Andrew McQualter era at West Coast begins with 87-point smashing at hands of Gold Coast
There’s a new coach, some new recruits and a new but old song at the Eagles, but on the field, it was hard to spot any difference to the lows of the past three years at West Coast, writes Eliza Reilly.
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New coach, new recruits, new but old song – same West Coast.
For all the talk this pre-season about a new era, the Eagles’ performance against Gold Coast was indistinguishable from what the club has produced in the last three years.
Sometimes in the AFL, we rely too much on statistics to tell a story.
But there’s no doubting just how far off the pace the Eagles were against the Suns. The final margin, 87 points, Gold Coast’s biggest win in club history, tells you as much.
The midfield is where the game starts and it’s also where West Coast’s game fell apart.
You don’t win games of football when you lose contested possession by 43. It’s that simple.
West Coast also lost clearances 50-33 and had just one centre clearance on the stats sheet at half-time.
Harley Reid was more interested in mouthing off than winning a hardball. The 19-year-old enjoyed a spectacular debut season for the Eagles. But he’s clearly hampered after an interrupted pre-season and if he can’t find a way to impact games, he’ll only grow more frustrated.
Midfielders Elijah Hewett and Tim Kelly led West Coast for clearances with four apiece. The former was understandably rusty after a year on the sidelines, finishing with 11 disposals. Kelly had 14 but six of them came in the final quarter when the result was beyond doubt.
Jack Graham had the most disposals of any Eagle with 23 but 19 of them were uncontested. He did lay 10 tackles though, one of the few players to crack in defensively around the footy.
After half-time, West Coast tried new personnel. They tried a new structure. But the result was the same.
It’s unacceptable.
“It’s going to be a tough couple of days,” off-season recruit Liam Baker bemused. “The most disappointing thing is that we didn’t wrestle back the contest.
“That’s not just forwards, mids, backs, it’s everyone. We didn’t learn our lesson.
“We need to be tougher in the contest. I’m sure the coaches will have something for us this week to put us in the right headspace to fight a bit harder.
“They’ve got some great midfielders and great clearance work. They were coming out the front by hand. It’s hard to stop but it is stoppable.”
By comparison, Gold Coast’s midfield fired a warning shot to the AFL.
They clearly have always had the talent to be one of the competition’s best onball brigades. But now they have the method to match.
New captain Noah Anderson had 38 disposals, 723 metres gained and nine clearances. Matt Rowell finished with 30, 465 and eight. Touk Miller kicked two goals and had 17 contested possessions, nearly double West Coast’s highest contested possession winner Liam Baker (nine).
“It’s really been five years of learning the hard way and not being quite there,” Anderson told this masthead post-game. “We’ve constantly been told we need to do things better.
“We’ve had another long pre-season focusing on contest and getting better. We’ve had some really honest conversations about where our gaps are as a midfield group and where we’ve been exposed.
“We understand that it’s one game. But when you get results, it’s proof. Coaches can tell you you’re going well but we had to wait for a performance like that to know we’re on the right track.
“You have to be courageous and believe that you belong there.”
If there’s one silver lining, we did get small glimpses of what the Eagles are trying to accomplish under Andrew McQualter.
When they finally got their hands on the football, West Coast took risks, took on the corridor and played with speed. Skill execution, or a lack thereof, was the fatal flaw.
“We just need to double down on what we’re going after,” Baker said. “This new style we’re trying to play is going to take time but we can’t be that bad first up.
“In patches (we got the new game plan going) but not long enough.”
At one point during the third quarter, the scoreboard malfunctioned and each team’s tally disappeared.
It was a brief moment of respite in what looks set to be another long season for West Coast fans.
ROAD TRIP
Gold Coast made People’s First Stadium a fortress in Damien Hardwick’s first year at the helm.
The Suns won seven of nine games at Carrara and also picked up a further two victories at home away from home TIO Stadium in Darwin. But it counted for little given Gold Coast’s inability to win on the road.
Last year against the Eagles, a 10-point loss extended the Suns losing interstate streak to a club-record 16 matches before the hoodoo finally ended a week later at Marvel Stadium. A win in Round 1 after Cyclone Alfred postponed the club’s Opening Round game against Essendon is undoubtedly an early monkey off the back.
“My opinion is that we lost on the road because we weren’t good enough as a team,” Anderson said. “I think we’ve gotten better.
“I don’t read into it too much. But I was pleased with how calm the team was today. They got a few runs on in front of their crowd but we remain confident in the work we’ve done.”
OH RUCK
The biggest selection question at West Coast all pre-season has been in the ruck.
Matt Flynn and Bailey Williams fought it out all summer for the No. 1 ruck mantle but the former got the nod against Gold Coast.
It might have been an early mistake at the selection table.
Suns big man Jarrod Witts dominated, finishing with 68 hitouts, 13 disposals and five clearances. His ascendancy played a big part in Gold Coast’s midfield dominance.
“He’s getting to the age where he could start to put his feet up a bit or start to cut corners but every year, he still leads the way,” Anderson said. “What’s helped is we’ve got Ned Moyle there pushing him and pushing him.
“Without that competition, maybe he settles a bit more.”
Flynn had just 13 hitouts. Such was Witts’ influence, that the Eagles had no choice but to send Archer Reid into the ruck for the second half.
Flynn played at full-forward after Jake Waterman was subbed out with calf soreness.
The 27-year-old has spoken this pre-season about how he’s lost weight to improve his durability after an injury-ravaged first season out west. But if he can’t compete in a wrestle as a result, West Coast might be better off with Williams’ athleticism and superior follow-up.
Williams was spotted running with sub Ryan Maric post-match as the held over emergency.
Originally published as Andrew McQualter era at West Coast begins with 87-point smashing at hands of Gold Coast
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