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An unpredictable Saturday in the AFL continued in the west, with the Eagles defeating ladder-leaders Port Adelaide off the back of a blistering start to make a statement to the competition.
After Sydney stunned Richmond and Essendon annihilated St Kilda, West Coast capped off a day of upsets, defeating Port Adelaide by 37 points, 16.12 (108) to 11.5 (71) in close to a four-quarter performance.
The Eagles’ forward line led the scoring charge, with Josh Kennedy (4 goals), Jack Darling (3), Liam Ryan (2) and Jamie Cripps (2) all kicking multiple goals.
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The win was topped off by the latest Ryan mark of the year contender, but soured by the latest Luke Shuey hamstring setback.
After a slow start from both teams to the second term, Ryan produced a spectacular grab — and it might be his best effort yet — soaring over Power defender Darcy Byrne-Jones at half-forward.
But as the game came to a conclusion, Shuey limped off Optus Stadium after appearing to suffer a soft tissue setback.
The Eagles will be sweating on scans and further assessment of Shuey, who was a key reason behind the Eagles’ awesome first half that ultimately set up their big win.
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THE 3-2-1: What we learned
3. THE WEST COAST 10-MINUTE THEORY
Before the start of Saturday night’s game, Western Bulldogs record-holder Brad Johnson flagged that the first 10 minutes of a West Coast home game often dictated how the team fares for the rest of the game.
So after the Eagles held a 25-0 lead 10 minutes into Saturday night’s game, Johnson’s trademark Cheshire Cat-style smile was wider than usual at half-time of Fox Footy’s coverage.
The Eagles caught the Power off-guard at the start of the game, kicking the first four goals of the match. Remarkably, their first three inside 50 entries all led to goals to Tim Kelly, Cripps and Ryan.
From there, the Power were no hope of reeling in the margin.
“It’s been that way for as long as I can remember,” Johnson told Fox Footy. “Even games at Subiaco, it was the first 10 minutes where you had to hang in there for that first 10 and do everything you possibly could – and Port Adelaide weren’t able to do it. And normally it was a blowout from there.”
The Eagles’ blistering start on the scoreboard was a result of their midfield dominance. At half-time, West Coast were well on top in the contested possession (+22) and clearance (+10) counts.
Their ability to win the footy at the source allowed the Eagles to generate their efficient kick-mark game. They had 32 more marks than the Power in the first half when the game was truly up for grabs.
Shuey’s return was crucial, racking up big contested ball and clearance numbers to inspire his side and spark fellow midfielders Jack Redden, Kelly, Gaff and Sheed.
“He didn’t miss a beat,” four-time premiership Hawk Jordan Lewis said of Shuey. “He came in and you could see the smile on his face when the players were running out.”
Gaff also hit back after a sluggish start to his season.
The dual All-Australian racked up just 16 disposals in the Eagles’ first two games against Gold Coast and Western Bulldogs. But on Saturday night, he had 20 by half-time abd 36 by games’s end, using his trademark aerobic power to take uncontested marks and link West Coast’s backline and forward line.
You know what the scary thing is? Elliot Yeo is still to come back into this midfield.
2. WILL THE REAL PORT STAND UP?
It was tough not to get sucked in to Port Adelaide’s form and new-look style in its two early-season wins over North Melbourne and Essendon.
But many pundits were prepared to hold fire on their assessment of the Power until they came up against more-seasoned opposition teams.
And against West Coast, they failed their first test.
While they managed to regain some respectability on the scoreboard in the second half, the game was essentially over at half-time after the Power’s midfield were given a bath by the Eagles’ on-ball brigade.
They just couldn’t get their hands on the ball – and that meant the Power were constantly in chasing and defensive mode.
Power legend Warren Tredrea tweeted: “West Coast too tough, desperate, ruthless, disciplined etc etc – Port embarrassing.”
At half-time, Robbie Gray (5 disposals), Connor Rozee (5), Ollie Wines (6), Zak Butters (8) and Travis Boak (8) had barely any influence on the game.
“There’s so much going on, so what do you fix first? I think it’s the attitude.” Lewis said on Fox Footy.
“They’re just spending the whole half defending – and once you defend it becomes quite taxing. Then when you get the opportunity to attack – what you usually see from Port Adelaide is this wave of numbers coming off half-back – they’re too fatigued because they’ve been defending for so long and they haven’t got that energy.”
It doesn’t get any easier for the Power next week either, with a hungry Richmond side – coming off a shock loss to Sydney – waiting for them at the Adelaide Oval.
1. NIC NAT DOMINANCE
There are few better players to watch in the competition when they’re at their best than Nic Naitanui.
And against Scott Lycett and Peter Ladhams on Saturday night, Naitanui was often hitting the ball whenever and wherever he wanted to.
The ruckman put on a genuine masterclass in the third term that reaffirmed his mantle as the best centre bounce ruckman in the AFL.
First, Naitanui used his body to edge out his opponent and his right hand to tap the ball behind himself to a free Gaff on the run.
At the next centre bound, Naitanui used his left hand to hook the ball forward into the lap of Jack Redden, who didn’t have to break stride.
It was poetry in motion.
“You cannot get that delivered any better,” former Bulldogs ruckman Luke Darcy told Channel 7.
“The variety that he’s got, it’s so hard to defend.
“When he can get it to the opposite part of the centre circle, it makes it impossible for Port Adelaide to defend because there’s not one part of that ground he doesn’t feel comfortable getting the ball to.”
Premiership Hawk Xavier Ellis added: “We talk about Nic Naitanui and his work in the ruck, but it’s also the midfielders. The time they spend with Nic and the different patterns they run, it’s hours and hours on end.”
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