean 2, Hewett, Heeney, Florent, Papley
MICHAEL WHITING’S BEST
Eagles: Naitanui, Yeo, Allen, Waterman, Sheppard, Sheed
Swans: Florent, Lloyd, Clarke, Kennedy, Papley
MICHAEL WHITING’S VOTES
3 — Nic Naitanui (West Coast)
2 — Elliot Yeo (West Coast)
1 — Oscar Allen (West Coast)
INJURIES
Eagles: Shuey (hamstring), Jones (hamstring)
Swans: Melican (groin)
REPORTS
Jack Redden (West Coast) reported in the first quarter for striking