Round 8 2017

West Coast v W.Bulldogs
Round 8, 2017

McGovern takes a mark. Photo: aflphotos.com.au

Date

Fri, 12 May 2017 (6.10pm WST)

Venue

Subiaco Oval

Attendance

38,934

Result

Won by 8

Score

WCE 9.15.69 - 8.13.61 WB

Brownlow

3 A.Gaff (WCE)
2 S.Hurn (WCE)
1 S.Mitchell (WCE)

Ladder

3rd

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West Coast held on to win a high pressure but scrappy contest with the reigning premiers, leading at every change but failing to score a goal in the final term as the Bulldogs pressed to within single figures. Sam Mitchell set up the Eagles in the first half and finished with 33 possessions, and Shannon Hurn had 28 from the backline.

Summary

		1/4 time		1/2 time		3/4 time		Final
West Coast		4.2.26		8.6.54		9.10.64		9.15.69
Western Bulldogs		1.4.10		5.7.37		6.11.47		8.13.61

Goals: Kennedy 3, Darling, Sheed 2, Duggan, Gaff

Best: Mitchell, Hurn, Gaff, Sheed, Kennedy, Masten

Injuries: Nil

Named sides

	West Coast				W.Bulldogs
B:	Butler	Barrass	Yeo	B:	M.Boyd	Adams	Johannisen
HB:	Hurn	McGovern	Sheppard	HB:	Wood	Roberts	Williams
C:	Redden	Mitchell	Masten	C:	Hunter	Dahlhaus	Macrae
HF:	Gaff	Darling	LeCras	HF:	Daniel	Cordy	C.Smith
F:	McInnes	Kennedy	Mutimer	F:	Jong	Redpath	Picken
R:	Vardy	Priddis	Shuey	R:	T.Boyd	Bontempelli	Liberatore
I:	Sheed	Wellingham	Duggan	I:	Suckling	McLean	Webb
	Hill				Daniels
E:	Jetta	Schofield	Hutchings	E:	Wallis	Honeychurch	Hamilton

In: McInnes, Duggan

Out: Giles, Hutchings

Quarter by quarter

Both sides went in as named. The game was played in fine and cool conditions.

From the coach

"It was a good game, wasn't it? Both teams had opportunities. I suppose in the last quarter, when the Bulldogs threw caution to the wind, we could have iced it there with a couple of missed shots. But we knew they wouldn't go away, that's in their DNA. I was pretty proud of our players to punch out a good four quarters, albeit in the second half our accuracy and ability to convert some good opportunities was disappointing. But for the most part, we're pretty happy.

"...You rue those missed chances, but I think they (Bulldogs) probably had opportunities to put some scoreboard pressure on as well when they had momentum, so you've got to give credit to the Bulldogs and the way they played. It's system-based and it doesn't matter who plays, they just rock up and give it their all.

"...The numbers sometimes don't reflect what's going on, but for the most part we competed really well with our intent. It's been a bit of a focus of ours and there's some things we need to work on around the ball and with our ball movement, but the last couple of weeks our defence has been on and I think it's been due to the good pressure we are putting on around the ball."

From the papers

The West Australian

"The home team’s led had built to an ominous 23 points late in the second term, before two goals in two minutes to Redpath dragged the Dogs back into the contest.

The Eagles’ 17-point half-time lead came despite the visitors winning the clearance battle and applying 18 more tackles.

Redpath made a fairytale start to his comeback from a knee reconstruction, kicking the game’s first goal before being swamped by teammates.

The West Coast midfield turned the tables in the third term, having 12 clearances to four but failing to get any reward on the scoreboard as the teams added just a single goal each for the quarter.

The momentum around the ball changed yet again in the final term as the Dogs controlled the stoppages to keep them in the match."

The Age

"The Eagles midfield of Sam Mitchell (33 possessions), Andrew Gaff (35) and Dom Sheed (23 and two goals), plus forward Josh Kennedy (three goals), made sure the home side controlled the run of play after that.

Kennedy could have made things a lot easier for his side though. He kicked 3.6 for the game, including three consecutive behinds in a space of four minutes to start the final term.

The Eagles led by 17 points at the final break and the only goals that came in the final term were to Bulldogs Easton Wood and Lukas Webb. But it wasn't enough."

East Perth report

Round 9 (13 May)

East Perth won their third straight match, thumping the winless East Fremantle by 87 points at East Fremantle Oval. Mark Hutchings was best afield for the Royals after being dropped from the Eagles side with 31 possessions and 10 tackles, and youngster Daniel Venables kicked four goals.

Appearing for East Perth: Allen, Cole, Giles, Gorter, Hutchings, Jetta, Karpany, Lamb, MacKenzie, Partington, Rotham, Schofield, Venables. Reserves: Bayok, Snadden.

Injury list

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

Player		Injury		Expected duration
Waterman		Foot		Indefinite
Naitanui		Knee		Late 2017 season		(On LTI list 21/3/17, replaced by Petrie)
Lycett		Shoulder		3-4 weeks		(On LTI list 21/3/17, replaced by McInnes)
Cripps		Ankle		2-3 weeks
Nelson		Wrist		1-2 weeks
Rioli		Hamstring		1 week
Partington		Hand		Test
Duggan		Thigh		Test
Tunbridge*		Knee		Mid-late 2017 season
Petrie*		Hand		2 weeks
Watson*		Ankle		Unknown		(not on official list)

Links

http://www.afl.com.au/match-centre/2017/8/wce-v-wb

Braden Quartermaine, The West Australian (12 May 2017), "West Coast hold on in a four-quarter struggle against the Bulldogs": https://thewest.com.au/sport/afl/west-coast-hold-on-in-a-four-quarter-struggle-against-the-bulldogs-ng-b88474949z

Brad Elborough, The Age (12 May 2017), "Not pretty, but West Coast gets the job done against Western Bulldogs": http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-match-report/not-pretty-but-west-coast-get-the-job-done-against-western-bulldogs-20170512-gw417j.html