1. The Eagles promoted their sixth debutant of the season – and their 10th in two seasons – with the youth excelling in this one. Clay Hall played his first senior game and entered the fray as the sub in the second term and along with Reuben Ginbey who was outstanding at half-back, Harley Reid, Jack Williams, Tyrell Dewar, Harvey Johnston, Ryan Maric and Brady Hough provided the enthusiasm to lift their team over the line.

2. When the Eagles lost key defender Harry Edwards to concussion protocols just after quarter-time they were seriously under-sized in the back half. Ginbey stepped up to play as a tall back and Jeremy McGovern did a great job as they rotated on Ben King and Mac Andrew. McGovern played his trademark intercept role and led from the front, particularly in the gripping last quarter.

04:27

The Inside Swoop - Friday night fun!

Will Schofield once again takes us inside the rooms after a big Friday night win against the Suns! Hear from interim senior coach Jarrad Schofield, Jeremy McGovern and Harvey Johnston

3. Co-captain Liam Duggan returned after being sidelined for a couple of weeks with concussion and was involved in several game defining moments. In the second quarter he had three bounces down the northern wing, fired a handpass over the top to Liam Ryan, who then found Jake Waterman in the goalsquare. In the final minutes he was again ubiquitous, kicking a quick snap that put the Eagles in front with three minutes remaining and then won the centre clearance that resulted in the sealer for Jamie Cripps.

4. All season the Eagles have kept their key performance indicators relatively simple and when they have met them they have performed well. That was evident again in this match, winning the contested possession count 140-122, centre clearances 14-8 and contested marks 11-7. Their tackle count inside the forward 50 was 12-7 while the pressure factor was rated at 1.96 across the game and an extraordinary 2.10 in the final term.

07:00

Rd 21 highlights v Suns

The best moments from West Coast's thrilling victory over Gold Coast

5. The clearance numbers were remarkable given Suns big man Jarrod Witts had 52 hit outs compared the combined output of 30 for Bailey (19) and Jack Williams (11). They key was that the Williams boys did everything to minimise the clear size advantage of Witts and then the players at ground level – Eliot Yeo, Harley Reid and Tim Kelly in particular were exceptional.