Round 21 2022

West Coast v Adelaide
Round 21, 2022

Kennedy in action in his final game. Photo: aflphotos.com.au

Date

Sun, 7 August 2022 (2.10pm WST)

Venue

Perth Stadium

Attendance

50,117

Result

Lost by 16

Score

ADL 16.6.102 - 13.8.86 WCE

Brownlow

3 J.Kennedy (WCE)
2 R.Laird (ADL)
1 D.Fogarty (ADL)

Ladder

17th

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West Coast farewelled goalkicking champion Josh Kennedy but could not send the much-loved forward out with a win against the Crows, despite him turning back the clock to bag eight majors. In a familiar story throughout 2022, once again the Eagles were punished for a poor quarter - this time the third term - and were unable to take full toll at the times they were on top. Despite that, they got within a kick late in the match but misses to Kennedy himself (when going for a ninth major) and Bailey Williams gave Adelaide an opening that they were able to turn into a match sealer. Nic Naitanui found form with 35 hitouts and nine clearances and Jamaine Jones had 24 touches off half-back, but Kennedy was the centre of attention as he farewelled the Perth crowd for the final time.

Summary[]

		1/4 time		1/2 time		3/4 time		Final
West Coast		3.3.21		7.4.46		9.5.59		13.8.86
Adelaide		4.0.24		7.2.44		12.4.76		16.6.102

Goals: Kennedy 8, Cripps, Darling 2, Duggan

Best: Kennedy, Barrass, Naitanui, Kelly, Shuey, Hurn, Ryan

Injuries: Nil

Reports:Kelly for rough conduct on S.Berry

Substitutes: (WCE) Bazzo, not used; (ADL) Davis for Hamill (concussion) in the second term

Milestones: Rioli 50th game, Kennedy final appearance

Jumper: Home, blue shorts

Named sides[]

	West Coast				Adelaide
B:	25.Hurn	37.Barrass	14.Duggan	B:	24.Worrell	41.Butts	17.Hamill
HB:	19.Hough	42.H.Edwards	31.Jones	HB:	33.Smith	28.Murray	12.Dawson
C:	2.Waterman	11.Kelly	3.Gaff	C:	20.Hinge	29.Laird	1.Jones
HF:	1.Ryan	27.Darling	15.Cripps	HF:	23.McAdam	32.Fogarty	2.Keays
F:	32.B.Williams	17.Kennedy	44.Rioli	F:	30.Milera	13.Walker	4.Murphy
R:	9.Naitanui	8.Redden	13.Shuey	R:	43.O'Brien	21.Berry	26.Schoenberg
I:	7.Langdon	10.Petrevski-Seton	24.O'Neill	I:	14.Soligo	34.Himmelberg	37.Parnell
	29.Foley				25.McHenry
E:	30.Nelson	33.Bazzo	39.Clark	E:	40.Davis	22.Frampton	6.Hately
	41.Dixon				38.Sholl

In: Kennedy, Langdon, Petrevski-Seton

Out: Petruccelle (hamstring), Culley (suspended), West (wrist), Dixon (medical sub)

Quarter by quarter[]

Both sides went in as named. After a rainy buildup, the match was played predominantly in sunshine.

From the coach[]

"Yeah, the game was up for grabs, it was probably the most satisfying game we’ve had being a loss. I thought at the start of the game we conceded the first three and probably tried to ‘squeeze the fish a little bit’ is the expression. Just tried a bit too hard giving away free kicks and once we settled and obviously JK kicked a couple, we may have overdone it a few times but not too many. Once the game settled, we had dominance for a half and just didn’t capitalise. Second quarter, field position was important. Third quarter was poor and then fourth was just a seesaw contest so that’s probably the story of our season a little bit – we’ve been competitive for patches but not for four quarters. The whole thing being JK’s last game and the emotion the boys must have gone through before the game, during the week and the game, I thought they gave everything to try and get over the line and we just couldn’t get it done in the end.

"...Since the bye we have been a lot more competitive, we’ve won a fair share of quarters and had moments where we have been dominant and them, we just haven’t sustained it so we’ve got a lot of work to do to get that. We probably have about 15 players out of action at the moment, so we are getting good exposure with different types of players and then we get into a good preseason, get fit and give it a good crack next year. There has been some growth but we haven’t had any wins and obviously its important. Winning is a habit. We got to a point today where the game was on the line, and we couldn’t get over the line we need to get that and we need to get that feeling back as well."^[1]

From the papers[]

The West Australian[]

"West Coast have consistently suffered a one-quarter lapse in almost every game this season, and it happened again after half time.

With Barrass dominating his duel with Walker, the Crows sent Walker deeper and for part of the term Barrass went with him. It cleared a path to the Adelaide goal and, with them also doing better in and around the contest, the goals flowed.

The Crows kicked the opening four goals of the term as Shane McAdam kicked his second and third goals, Walker got on the scoreboard and Elliott Himmelberg also goaled after Jamaine Jones daydreamed his way into the protected zone to concede a 50-metre penalty.

Laird added a big third quarter to his big opening term and went to three quarter time with 29 disposals alongside his two goals. Kennedy added two more for the term to go to three-quarter time but they were about damage control as the Eagles scrapped a four goal lead back to 17-points at the last change. From there, Fogarty’s deadly kicking and Kennedy’s rare miss proved pivotal."^[2]

Reserves[]

Round 16 (6 August)

West Coast lost again, this time to Subiaco at the unfamiliar venue of East Fremantle Oval, with the match shifted from Leederville Oval due to the ground being in an unfit state. The Lions had the game in their keeping at halftime after kicking six unanswered goals in the second term, but the Eagles fought the game out, reducing the margin to 23 at the final siren. Isiah Winder had a career-high 33 possessions and Hugh Dixon kicked two goals and had 20 hitouts.

		1/4 time		1/2 time		3/4 time		Final
Subiaco		3.3.21		9.4.58		10.6.66		14.6.90
West Coast		2.0.12		2.2.14		5.8.38		9.13.67

Goals: Burke 3, Dixon 2, Eastough, Johnstone, Nelson, Winder

Best: Winder, Naish, Witherden, Burke, Dixon

Injuries: Nil

Named side:

	West Coast
B:	66.McGee	50.Sumich	63.Hansen
HB:	23.Witherden	56.Creasey	53.Henderson
C:	54.Browne	22.Winder	43.Naish
HF:	52.Regan	51.L.Young	71.Johnstone
F:	75.Eastough	34.J.Williams	57.Burke
R:	35.Rotham	26.Trew	58.Levien
I:	48.Kemp	61.McCarthy	64.Mercer
	59.Nitschke
E:	70.Paunich	18.Pobjoy	55.A.Ryan
	68.Watson

In: Witherden, Rotham, Trew, Sumich, Regan, Kemp, McCarthy

Out: Petrevski-Seton, Clark, Dixon, Langdon, Nelson (AFL), Jamieson (tbc), Watson

Late changes: Clark, Dixon, Nelson for Kemp, McCarthy, Nitschke

New: Ethan Regan (East Perth/Morley JFC)

Injury list[]

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

Player	Injury	Expected return
Allen	Foot	Indefinite	(on inactive list)
Cole	Ankle	Indefinite	(on inactive list)
Chesser	Ankle	Indefinite	(on inactive list)
L.Edwards	Groin	Indefinite	(on inactive list)
Sheed	Shin	Season
McGovern	Ribs	Season
Joyce	Ankle	Season
Strnadica	Personal	Season
Petruccelle	Hamstring	2-3 weeks
Yeo	Calf	2-3 weeks
Culley	Suspension	2 weeks
Rotham	Ankle	Test
Witherden	Hamstring	Test
Bazzo	Ankle	Test