Having the ‘wood’ over an opposition is something of a fallacy in elite football, but the West Coast were enjoying a run of success against Collingwood leading into this Friday night battle at Optus Stadium.
The Eagles had won four successive matches against the Pies – including the 2018 grand final thriller – and were relishing that string of victories.
While they never had a commanding advantage in this game, it seemed the winning pattern would continue when Elliot Yeo received a handball over the top from Jack Darling in the middle of the third term and the Eagles edged almost three goals clear.
Momentum was with the home team and it seemed they had all of the answers, the game settling down after a first quarter shoot out and the Eagles seeming to enjoy the more traditional arm wrestle that evolved.
After both teams posted six goals in a break-neck opening term, Jarrod Cameron kicking three of his team’s haul with an electrifying start, it became more of a contested battle as both coaches – Adam Simpson and Nathan Buckley – addressed the free-wheeling goal feast.
Unfortunately, in that frenetic opening term, the Eagles lost hard-working high half-forward Jamie Cripps to a groin strain and while that was counter-balanced to some extent by Collingwood losing Darcy Moore to a hamstring strain, it was something that would hurt the hosts deeper into the contest.
After the Yeo goal, his team’s 12th, the Eagles scored just one further behind in the match as the game was played primarily in Collingwood’s half for the remaining 40 minutes.
The Eagles could not seem to navigate through the Pies defensive structure, the only opportunity to hit the scoreboard coming in the last five minutes when Jack Darling marked and had a shot from deep on the flank.
It was a difficult shot and his kick slewed across the goal face as the Pies hung on in a one-point thriller.
The Collingwood victory as based around midfield dominance, both Scott Pendlebury and Steele Sidebottom enjoying the absence of Mark Hutchings, who could not be considered because of a hamstring strain.
They wielded a strong influence on the outcome and along with the game’s highest possession winner, Adam Treloar (39 touches) and Jack Crisp accumulated more than 30 disposals.
In addition, Brodie Mihocek proved a thorn in the West Coast defence with four goals and Mason Cox enjoyed a rare domination against the Eagles with three goals.
On top of that, star ruckman Brodie Grundy wore down Nic Naitanui and Tom Hickey; the disappointing news coming post game that Naitanui, just three games into his comeback, would again miss an extended period of football with an ankle injury.
On a night when the Eagles’ intensity dropped away from the middle stages of the third term, Yeo was typically bullocking through the midfield, Dom Sheed and Andrew Gaff offered engine room support, and Cameron kicked four goals for the second successive week.
Round 17, 2019
Optus Stadium
Collingwood 6.1 8.3 9.6 11.12 78
West Coast Eagles 6.3 10.4 12.4 12.5 77
Goals – West Coast Eagles: J Cameron 4; Darling 3; Yeo 2; Hickey, Allen, Ryan.
Collingwood: Mihocek 4; Cox 3; Phillips, DeGoey 2.
