Hard-working midfielder Kane Lucas continues to set a high watermark for East Perth in the WAFL and his level of consistency ensures the much-improved West Coast midfield remains under pressure for positions.
Lucas, who played 42 games for Carlton before being secured by West Coast in the rookie draft last year, has spent time adjusting to the Eagles’ game plan, but has been rock solid at the second tier.
He again had 30 possessions and six marks in the Royals’ victory against Perth at the weekend and was among the most influential players on the ground. He is getting high efficiency levels and his split between kicks and handballs (15 each) indicate he is also running hard to receive.
While most of the external focus has understandably fallen on young defender Tom Barrass, Lucas has done his claims no harm with consistently high numbers, particularly in the last five or six weeks.
Barrass also continued his good form deep in defence, with 13 possessions and nine marks to consistently repel Demons’ forward thrusts, while Irish recruit Paddy Brophy capped a memorable day with his first goal in Australian football.
He had 20 possession and eight marks in one of his best performances since jumping codes. Jamie Bennell and Jackson Nelson had around 20 touches each and also performed well in defence.
There were encouraging signs all over the ground, with Murray Newman (19 possessions, eight marks) impacting up forward, Dylan Main (15 disposals, nine marks) kicking a clutch goal in a tight contest and Corey Adamson also getting his hands on the ball 16 times.
Forward Tom Lamb, who made his AFL debut in round one, is slowly re-discovering his confidence and form, while Fraser McInnes played forward and in the ruck, had 18 possessions, eight marks and 19 hit outs – capping off his day with two goals.
Ruckman Scott Lycett, who has had a few injury interruptions this year, resumed from a quad strain in the reserves and had 12 possessions and 30 hit outs. Rowen Powell also played in the early game and collected 21 disposals and five marks.
Unfortunately, the dampener on the day was a knee injury for young midfielder Liam Duggan. Details of the period of time he is expected to be sidelined will be known tomorrow, but he was on crutches at the club on Monday.
