West Coast kicked off their 2017 campaign with a comprehensive victory over the Roos. The contest was even for the first half but the visitors were able to wrest control in the third term to put the match beyond North, eventually cruising to a 43-point win. Josh Kennedy started his Coleman Medal defence with a big seven-goal haul and Sam Mitchell led all players with 38 possessions in his first game for West Coast.
Summary[]
| 1/4 time | 1/2 time | 3/4 time | Final | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Melbourne | 4.6.30 | 8.8.56 | 11.10.76 | 13.15.93 | ||||
| West Coast | 3.3.21 | 9.8.62 | 16.8.104 | 21.10.136 |
Goals: Kennedy 7, LeCras 4, Cripps 3, Darling, Yeo 2, Hill, Jetta, Petrie
Best: Mitchell, Kennedy, Priddis, LeCras, Gaff, Yeo
Injuries: Petrie (hand)
Milestones: Mitchell WCE debut, Petrie WCE debut, Vardy WCE debut
Named sides[]
| West Coast | N.Melbourne | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B: | 25.Hurn | 16.MacKenzie | 5.Sheppard | B: | 17.Hibberd | 25.Tarrant | 11.McDonald |
| HB: | 30.Nelson | 20.McGovern | 12.Wellingham | HB: | 2.M.Williams | 6.Hansen | 18.Atley |
| C: | 6.Yeo | 11.Priddis | 3.Gaff | C: | 34.MacMillan | 14.Dumont | 21.Simpkin |
| HF: | 2.LeCras | 27.Darling | 23.Jetta | HF: | 8.Hrovat | 30.Waite | 42.Mountford |
| F: | 15.Cripps | 17.Kennedy | 33.Hill | F: | 12.Thomas | 31.Preuss | 4.Higgins |
| R: | 19.Vardy | 13.Shuey | 1.Mitchell | R: | 22.Goldstein | 7.Ziebell | 9.Swallow |
| I: | 7.Masten | 8.Redden | 21.Petrie | I : | 16.Thompson | 28.Turner | 43.Gibson |
| 34.Hutchings | 50.Brown | ||||||
| E: | 4.Sheed | 31.Schofield | 37.Barrass | E: | 13.Clarke | 24.Durdin | 33.Vickers-Willis |
New: Sam Mitchell (Hawthorn), Drew Petrie (North Melbourne), Nathan Vardy (Geelong)
Quarter by quarter[]
Both sides went in as named. With sunny skies forecast for Melbourne, the roof at Docklands was left open for the match.
Club Champion votes[]
| Kennedy | 15 | Shuey | 7 | ||
| Yeo | 14 | Petrie | 6 | ||
| Cripps | 11 | Darling | 5 | ||
| Hurn | 11 | Hill | 5 | ||
| LeCras | 11 | Hutchings | 5 | ||
| Mitchell | 10 | Nelson | 5 | ||
| Gaff | 9 | Vardy | 5 | ||
| McGovern | 9 | Sheppard | 3 | ||
| Priddis | 9 | Wellingham | 3 | ||
| Redden | 8 | MacKenzie | 0 | ||
| Masten | 7 | Jetta | 0 |
From the coach[]
"Really pleased. It was a pretty hard-fought game. We've got some sore boys. In particular I suppose the first half was a bit of a grind. I thought both teams were cracking in.
"...I've said this before, they're not quite Nic Naitanui status, those boys (Vardy and Petrie), but they have a go and they follow up. That's all we ask from them. I thought Todd Goldstein still played well and I think he got on the end of a couple as well, so it's an area we still need to work on. But as long as they bring the intent, we'll manage.
"...We probably struggled at times with the way the Kangas were rebounding off our half-forward line. So when it worked it looked really good and when it didn't work it looked really bad. Scoring across the board in round one traditionally goes up. So to concede 93 points, and they missed a lot of shots as well, we're definitely not completely satisfied. But we ground out a hard-fought win. Both teams looked pretty tired towards the end and I think maybe our maturity might have got us over the line in the end."[1]
From the papers[]
The West Australian[]
"West Coast broke the game open with a seven-goal third quarter as Kennedy made the most of his midfield’s silver service inside 50m.
Mitchell had the ball on a string, while Priddis (29 disposals), Shuey (31) and Andrew Gaff (36) also won plenty of it.
Elliot Yeo produced one of his better interstate performances with 26 possessions and two goals, and small forward Jamie Cripps also bobbed up with three of majors.
The Eagles had eight separate goal kickers in a dominant display."[2]
The Age[]
"The Eagles' 2016 Coleman medallist was the truly unstoppable presence. This year was supposed to mark the end of the big goal scoring key forward. Summer clearly leads to a lot of odd forecasts.
Lachie Hansen and Robbie Tarrant often did nothing wrong one out on Kennedy yet were beaten. They sat over his shoulder but were unable to spoil when Kennedy led hard and fast and had the ball delivered in front.
When they tried to play him from behind they risked losing body contact and thus losing track of where Kennedy was as he peeled off and presented for long balls over the top. Then for a period they tried to sit one in front to block the lead and one on the shoulder. West Coast's goal machine just out-ran and out-worked them."[3]
East Perth report[]
Round 1 (18 Mar)
East Perth fell by 17 points to the Fremantle-aligned Peel Thunder at Leederville in a scrappy season-opener. The Royals kicked the opening goal but then went goalless until the final term. Sam Butler was impressive with 28 possessions and Tom Barrass kicked two final-quarter goals after being swung forward.
Appearing for East Perth: Barrass, Butler, Duggan, Giles, Gorter, Karpany, Lamb, McInnes, Mutimer, Partington, Redden, Rotham(*first East Perth appearance), Schofield, Snadden, Watson*. Reserves: Brophy, Venables.
Round 2 (26 Mar)
East Perth fell to arch-rivals West Perth at Joondalup, keeping pace with the Falcons throughout but ultimately going down by 21 points. Tom Lamb kicked five majors and Luke Partington racked up 35 touches.
Appearing for East Perth: Barrass, Butler, Duggan, Gorter, Karpany, Lamb, McInnes, Mutimer, Partington, Rotham, Sheed, Snadden, Watson. Reserves: Bayok, Brophy, Venables.
Injury list[]
In the lead-up to the match the following players were listed as injured:
| Player | Injury | Expected duration | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Naitanui | Knee | Late 2017 season | (On LTI list 21/3/17, replaced by Petrie) | |||
| Lycett | Shoulder | 8-10 weeks | (On LTI list 21/3/17) | |||
| Waterman | Foot | 8-10 weeks | ||||
| Rioli | Hamstring | 5-6 weeks | ||||
| Allen | Hamstring | 3-4 weeks | ||||
| Cole | Quad | 1-2 weeks | ||||
| Tunbridge* | Knee | Mid-late 2017 season |
References[]
http://www.afl.com.au/match-centre/2017/1/nm-v-wce
http://afltables.com/afl/stats/games/2017/121820170326.html
- ↑ 'The West Australian (27 March 2017, p.GAM16), "Word for word"
- ↑ Shayne Hope, The West Australian (26 March 2017), "Boom recruit Mitchell leads Eagles to first-up win": https://thewest.com.au/sport/afl/boom-recruit-mitchell-leads-eagles-to-first-up-win-ng-b88426818z
- ↑ Michael Gleeson, The Age (26 March 2017), "West Coast Eagles romp home after early challenge from North Melbourne": http://www.theage.com.au/afl/west-coast-eagles-romp-home-after-early-challenge-from-north-melbourne-20170326-gv6m41.html
| 2017 season <--2016-17 offseason | Playing squad | Coaching panel | 2017-18 offseason--> |
|---|
|
JLT Series : 1 (GWS) | 2 (FRE) | 3 (MEL) |