1. Sometimes the game itself is traversed by the events around it. This trip to Alice Springs was one such occasions when the 120 minutes of football was the main event, but it was a weekend festival. With the club having five indigenous players in its team, the community feel was palpable. When the club trained at TIO Traeger Park on Saturday, Willie Rioli stayed out longer than anyone signing autographs and he backed it up post-game. The presence of Auzzie the Eagle, sponsored by Kennard’s Hire to get to the red centre, was almost as popular.

2. The debut of Francis Watson, one of the five indigenous players in the Eagles team, was also a highlight. Like Rioli, the Territory is close to Watson’s heart, being born in Darwin. So playing his first senior game carried even more significance after receiving a call-up to replace skipper Shannon Hurn, who could not take his place because of a calf strain. Watson was certainly not overawed by it all, settling in to have 14 possessions and eight marks across half-back.

3. Jackson Nelson has shown some versatility at WAFL level and used an extra string developed in the second tier to be an important factor in the Eagles win. Nelson has played an accountable role through the engine room with the WAFL Eagles and has generally acquitted himself well. After starting in his customary defensive role, he played on Melbourne ball magnet Clayton Oliver in the last term and quelled his influence – the damaging Oliver having just two of 34 touches with Nelson as his minder.

4. The growth of Dom Sheed continues to be one of the great stories at the club in the last 18 months. The hero of the Eagles' finals campaign last year, he has continued on that plane and was again an important aspect of the victory against Melbourne. Sheed accumulated 34 possessions, 16 of them contested, as one of the competition’s best blue-collar workers relished the heat of the battle. He sent the ball inside 50 on six occasions and kicked another telling last quarter goal.

5. Tom Hickey knew the enormity of the task he confronted when lining up against Melbourne big man Max Gawn, one of the most accomplished ruckmen in the competition, if not at the top of the tree. Hickey, with Oscar Allen as his support, worked hard and competed well against Gawn, his primary requirement. Gawn might have had a slight edge in the head-to-head battle, but it was a close points decision and Hickey played his role for the team with aplomb.