1. West Coast injury woes
If injuries to Nic Naitanui, Daniel Kerr, Sharrod Wellingham and Matt Rosa weren’t enough to cause the Eagles’ premiership odds to drift, serious injuries to Mark LeCras and Eric Mackenzie will certainly cause the bookies to think again. LeCras appeared to seriously injure his forearm during the third quarter in what would be a cruel blow to a player who spent last year on the sidelines with a knee injury. Mackenzie, a resolute defender similar to skipper Darren Glass, will also be missed and West Coast’s depth will be severely tested in the coming weeks.
2. A crunch game
It may not have been a demolition derby, but the first regular-season meeting between the two WA teams for 2013 was not a case of handbags at 10 paces. The usual push and shove aside, Matthew Pavlich was reported for crunching Will Schofield in a marking contest, Scott Selwood was mysteriously felled in the middle of the park and Ryan Crowley’s second quarter goal was soured when he copped an errant Adam Selwood elbow. The Match Review Panel may have to watch the tape more than once.
3. The new boys
Both sides boasted a recycled player, but it was Fremantle small man Danyle Pearce who won the battle of the new chums. When Saint-turned-Eagle Jamie Cripps kicked the first goal of the game, he was off to a good start. And a quality snapped goal in the last quarter will also make his first game for the club a memorable one. But former Port star Pearce was superb after a slow start. By the end of the third quarter he was possibly the best man on the ground and his excitement at kicking two wonderful goals had the purple army on their feet.
4. Tale of two forward lines
In the first half, especially, the two forward lines could not have looked more different. Fremantle relied on multiple bombed entries for its goals, scoring mainly through free kicks and quality crumbing. Meanwhile, the Eagles looked likely to score at every entry. Unlike Fremantle, West Coast was taking marks inside 50m. But the Eagles wasted their opportunities through poor kicking and Fremantle gradually gained a foothold, running all over the Eagles in the second half with precision delivery to its forwards. West Coast, meanwhile, was starved of opportunities.
5. The shutdown specialists
While the Fremantle midfield ran riot in the second half, one of the features of the game was the defensive efforts of both Ryan Crowley and Adam Selwood. Crowley held Luke Shuey to 12 touches, while racking up 12 and kicking a goal himself. Selwood, meanwhile, held serial pest Hayden Ballantyne to just seven possessions and one goal. But perhaps the best shutdown job was that done by Matt De Boer, with the help of a few teammates, on West Coast half-back Shannon Hurn. Hurn, a key line-breaker for the Eagles, had 18 disposals, but rarely threatened to send the ball inside West Coast’s 50m arc.
