West Coast Eagles pull off stunner as Western Bulldogs blow monster game

The AFL finals race has been burst wide open after the bottom of the ladder Eagles pulled off arguably the upset of the season.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – AUGUST 20: Luke Beveridge, Senior Coach of the Bulldogs looks on during the 2023 AFL Round 23 match between the Western Bulldogs and the West Coast Eagles at Marvel Stadium on August 20, 2023 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

The West Coast Eagles have recorded their third win of the season in a stunning upset after knocking off the Western Bulldogs on Sunday afternoon.

Under the roof of Marvel Stadium the Eagles launched early and proved too good throughout the contest.

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It’s only their third win of the season and comes after their coach, Adam Simpson, faced rumours of being axed during the week.

Now the blowtorch will be applied to Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge after his team dropped a game they simply couldn’t afford to lose.

The Eagles did it. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

The Eagles win lifts them off the bottom of the ladder and while they’ll celebrate the stunning upset, the four points means they’ll now miss out on prized number one draft pick Harley Reid.

Reid will now more likely than not end up at North Melbourne, who sit on the bottom of the ladder with only two wins.

Speaking post-game, Eagles coach Adam Simpson joked his team “tried to tank” in the dying stages, referencing criticism of West Coast’s tactics against Essendon earlier this month.

“We tried to tank that in the last three minutes,” a deadpan Simpson joked on Fox Footy.

“It didn’t work. I kept on saying kick it the other way, play equalised game.”

The shock result means good news for St Kilda who are now locked into September action with the finals race now coming down to one final spot.

Luke Beveridge is under pressure. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

The loss keeps the Bulldogs outside the top eight, a game behind the GWS Giants with one game left in the season.

In order to play September action the Bulldogs must defeat Geelong in Geelong and will need Carlton to defeat the Giants.

Beveridge was disappointed but said his side weren’t complacent against the Eagles.

“As a collective, no I don’t think we took West Coast easy or what they might bring for granted,” the Bulldogs coach said.

“I just feel like they came with a tenacity that trumped ours at the start of the game.

“I’ll never throw any of our players under the bus. I’ve always had confidence in our endeavour.”