West Coast returned to the winner's list with a hard-fought victory over the Bombers in Queensland. The Eagles held a 34-point advantage after a three-goal burst in the second quarter but Essendon came back hard, closing the margin to 16 at the long break and turning the second half into an arm-wrestle, but failing to ultimately bridge the gap. Liam Ryan starred up forward with four goals and veteran Shannon Hurn had 20 touches and 12 marks, but the Eagles lost skipper Luke Shuey to a hamstring injury late in the game.
Summary[]
| 1/4 time | 1/2 time | 3/4 time | Final | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Coast | 4.1.25 | 7.3.45 | 9.5.59 | 9.6.60 | ||||
| Essendon | 1.4.10 | 4.5.29 | 5.8.38 | 6.9.45 |
Goals: Ryan 4, Darling 2, Allen, Cole, Williams
Best: Ryan, Gaff, Sheppard, Duggan, Barrass, Hurn
Injuries: Shuey (hamstring)
Reports: Naitanui for wrestling S.Draper
Jumper: Home, blue shorts
Named sides[]
| West Coast | Essendon | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B: | 28.Cole | 37.Barrass | 5.Sheppard | B: | 8.Gleeson | 18.Hurley | 30.Zerk-Thatcher |
| HB: | 25.Hurn | 20.McGovern | 23.Jetta | HB: | 14.Ridley | 17.Stewart | 42.Saad |
| C: | 14.Duggan | 4.Sheed | 3.Gaff | C: | 3.Parish | 1.McGrath | 4.Langford |
| HF: | 8.Redden | 27.Darling | 1.Ryan | HF: | 40.Snelling | 26.Hooker | 22.Mosquito |
| F: | 32.Williams | 12.Allen | 41.Ah Chee | F: | 5.Smith | 6.Daniher | 43.McDonald-Tipungwuti |
| R: | 9.Naitanui | 11.Kelly | 13.Shuey | R: | 38.Draper | 9.Shiel | 21.Heppell |
| I: | 24.X.O’Neill | 30.Nelson | 34.Hutchings | I: | 7.Merrett | 35.Guelfi | 37.Clarke |
| 35.Rotham | 25.Stringer | ||||||
| E: | 10.Brander | 16.Hickey | 31.Schofield | E: | 34.Phillips | 27.Redman | 33.Ham |
| 39.Cameron | 20.Townsend |
In: Allen, Jetta, Redden, Nelson
Out: Kennedy (concussion), Cripps (personal), Reid, Brander
Quarter by quarter[]
Both sides went in as named. The game was played in fine but slick conditions.
Club Champion votes[]
| Darling | 13 | Cole | 6 | ||
| Gaff | 12 | Jetta | 5 | ||
| Ryan | 12 | Nelson | 5 | ||
| Barrass | 11 | Rotham | 5 | ||
| Sheppard | 11 | Sheed | 5 | ||
| Duggan | 10 | Hutchings | 4 | ||
| Hurn | 10 | Kelly | 4 | ||
| McGovern | 10 | O'Neill | 4 | ||
| Naitanui | 8 | Williams | 4 | ||
| Redden | 7 | Ah Chee | 2 | ||
| Shuey | 7 | Allen | 2 |
From the coach[]
"We thought the way Essendon play they’re so dangerous the way they get some overlap, but if you stop it you can hurt them the other way and I think we did that enough in the first half. The last three goals before half-time, you could sense that they had energy and our first 10 minutes of the second quarter was really pleasing. Our forward line is a bit of a makeshift forward line at the moment. We were pretty efficient out of the middle. Nic again and our mids gave us some supply, but that three minutes just before half-time was where the game changed. They got their tails up and you could sense that it was going to be a difficult second half. I wasn’t surprised that it was a bit of an arm wrestle in the second half and we lost a lot of numbers statistically. We converted when we needed to and I thought the maturity of some of our players stood up, especially down back.
"...You’ve got to win the clearances, you’ve got to defend behind your clearances and if that gets taken away from you from someone like Essendon it’s difficult to stop. I thought the midfield battle we lost and field position in the last half. I think we had … 32 inside 50s. I don’t think we played poorly, I just think it was two pretty desperate sides trying to play their own brand and both trying to qualify for finals.
"...I’m really proud (of Ryan). Liam’s really stood up; he’s one of our best players. I thought Jack Darling led really well; he’s a really strong, up-and-coming leader. He’s worked really hard on his leadership and he led from the front along with Liam’s performance. And then Jetta went forward for a bit and I think he had three shots. There’s something to look at there. Bailey Williams and Oscar Allen continue their growth, Xavier O’Neill played forward. So it was bit of an eclectic group. Hutch was there as well. We just couldn’t get it in there, so the efficiency of the front half was pleasing but the supply wasn’t."[2]
From the papers[]
The West Australian[]
"Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti reduced the deficit to nine points 10 minutes into the third quarter but West Coast refused to panic.
They defended stoutly and waited for the opportunity to get the game back on their terms.
It came late in the quarter when Liam Ryan won a crucial contest in the midfield, Jack Darling marked the ball inside 50 and found Tom Cole in the pocket.
Cole had never even scored in his 52-game career, but made no mistake with his set shot around the body.
Essendon’s daring play then came unstuck seconds before the three-quarter time siren when Adam Saad played on after a mark at half-back, gave away a holding the ball free kick and the resultant play gave Ryan his fourth goal of the night. It was a dagger." [3]
The Age[]
"Despite Essendon dominating for a large portion of the third quarter, West Coast were able to extend their lead to 21 points at the last change.
McDonald-Tipungwuti’s third goal saw the Bombers close to within nine points but Tom Cole’s career-first goal in his 52nd match, and a late major to Ryan from a forward-half turnover that just beat the siren, lifted the Eagles who saw little ball in the third term.
West Coast flew to a 34-point cushion midway through the second term but the Bombers reeled off three rapid-fire goals to reduce the margin to 16 points at the main break.
With stingy defence that continually repelled Essendon surges in the second term, West Coast dominated territory and possession but failed to capitalise until Ryan eventually goaled 11 minutes in. He hit the scoreboard again soon after to help open up a 28-point buffer that extended further when Jack Darling converted from a lovely contested mark."[4]
Reserves[]
West Coast's reserves played Richmond's squad members at a suburban oval in Queensland.
Appearing for West Coast: Ainsworth, Brander, Brayshaw, Cameron, Edwards, Foley, Hickey, Jamieson, Reid, Schofield, Treacy.
Injury list[]
In the leadup to the match the following players were listed as injured or unavailable:
| Player | Injury | Expected return | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venables | Concussion | Season | (placed on inactive list 4/3/20) | |||
| Watson | Knee | Season | ||||
| Rioli | Suspension | Indefinite | ||||
| Cripps | Personal | Indefinite | ||||
| Vardy | Thigh | 4 weeks | ||||
| Yeo | Groin | 3 weeks | ||||
| Petruccelle | Hamstring | 2 weeks | ||||
| Kennedy | Head | 1 week | ||||
| Waterman | Hand | 1 week | ||||
| Redden | Abductor | Available | ||||
| Allen | Hip | Available | ||||
| Nelson | Shoulder | Available | ||||
| Schofield | Elbow | Available | ||||
| Jones* | Hamstring | Season | ||||
| M.O'Neill* | Back | 2-3 weeks |
References[]
https://www.afl.com.au/matches/2861#match-report
https://afltables.com/afl/stats/games/2020/051820200901.html
- ↑ West Coast Eagles Yearbook 2020, p.39
- ↑ westcoasteagles.com.au (2 September 2020), "Round 15: Pressing questions": https://www.westcoasteagles.com.au/news/805481/round-15-pressing-questions
- ↑ Craig O'Donoghue, The West Australian (1 September 2020), "West Coast Eagles bounce back from Richmond loss with statement 15-point win over Bombers": https://thewest.com.au/sport/west-coast-eagles/west-coast-eagles-bounce-back-from-richmond-loss-with-statement-15-point-win-over-bombers-ng-b881655313z
- ↑ Greg Davis, The Age (1 September 2020), "Eagles soar into four as injury hits Dons again": https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/eagles-soar-into-four-as-injury-hits-dons-again-20200901-p55rhk.html
| 2020 season <--2019-20 offseason | Playing squad | Coaching panel | 2020-21 offseason--> |
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