Mitch Honeychurch taken to hospital after Shannon Hurn hit
WESTERN Bulldog Mitch Honeychurch is having scans on his neck in a Perth hospital after a collision with West Coast captain Shannon Hurn that shapes as one of the season’s most contentious MRO decisions.
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WESTERN Bulldogs youngster Mitch Honeychurch is having scans on his neck in a Perth hospital tonight after a collision with West Coast captain Shannon Hurn that shapes as one of the season’s most contentious match review decisions.
Eagles coach Adam Simpson led a chorus of support for Hurn last night, despite Honeychurch being driven from Perth Stadium on a stretcher in unsettling scenes late in the third quarter of West Coast’s 54-point win yesterday.
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Hurn was braced in a bump position and did not appear to be focused on the ball, however he looked stationary when Honeychurch collided with him with his head down.
Simpson described the collision as an “unfortunate accident” ahead of match review officer Michael Christian’s assessment today. The umpires did not lay a report.
“Hopefully he’s OK, but unfortunate accident is the words that come to my mind,” Simpson said.
“It felt like he almost stopped and apologised before it happened. I’m assuming not much will happen from it. It didn’t look like there was any malice in it.”
Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge said he could not comment on Hurn’s bump and said early indications were Honeychurch was likely to avoid serious injury.
“We all care deeply about our players and it’s quite disconcerting when there is a possibility of a serious injury,” Beveridge said.
“The concern is around the neck. The early indications are that he should be OK and hopefully tomorrow, or probably tonight, he’ll have a scan and we’ll get news that he’s fine and we’ll all move on.”
Channel 7 boundary rider Peter Bell predicted Hurn would have no case to answer.
“I think Shannon Hurn will be okay. There was no momentum through the contest at all and it was just unfortunate,” the former North Melbourne and Fremantle great said.
Beveridge said Marcus Bontempelli (appendix) was almost certain to return for next Sunday’s clash with Port Adelaide in Ballarat, but doubted there would be many other reinforcements. Luke Dahlhaus suffered a potentially serious left ankle injury yesterday and is a likely out.
The Dogs’ eighth loss in nine matches left them 14th with a 5-12 record.
“Probably in that third quarter we had some opportunities in open space to connect and make the most of some open play, but our skills weren’t good enough and that frustrates you. You can’t afford to do that against anyone, let alone the second-placed side on the ladder,” Beveridge said.
“We’re just trying to build foundations for the future and see some positives in the way we want to play as a team.
“In patches you look like you’re up to it and in others you look like you aren’t. At some point the wheel will turn, we don’t want to play the long game, and rise again.
“Regardless of the injury toll, we feel like the 22 we put out each week are more than capable and we felt that again today. But we fell well short.”
West Coast’s fortitude without Nic Naitanui will face bigger tests in the weeks to come, but on the evidence of the 14.16 (100) to 6.10 (46) demolition, few will be putting a line through the Eagles as contenders just yet.
With one of the best intercepting backlines in the competition and an efficient and dangerous forward line that should only improve as key pair Josh Kennedy and Jack Darling find their feet after injury lay-offs, the Eagles only need to break even in the midfield battle to win most games.
Workmanlike ruck pair Scott Lycett and Nathan Vardy are now pivotal and they shared the points with Jordan Roughead and Tom Boyd yesterday.
Vardy, recalled in place of Naitanui for just his second senior appearance of the season, is no stranger to injury heartbreak himself and took a couple of strong contested marks to go with a goal in an attempt to convince coach Adam Simpson that continuing with a two-ruck strategy is the way to go.
With percentage looming as crucial as the race for top-two and top-four spots heats up, second-placed West Coast’s 54-point win at Perth Stadium not only put a full stop on a depressing week but enabled them to keep a small but valuable percentage buffer on the chasing pack.
In-demand free agent Andrew Gaff had 13 of his 34 touches to drive the first-quarter onslaught, while Elliot Yeo and Luke Shuey were strong contributors in the midfield.
For the Bulldogs, there was little to take away from their eighth loss in the past nine games.
It’s also 11 losses from their past 12 trips to Perth and that sole win — the remarkable 2016 elimination final upset over the Eagles which set up their flag run — seems a long time ago now.
SCOREBOARD
WEST COAST 6.4 8.9 9.15 14.16 (100)
d.
WESTERN BULLDOGS 2.2 3.5 4.8 6.10 (46)
GOALS
WEST COAST: Cripps 3, Darling 3, Kennedy 2, LeCras 2, Rioli, Vardy, Venables, Yeo
WESTERN BULLDOGS: Wallis, Dahlhaus, Schache, Roughead, Macrae, Johannisen
BEST — BRADEN QUARTERMAINE
WEST COAST: Yeo, Gaff, Shuey, Cripps, Jetta, McGovern, Masten.
WESTERN BULLDOGS: Dunkley, Hunter, McLean, Wallis, Johannisen, Crozier.
VOTES — BRADEN QUARTERMAINE
3- Yeo
2- Gaff
1- Shuey
INJURIES
WEST COAST: Nil
WESTERN BULLDOGS: Mitch Honeychurch (concussion), Luke Dahlhaus (ankle)
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Donlon, Harris, Fleer
Official crowd: 46,854 at Optus Stadium
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