The West Coast Eagles travelled to the MCG for the first time and only time this year to take on the Tigers in one of the games of the Round. There was a lot at stake for both sides as the Eagles had a chance to go to 2nd spot on the ladder and the Tigers had a chance to move to up a couple of spots to 5th on the ladder.
It was the Eagles however who got the win by 20 points, their first at the G for a long time and their first on a Friday night in Melbourne for 15 years. With this win the Eagles moved to 2nd spot on the ladder and going into their week off were in a great position for the second half of the year. The Tigers however were disappointing as they were subdued by the Eagles pressure.
This was an interesting game as no one really knew where the Eagles were at and this was going to be a good test for them. As their draw had been fairly easy to this point of the season. From the Tigers point of view they had momentum going into the bye and it was interesting to see if they could continue that momentum. This was due to a lot of sides struggling after the bye
The first quarter began with the Eagles getting the first goal of the game and they looked the much better side. There pressure was immense and were dominating that early part of the quarter. In that period of dominance they managed 2 goals, 2 behinds and were looking good. Tigers needed a goal and they were able get one through Dustin Martin. Then got another not long after and the margin was 3 points. The Eagles were only 3 points ahead and for all their dominance they should have been further in front. The Eagles got some reward for their dominance late in the quarter through 2 goals to Nic Naitanui and they had the mini break again, 14 points. The Tigers kept on pushing, however and were able to get a couple of late goals to get the margin back to 1 point at the quarter time break, it was 4.3 to 4.2.
The Eagles started the second quarter like the first and were able to get the first of the term. The Tigers responded quickly however and the margin was back to 2 points. From that point of the quarter to the 21st minute mark it was all the Eagles. The pressure from the Eagles was great, for that period of play the Eagles were playing like one of the top teams of the competition. However they were only able to kick 2 goals, 1 behind in that period of dominance and were only up by 16 points. Tigers looked flat and the skill errors had become a issue. They were still in touch however; they just need a goal to still be in contact at half time. They were able to do better than that as they got 3 goals late in the quarter to hit the front. So for all that dominance the Eagles were behind by 3 points at half time and it was the Tigers who had all the momentum, it was 8.3 to 7.6.
The third quarter began and just like the first two quarters the Eagles came out firing. It looked like they had lifted a notch in intensity. The Eagles also lifted skill wise especially in front of goal as they were able to kick four unanswered goals. The game was starting to take a familiar pattern. This was due to the Eagles coming out firing in the first part of the quarter and the Tigers responding. So like the first two quarters the Tigers started to respond late in the quarter however, they just couldn’t capitalise as they could only manage 1 goal 3 behinds. As the three quarter time siren went and even though the Tigers were only 14 points down the Eagles were in complete control. They just couldn’t put the Tigers away, it was 12.8 to 10.6.
As the last quarter began the margin was only 14 points and even though the Eagles had been dominating the game was still in the Tigers reach. They just needed to start the last quarter well (not like the previous three.) This wasn’t the case however as the Eagles got their pressure game going and kicked the all important first goal of the last quarter. Margin was out to 22 points a from that point onwards it was all the Eagles as they had got complete control of the game. Eagles had killed off all chance of a Tigers comeback. With this being the case the sting had well and truly gone out of the game. So as the final siren went it was the Eagles who had won by 20 points, 13.12 to 10.10.
So in the end this game was revealing as it showed that the Eagles with their pressure and potent forward line could be that side that could challenge the Top 3, Hawthorn, Sydney and Fremantle. The Tigers on the other hand while they weren’t bad, they did however look like a middle of the road side due to the inability to execute their skills, in front of goal and around the ground.
About Nick Weidmann
Former Honours student in Journalism at the University of Tasmania and passionate Essendon supporter
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Peter B is going to be rapt with this, I think that his view at season’s start was that the Eagles prospects this year were pretty hopeless, wish that my mob had made the sort of resurrection that West Coast have been able to achieve.
Thanks Nick. Umpires (25 Tiger frees to our 13 – pleeeease) and Scott Selwood’s appalling kicking were the only thing that kept the Tigers in it (oh – and Dustin Martin).
Maric, Vickery and Griffiths are water buffaloes. Schofield (best game for the year) and McGovern ran off them at will. They offer no defensive pressure to lock the ball in their attacking zone as Kennedy, Darling, Hill do.
Hardwick comprehensively outcoached by Simpson. I was worried about Tiger talls, but Simpson used running defence to turn vulnerability to advantage. We outran and outworked them across the field. Instead of worrying about NicNait’s positional and marking weaknesses, Simmo just uses him as an extra midfielder. He was BOG last night.
I liked what Schofield said about the team defence,” only one bloke can mark it at a time” and I loved his run from the backline with the kick to Darling to finish, but I don’t like the increasing habit of players leading with their knees into contests.There seems to be a corky every few minutes. Sam Mitchell,I’m looking at you.
Nothing like it for arresting momentum and not as obvious as slam tackles