Believe it or not, the Saints were chasing a fifth straight victory, having won their last two games of 2013, against Gold Coast and Fremantle, before their opening wins this season against Melbourne and the Giants. Alas the party is over and the Hawks, who haven't lost since round 19 last year, remain the team to chase.

In the space of a week, West Coast's season has gone from chocolates to, well not so yummy chocolates. It started last Sunday with Shannon Hurn going down with a medial ligament injury during the win over Melbourne at the MCG. Then on Friday the Eagles confirmed that Beau Waters' season was over after he re-injured the shoulder he had surgery on last year. Sharrod Wellingham was next, pulling out of Saturday night's game against the Saints with a groin problem, and finally Mark LeCras was substituted in the first term with an arm injury. LeCras broke the same arm last season and looks likely to miss some football. Scott Selwood also looked to be favouring a sore right ankle by the end of the match while Dean Cox said after the match that Chris Masten was playing sore.

Dean Cox equalled West Coast's games-played record against the Saints at Patersons Stadium, the club he nearly went to a decade ago when Michael Gardiner ruled the ruck roost at the Eagles. History shows it was Gardiner who ended up at the Saints and Cox has gone on to play 276 games at West Coast, the same as Glen Jakovich. Cox was named in Perth's major newspaper as the greatest-ever Eagle on Saturday morning and should break the record at Geelong next weekend.

Another player who almost became a Saint had a close-up view of the red, white and black jumper within the opening two minutes of Saturday night's clash. Mitchell  Brown, who turned down a lucrative deal at St Kilda to remain an Eagle, clashed heavily with Beau Maister as the pack collected for a mark at centre half-forward for the Saints. Maister stayed down for a while as Brown limped away before almost falling over again.

The 'taking out the legs' rule came under the microscope in the third term at Patersons Stadium when West Coast captain Darren Glass was pinged after a clash with young Saint Eli Templeton. Glass was already on the ground with the ball in the Saints' forward pocket when the shaggy-haired Templeton charged into his body with his lower legs. The ruling was a free to the Saints which ended up being a goal after Templeton slotted from a tight angle.