WEST Coast cruised to its second AFL Grand Final in four years, with a rampant first-half performance enough to comfortably see off the threat of Melbourne on Saturday.

EAGLES' DEE-MOLITION JOB Full match details and stats

But while the Eagles were exceptional from the outset, a number of costly Demon errors in the opening stages of the game gifted the hosts a series of crucial scoring opportunities.

None were more significant than the first. 

WHAT HAPPENED?

It started here. Neither side had yet hit the scoreboard when veteran Jordan Lewis collected a handball from co-captain Nathan Jones around 25m from his own goal. Under pressure from Jack Darling, he looped a hospital handball intended for Oscar McDonald. It was not only short, but high, with Josh Kennedy able to swoop on the uncharacteristic mistake and pounce for West Coast's first goal of the afternoon.

It set the tone for a truly horrible 60 minutes of football from Melbourne. The young Demons outfit made a series of unforced errors, with an Angus Brayshaw fumble leading to Jamie Cripps kicking the Eagles' second just moments later.

WHO'S TO BLAME? Every Demon rated

Melbourne had a serious bout of stage fright, with their inability to hit simple targets – mainly by hand – brutally exposed by a clinical West Coast side. The Demons coughed up 12 turnovers in their defensive half in the opening quarter alone, with the Eagles able to kick the first 10 goals of the match to virtually claim an unassailable lead by half-time.

Remarkably, 56 of West Coast's 63 points at the main break came directly from Melbourne turnovers. From the younger players on Melbourne's list, perhaps you could expect mistakes like these on the big stage. But when Demons fans saw a four-time premiership player with 306 games worth of experience making such an important error, maybe it was then that they began to brace themselves for an afternoon of pain. 

WHO MADE IT HAPPEN?

Kennedy was the hero in this situation for West Coast, with his nous to recognise the flight of the handball and convert with a smart snap on full display. Darling also played his part, applying the pressure that forced Lewis into it. But really, this was down to the experienced Melbourne defender's mistake. The execution was poor, putting a young teammate under unnecessary pressure and setting the tone for an afternoon of Demon errors. 

WHAT DID IT MEAN?

The stats speak for themselves. Melbourne's half-time score of 0.6 (6) was the lowest in a final since 1960, while it was also the first time a team had been held goalless to the main break in a final since 1927. West Coast's lead of 63 points at the main break was also the fifth largest in finals history. The Eagles capitalised on the seemingly endless sequence of Demon turnovers by piling on the first 10 goals of the match, with a Grand Final spot well and truly booked by half-time. 

HOW DID THEY CALL IT?

"Oliver, dangerous place to handball the footy but Jones makes it work … Lewis, speak about dangerous handballs, it's sharked by Kennedy … first blood West Coast!" – James Brayshaw, Channel 7. 

WATCH JK and Jack dominate the Dees in attack

AND THE FANS WENT …

Delirious. The Optus Stadium crowd of 59,608 was a record high at a Western Australian sporting event and they didn't half make their voices heard. Melbourne looked seriously under the pump every time its players had their hands on the footy in the first half, with the intimidating atmosphere ramping up the pressure. Perhaps that's why the Demons were constantly rushed in possession, leading to the ample mistakes.

WHAT THEY SAID

"It didn't look like us in any phase of the game. We made a lot of mistakes early and our turnovers cost us greatly. I was a little bit more concerned with our contest work. Clearly, they scored on turnover, but our contest work – in terms of what we really pride ourselves on as a footy club – we had 34 tackles for the day and we lost the contested ball. It's not the day you want to lose those stats. That was probably the more disappointing part, but we certainly recognise that those turnovers early didn't enable us to play the game we wanted to." – Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin.