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RIGHT NOW, West Coast coach Adam Simpson probably feels like kicking a few behinds because, well, his men have become far too proficient at precisely that.

After kicking themselves out of contention the past two weeks with scores of 7.14 against Port Adelaide, to lose by 14 points, and then 12.17 against Carlton, to lose by three points, the Eagles followed up with an encore performance in the derby against Fremantle on Sunday.

Despite a 19-18 edge in scoring shots, the Eagles kicked 7.12 to lose by 18 points to Fremantle, which kicked 11.8.

WATCH: West Coast's Western Derby unravels in a 1.8 second quarter


Fremantle's weakness all year has been an inability to kick big scores but the Eagles couldn't make the Dockers pay, particularly in a dominant second quarter in which they went inside 50 on 12 occasions, but kicked just 1.8.

Fremantle held a decided 418-307 edge in possessions on Sunday and took 10 marks inside 50 to four. Perhaps it wouldn't have translated into a win had the Eagles kicked straighter but they might have led by three or four goals at half-time and the complexion of the game would have changed considerably.

We can now view West Coast's season in greater context. The opening three wins came against the Western Bulldogs, Melbourne and St Kilda, each on track to finish in the bottom four. Since then, the Eagles have lost to Geelong, Port, Carlton and Fremantle, three of which appear certain finalists.

West Coast might have found its level but the poor conversion hasn't helped and right now, Simpson must feel like John McKay, the first-year coach of the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers, when asked his thoughts about his then winless team's execution.

"I think it's a good idea," he said.

A home game against the Giants next week might get the Eagles back to 4-4 but the tale of the season will be told after that – Collingwood, North Melbourne and Hawthorn. Win two of those and just maybe the season will still be alive.

Fremantle did what the good teams do – graft the win despite not playing spectacular footy. Eleven goals was not the greatest return but having Michael Barlow and Hayden Ballantyne back in the side certainly helped with ball movement and having more scoring options inside forward 50.

WATCH: Sunday showreel - Hayden Ballantyne


The Dockers are 4-3 but their next two games are crackers – Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval and Geelong at Paterson's Stadium in what should be Matthew Pavlich's 300th game. They're not quite back in town but they've just passed through Mandurah and they're gaining speed.

Schoenmakers quickly in the swing of things

FOR 70 minutes at the MCG on Saturday, Hawthorn supporters finally got to see the plan that has been laid out on Alastair Clarkson's whiteboard for the last 18 months.

Brian Lake joined the Hawks from the Western Bulldogs in an audacious trade in October 2012 yet Saturday marked the first time since then that he, Josh Gibson and Ryan Schoenmakers were able to play together in the same side.

Injury delayed Lake's introduction to Hawthorn last year and the week before he was set to debut, Schoenmakers tore his ACL and was ruled out for 12 months.

Would Clarkson play all three in the backline at the same time? Would Gibson line up in the forward line, a ploy Clarkson has been subtly hinting this year from the time Gibson jagged a couple of goals in a pre-season practice match? Or would Schoenmakers come on board as a genuine swingman?

The answer was swingman, although more by necessity than choice. Schoenmakers started up forward and kicked four. But he then moved to the backline in the third quarter once Lake was taken from the ground with a calf injury where he and Gibson resumed their partnership as though it was 2012 once more.

WATCH: Schoenmakers stars on his Hawthorn return


Lake's injury is likely to keep him out for perhaps a month and he will miss big road trips to take on the Sydney Swans and Port Adelaide in that time. So it is back to the backline for now for Schoenmakers and perhaps a more orthodox structure for Clarkson. But come the pointy end of the season, Hawthorn's versatility should be a major weapon.

Demons starting to deliver

Another coach who once had a great forward line posted on his whiteboard never lasted long enough to watch it take shape.

That was Mark Neeld, who was shown the door at Melbourne last year without coming close to playing Jeremy Howe, Chris Dawes, Mitch Clark and Jesse Hogan in the same side.

Paul Roos' hopes of the same were dashed with Clark's unfortunate and premature retirement and Hogan's chronic back complaints.

But he still has Dawes and on Saturday at Adelaide Oval, the former Magpie played easily his most influential game for the Demons, with three goals in the three-point win over Adelaide at Adelaide Oval.

WATCH: Dawes stands tall in Demons' upset win


Again, the best-laid plans for Dawes would dictate that he is the second or perhaps third-key forward, but he stepped up as the main man against the Crows with 20 disposals and five marks. In the first half, when Melbourne established what would become an unassailable lead, he was outstanding.

There are many pieces of the Melbourne puzzle that need to come together. But Dawes is starting to deliver what was hoped for when the Demons prised him out of Collingwood a year ago.

QUESTION TIME

What does Guy McKenna use for a lucky charm?
The Gold Coast coach urged the AFL to keep the roof closed for his team's clash with North Melbourne at Etihad Stadium and Melbourne's early blast of winter ensured that to be the case. He wanted his band of runners to take on the classy North midfield and see what happened. Well, what happened was that the Suns' speedsters jumped from the gate and with Gary Ablett, for once, not leading the charge, they led by 40 points and in the end, were never really threatened. The debate up and down the Pacific Highway now is whether this was the best win by the Suns yet. Last year's win over Collingwood will have some support but surely the maiden win at Etihad Stadium over a fellow finals contender on its home deck takes the choccies. The Suns have St Kilda and the Western Bulldogs next. Win those, which they absolutely should, then they'll be 7-2. The discussion then will no longer be about whether Gold Coast will play finals for the first time, but whether top four beckons. In any event, Metricon Stadium should be gearing up to host its first final.



Where have all the people gone?
As they review the weekend at AFL HQ on Monday, two attendance figures will concern the bean counters. Friday night's 68,251 crowd at the MCG was about 12,000 short of expectations, further proof that the Carlton-Collingwood rivalry, sorry Ed, isn't what it used to be. Carlton off two wins and the Dale Thomas factor should have made it a bigger crowd. Two days later at the MCG, just 34,377 fans watched Geelong-Richmond. Poor weather played its part here and may have deterred some of the Geelong diehards from travelling down the freeway. But as Richmond's season continues to unravel – although the Tigers were brave this time around – the AFL's attendance figures will continue to take a hit.



Ashley Browne: I would take Dangerfield's comments last week that he is keen to remain with the Crows as the gospel and I'd be disappointed if one loss, as staggeringly poor as it was, would derail those thoughts.



AB: That was as poor as the Crows have been since 2011, just as the Neil Craig era was coming to an undignified end. And maybe Brenton Sanderson is one of those 'new age, glass half-full coaches' but I thought he was too soft on Adelaide in his post-match remarks. It's all well and good to talk up the second half comeback, but I would have focused less on the gallantry and more on the inexcusable aspect that preceded it.



AB: Not sure what motivated the Hawks to inflict their wrath on the poor, old Sainters. Hawthorn played some dazzling footy considering the conditions and enjoyed 151 more possessions. For the Saints, to borrow a line from the late, great Jack Dyer, it was "no good being where the ball 'aint". St Kilda's bright start to the year had come largely on the back of the brilliance of Nick Riewoldt. He has been the Saints' best this year by a considerable margin and the test of the side would always come when he had a stinker. Well, that day was Saturday and it demonstrated clearly how much work Alan Richardson has ahead of him.



AB: Lots of responses on Twitter (thanks to you all) for a question I floated on Friday night about whether Collingwood's quiet fourth quarters were a concern, and I think Alex nailed it here. So comprehensive were Collingwood's first three quarters against Carlton that you can discount what happened in the last. Put simply, when the heat was on, the Pies kept the Blues to two goals. The Pies are shaping as the story of the season. They have adopted Hawthorn's "team defence" ethos from last season and all their gun midfielders are firing. Theirs will be a well-earned bye this week and with Ben Reid, Nathan Brown, Nick Maxwell, Alan Toovey, Alex Fasolo and Clinton Young all likely to return in the short-term, Nathan Buckley and the Magpie army can enjoy sweet, selection-filled dreams over the break period. Top four beckons.

WATCH: Friday showreel - dead-eye Magpies


Twitter: @afl_hashbrowne