THREE goals down at the last change and a win on the road against the Eagles – undoubtedly the toughest assignment in footy – was still a possibility. Half an hour later and our young Roos had been dealt a rude reality check by a rampant West Coast. To the boys’ credit, we were still within reach of an unlikely victory until late in the game, despite poor kicking (again) and the fact that a number of our prime movers were well below their best. In the end, the Eagles’ 66-point win was well-deserved and a reminder that there is a lot of work to be done.

The moment

It’s probably harsh on a kid playing in just his eighth senior game, but who knows what the result might have been if Matty Campbell had have converted his set shot from 45 metres early in the last quarter. The Roos would have crept to within two goals of the reigning premiers and may well have continued their run across the third and fourth terms, which netted them four of the last five goals. To be fair, experienced duo Adam Simpson and Drew Petrie missed gettable shots not long after, so the Roos had other chances to bridge the gap early in what turned out to be a disappointing last quarter.

Goal of the game
Lindsay Thomas is quickly developing a reputation as a smart mover around goal and his nous was again on show at the weekend. With the Eagles threatening to break the game open by quarter time, Thomas cleverly read the ball off a pack deep into the Roos’ attacking zone and slotted through a nice goal on the outside of his left foot. The goal kept the Roos in touch after West Coast had slipped out to a 22-point lead just before the first break.

The move
Brent Harvey seemed to spend most of the middle part of the game up forward in a bid to get some goalscoring momentum going for the Roos. Unfortunately, Harvey’s minders, Tyson Stenglein and Adam Selwood, were at the top of their game, combining well to keep the Kangas’ prolific goalkicking midfielder scoreless and to just 11 possessions.

Coaches' award
Hamish McIntosh would be the first to admit that he came off second best in his eagerly awaited showdown with Dean Cox, but the Kangas’ young ruck tyro kept presenting all day. Drew Petrie was able to offer some relief for the still-raw 22-year-old, but McIntosh spent a considerable amount of time on the ground in a bid to keep the Roos in the hunt. The big ruckman’s willingness to provide a running option for his midfield colleagues was noted by Dean Laidley after the game.

King of the kids
As with last week, Josh Gibson was a beacon in defence, and he was probably the Roos’ best player across the whole match. The former rookie-listed defender is proving a bargain pick-up for the Roos, and is consistently performing at a standard well above what can be expected of a man with just 21 games to his name.

Syd Barker watch
Josh Gibson can expect maximum votes from the match committee, while Jess Sinclair, Adam Simpson and Brady Rawlings, who did a stellar job on West Coast danger man Chris Judd, will also figure highly.

Ladder
The Kangas slipped just one position, going from seventh to eighth, however our percentage took a bit of a battering in the wake of the 66-point hammering, slipping to 98.8, the ninth best in the competition.

Next week: St Kilda
The Saints will be stung by their 10-goal thrashing at the hands of the red-hot Cats on Sunday and will be desperate to avoiding slipping too far off the pace of the top sides. Laidley’s men will be glad to get back to the Dome after the long trek west, but the eight-day break gives the lads’ weary legs plenty of time to recover. As much as we learned about where we are at after the West Coast defeat, we’ll see what the boys are made of as they look to bounce back this week.

The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the club.