WEST Coast's Luke Shuey is cool in a crisis and coach Adam Simpson knows it. The coach says he wouldn't have wanted any other player with the ball in his hand as the siren sounded to end extra time.
Shuey slotted a post-siren major following the second period of extra time to earn the Eagles a semi-final berth against Greater Western Sydney next week.
The siren sounded after he won a free kick from Power midfielder Jared Polec's high contact.
"I was pretty confident but it's a fair pressure kick, isn't it ... no doubt, the biggest of his career," the Eagles' coach said.
"He's a good kick. He's our vice-captain, he's pretty composed with the ball and he has kicked some clutch goals before in big games before and he has got a perfect routine.
"If you had to give anyone the ball after the siren, it would be him."
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The night swung into pandemonium when the scores were level at the final siren, with both teams exhausted after a frantic fourth quarter.
Simpson said the challenges extended to the coach's box, where they had to deal with the situation without actually talking to their players.
"I can't say we planned in our 'what ifs' this morning, what if it's a draw?" he said.
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"But we flicked into that mode pretty quickly in the box, you can't talk to the players in the break, we knew that, so what you do with your rotations and how you handle that stuff, we did on the fly.
"We made a couple of important moves but really it was up to the players and I thought both clubs were out on their feet in the last couple of minutes."
Simpson said it was important to allow his players to celebrate the heart-stopping win, which looked only an outside chance midway through the extra time period when the younger Power outfit had all the run.
WATCH: Adam Simpson's full post-match media conference
But he said they would "hit the ground pretty quickly" and start preparing for Saturday night's clash with Greater Western Sydney at Spotless Stadium, with their round 22 loss to the Giants fresh in their minds.
"We're alive. Survive and advance, so we'll keep going," he said.
"We went there three weeks ago and we had a good go then."
The Eagles now face a second straight week of travel, but will embark on a "normal" schedule between games with recovery a priority.
While they were loath to tinker with their winning formula from round 23 for the elimination final, Simpson conceded fresh legs could be required with the game's extra time plus travel.
"We'll have to look at it and see how we pull up," he said.
"We'll give them every chance [to recover]."
Coming into consideration could be ruckman Nic Naitanui, who continues to press for a startling call up just over 12 months after a knee reconstruction.
Naitanui is back in full training, and while he hasn't had any match practice, has tested out his knee in simulation drills with Drew Petrie and Nathan Vardy.
But, Petrie and Vardy combined well on Saturday night against All Australian ruckman Paddy Ryder, with Simpson labelling the former Kangaroo's game "exceptional", which could complicate the decision to play Naitanui.
He also said resting retiring veterans Matt Priddis and Sam Mitchell late in the season had paid off, after both were among the Eagles' best.
