1. When you have opportunities to hurt the opposition on the scoreboard, you’ve got to take them. West Coast got the result in the end, but had to work harder than necessary to break the opposition because they did not maximise results for their dominance. There was a period in the first quarter – and again in the third – when the Eagles controlled play for a solid period, without hitting the scoreboard and that helped to keep Collingwood in the game.
2. Jamie Cripps enjoys playing at Etihad Stadium. He covers the ground at speed and enjoys the “fast” deck indoors at Docklands. He was West Coast’s best in round one when he kicked five goals against the Western Bulldogs, was at the forefront of the victory against St Kilda a few weeks later and was again influential against the Pies. He kicked a couple of goals, but more importantly he was involved in 19 forward-half pressure acts (and 23 overall) to help keep the ball in the attacking zone for his team.
3. Shannon Hurn is growing into the captaincy. The straight-shooting defender was an important rebounding option for the Eagles and he was outstanding throughout, but his leadership was important. At half-time, when West Coast probably deserved to be a little further in front, his instructional voice coming off the ground was noticeable.
4. It wasn’t great news to see Jeremy McGovern leave the ground with a hamstring strain deep into the third quarter. “Gov” has been an important player all season in the absence of Eric Mackenzie and Mitch Brown and will probably miss a few weeks. The defence has adjusted since the loss of those defensive stalwarts and they managed to tweak things in-game yesterday – the Pies did not kick a goal when “Gov” was off the ground.
5. Cal Sinclair was an important factor in the result. The athletic big man is developing a rapport with Nic Naitanui, who was again influential, could have put the exclamation mark on his performance with a couple of goals, but he took 10 marks, five of them contested, had 15 possessions and 11 hit outs.
