Round 19 2018

N.Melbourne v West Coast
Round 19, 2018

Redden gets a handpass out. Photo: aflphotos.com.au

Date

Sun, 29 July 2018 (1.10pm EST)

Venue

Bellerive Oval

Attendance

11,176

Result

Lost by 40

Score

NM 12.9.81 - 6.5.41 WCE

Brownlow

3 B.Cunnington (NM)
2 T.Goldstein (NM)
1 P.Ahern (NM)

Ladder

2nd

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West Coast suffered a comprehensive defeat in Tasmania at the hands of the Kangaroos, managing just one goal in the second half en route to a 40-point loss. The Eagles' defence was able to hold up against the weight of North's midfield dominance in the first half, but the dam wall broke in the second as the Roos kept their finals hopes alive and put a dent in West Coast's top two hopes. Elliot Yeo recovered from a slow start to have a team-high 28 possessions and 11 tackles, and Shannon Hurn had 21 touches from defence.

Summary

		1/4 time		1/2 time		3/4 time		Final
North Melbourne		1.4.10		5.4.34		9.7.61		12.9.81
West Coast		2.0.12		5.1.31		6.2.38		6.5.41

Goals: Rioli 2, Cripps, LeCras, Vardy, Yeo

Best: Hurn, Yeo, Cripps, Hutchings, McGovern

Injuries: Nil

Reports: Rioli for striking B.Cunnington

Milestones: Vardy 50th AFL game, Cole Rising Star nomination

Records:WCE lowest score v North Melbourne

Named sides

	West Coast				North Melb
B:	25.Hurn	31.Schofield	5.Sheppard	B:	1.Daw	16.Thompson	2.Williams
HB:	28.Cole	20.McGovern	14.Duggan	HB:	34.MacMillan	25.Tarrant	19.Wright
C:	8.Redden	13.Shuey	15.Cripps	C:	11.McDonald	15.Ahern	14.Dumont
HF:	7.Masten	27.Darling	34.Hutchings	HF:	3.Anderson	7.Ziebell	12.Simpkin
F:	2.LeCras	17.Kennedy	44.Rioli	F:	18.Atley	50.Brown	28.Turner
R:	29.Lycett	6.Yeo	3.Gaff	R:	22.Goldstein	10.Cunnington	4.Higgins
I:	4.Sheed	18.Venables	19.Vardy	I:	8.Hrovat	13.Clarke	27.Walker
	37.Barrass				32.Wood
E:	21.Petruccelle	30.Nelson	41.Ah Chee	E:	9.Davies-Uniacke	20.Larkey	23.McKay
	45.Waterman	12.O.Allen*	38.Mutimer*		40.Murphy

In: Barrass

Out: Jetta (calf)

Late changes: Waterman, Petruccelle for Kennedy (soreness), Shuey (personal)

(*Allen, Mutimer added to emergencies)

Quarter by quarter

Both sides went in as named, after West Coast were forced to make two changes the previous day. The match was played in fine but chilly conditions.

From the coach

"I think we've got to give a lot of credit to North. We anticipated a game like this and we couldn't match them in most areas of the ground. The only area of the ground I thought we held up was our back line, they were under siege all day. We found a way to hang in there at half-time, but the weight of numbers and the collective of the Kangas were just too strong for us. Out-pressured, outworked, forward-half turnovers, this ground is a real skinny ground, so to try and start up all your players from the back pocket is really difficult. In the end we got beaten by a better side on the day.

"That's what happens when you're getting touched up in the midfield and you can't get supply. And when we did, we couldn't keep it in there. We got outplayed, that's what we've got to acknowledge and find a way to get better. We were missing a couple of players today but that's not an excuse. We've won before with some personnel that have been missing and there was no reason why we couldn't today.

"...It was one of those games that we never really looked like we were up for the fight, which is unlike us at the moment. We're trying to play a real tough brand and to rely on some ball movement, you don't want to do that, it doesn't stand up. You've got to rely on the contest and getting some field position, especially on a smaller ground like this. We didn't do that today, so we've got to give credit to North, full credit to North. And across the board, we didn't have too many winners."

From the papers

The West Australian

"On a typically wet and windy day in Hobart, you need to take every advantage you can get in the battle to gain ground. And the Roos were simply able to gain more and more in the territory stakes as the match wore on, doing their best work when the ball was up for grabs.

Tellingly, North Melbourne was able to commit more bodies to more contests on a more regular basis.

Nic Naitanui and Luke Shuey are responsible for plenty of the good stuff that comes out of stoppage set-ups for West Coast, and their absence was notable. Elliot Yeo fought hard, particularly in the tough second-half circumstances, but had few mates in being able to wrest the momentum back his team’s way.

When the result was all but secured early in the last term, the Eagles barely looked like finding the major opening."

The Age

"West Coast were close to as flat as they've been all season, blowing a chance to solidify their top-two spot. Elliott Yeo was excellent in the midfield, while Jeremy McGovern and Shannon Hurn both absorbed pressure in defence, but there were too few winners across the board. Andrew Gaff had just 21 diposals, his lowest haul of a brilliant season, and late inclusions Jake Waterman and Jack Petruccelle couldn't come close to filling the void left by Kennedy and Shuey.

The first bounce was at 1.10pm, but the lights were on from the outset. It was typically cold but unusually still at Blundstone Arena, so the margin was less likely to swing wildly from quarter to quarter. Even without a strong breeze, the ball was down North’s end for most of the first 10 minutes, yet the Roos couldn’t make it count. Rather than sailing through from beyond the arc, North’s kicks for goal were too often short or off-line, if not both.

Ben Brown arrived late to spoil Mark LeCras on the wing, collecting the Eagles veteran high and conceding a 50-metre penalty and in turn West Coast’s first goal. The Eagles had managed to gain a foothold in the game, and led after Willie Rioli drilled a low 40 metre drop punt from close to the boundary. They maintained a slender advantage at quarter-time, even though North led inside 50s by eight and contested possessions by 19."

East Perth report

Round 17 (28 July)

East Perth scored a thrilling win over Perth at Leederville Oval to keep their finals hopes alive, with the Demons fighting back to take the lead in the last term before a goal after the siren from an unlikely source in regular fullback Kyle Anderson took the points for the Royals. Matthew Allen tallied 26 possessions playing as a big-bodied midfielder and Liam Ryan kicked two goals, but Jackson Nelson suffered a side strain and was reported for striking on a dirty day.

Appearing for East Perth: Ah Chee, M.Allen, O.Allen, Brander, Brayshaw, McInnes, Nelson, Partington, Rotham, Ryan, Watson. Reserves: Bayok, Burrows, 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
Karpany		Rib		1-2 weeks
Ainsworth		Concussion		1 week
Rotham		Concussion		Test
Brander		Back		Test
England*		Quad		1 week

References

http://www.afl.com.au/match-centre/2018/19/nm-v-wce

https://afltables.com/afl/stats/games/2018/121820180729.html