East Perth senior coach Luke Webster hopes an in-depth review of the club’s “embarrassing” round one performance against Subiaco will inspire the Royals to greater heights this week.
The Lions ran rings around the Royals at Leederville Oval last Friday, dominating all aspects of the contest en route to a commanding 118-point victory.
Webster told 6PR’s Football team that the players knew they let themselves and the club down.
“We certainly embarrassed ourselves and the playing group know that and they spoke about it after the game,” Webster said.
“I certainly spoke to the playing group open and honestly after the game about where I think we’re at.
“I just said to the group after the game that we were good for five minutes here and there or two minutes or little patches, but we just couldn’t sustain our effort.
“Subi are a good, quality team and they just lifted when they needed to and showed us how it was done.”
The review was hardly limited to the players; Webster said the coaching group also picked apart their performance following the heavy defeat.
“Were we outcoached at times or outplayed? That’s something we’ve got to reflect on,” he said.
“Certainly from my point of view we tried to plug holes everywhere. We’d plug one hole and then we’d get opened up in our team defence or we would put a plus one behind the play and then we’d get beaten up around the clearances and the stoppages.
“All day we were trying to plug holes and find ways to stem the flow and get the game played on our own terms. Unfortunately we weren’t able to do that.”
While most of the conversation centred on the negative elements of the game, Webster said Jarrod Brander’s performance was a silver lining in an otherwise dour display.
West Coast’s first pick in the 2017 NAB AFL Draft impressed in his WAFL debut and toiled manfully to amass 12 disposals, seven marks and a goal.
“I think Jarrod Brander, who was our first draft pick last year, he showed some really good signs,” Webster said.
“(He) showed some good signs when we did actually get in the front half. I think he took seven marks and they were good contested marks. He looked dangerous for us.”
The senior coach was also impressed with Fraser McInnes, who carried the Royals’ ruck load against seasoned AFL campaigner Zac Clarke.
“I thought Fraser McInnes battled hard in the ruck all day for us. He didn’t get many opportunities as a forward, but he gave great effort.”
East Perth will be seeking redemption when they go to battle with arch rivals West Perth on Saturday at Leederville Oval.
Bouncedown is at 2.15pm.
