The West Coast Eagles – especially Jeremy McGovern and Nic Naitanui – picked up some bonus frequent flyer points when they piloted their club to its eighth successive victory with a 12-point win over Greater Western Sydney at Optus Stadium tonight.
For the second consecutive week, the Eagles were dominant in the air – winning 9.7 (61) to the Giants 7.7 (49) ahead of a Tuesday departure for a second stint in a Queensland hub when they will top up their Virgin Velocity points.
Naitanui set the Eagles on their way with an inspired first half, while McGovern took 10 marks in a sublime defensive display. That triumph was remarkably similar to their victory against Hawthorn seven days earlier when McGovern and Tom Barrass ruled the skies in a 32-point victory.
After holding the Giants to just one goal to half-time, last year’s grand finalists rallied and clawed back within 10 points before a strong response from the Eagles. Kicking four goals on the trot either side of three-quarter time, the Eagles broke out to a 31-point advantage.
But the Giants were not done and a team renowned for its skill and run closed to within two goals before McGovern and Co. shut them down to keep the Eagles in fourth position on the ladder, with the advantage of having played one fewer game than those around them.
The defence was again supreme, with Barrass outstanding against Jeremy Cameron for the majority of the contest while Brad Sheppard enhanced his reputation for shutting down the opposition’s most dangerous small forward, keeping Toby Greene for impact the game.
The first four minutes of the match were spent in the West Coast defensive half, but as has been the case for most of the season, the backline withstood that intense pressure, destroying forward surge after forward surge.
Eventually they broke free after a stoppage on the outer when Naitanui won the ball forward. He kicked a behind shortly after and the remainder of the quarter belonged to the Eagles.
Through Naitanui, Dom Sheed and Tim Kelly, the Eagles started to apply some heat of their own, the big ruckman snapping out of congestion to kick the first goal of the game.
A strong contested mark from Jack Darling against Lachy Keeffe, followed by a pin-point 50 metre pass from Jarrod Brander to Josh Kennedy and the Eagles had slipped into gear.
Another to Darling after a 50-metre penalty and the home team had made an outstanding start.
The Eagles led by 22 points at the main break after the Giants worked their way into the contest and started to play with their signature flair from the middle stages of the second term.
To that stage the Eagles generally looked the better team, but GWS started to do better around the contest and missed several opportunities to convert before speedster Brent Daniels seeped out the back and ran into an open goal.
The Giants would have been closer but for set shot misses from youngsters Jake Ricciardi and Bobby Hill.
The second quarter started with a brilliant mark from McGovern which is likely to get as much air time through the week as he had hang time on the back of the Harry Himmelberg.
McGovern had been impressive in the opening half, with Sheppard, Shannon Hurn and Barrass while Tom Cole and Liam Duggan also did their job.
While the Giants had kicked just one goal for the half, they looked dangerous and had a couple of injury concerns with Oscar Allan trolling his ankle and Jackson Nelson copping a stinger to the right shoulder.
Both resumed, but it was the Giants who made the early running in the third, kicking the first two goals of the term to close within 10 points, before the Eagles rallied again, around Naitanui, Kelly and Shuey to lead by 31 points at the last change.
Xavier O’Neill’s first goal, a clever snap from the pocket, a great contested mark from Jack Darling and another delightful snap from Ah Chee were highlights.
Details
West Coast Eagles 4.3 5.4 8.7 9.7 61
GWS Giants 0.1 1.6 3.6 7.7 49
Goals – West Coast Eagles: Darling 3; Ah Chee 2; Kennedy, O’Neill, Gaff, Naitanui.
GWS Giants: Ricciardi 2; Daniels, Kelly, Coniglio, Himmelberg, Lloyd.
Best – West Coast Eagles: McGovern, Naitanui, Darling, Sheppard, Gaff, Brander, Rotham.
GWS Giants: Kelly, Whitfield, Haynes, Ricciardi, Perryman, Coniglio.
