1. Robbo goes both ways, Priddis grinds to a halt
Mitch Robinson has been in career-best form this season, taking on Sam Mitchell, Bryce Gibbs and Lachie Neale in consecutive weeks, and beating them all. This week, it was Matt Priddis' turn to take on the Lions' human cannonball. Robinson is almost a reverse tagger – he stops his opponent from getting the ball, while being an attacking weapon for his own team, forcing them to be accountable. Priddis had little to no impact with only 16 disposals and a bandage around his banged-up nose. By contrast, Robinson was in everything, finishing with a career-high 38 disposals, an excellent goal from the boundary line and a decent cramp in his leg. 

BL v WC: Full match coverage and statistics

2. Any road win is a good win
Coming into this match, West Coast had an excellent six-one win-loss record at home, and an ordinary one-four away record away. After a scoreless final quarter against Adelaide last week, the Eagles were desperate to get back on the winners' list, and more importantly, prove they can keep winning away from Domain Stadium after their victory over Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval in round nine. Despite the 49-point final margin, there wasn't much else to recommend the victory against a poor opponent. The Eagles played in spurts, with concentration lapses that would be punished by a better team. Coach Adam Simpson would be happy to come away with a percentage-boosting win, but would not be impressed with giving up the last three goals of the match.

3. Second-quarter blues roll on
Some players have second-year blues; the Brisbane Lions have second-quarter blues. For consecutive weeks, the Lions blew their chances of winning in the second quarter. Against Fremantle, they conceded nine goals to one of their own, and the story was similar this week – the Eagles kicked seven goals to one, with three in the first three minutes before the Lions had a single disposal. Take the second quarter out of the equation, and the Lions only lost by 12 points. The problems are the same each week – lapses in concentration, over-possessing the ball and loose defending from the midfield, exposing the inexperienced defence.

4. Lions' leaders stand up – or did they?
Coach Justin Leppitsch has been calling all season for his leaders to have an impact on the game, and it can be argued they did. It could also be argued they didn't. Robinson was excellent, Dayne Zorko was solid, Tom Rockliff finished with his customary 38 and Pearce Hanley had one of his better games for the year with 37 disposals. Despite this, Rockliff and Hanley weren't overly damaging, and Daniel Merrett struggled without much support against Josh Kennedy (five goals). Daniel Rich came out firing in the first quarter and had 13 disposals, but finished with only 20 for the match after Mark Hutchings applied a strong tag in the second quarter.

COMMENT: Can Lions' leaders save Leppa?

5. West Coast struggle in the ruck
After losing Nic Naitanui to an Achilles injury and Scott Lycett for disciplinary reasons, questions had been raised over the Eagles’ ruck division. They brought in Jonathan Giles, playing for his first game at his fourth club, and Fraser McInnes, who has been primarily playing as a forward in the WAFL, and the two struggled against Stefan Martin. Adam Simpson said they had to change their structure at stoppages without Naitanui there to feed the ball directly to his teammate, which may have contributed to their slow start to the match. Martin, with support from Josh Walker, returned to form and won the hit-outs 56 to 25, after battling the last few weeks in tandem with the omitted Trent West.