Round 18 2018

West Coast v W.Bulldogs
Round 18, 2018

Shuey in action. Photo: aflphotos.com.au

Date

Sun, 22 July 2018 (1.20pm WST)

Venue

MCG

Attendance

46,854

Result

Won by 54

Score

WCE 14.16.100 - 6.10.46 WB

Brownlow

3 A.Gaff (WCE)
2 J.Darling (WCE)
1 E.Yeo (WCE)

Ladder

2nd

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West Coast scored a comfortable but unattractive win over the Bulldogs to maintain their hold on a top-two spot. The visitors shot out of the blocks with the first two goals but the Eagles took control to kick the next seven, before rain hit and the match descended into a scrap. Elliot Yeo kicked one goal from 28 possessions and Jamie Cripps was lively early and finished with three majors.

Summary

		1/4 time		1/2 time		3/4 time		Final
West Coast		6.4.40		8.9.57		9.15.69		14.16.100
Western Bulldogs		2.2.14		3.5.23		4.8.32		6.10.46

Goals: Cripps, Darling 3, Kennedy, LeCras 2, Rioli, Vardy, Venables, Yeo

Best: Yeo, Gaff, McGovern, Cripps, Jetta, Masten

Injuries: Nil

Named sides

	West Coast				Bulldogs
B:	25.Hurn	31.Schofield	5.Sheppard	B:	25.Adams	8.Trengove	37.R.Smith
HB:	14.Duggan	20.McGovern	23.Jetta	HB:	38.Morris	12.Cordy	39.Johannisen
C:	34.Hutchings	6.Yeo	7.Masten	C:	9.Crozier	11.Macrae	7.Hunter
HF:	15.Cripps	27.Darling	8.Redden	HF:	20.Richards	13.Schache	5.Dunkley
F:	2.LeCras	17.Kennedy	44.Rioli	F:	6.Dahlhaus	17.Boyd	26.Gowers
R:	29.Lycett	13.Shuey	3.Gaff	R:	23.Roughead	16.McLean	3.Wallis
I:	4.Sheed	18.Venables	19.Vardy	I:	22.Honeychurch	33.Naughton	35.Daniel
	28.Cole				36.Lynch
E:	30.Nelson	37.Barrass	41.Ah Chee	E:	18.Roberts	24.Biggs	27.Lipinski
	45.Waterman				30.Greene

In: Vardy, Sheed

Out: Naitanui (knee), Waterman

Quarter by quarter

Both sides went in as named. The match began under grey skies that intermittently brought showers.

From the coach

"It was pretty scrappy but with the conditions and the wind our ability to score was pretty good. But we didn't convert when we had dominance. I thought we could have won by more in the end there but the Doggies fought hard all day and I thought the start was important for us. We didn't get off to a great start in the first five minutes but after that the boys settled pretty well and we got the win.

"I didn't have the chance to assess (the ruck battle). I don't know what our clearance rate was but it wasn't an issue in the box, but I'll have a look at it tomorrow. I think Vardy hit the scoreboard and held his own in the ruck, and the same with Scott at first glance.

"...It must have looked pretty scrappy today but I think some of the work rate from our high half forwards and mids ... Crippa got rewarded today but he brings tremendous work rate every week."

From the papers

The West Australian

"The Bulldogs entered Sunday’s match having won just two second halves all season.

But it was the first half when West Coast inflicted the bulk of the damage, kicking seven straight goals during a hot stretch to set up a 34-point lead by the long break.

Luke Dahlhaus sent a scare through the Bulldogs camp when he limped off with a left ankle injury in the second quarter.

Although he was able to return to the field, he couldn’t play out the match, leaving the Bulldogs with just two fit men on the bench in the final term."

The Age

"The first glimpses of West Coast without star ruckman Nic Naitanui weren’t too bad.

The Bulldogs did well out of the middle in the very early stages of the game and kicked the first two goals. But the home side quickly settled and booted the next seven to set up the win.

Andrew Gaff set the tone for the game with 13 touches in the opening term.

By the time the quarter time siren sounded, the Eagles had opened up their biggest quarter-time lead of the season – 26 points. They had 6.4 on the board, all single goal kickers and all from their forwards."

East Perth report

Round 16 (21 July)

East Perth fell by four goals to Claremont at a waterlogged Claremont Oval, managing to kick just three goals for the match in horrendous conditions to put their finals chances in huge jeopardy. Midfielders Brayden Ainsworth and Luke Partington each recorded 25 possessions.

Appearing for East Perth: Ainsworth, M.Allen, O.Allen, Barrass, Brayshaw, McInnes, Mutimer, Nelson, Partington, Petruccelle, Ryan, Waterman, Watson. Reserves: Bayok, Burrows, Karpany, Olango.

Injury list

In the leadup to the match the following players were listed as injured:

Player		Injury		Expected return
MacKenzie		Toe		Season
Naitanui		Knee		Season
Rotham		Concussion		1 week
Olango*		Hamstring		Test
McInnes*		Groin		Test

References

http://www.afl.com.au/match-centre/2018/18/wce-v-wb

https://afltables.com/afl/stats/games/2018/071820180722.html