Round 15 2016

West Coast v Essendon
Round 15, 2016

Masten had plenty of possessions. Photo: aflphotos.com.au

Date

Thur, 30 June 2016 (6.10pm WST)

Venue

Subiaco Oval

Attendance

33,117

Result

Won by 78

Score

WCE 20.10.130 - 7.10.52 ESS

Brownlow

3 A.Gaff (WCE)
2 M.Hutchings (WCE)
1 P.McGinnity (WCE)

Ladder

8th

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West Coast struggled to shake off the lowly-placed Bombers for a half, even trailing at the first change before throwing open the floodgates in the final term and piling on nine goals to two to record a percentage-boosting win. Patrick McGinnity made the most of his surprise call-up by kicking a career-best four goals, and Andrew Gaff kicked two to go with a team-high 35 possessions.

Summary

		1/4 time		1/2 time		3/4 time		Final
West Coast		3.4.22		8.5.53		11.7.73		20.10.130
Essendon		4.1.25		5.5.35		5.9.39		7.10.52

Goals: McGinnity 4, Hutchings, Kennedy 3, Cripps, Darling, Gaff 2, LeCras, Priddis, Shuey, Yeo

Best: Gaff, Shuey, Priddis, McGinnity, Masten, McGovern

Injuries: Nil

Named sides

	West Coast				Essendon
B:	1.Brown	31.Schofield	5.Sheppard	B:	42.Gwilt	36.Hartley	14.Ashby
HB:	26.Butler	37.Barrass	25.Hurn	HB:	9.Goddard	49.Dea	47.Kelly
C:	6.Yeo	11.Priddis	3.Gaff	C:	15.Dempsey	11.Zaharakis	8.Gleeson
HF:	7.Masten	27.Darling	2.LeCras	HF:	17.Cooney	6.Daniher	13.Fantasia
F:	15.Cripps	17.Kennedy	20.McGovern	F:	48.Stokes	28.Brown	43.McDonald-Tipungwati
R:	29.Lycett	34.Hutchings	13.Shuey	R:	22.Leuenberger	24.Bird	7.Z.Merrett
I:	12.Wellingham	23.Jetta	30.Nelson	I:	41.Hams	20.J.Merrett	3.Parish
	35.McGinnity				53.Jamar
E:	14.Duggan	16.MacKenzie	18.Ellis	E:	44.McKernan	50.Polkinghorne	56.Michael

In: McGinnity, Lycett, Brown, Nelson

Out: Hill (tonsilitis), Giles, McInnes, Redden

Quarter by quarter

Both sides went in as named. The match began under clear skies on a Thursday night, following a lap of honour by most of the 2006 premiership side who had gathered in Perth for the 10-year reunion.

From the coach

"We were off in the first quarter, but I thought Essendon were on. It was the clearances mainly for us. It was 4 to 14 at one stage. Ascendancy from the stoppages - maybe Scotty coming back into the side and rucking with Brownie - but I thought the intensity was leaning towards Essendon’s way. We worked our way through it and in the second half I was pretty pleased.

"Obviously we need to set up a little bit differently and do a few different things and we are working through that. Today was another step for us. We tried Brownie in the ruck and Scotty rucked a bit longer. That’s something he’s got to adapt to now.

"... Every game is different. You've got to give respect to the opposition. I know they haven’t had too many wins this year, but they played their best game for the year last week agains the Giants and I thought they carried that through this week with their confidence. We were perhaps a bit down on our confidence. I think every game is different in terms of carrying form week to week. There were some good signs in the second half."

From the papers

The West Australian

"Tom Barrass marked strongly in defence, Lycett made a good return from a club-imposed suspension, and Jackson Nelson did a shutdown job on David Zaharakis.

But it was Essendon who started faster, kicking the first two goals. West Coast didn’t make it inside their forward 50 until the five-minute mark.

When they did, Josh Kennedy snapped a goal, but it was still a stuttering opening which left the Bombers three points clear at the first change.

The Eagles got their act together in the second quarter, but the lead at half-time was handy rather than decisive."

The Age

"West Coast controlled the game after quarter-time, but the margin only started to get out of control late in the third term.

They then kicked eight unanswered goals from the nine-minute mark of the final term to the final siren. Orazio Fantasia slotted one through after the siren to give the Bombers just their third goal since quarter-time. West Coast's Pat McGinnity kicked three of his four goals in the same time.

The Eagles were supposed to use last week's bye to regroup and re-find the form that saw them reach last year's Grand Final, but that has been sadly lacking over the past few weeks.

But the football they produced in the opening term, and much of the next two, was far from free-flowing."

Perth Now

"But things changed quickly from there as West Coast’s prime movers in Priddis, Shuey and Gaff began to stamp their imprint in the middle.

The Eagles also benefited from an unlikely cameo role from recalled hard-nut Patrick McGinnity (four goals) to boot six of the seven majors in the second term and take a firm hold on the game.

So often, the Bombers were punished for a lack of purpose and planning going forward, with Jeremy McGovern leading a blue-and-gold defensive unit all too happy to sweep up the mess.

It took almost 15 minutes for West Coast to break the Dons on the scoreboard after holding an 18-point lead at the main break.

Once that occurred, through a Shuey free kick, West Coast twice went the length of the ground with speedy transition goals to officially kill the contest."

East Perth report

Round 15 (2 July)

East Perth held on for a gritty 16-point win over ladder leaders South Fremantle at Fremantle Oval to keep their finals hopes alive, despite losing Kane Lucas (knee) and Fraser McInnes (hamstring) in the first half. Dom Sheed impressed on his return from injury with 26 possessions, as did the dropped Jack Redden who kicked three goals to go with his 28 disposals.

Appearing for East Perth: Brophy, Cole, Colledge, Duggan, Ellis, Giles, Karpany, Lamb, Lucas, MacKenzie, McInnes, Mutimer, Redden, Sheed, Tunbridge.
Reserves: Adamson, Allen, Bennell, Snadden.

Injury list

In the leadup to the round, the following players were listed as injured or unavailable:

Player		Injury		Expected duration
Naitanui		Achilles		6-7 weeks
Sheed		Knee		Test
Waterman*		Glandular fever		Indefinite

References

http://www.afl.com.au/match-centre/2016/15/wce-v-ess

https://afltables.com/afl/stats/games/2016/051820160630.html