West Coast Eagles mean business after easily accounting for Geelong

Don’t expect any premiership hangover for the West Coast Eagles as they sent an early message to the rest of the competition on Friday.

Jack Darling (second right) of the Eagles is congratulated by Liam Ryan after scoring a goal during the AFL JLT Community Series pre-season match between the West Coast Eagles and the Geelong Cats at Leederville Oval in Perth, Friday, March 1, 2019. (AAP Image/Richard Wainwright) NO ARCHIVING, EDITORIAL USE ONLY

The West Coast Eagles’ Grand Final win was no fluke as they sent an early message to the AFL in a week one win in the JLT pre-season competition.

Norm Smith Medalist Luke Shuey did the damage in the first half with 17 touches as the Eagles went on to record the 15.9 99 to 8.17 65 victory.

The Eagles toppled Collingwood in a nailbiting 2018 AFL Grand Final, but did so without several stars in the line-up.

Andrew Gaff missed after being handed an eight-game suspension, but can take part in the pre-season games and showed why he was an early Brownlow Medal favourite.

The star midfielder ended the contest with 27 touches while defender Brad Sheppard, who also missed the Grand Final, collected 21 disposals.

The Eagles won the flag without Gaff, Sheppard and Naitanui.

But to think they have Jarrod Brander, Oscar Allen, Jack Petruccelle, Jake Waterman and Francis Watson at their disposal from last year’s list is incredible... #JLTSeries

— Mitch Cleary (@cleary_mitch) March 1, 2019

Powerhouse forward Jack Darling ended the contest with a bag of five goals as the new 6-6-6 rules left him in one-on-one contests on several occasions.

The sides went back and forth throughout the contest before the Eagles were able to pull away late in the match.

But the free flowing nature of the game with the new rules being implemented were caught out in an ugly moment in the first quarter.

A free kick was awarded to the Eagles in the middle of the ground, but as players scrambled the umpires took control and said players had to stick to their zones until the possession was taken.

The awkward moment resulted in the play being held up for close to a minute as the players looked confused as to what was unfolding.

“We don’t want 40 seconds of this. Maybe they will get better and quicker at it but we don’t want this in our game,” AFL great Garry Lyon said on Fox Footy.

The change however did showcase one positive with Eagle Oscar Allen grabbing a mark in a one-on-one contest from the resulting free kick.

“That is exactly what every AFL official was hoping to see when they put this rule in place,” Lyon said.

“They went back to six on six which meant it was one-on-one inside 50, there wasn’t anyone in front of Oscar Allen without an opponent at least.

“He gets a run and jump at it and takes a big hanger.”

Petruccelle's on the board! #JLTSeries pic.twitter.com/VT1gmQiHRe

— AFL (@AFL) March 1, 2019

The reigning premiers proved far too strong on the night, but there was plenty of positives to take away for the Cats.

Superstar Patrick Dangerfield looks likely to take the competition by the scruff of the neck in the 2019 season, ending the contest with 29 disposals and a goal.

He was joined by Mitch Duncan with 29 while youngster Charlie Constable racked up 26 disposals and Brandan Parfitt finished with 21 and three goals.

The Cats were without star Gary Ablett as they ran out of legs late in the contest as the Eagles flexed their muscles.

Geelong only have a five-day break before their next game when they take on the Bombers on Thursday night.

West Coast will enjoy a seven-day break before they take on cross-town rival Fremantle in the final game before the season gets underway.