It was a challenging day at Optus Stadium for West Coast on Sunday, but the Eagles took some positives from fighting out a 65-point defeat to flag contenders Greater Western Sydney, according to utility Jayden Hunt.
After a strongly-contested start the Eagles struggled to hit the scoreboard during the second and third quarters, before finishing off strongly, and Hunt shared what senior coach Adam Simpson had to say heading into the final term.
“We were alright at the contest all day, we were just really sloppy with the skills and turning it over,” Hunt said.
“He (Simpson) just said to keep at it, show some fight, one thing we’re trying to do all year is be competitive throughout the whole game.
“So that was definitely a positive note, that we fought it out and really competed hard in that last quarter.”
Hunt praised GWS and said the Eagles will try and take certain aspects out of their game.
“They’re a really in-form team at the moment,” Hunt said.
“Just their ability to run out the game, in waves, all together, and set up the ground really well defensively.
“They’ve got some really good backs, and they’re able to start their offence from that half-back line.
“We look at all the good teams and try to take little aspects out of each one.”
Young West Coast defender Brady Hough had the tough task of matching up with Giants captain Toby Greene, and Hunt was pleased with how Hough performed.
“I think (Brady) Hough was a big positive, and Toby (Greene) is such a quality player,” Hunt said.
“He (Greene) got an early goal, but that didn’t stop Hough at all, he just kept competing and I think he did really well.
“To have him (Hough) being such a young player and playing on that absolute superstar (Greene) and hold his own is such a good thing, and I was really proud of him.”
Looking ahead to round three, Hunt said the team will be hoping to replicate the same result from last time West Coast met the Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium, which saw the Eagles upset the Dogs on their home turf.
“There will be definitely some things (to take out of that game), but each year, teams tinker with things,” Hunt said.
“We have to look at their current form through the pre-season.
“But it’s definitely something, we can take that positive from last year and really bring that to the game, and we’re definitely going for the win.”
Damaging Bulldogs forward Cody Weightman comes into this matchup on the back of a six-goal haul last round and Hunt said the team will be looking at ways to stop him this weekend.
“They’re always a strong team and he (Weightman) is a quality player,” Hunt said.
“So we’ll be looking at clips of how he went about it and things that we can do to stop that.”
