Round 1 2018

West Coast v Sydney
Round 1, 2018

Ryan flies for a mark. Photo: aflphotos.com.au

Date

Sun, 24 March 2018 (4.10pm WST)

Venue

Perth Stadium

Attendance

53,553

Result

Lost by 29

Score

SYD 18.7.115 - 13.8.86 WCE

Brownlow

3 L.Franklin (SYD)
2 L.Parker (SYD)
1 J.Lloyd (SYD)

Ladder

14th

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West Coast were competitive but couldn't match a Lance Franklin-inspired Sydney in the first home and away game ever to be played at the new Perth Stadium. In slick conditions, the Eagles fought back from a sizeable margin several times, on the back of a WA-record football crowd of more than 53,000, but ultimately couldn't bridge the gap. Nic Naitanui had 33 hitouts and a goal in a successful return from a knee reconstruction, and Mark LeCras kicked three goals and laid nine tackles.

Summary[]

		1/4 time		1/2 time		3/4 time		Final
West Coast		4.2.26		5.3.33		10.7.67		13.8.86
Sydney		5.1.31		9.5.59		11.6.72		18.7.115

Goals: Darling, LeCras 3, Duggan, Hurn, Masten, Naitanui, Ryan, Waterman, Yeo

Best: Yeo, Shuey, Gaff, LeCras, Naitanui

Injuries: Nil

Milestones: Ryan AFL debut, Venables AFL debut, Waterman AFL debut

Records: First AFL game at Perth Stadium

Named sides[]

	West Coast				Sydney
B:	5.Sheppard	37.Barrass	25.Hurn	B:	40.Smith	39.Grundy	43.Melican
HB:	14.Duggan	20.McGovern	6.Yeo	HB:	14.Mills	24.Rampe	28.Newman
C:	7.Masten	8.Redden	23.Jetta	C:	10.Jones	12.Kennedy	44.Lloyd
HF:	15.Cripps	45.Waterman	4.Sheed	HF:	29.Hewett	20.Reid	22.Towers
F:	29.Lycett	27.Darling	2.LeCras	F:	11.Papley	23.Franklin	15.Jack
R:	9.Naitanui	13.Shuey	3.Gaff	R:	18.Sinclair	26.Parker	5.Heeney
I:	1.Ryan	18.Venables	30.Nelson	I:	7.Cunningham	13.Florent	42.Fox
	31.Schofield				3.McVeigh
E:	26.Watson	33.Ainsworth	34.Hutchings	E:	6.Foote	9.Hayward	31.Marsh
	36.McInnes				27.Robinson

Late change: (SYD) Hayward for Reid (hamstring tightness)

New: Liam Ryan (Subiaco), Daniel Venables (Western Jets), Jake Waterman (Claremont)

Quarter by quarter[]

West Coast went in as named, entering the new arena to great pageantry. Sydney withdrew key forward Sam Reid with hamstring tightness before the bounce. Intermittent rain made for slick conditions and forced the umpires to abandon bouncing the ball in the middle of the ground.

First quarter[]

Sydney welcomed back Naitanui with some physical attention before the bounce, resulting in a roar from the crowd when he knocked Zak Jones on his backside.

Club Champion votes[]


LeCras	12	Sheppard	3
Darling	11	Waterman	3
Naitanui	8	Lycett	2
Masten	7	Nelson	2
Hurn	6	Ryan	2
Shuey	6	McGovern	1
Yeo	5	Redden	1
Sheed	4	Duggan	0
Barrass	3	Jetta	0
Cripps	3	Schofield	0
Gaff	3	Venables	0

From the coach[]

"What a great environment for a start. The atmosphere today felt like a final and the crowd certainly turned up and played their part. I thought the boys played their part to a certain point. Obviously Buddy, we couldn't stop him, we tried a lot of different things. But we played with a real spirit as well and some of our youngest players playing on the big stage and Nic and Scott coming back after 12 months out and playing in different positions. We are not happy that we have lost but we take a lot from the spirit in which we played.

"...I thought everyone played their part in that third quarter. I thought there was a fair bit of resolve, the crowd got behind us and gave us an idea of what it is like to have 60,000 screaming supporters. I did a couple of things in the box, not too many things. Maybe Buddy went off for five minutes. That is something we have got to work on - we are not happy about that but he was just too hard to stop. We tried everything under the sun.

"...We're working through a new dynamic with our midfield. Truth be known, we probably got beaten so we've got some work to do there."

From the papers[]

The West Australian[]

"Jack Darling (three goals) and LeCras stood up in the absence of Josh Kennedy (ankle), who is still at least a fortnight away from a return, while debutants Jake Waterman and Liam Ryan each had some nice moments and both ended with majors.

Determined to avoid the 0-6 start they had last season, the Swans had the answers for much of the day after opening up a 26-point half-time lead.

The Swans won the clearances 47-38, despite being without Dan Hannebery (calf) and with Callum Sinclair battling in the ruck against Naitanui and Scott Lycett.

Isaac Heeney (26 disposals and a goal) was brilliant for the visitors."

The Age[]

"Full of run, the Eagles did manage to get the margin back to five at three-quarter-time.

They got a lift from the first AFL goal from new West Coast fan favourite, forward-pocket Liam Ryan, and the return of Nic Naitanui after more than 19 months out of the game.

Plus Luke Shuey and Elliot Yeo were providing plenty of run in the midfield.

LeCras was also showing his best form for some time. And it was his third goal on the three-quarter time siren that brough the margin back to less than a goal"

East Perth report[]

East Perth played a scratch match against Peel in Mandurah, going down by 104 points. Brayden Ainsworth and Josh Rotham were among the Royals' better players.

Appearing for East Perth: Ainsworth, M.Allen, Bayok, Brander, Brayshaw, England, Karpany, McInnes, Mutimer, Partington, Petruccelle, Rioli, Rotham, Watson