Round 6 – West Coast v Essendon: Eagles swoop but Bombers prevail

 

Phew, that was a close call!

 

The last couple of minutes of the game certainly was nerve wracking and nail-biting for a 70s+ supporter like me, but as they say, a win is a win so we gladly accept the 4 points for the win.

 

Three wins in a row, two of them on the road, makes our position on the ladder more respectable than it was a few weeks ago and is a boost to the confidence of the team.

 

Injuries are beginning to really hurt the Bombers with the third season ending injury to occur in three weeks with Sam Draper’s achilles a devastating and major blow for the team. You really cannot afford to lose a player of that calibre for the season but we have, and we  need to quickly cover him, adapt our team plan, and our makeup for the rest of the season.

 

Listening to Brad Scott’s press conference after the game it was obvious from his comments that Goldstein will come into the team to compensate for the loss of our ruckman. I hope some of the young rucks in the VFL may also get a crack such as Vigo Visentini. We must continue blooding new players.

 

I’m always conscious of the law of averages in footy. Teams after horrendous losses always seem to rebound against the Bombers the following week, and this was no exception. The Eagles flew out of the blocks with their quick and sure movement of the ball leaving the Bombers flat footed and floundering. Waterman kicking 4 goals in the first quarter looked as though he was in for a big day out, thankfully that remained his total for the match.

 

The difference in the game was Peter Wright in his return game from injury and since being dropped late last season. He was a player on a mission, he was back in the team and wanted to make a statement that he was here to remain a permanent fixture in the team. If he continues with that form he presents a critical focal point on our forward line taking some pressure off Caddy and Jones.

 

When the game needed to be won it was players like Shiel, Duursma, Martin, and Durham who rose to the occasion and gave the team much needed drive from the winning clearances. Shiel has had a very good couple of weeks and Settlefold with his bigger body providing that extra grunt required at centre bounces has slotted back into the team very well. Often maligned player Perkins, with his two successive goals within minutes during the third quarter was inspirational and set in motion the impetus needed to win.

 

Leading by a couple goals late in the quarter I felt confident of a win for the first time in the game but their late goal with 30 seconds still to play brought back horrible memories of recent defeats on the siren. The thought it could happen again flashed through my mind of those shattering last second defeats. Thankfully we held on!

 

It will a huge game next week for the traditional ANZAC Day clash against Collingwood who were very impressive against the reigning premiers on Thursday night. It will be interesting to see what changes will be made to the team  in light of recent injuries and the possibility of players such as Langford returning from injury. If Langford returns it may make us top heavy on the forward line now after Wright’s matchwinning effort. Perhaps Caddy or Jones may miss out. It will be interesting to see.

 

 

WEST COAST        5.0   7.3   9.7   11.9 (75)
ESSENDON           1.2   4.3   9.7   11.11 (77)

 

GOALS
West Coast: Waterman 4, J.Williams 3, Hewett 2, Cripps, Hunt
Essendon: Wright 6, Perkins 2, Shiel, Draper, Martin

 

BEST
West Coast: Waterman, McGovern, Hewett, J.Williams, Baker, Graham
Essendon: Wright, Martin, Draper, Merrett, McGrath, Setterfield

 

INJURIES
West Coast: Nil
Essendon: Draper (lower leg), Duursma (ribs)

 

SUBSTITUTES
West Coast: Tom Gross (replaced Tyrell Dewar in the fourth quarter)
Essendon: Saad El-Hawli (replaced Jade Gresham in the third quarter)

 

Crowd: 46,080 at Optus Stadium

 

 

More from Col Ritchie can be read Here

 

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