Young Magpie Tom Hunter set the tone for the night when he injured his shoulder early in the first quarter. His captain Nick Maxwell, and Eagles pair Nic Naitanui and Mitch Brown also hurt their shoulders throughout the night. Brown looked to be in the most trouble as his shoulder popped out in a spoiling attempt in the third quarter.
MOMENT THAT HURT
Mitch Brown might have been rock solid for West Coast in defence before dislocating his shoulder, but he had one moment he'd rather forget in the second quarter. A long ball came into Collingwood's goal square and Brown had the sit but elected to let it go. To his horror Collingwood youngster Ben Sinclair marked right on the goal line and kicked an easy goal.
HERO
Sharrod Wellingham put in some inspirational acts on his way to a strong 21-possession, one-goal game for Collingwood. He showed his desperation and quality in a play in the third quarter. Eagle Brad Sheppard was hovering over the ball, but Wellingham came charging in and ripped the ball off him before he knew what was happening. He quickly moved it on to Chris Dawes, who passed to Jye Bolton and he kicked an important goal for the Pies.
GOAT
In general, the skill of the West Coast Eagles overall was one of the main reasons why they finished with last year's wooden spoon and they might struggle to rise far from that if some of the skills from Saturday night are anything go by. Andrew Embley, Bradd Dalziell, Chris Masten, Shannon Hurn, Brad Ebert, Adam Selwood and Quinten Lynch, among others, all displayed kicking skills on occasion that were embarrassing.
BY NUMBERS
15 - The amount of premiership players Collingwood took to the field with from last year's triumph.
7 - The players that took the field for West Coast still remaining from their 2006 premiership.
165 - The days that has passed since Andrew Krakouer's unbelievable 40-possession, four-goal WAFL grand final performance last year for Swan Districts and his return to Patersons Stadium in another black-and-white striped jumper - this time Collingwood's.
LOST IN COMMENTARY
Fox Sports commentator Dwayne Russell was wondering about the strip West Coast was playing in. He crossed down to Glen Jakovich to see if it was their home jumper, but the Eagles' games record holder informed him it was their away strip. Then Russell surmised that all the rules go out the window when Collingwood plays and the Pies were the reason why the Eagles weren’t in their home jumper.
THE MOMENT THEY SHOULD REPLAY
West Coast's Mark LeCras showed his quality, kicking three goals from limited chances and his third is well worth checking out. Andrew Embley kicked the ball inside-50 for him to run onto and he collected up against the boundary in the pocket, weaved around Lachlan Keeffe and snapped the goal through on his non-preferred left boot.
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs
