West Coast Eagles end equal longest losing streak in club history

The West Coast Eagles have ended its horror losing streak, pulling off a necessary but certainly not pretty win over the GWS Giants.

Tom Cole celebrates the win with fans. Photo by Daniel Carson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

It wouldn’t bother West Coast one bit that it’s 19-point win on Sunday wasn’t the prettiest, nor that it came against an undermanned Greater Western Sydney.

The Eagles are desperate to put a terrible 2022 season behind them, any way they can.

The 14.16 (100) to 11.15 (81) victory over the Giants was just their second victory in 15 matches at their home, Optus Stadium. That dates back to Round 21, 2021.

And they won only two games through all of last season.

Watch every match of every round of the 2023 Toyota AFL Premiership Season LIVE on Kayo Sports. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >

The Eagles were also on a nine-game losing streak dating back to round 16 last year, which equalled the club record, which was set between round 5 and round 14 last season.

So, after such a lean run, Eagles coach Adam Simpson will take it.

The West Coast Eagles avoid a disastrous 0-2 start. Huge win.#AFL#AFLEaglesGiants

— Dan Const (@dan_const) March 26, 2023

Giants head coach Adam Kingsley shouldn’t be too disappointed either.

He was forced to make significant changes after the Giants Round 1 come-from-behind win over Adelaide due to injury.

And it was only one term, the second, that they were completely outplayed by the Eagles on Sunday.

The Giants won the other three quarters — only this week, they were unable to make up the ground they had given up earlier.

West Coast set up its win with an eight-goal second term, turning a seven-point quarter-time deficit into a 31-point halftime lead.

It was the same margin the Giants came back from to win against the Crows. This time, it was enough to hold them off.

But did they remember the words to the song? Photo by Daniel Carson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

The last time the Eagles booted eight goals in a term was in the second quarter of a 91-point Derby win against Fremantle in Round 11 of 2019.

On Sunday, it was Jamie Cripps who got things running, kicking three goals early in the term.

Jake Waterman, who spend some time in the ruck during the quarter, also kicked three goals for the quarter.

Waterman finished with four and Oscar Allen also got going, booting two.

Tim Kelly was the catalyst for a confident Eagles performance though, setting the tone in the opening term with nine of his 32 touches.

For the Giants, not only did they take the L, the injury list got even bigger.

Adelaide’s Shane McAdam wasn’t able to ground Jacob Wehr in Round 1 with a big shirt-front that resulted in the Crow being suspended.

But Liam Duggan’s big hit on the young Giant in the second term on Sunday ended his game early and is likely to keep him on the sidelines for a couple of weeks.

Wehr had collected just three touches when the Eagles defender crashed into him, injuring his shoulder.

He was subbed out of the game before halftime.

Duggan won’t have anything to answer for though, his shoulder-to-shoulder bump well within the rules.

The Giants can ill afford to lose any more players, with Josh Kelly, Lachie Whitfield (both concussion) and Harry Perryman (hamstring) already sidelined from the Round 1 winning side due to injury.

Some sloppy kicking from set shot didn’t help the Giants.

Callan Ward rues a missed opportunity. Photo by Daniel Carson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Of their 14 behinds, six of them came from realistically gettable set shots.

They managed to hold on to a seven-point lead at quarter-time, even with Jesse Hogan kicking three behinds.

The big forward regrouped after the break to finish with 3.4.

If the Giants injury woes are going to continue, Hogan and Toby Greene are two players they can’t afford to lose.

No one else seems capable of kicking goals regularly at the moment.

Greene, fresh off 4.4 against the Crows, kicked two of his four goals on Sunday in the opening term.

But Jeremy McGovern made life tough for the Giants forwards, looking to be back to his best, with seven marks and 21 disposals.