It’s been weeks since West Coast’s forward line functioned as it should, especially when shooting for goal. While Jack Darling has been outstanding this season, against the Giants everyone got in on the act. Josh Kennedy’s trademark stutter was back in force, but so was his accuracy as he booted eleven goals straight. Mark LeCras added a touch of class in his comeback game, while Jamie Cripps continued to underline his ability as a crumbing forward and Nic Naitanui showed his usual flashes of brilliance. West Coast also finally kicked straight, registering 30.8. But the big difference was in the way the ball was delivered inside the 50m arc. When a leading forward receives a ball on the chest instead of having to work on the ground, it makes things so much easier. For that, the forwards can thank Luke Shuey, Sharrod Wellingham, Andrew Gaff, Scott Selwood and Brad Sheppard. But can those midfielders do the same against teams who will create more midfield pressure?

The third quarter was far from a cakewalk for West Coast. GWS kicked three goals and, at times, threatened to kick a few more. But West Coast still had them covered, kicking ten goals without registering a single behind. It was the equal 14th highest-scoring quarter in the club’s history, the Eagles’ seventh best third quarter and, most importantly, the first time West Coast had ever kicked ten goals in a quarter without missing one. The Eagles’ final score was their second highest in history, behind the 192 points they kicked against Brisbane in 1988. It was also the first time West Coast had kicked 30 goals in a match. What was even more amazing was that Kennedy was just as accurate, kicking eleven straight goals in his best AFL haul. West Coast was criticised during the week for its poor goalkicking this season. Neither West Coast nor Kennedy could have done more to answer their critics.

West Coast had a horror run with injuries in 2013, and 2014 was starting to follow a similar pattern. But the return from injury of Shannon Hurn last week, followed by LeCras and Xavier Ellis against GWS, has seen West Coast return to almost full strength. Of those who didn’t play against the Giants, only the perennially injured Beau Waters would demand a regular spot in the side. Which means West Coast supporters will finally get to see whether their team is as good as they hoped they would be in 2014.

 

While Phil Davis is a long-term prospect and Jeremy Cameron will have to sit out a few more weeks, the Giants would have been hoping their injury problems were just about over. Shane Mumford was given another week to recover, rather than risking him on the trip west, but is expected to be available against Richmond on May 24, as are Curtly Hampton, Stephen Gilham and Adam Treloar. But, in the opening term against West Coast, Nick Haynes went down with an ankle injury and had to be substituted out. Losing their best defender was a cruel blow for the wooden spoon favourites, especially given West Coast’s forward line played better than it had in weeks.

 

While Mumford’s absence was always likely to be felt against the All Australian combination of Dean Cox and Naitanui, it did hand Andrew Phillips his first game since August, 2012. After playing nine games in 2012, the young ruckman suffered a string of hamstring injuries in 2013 and was unable to return to the field in the NEAFL until this season. Despite the break, he looked reasonably sharp against West Coast. One effort in the second quarter was exceptionally clean. He won the hit-out before roving the ball and snapping over his shoulder for a goal. But Naitanui and Cox clearly won the day against Phillips and Jonathan Giles, racking up 50 hit-outs to the Giants duo’s 25 and almost doubling their opponents’ combined possession count.