Round 22 2018

West Coast v Melbourne
Round 22, 2018

Photo: Cripps in action. Photo: aflphotos.com.au

Date

Sun, 19 August 2018 (1.20pm WST)

Venue

Perth Stadium

Attendance

55,824

Result

Lost by 17

Score

MEL 16.12.108 - 14.7.91 WCE

Brownlow

3 A.Brayshaw (MEL)
2 M.Gawn (MEL)
1 J.Melksham (MEL)

Ladder

2nd

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West Coast gave up the opportunity to lock in a top-two finish, trailing Melbourne for most of the match after giving up the first four goals and losing Jack Darling to concussion in the first term. The home side fought their way back into the contest and finally hit the front in the last term, but couldn't sustain their charge on a hot day, eventually going down by 17 points as the Demons secured their first finals appearance in more than a decade. Dom Sheed had a team-high 31 possessions and Willie Rioli was dangerous throughout and finished with three goals.

Summary

		1/4 time		1/2 time		3/4 time		Final
West Coast		3.0.18		5.4.34		11.6.72		14.7.91
Melbourne		4.4.28		7.6.48		12.8.80		16.12.108

Goals: Rioli 3, Hutchings 2, Ah Chee, Cripps, LeCras, Masten, Ryan, Sheed, Vardy, Venables, Yeo

Best: Rioli, Redden, Hutchings, Sheed, Masten

Injuries: Darling (concussion)

Named sides

	West Coast				Melbourne
B:	25.Hurn	37.Barrass	5.Sheppard	B:	39.Jetta	28.O.McDonald	6.Lewis
HB:	28.Cole	20.McGovern	23.Jetta	HB:	3.Salem	17.Frost	4.Harmes
C:	7.Masten	6.Yeo	15.Cripps	C:	30.Neal-Bullen	13.Oliver	10.Brayshaw
HF:	34.Hutchings	27.Darling	2.LeCras	HF:	9.Spargo	26.Weideman	22.Vandenberg
F:	44.Rioli	19.Vardy	41.Ah Chee	F:	14.Hibberd	25.T.McDonald	12.Tyson
R:	29.Lycett	8.Redden	13.Shuey	R:	11.Gawn	2.Jones	5.Petracca
I:	1.Ryan	4.Sheed	14.Duggan	I:	16.Kent	18.Melksham	19.Hannan
	18.Venables				31.Fritsch
E:	26.Watson	30.Nelson	43.M.Allen	E:	21.Pedersen	24.Kennedy-Harris	36.Garlett
	45.Waterman				42.Wagner

No change.

Quarter by quarter

Both sides went in as named. The match was played in bright sunshine and warm conditions.

From the coach

"We got beaten by a better team. Jumped at the start, jumped in a lot of areas, obviously on the scoreboard. Contested ball was a concern. We lost Jack Darling early in the piece, I think about five or ten minutes in which took a bit of an adjustment for us. We were fighting for three and a half quarters to stay in the game. We got beaten by a better side and couldn't stop some of the things that Melbourne did, but gee the boys never gave up, so the spirit is still there and the season is still up for grabs.

"...It was a challenge (losing Darling). A young forward line and our two leaders probably were Mark LeCras and Jamie Cripps and I thought both of them were working hard to try and stay and play the right way. In the end we had to try to do a few things differently which opened the game up and which in the end we couldn't hold them back. Some individuals probably lowered their colours, but for the most part you could see the effort and the intent. It was there all day and we just couldn't get it done.

"...We threw Gov forward in the second quarter. We had him forward halfway through the third when the game was starting to slip away. I thought it helped us. Ideally we want to keep him back, but when you lose Josh (Kennedy) and Darling you need a tall. In the last quarter and a half we played Vardy as our main tall forward."

From the papers

The West Australian

"West Coast led by a point when Mark LeCras kicked truly at the 19-minute mark of the final term.

But the Demons booted the last three goals of the match to steal the win.

Jake Melksham booted four goals, while Tom McDonald and Mitch Hannan kicked three goals each.

Willie Rioli booted three goals for the Eagles, but West Coast lacked a good target in attack once Darling went down."

The Age

"With more to play for, Melbourne’s intensity early in the game matched the significance of the contest.

They kicked the first three goals of the game with a brand of football far superior to the Eagles. The Demons opened a 26-point lead during the first term by doubling the number of contested possessions of their opponents.

That resulted in a lop-sided inside 50m count, and even without Jesse Hogan, Melbourne were able to find regular goal scorers.

Max Gawn had the better of the ruck contest and the Demons midfielders, led by Angus Brayshaw and Nathan Jones, benefited."

East Perth report

Round 20 (18 August)

East Perth fell to arch-rivals West Perth by three goals at Leederville Oval, putting them on the brink of elimination from the finals race with one round to play. The Royals led at quarter-time but the Falcons took control of the match after that, opening up a 40-point lead during the final term before East Perth added some late goals. Luke Partington had 26 possessions and Matthew Allen tallied 23 in a midfield role.

Appearing for East Perth: Ainsworth, M.Allen, O.Allen, Brander, Brayshaw, Karpany, McInnes, Mutimer, Nelson, Partington, Rotham, Petruccelle, Waterman. Reserves: Bayok, England.

Injury list

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

Player		Injury		Expected return
MacKenzie		Toe		Season
Naitanui		Knee		Season
Gaff		Suspension		Season
Schofield		Hamstring		1 week
Kennedy		Shin		1 week
Olango*		Hamstring		2 weeks
McInnes*		Adductor		Test
Burrows*		Ankle		TBC		(not on official list)

References

http://www.afl.com.au/match-centre/2018/21/wce-v-mel

https://afltables.com/afl/stats/games/2018/111820180819.html